THE 26 youths that set out to conquer Mount Pagon of Temburong, the highest peak in Brunei Darussalam, to wave the national flag and sing the national anthem on the summit have returned safely and received heroes’ welcome in a ceremony at the National Indoor Stadium.
The adventurous expedition was part of the fifth Belia Cinta Tanah Air 2010 programme organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in conjunction with the 26th National Day celebration of Brunei Darussalam.
The group, led by Haji Ramli Bin Hj Kurus, expressed their gratitude to the assistance rendered by Persatuan Pacuan Empat Roda, Persatuan CARE and Badan Sukarelawan Brunei as well as Megamas training companies.
“It took the team about five hours to reach Mount Pagon which is 1850 metres (about 5,500 feet) high and another six hours to reach the peak,” said Haji Ramli bin Hj Kurus in an interview.
“It was a tough expedition, there were no clear paths and it was slippery. Many of the participants were having a hard time climbing up and descending from the mountain,” he said.
“It was amazing when we sang the national anthem and waved the national flag. We could feel a great sense of patriotism,” said the leader after the team reached the peak.
Awang Haji Mohd Wardi bin Ismail, Assistant Head of the expedition, said “With the success of the expedition, we hope to organise another challenging activity next year. We hope to set an example and be a role model to other youths.”
Meanwhile, two of the participants, Md Asyraf bin Aman and Ani Syamimi binti Hj Rohani, in another interview said, “It was a challenging expedition but we finally made it to the top.
“The path was very slippery and we fell a number of times however the pain was worth it after we reached the peak, we knew we had achieved something great.”
Upon arrival, the delegation was welcomed by Haji Mohammad bin Penglima Asgar Dato Paduka Hj Abdullah, the Director of Youth and Sports.
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Isn’t Mt Pagon now called Bukit Pagon? It’s height is below minimum level for a mountain.Also, Bukit Pagon is no longer in Brunei.Brunei’s highest peak is Bukit Retak.This has already been taught in all schools in Brunei for many years.It is quite embarrassing for this article to be published since Bukit Pagon does not belong to Brunei.