Japanese exchange students plan to learn Brunei culture, make new friends
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Two foreign students in Brunei on an exchange programme said they hope to learn more about Brunei's culture and make new friends.
Japanese student Kenshin Gonda, who will be taking business for one year following Universiti Brunei Darussalam's (UBD) August 2025 intake, said he was always curious about what nature offered in South-East Asia and believed Brunei was the perfect place to find this out.
He said, 'My ambition is to become a successful businessman one day and I am really interested in what South-East Asia's businesses have to offer. I want to know and learn about the business programme at UBD.'
Kenshin Gonda added, 'At first I didn't know much about Brunei. I didn't know the official language was Malay and I am still unable to understand the language. I am really interested in the culture and I appreciate Brunei's pristine nature because I grew up near a river surrounded by nature. This has led me to appreciate nature.'
He added that he would also like to travel to other Southeast Asian countries during the holidays.
Meanwhile, Kenshin Uchiike who is studying social science at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences said he wanted to come to Brunei to learn and understand the culture of the people here.
'Initially I didn't know much about Brunei. I researched online about Brunei and found out that the main religion was Islam and the official language was Malay. I realised that I could learn a lot of new interesting things in Brunei.'
He added, 'I am very interested in music and nature. While in Brunei, I hope to make many Bruneian friends and learn more about the culture and traditions here.'
The latest UBD intake included 510 undergraduate, 124 Master, 19 PhD, 133 UniBridge, and nine non-graduating students. – Borneo Bulletin/ANN
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