Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Brunei to share geospatial imagery and data online?

According to a recent Brunei Times article (thanks Bill for the heads-up and link!), the Survey Department is this year embarking on a web-based system for the management and dissemination of its geospatial data through an ERDAS APOLLO provider. 

From the article:

The challenge currently faced by the department is making the current street directory available on-line, which brings about another matter that needs to be looked into, which is the coordination of access to spatial data in different formats from many different agencies (potentially from commercial data suppliers).

The first phase of the ERDAS APOLLO, according to the online news report, is to provide web-based workflows to improve productivity for the Survey Department staff, as well as to make this data accessible to other government agencies.

Later in 2012, Brunei Survey Department will introduce an ERDAS APOLLO-based geospatial portal that will supply imagery and data to the general public.

Newsworthy - Gabriel and World Water Day

Gabriel was featured in last week's Borneo Bulletin, when he was interviewed during the Beach Bunch's boat cruise tour in celebration of the World Water Day. 

Unfortunately some of his words might have been taken out of context, especially the last sentence (the sentence also does not make sense - pull trash out of UBD?). 

From the article

According to Gabriel Yong, Brunei River has on the down valley, a tidal inlet, where the water flows in hence creating a depositional environment, where sediments get stuck and deposited in the area. Therefore, it must always be taken care of.

He said that a lot of areas may be affected, especially in Kg Ayer, where the sediments get stuck under the water. This explains why there is a lot of trash gathered under Kg Ayer water. The pollution is not to be blamed solely on the residents of Kg Ayer alone, things always get stuck there, and all they can do is to manage the waste and pull it out if it got trapped, he added.

In fact, the Beach Bunch are planning to introduce some types of automated system in UBD, where, when trash comes in, it will be pulled out, Gabriel Yong said.

Published: Dr Becek and the Survey Department

Our colleague Dr Becek is featured in this month's Coordinates, a " monthly magazine on positioning, navigation and associated technologies". The article refers to a previously published one, also in the same magazine, about the geocentric datum for Brunei Darussalam 2009. 


This latest article is very interesting because it not only features comments from Dr Becek himself, but also from his collaborator, Dr Adam Lyszkowicz, as well as responses to the earlier article from Brunei's very own Survey Department. 


You can view the full article here, but I've included some snippets below:


Some comments on the selected map projection - Conclusion

1. Based on the above, the Survey Department should be congratulated for the bold reform of the geodetic datum through the adoption of the geocentric datum – GDBD2009.


Survey Department responds:

The move to geocentric datum has been thoroughly strategized and implemented according to the international standard and has taken into consideration all technical as well as legal aspects. So it is rather unwise to say that this reform is a BOLD reform.



3. The RSO map projection for Brunei Darussalam is not an appropriate one because the mapped territory (onshore and offshore) has a circular shape (does not have any prevailing direction). The RSO projection is used for mapping territories which are extended in a particular direction such as the East Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah taken together.


Survey Department responds:

It is true when you are given the task to design a surveying and mapping system for a new country where the only consideration is to select the best map projection as normally described in the text book.

Monday, March 12, 2012

The 8th Brunei Legislative Council Meeting

If you are following local news then surely you will have not missed this year's Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting. For those of you unfamiliar with the LegCo, Rozan Yunos provides a historical overview in this article. The Brunei Times (BT) also provides a summary of LegCO as well as a primer for the uninitiated.



The opening of the 8th session of the LegCo. Picture from this BT article.

I had the opportunity to cover the LegCo twice when I was still with BT, once at the International Convention Centre and the next year in the new LegCo building where the current proceedings are held.Being able to witness and report on the proceedings, the issues raised and the ceremony involved was an incredible privilege.

Essentially the LegCo meeting is where prevailing local and national issues are brought to light by the side that represents the people of Brunei, which are then addressed by the government representatives. The former are made up of representatives from all four district and various business, religious and social groups, while the latter are mostly cabinet ministers.


A wide range of issues gets discussed every session, and this year is no different. Just to take today's coverage in the BT as an example, yesterday's meeting saw housing and car loans and the living allowance of public servants being tabled. The latter has generated much excitement at least among my FB contacts because it's like getting a mini-bonus. Educational quality and the need to assess environmental impact of development projects are among other issues that have been discussed. You can find out about other issues on the BT or Borneo Bulletin websites.

This year's highlight, for me, is the inclusion of the first women members of the LegCo. They were appointed last year in a landmark move that broke the pattern of male dominance in the LegCo.

The session is open to the public, although I think it will be ending soon. I haven't had the chance to attend, but BT's twitter provides regular updates on the topics being discussed. There is also a twitter forum (#legco8) where the public can express their opinions about the proceedings. Already there is a strong backlash regarding the new limitation on buying land, with only citizens eligible to do so and leaving foreigners, and more devastatingly permanent residents, without the opportunity to own land.

As an aside, I think that academics in this area should seriously consider mining these forums alongside the actual proceedings as they provide valuable insights into not only the decision-making process but also the public's perception of the government, its services, social welfare and other matters. 


The LegCo is definitely something worth following. As an academic, I find the outcomes of each meeting to be prime material for teaching and research. As a resident of Brunei, it is important because the matters raised concern me, my family and friends and future generations. I think even an outsider with an interest in Brunei would stand to gain because this is one of the few times of the year when the nation's affairs are publicly deliberated, giving a rare glimpse into the workings of the government and the goings-on of the people.