THE National Day celebration will go on as planned on today unless it rains until 10am, according to the Information Department on Tuesday.

To ensure smooth running of the grand event, a media briefing was held at the Information Department where press representatives were informed on the procedures and regulations to be adhered to for all media representatives in the country.

"If it rains, the ceremony will be postponed until 8:15am. If it is still raining, we will wait until 9.15am but the inspection of the uniformed groups on the field will be cancelled, but the performances will go on as scheduled," Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Jefri Kasim explained during the briefing.

He added that if the rain continues until 10am, the entire ceremony will be cancelled. An estimated 5,700 participants will take part in the National Day celebration held at Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar 'Ali Saifuddien (Taman SOAS) in the capital. The celebration is scheduled to begin at 7am.

His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam is expected to arrive at 8:15am, accompanied by members of the royal family. The royal arrival will be marked by the national anthem, sung by a specially-assembled National Day Choir followed by the procession, oath taking and field performances.

This year's celebration saw a slight increase in coverage from journalists and bloggers as 397 media accreditation passes were distributed yesterday. It was recorded that 386 journalists and bloggers covered the event in 2010, and 2009 saw the participation of 375 media representatives.

This year, young budding journalists from Media Clubs in schools were also given media passes to cover the national event. Among the participating schools were Rimba Secondary School, Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College (MTSSR), Katok and Meragang Sixth Form Centres, and Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University.

According to Head of Media Services Division, Hj Dayang Hj Kasim, only school journalists above 16 years old were allowed to take part.

Also present at yesterday's briefing were the protocol officer of the State Adat Istiadat Department, Ak Mohd Noor Hamaddi Pg Ahmad; and representatives of the Royal Brunei Police Force, ASP Pg Hj Abd Salam Pg Hj Abd Ghani and DSP Hj Othman Hj Ahmad from RBPF.The Brunei Times