IN CONJUNCTION with the 40th anniversary of the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) Women Police Squad, a guard of honour and Excellence Award presentation ceremony were held yesterday at the Officer’s Mess of RBPF Headquarters in Gadong.

Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Masna, the Commandant of Women Police, graced the event. Accompanying HRH Princess Hajah Masna was Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Lela Cheteria Sahibun Najabah Pengiran Anak Haji Abdul Aziz bin Pengiran Jaya Negara Pengiran Haji Abu Bakar.

Upon arrival, Her Royal Highness was welcomed by Dato Paduka Seri Awang Bahrain bin Mohd Noor, the Commissioner of RBPF. Her Royal Highness then inspected the guard of honour which involved women police of the RBPF.

Her Royal Highness then proceeded to sign the Commemorative Sheet Slip before she was ushered to the banquet hall of the Officer’s Mess to present the Excellence Awards to 12 women police officers and personnel. Her Royal Highness signing the Commemorative Sheet Slip. - PHOTOS: DEAN KASSIM

The excellence award was intended to highlight and recognise the contributions and achievements of women in the policing career in four categories – Investigation, Expertise, Task Operations and Special Contribution.

Among the recipients of the awards were Superintendent of Police Hajah Dayang binti Haji Omar and Senior Inspector Maressa binti Morsidi, who received the Excellence Award in Expertise, Staff Sargeant 2096 Siamah binti Haji Abdul and Sargeant 2346 Lim Chin Mee were awarded with Excellence Award in Traffic Investigation, Probationary Inspector Nur Adiba binti Mohammad was awarded the Excellence Award in Crime Investigation (Station Category), Superintendent Hajah Mariyani binti Haji Abdul Wahab and Cpl 4197 Jarinawati binti Jamil both received the Excellence Award in Crime Investigation from the Women and Child Abuse Investigation Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department and the Best Personnel in the Operational Task category was shared by Staff Sargeant 2499 Dayang Aslinda binti Reduan from the Traffic Control and Investigation Unit and L/Cpl 5165 Syamsiah binti Bujang @ Matsait from the Special Force Unit.

Meanwhile, the award for Most Contribution to Team went to SM 2509 Nur ‘Aqilah binti Abdullah from the General Administration and Finance Department, APO/Sgt 5288 Hajah Kasumawati binti Haji Buntar from the RBPF Public Relations Unit and Dayang Noridah binti Haji Sulaiman, a clerk from the Finance Section of the General Administration and Finance Department.

HRH Princess Hajah Masna then received a pesambah from the Commissioner of Police.

Prior to her departure, a short video montage was shown which featured a brief history and journey of the Women Police Squad of RBPF.

In an interview, Superintendent of Police Hajah Dayang binti Haji Omar, who received the Excellence Award in Expertise, expressed her humble appreciation and gratitude to RBPF for the recognition.

Superintendent of Police Hajah Dayang has served the country as a policewoman for 25 years. A polygraph expert with more than nine years of experience, Hajah Dayang said that she was the first policewoman to specialise in carrying out lie detector tests for criminal investigation as well as during the recruitment of police officers.

“We serve the nation 24 hours as police officers and we are striving to carry out our duties and responsibilities the best way we can and we have to always be prepared to assist in carrying out investigations whenever we are needed. I am thankful for the strong support I received from my family who understand what it is like to be a policewoman.”

She hoped that the award ceremony will motivate and encourage more policewomen to work hard in achieving success and she welcomed those who are interested to venture in polygraph. - Borneo Bulletin (17 September 2014)