Brunei: Bigstart finalists receive start-up capital
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - Five finalists of the 5th Bigstart competition for secondary schools, colleges and sixth form centre yesterday received their start-up capital of B$200 (US$146) for their respective businesses.
The guest of honour, Haji Minorhadi bin Haji Mirhassan, BIBD Head of Government Relations and Special Projects, presented the start-up capital to Chung Hua Middle School, Kuala Belait, St George’s School, Berakas Secondary School, Sultan Sharif Ali Secondary School and Meragang Sixth Form Centre.
Hajah Hajidah binti Haji Abdul Wahab, a Senior Education Officer and Head of Akli Unit under the Department of Co-Curriculum Education said, “The Bigstart competition is an annual entrepreneurial project to uphold SPN21 by exposing the field of entrepreneurship among the students. The project has been conducted since 2012 and has seen many brilliant ideas from the students who had participated along these years.”
With encouraging response from teachers and students, she said “Bigstart competition is back this year for the 5th time and we are very fortunate to be able to collaborate with BIBD. On behalf of the Ministry of Education, I would like to sincerely thank BIBD for the support given to us. It shows enormous trust for us to educate and provide a platform for these young and ambitious entrepreneurs to kick-start a business while still being a student.”
The theme for this year’s competition ‘Online Business - A Step Forward’ is actually a continuity from last year’s theme ‘A Cube Box To Start With’.
“The development and growth of social media especially over these years is the reason why we should expose our students to tap into the vast possibilities of online business,” Hajah Hajidah said.
She added, “With online business, they will have the freedom to connect to a lot of people not just locally but all over the world. Apart from that, online business gives you the flexibility of controlling your business anytime and anywhere. The possibilities are endless.”
She highlighted that the big advantage for students are to learn how to start the business, how to deal with upcoming challenges and how to cope as well as manage time well.
Eleven secondary schools, colleges and sixth form centres took part in the competition in the preliminary round that took place from July 31 to August 1. Only five finalists were selected.
