JERUDONG, Wednesday, 06 November 2019 – The Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) and Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) co-hosted a gala dinner in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the Exercise PELICAN at the Indera Samudra Grand Ballroom, Empire Hotel and Country Club, this evening.
The Guests of Honour, the Second Minister of Defence Brunei Darussalam, The Honourable Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Retired) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Md Yussof, and the Minister for Defence, Republic of Singapore, His Excellency Dr. Ng Eng Hen, were welcomed by the Commander RBN, First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Othman bin Haji Suhaili @ Suhaily, and the Chief of Navy (CNV) RSN, Rear Admiral Lew Chuen Hong.
Also present were former Commanders and former Fleet Commanders of the RBN including the first Commander of RBN, Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Sanggamara Diraja Major General (Retired) Pengiran Haji Ibnu Basit bin Pengiran Datu Penghulu Pengiran Haji Apong; the High Commissioner of the Republic of Singapore to Brunei, His Excellency Lim Hong Huai; the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General (Retired) Dato Seri Pahlawan Shahril Anwar bin Haji Ma’awiah, and the Deputy Secretary (Policy), Ministry of Defence, Republic of Singapore, Mr Teo Eng Dih. A total of 240 officers and personnel from both navies also attended the anniversary dinner.
The event began with a group photo session upon the arrival of the Guests of Honour, who then took the opportunity to interact with the former Commanders and Fleet Commanders of RBN, Senior Officers and Officers from RBN and RSN. The Guests of Honour also toured the “Passage Through PELICAN Down Memory Lane” Gallery before entering the ballroom, where a Silat performance was showcased to both ministers. The anniversary dinner started with the synopsis of the PELICAN logo before another group photo session with the Exercise lead team, followed by a cake-cutting session.
Before the anniversary dinner concluded, both Ministers of Defence received Exercise PELICAN gifts as tokens of appreciation, presented by Commander RBN and CNV RSN to their respective Ministers of Defence.
This dinner marked a very special occasion for both Brunei Darussalam and the Republic of Singapore, a fitting testament to the longstanding cooperation and friendship between both navies and countries.
