Speech by Dr Grahaeme Henderson, Managing Director, Brunei ...

Speech by Dr Grahaeme Henderson, Managing Director, Brunei Shell Petroleum,
at the Road Safety Traffic Games Competition, 28 June 2008
Her Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Masna binti Al-Mahrum
Sultan Haji Omar Saifuddien Saadul Khairi Waddien, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Abu
Bakar bin Haji Apong, Minister of Communications,
Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya bin
Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haj Bakar, Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s
Office,
Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Awang Haji Yusof bin Haji Abdul Hamid, Deputy Minister of
Communications,
Yang Di Muliakan Pehin Datu Kerma Setia Dato Paduka Seri Awang Zainuddin bin
Jalani, Commissioner of the Royal Brunei Police Force,
Yang Mulia Awang Haji Mohammad bin Haji Abdul Rahman, Belait District Officer,
Permanent Secretaries, Pengiran-Pengiran, Dato-Dato,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
We are all deeply honoured and hugely privileged that Her Royal Highness Princess
Masna has consented to grace this occasion, which makes this a very special day for us
all.
On behalf of Brunei Shell Petroleum, I am delighted to welcome you to the final of this
year’s Road Safety Traffic Games Competition for secondary schools. We have also been
working with the Ministry of Education to raise awareness of road safety among primary
school children through school-based educational activities. Today, we will also
announce the winners of these activities.
I would like to thank our Government partners, the Ministry of Communications, the
Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Energy, who together with the Royal Brunei
Police Force, have given strong support for today’s events as well as for our work on
road safety in general.
The Government authorities have taken serious steps to tackle the huge challenge of
road accidents. The Ministry of Communications, through the National Road Safety
Council, is implementing various programmes to address the problem. The Royal Brunei
Police Force, along with the Land Transport Department, has stepped up surveillance
and enforcement.
Terrible accidents continue to occur on our roads almost every day. People keep getting
injured and people keep dying in horrific circumstances.

As a husband and father of three children, my heart sinks each time I open the papers
and read about these accidents, and think about the pain and suffering of the people
involved.
As Her Royal Highness Princess Masna stressed at the launch of the United Nations
Global Road Safety Week last year, reducing road accidents is everyone’s responsibility.
I am personally convinced that if we step up our direct individual involvement and work
closely together, we can collectively make a significant improvement to safety on our
roads.
We have actively partnered with the National Road Safety Council to share ideas,
experiences and expertise for the national-level road safety campaign. We have
sponsored public educational materials on television and in newspapers. We have worked
closely with the District Offices of each of the four districts to organise a series of
exhibitions, to bring home the road safety message to people from all walks of life.
Your Royal Highness, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Within Brunei Shell Petroleum, we have adopted a multi-pronged approach to improve
road safety amongst our employees and contractors. One such example, is the sustained
campaign targeted specifically at the wearing of seat belts. This was vigorously led by top
management, who showed their commitment by personally checking on seat belt wearing
amongst our staff as they arrived at the office in the morning. Leaflets and bulletins are
continuously sent out. Every manager, including myself, is required to wear his or her
seat belt on every trip. Company drivers do not move their vehicles until everyone is
wearing their seat belt.
I am pleased to share with you that today, almost 100 percent of our 10,000 company
and contractor employees wear seat belts, as compared to only 40 percent two years ago.
Changing any form of behaviour is never easy, and driving habits are no different. But,
our efforts show that it can be done, provided there is a concerted and sustained effort,
supported by leadership commitment.
Building on this approach, we are now looking at capturing the hearts and minds of
people using a two-pronged strategy. At the grassroots, we are targeting the younger
population. We have been working with the Ministry of Education, and have just
concluded a road safety awareness campaign in primary schools throughout the country.
An unprecedented 28,000 students from 200 primary schools in all four districts took
part in this campaign. It used a combination of interactive activities, such as essay writing
and colouring competitions, quizzes as well as PowerPoint presentations to help teach
our children good road safety practices.
We have also invested close to a quarter of a million dollars in the Road Safety Traffic
Games Park here at the OGDC to be a platform to conduct road safety education in a
real-life setting. The Traffic Games Competition is targeted at secondary students, with
more than 700 students from 35 schools throughout the Nation taking part in this year’s
competition. Six schools will have competed in today’s finals.
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I would like to congratulate all students, as well as their principals and teachers, for taking
part in this programme. Winning or losing is not a concern, since the real reason for
participating is to engrain from an early age the fundamentals of safety on the roads,
which will remain forever in the hearts and minds of our youth.
The second part of the two-pronged strategy is in relation to our “Tell-A-Friend” road
safety campaign, which we have introduced amongst Brunei Shell employees and
contractor staff. Launched in April this year by Yang Di Muliakan Pehin Dato Paduka
Zainuddin, the Commissioner of the Royal Brunei Police Force, “Tell-A-Friend” takes
forward the road safety message through word-of-mouth in a deeply personal way to our
friends and families.
It taps on the uniquely Bruneian spirit of sharing and caring for one another. Imagine the
setting of someone telling a brother, sister or best friend, how much he or she cares, and
how he or she would like them to wear their seat belts and not exceed speed limits.
Friends and family members can then self- monitor and help each other to encourage
positive driving habits.
Working closely with our Government partners, and using the experience we have gained
in Brunei Shell, we would like to extend the “Tell-A-Friend” road safety campaign to the
wider community in Brunei Darussalam. “Tell-A-Friend” is important and, if we together
take it forward with enthusiasm and commitment, we will make an impact.
I know that no one here today will rest until we have significantly reduced accidents on
our roads. The alternative is much pain and suffering for the victims and their families.
These are people…. people like you and people like me, and their lives are simply too
precious to be lost in this way.
Menjunjung Kasih.
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