The 13 ministers and eight deputy ministers in the new Cabinet line-up of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's Government were officially sworn in before the monarch in an austere ceremony yesterday at the Istana Nurul Iman.

His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam consented to preside over the swearing-in ceremony for new Cabinet Ministers and deputy ministers that was held at the Balai Singgahsana Indera Kenchana Throne Room.

The letters of appointment were read out by the Grand Chamberlain, YAM Pengiran Penggawa Laila Bentara Istiadat Diraja Dalam Istana Pengiran Haji Alauddin.

His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince was the first to be sworn into the Cabinet as the Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office.

His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah then read the oath to continue on HRH's portfolio as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

This was followed by the swearing of the oath of loyalty and allegiance by the other Cabinet Ministers to His Majesty.

Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong read out his oath as the new Minister of Education. He was previously the Minister of Communications.

Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Adanan bin Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Mohd Yusof then stepped forward to take his oath as the new Minister of Health. He was previously the Minister of Home Affairs.

Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman swore his loyalty and allegiance to the monarch as the new Minister of Development. He was previously the Minister of Health.

Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdullah bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar was then sworn-in as the Minister of Communications. Prior to this, he held the portfolio of development minister.

Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar retook his oath as the Minister of Industry and Primary Resources.

Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Ibrahim then read out his oath before the monarch to take up his new portfolio as the Second Minister of Finance at the Prime Minister's Office. He was formerly the Second Minister of Finance at the Ministry of Finance.

Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng then took his turn to swear his oath of loyalty and allegiance to continue on his post as the Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which he had held in the previous cabinet.

Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar read out his oath of loyalty and allegiance as the new Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister's Office. Prior to the cabinet reshuffle, he was the former Deputy Minister of Defence.

Pengiran Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohammad bin Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahman also read out his oath as the new Minister of Religious Affairs. He was previously the Deputy Minister of Education.

Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Othman then took his oath as the new Minister of Home Affairs. He was the former Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs.

Finally, Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Paduka Awang Haji Hazair bin Haji Abdullah read out his oath of loyalty and allegiance to His Majesty as the new Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. His previous post was the Deputy Minister of Health.

This was followed with the swearing-in of the eight newly appointed deputy ministers.

Dato Paduka Awang Haji Abd Wahab bin Juned read out his oath of loyalty and allegiance before His Majesty as the new Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister's Office.

Dato Paduka Awang Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat then took his oath as the new Deputy Minister of Defence.

Awang Haji Bahrin bin Abdullah followed suit to be sworn in as the new Deputy Minister of Finance.

Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yusoff bin Haji Ismail then took his oath of loyalty and allegiance to the monarch as the new Deputy Minister of Education, as well as pledging to be honest, just and fair.

Dato Paduka Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong read out his oath as the new Deputy Minister of Development.

Pengiran Haji Bahrom bin Pengiran Haji Bahar also read the oath to become the new Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs.

Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof took his oath of loyalty and allegiance as the new Deputy Minister of Home Affairs.

The final swearing in was made by the first female cabinet appointment with Datin Hajah Adina binti Othman as the new Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Witnessing the swearing-in ceremony was Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Masna, Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Also present at the ceremony were Pehin Datu Seri Maharaja Dato Paduka Seri Setia (Dr) Ustaz Haji Awang Abdul Aziz, the State Mufti, and Datin Paduka Hajah Hayati, the Attorney General.

In the titah announcing the Cabinet reshuffle on May 29, His Majesty had stated that the posts of State Mufti and Attorney General are of ministerial rank.

To bless the ceremony, a doa selamat was read by the State Mufti.

In the titah announcing the Cabinet reshuffle, His Majesty announced that the appointments of the new ministers and deputy ministers were for a period of five years.

The monarch expressed the hope that the newly-appointed ministers and deputy ministers would carry out their duties, powers and obligations with absolute sincerity, honesty and trustworthiness. - Borneo Bulletin (10th June 2010)