'Supreme Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces Scholarship', you can already feel the prestigiousness of the scholarship from the title itself. When I first learnt of the existence of this scholarship back in 2019, I had my opinion fixed on never being able to get to apply to this scholarship scheme, mainly because of the minimum grade requirement of 3As which sounded far out of my reach.
However, January 2021, I was thrilled to discover that I managed to achieve straight As for my A level results. The career teacher at my school (Maktab Sains Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan) has collected all of us high achievers in a single Whatsapp group and told us that we are eligible for the MinDef Scholarship Scheme. I was surprised and really contemplated about applying because the scholarship scheme offered for 2021 only allowed us to be under Military Track when in reality I knew that my physical skills and knowledge about MinDef were lacking at that time.
There was approximately a one month deadline to complete and send the application form to MinDef and I knew I had to increase my physical fitness level from that day on. Moreover, the website stated that the requirements for applying included having a strong interest in the Military, being able to pass the fitness test, being able to swim, an official school transcript and a medical check-up. This made me contemplated more because I had no basic knowledge about swimming and paying for an expensive medical check-up for something I am uncertain to get into (due to the rigorous selection process) sounded risky to me.
After listening to a series of advices and convincing from my family members and teachers, as well as constantly praying Solat Istikharah, I took a leap of faith and went ahead with the application. First problem was resolved when my family has given me support by agreeing to pay for the medical check-up. Secondly, I managed to convince my best friend to apply together with me and to attend swimming classes together. At the same time, we both went back and forth to school to work on our transcript and reference letters from our teachers. Shout out to our teachers who helped us with the required documents even when it was during the school holidays!
As a result, the one month went by quickly and it was almost time for the deadline to submit the form to close. I remember having to squeeze at least an hour of swimming class in my schedule every day without failure. On the other hand, my brother has trained me to do the proper basic work-out tests and to jog around a gradually increasing distance every day.
On the final day of form submission, my Doctor who did my medical check-up finally called to alert me that my results are done and that I can immediately pass it to MinDef on that same day too. After collecting my results at the Clinic, I went to MinDef and was amazed at the place I was getting in to. It was my first time entering the MinDef compound because I actually thought it was a restricted property for the public before that, as it was guarded by uniformed staff.
The compound consists of multiple buildings placed in one area. We were just told to send the form at the Scholarship Section, Directorate of Administration and Manpower, Ministry of Defence. I asked the guards at the gate entrance where that was and they were happy to help describe me the whereabouts and told me to take my public pass beforehand. The building I was walking into was so large but glad I was able to find the section in between block B and block C.
Once I entered the section, I was greeted by three friendly staff who checked to see if my documents were complete. Once my application was deemed successful, one of the staffs also handed me an updated schedule of the selection process and it stated that the nearest upcoming event would be the scholarship briefing two days later.
On the briefing day, we were asked to bring a maximum of two people to attend the briefing with us. I brought my mother with me, as it would be beneficial for her to hear the briefing directly from MinDef, as to allow her to have a better understanding of what I was signing up for. The Head of the Scholarship Section, Ms Susie, has briefed us about what to expect from selection process and the distribution of the marks in each stage. To be awarded the scholarship, we needed a passing mark of 70% and above.
Moreover, Ms Susie has also briefed us that if we passed all the stages, we will be the first batch to have a Final Interview Board with the Commander of Royal Brunei Armed Forces and the Permanent Secretary of MinDef. I believe that to be such a wonderful opportunity, as no other teenage students of my age has the chance to be conversing with such high-ranked individuals too. Besides that, Ms Susie also elaborated to us what previous MinDef scholars have had the chance to do such as that they have individual leadership programmes in each year of their return home to Brunei. Finally, the scholarship section also presented us an audiovisual of the previous MinDef scholars' experience, from the beginning of their selection process to the moments after getting their scholarship. The briefing really showed how honourable it would be to receive such a prestigious scholarship and the many benefits that come with it.
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