Haji Abdul Aziz,
Acting Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, Brunei Darussalam
Distinguished delegates from Brunei Darussalam and Singapore
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A very good morning to all of you. Welcome to Singapore, and to the 17 th Joint Technical Meeting.
Relations between Brunei Darussalam and Singapore
2 Brunei Darussalam is a close friend and partner of Singapore. Our bilateral relations are multi-faceted. In addition to our cooperation in broadcasting, Brunei and Singapore enjoys close cooperation in economic development, finance, defence, health, transport, education and environment as well. 3 Over the past 17 years, the Brunei-Singapore Broadcasting MOU has led to close collaboration in many activities identified under the MOU. It is a key institutional channel in strengthening our friendship and cementing the bilateral cooperation amongst our officials, broadcasters and youths.
4 We value and appreciate the efforts made by our Bruneian friends through these years, in nsuring the success of our collaboration under the MOU. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a few key areas of our warm cooperation.
Joint Television Production
5 Firstly, in the area of joint production by our broadcasters, I am pleased to note that the collaboration has grown from strength to strength. RTB and MediaCorp have done well in coming up with new, refreshing concepts. A commendable example is Rapsodi, a gala performance that showcases our countries’ artistic and musical talent. The theme this year is “Re-mix” and will provide musical insight into different genres of evergreen songs, re-arranged ith a contemporary twist. I am confident that tomorrow’s performance will re-create the success enjoyed by last year’s Rapsodi, which adopted a “pop concert” format and featured our young and popular artistes and bands. I am sure all of you, like me, are looking forward to an exciting and enjoyable performance tomorrow.
6 I would also like to take this opportunity to applaud our broadcasters’ creativity through the introduction of dramatisation into Bridging Minds. This has enhanced its success, creating a programme that is not only informative but richly entertaining. In view of the excellent reception of this acting-debating format by viewers of both countries, similar formats could be considered for other programmes under our MOU; for instance, Titian Minda, the Malay version of this joint-student debate. I hope our broadcasters from both sides will continue to break new ground nd bring our joint productions to greater heights. Moving forward, I understand that a programme exchange of Singapore and Brunei theatre coaches is currently being discussed. This is a wonderful idea as it will help to promote the arts and also enhance our bilateral relations.
7 Our annual TV drama co-productions have also been crowd-pleasers. In fact, this year’s Kerana Fateha [pronounced: Ker-ra-na Fa-teh-ha] not only garnered favourable feedback, but achieved a record rating of 16.3%, or three times more popular than the average on the Suria TV channel. I encourage our broadcasters to keep up the good work, and to continue injecting fresh ideas and to experiment with new formats.
Radio Programme Exchange
8 Apart from cooperation in the realm of TV, our broadcasters have also engaged in exchanges in radio programmes such as Pentas Radio (or Radio Drama), Hari Raya Dramas, and Pelangi Ria [pronounced: Pe-lang-ee Re-ah], a one-hour special pre-recorded programme on Brunei and Singapore National Day. We have also continued producing Pantun [pronounced: Parn-toon], and I am heartened to hear of the great bonding between our stations and also of the pains that our radio producers have taken to ensure that the content remains relevant and young. These have translated into positive public feedback on the programmes produced under our OU.
Digital Broadcasting & New Media
9 Moving on to Digital Broadcasting, I am happy to note that Brunei and Singapore are lead countries of the ASEAN Digital Broadcasting Initiative in our adoption of the Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial (DVB-T) standard for digital television. When all ASEAN member countries collectively adopt this same common standard, the rate of digitalisation will be expedited and ASEAN’s readiness in dealing with digital content will be boosted.
10 The digital broadcasting revolution has started and the pace of change is incredibly rapid. nternet Protocol Television (IPTV) is growing in popularity, and Singapore officially launched High-Definition TV ( HDTV) last month. As consumers become more media-savvy, I believe that he next up-and-coming platform would be mobile broadcasting, which has great commercial potential. We are thus actively encouraging the development of mobile TV technology. Another area where we are investing much resources and efforts into is Interactive Digital Media (IDM). IDM presents a host of new and exciting opportunities, and I understand that Brunei is also exploring interactive content and datacasting.
Training Collaboration and Media Literacy
11 With these fast-evolving technologies, there are plenty of opportunities for Brunei and ingapore to share our experiences and expertise. We could do so through staff exchanges, ttachments or training opportunities. Singapore Media Academy, a media training institute, would be happy to share on possible training areas that you have expressed interest in.
12 For consumers, this fast-changing media landscape begets the vital need for media literacy, which is the ability to critically read , analyse and interpret messages that inform, entertain and educate us. For the last two years, Singapore has been actively working with partners under our year-round MediAction! Initiative. The initiative sought to engage and inspire our people to discover the benefits and possibilities that media can offer - in work, learning and play. The Media Development Authority ( MDA) will share their experience on this with you at the JTC meeting.
ASEAN Media Portal
13 The media landscape is being transformed dramatically. More vibrancy is being injected into our local media market, with improved quality programming and more choices for consumers. 14 Given this rapid move towards digitalisation and convergence, I urge our broadcasters to tap on new media technologies to produce multi-sensory and cross-media content, which can be used on a range of platforms such as TV, mobile TV and the Internet.
15 Such content could then be placed on the ASEAN Media Portal, which was launched in mid-November this year, to allow the world to learn more about the rich and diverse cultures of our ASEAN region. Our broadcasters could produce content across genres such as TV , films, games nd animation that would showcase our dynamic media talent and growing capabilities.
Conclusion
16 Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure our discussions at the JTC meeting would be rewarding, as we work together to strengthen our co-operation and explore new grounds for greater collaboration.
17 I wish you all a fruitful discussion.
18 Thank you.
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