Brunei
Area: 5,765 km2 ( 0.06% of Canada, 1.61% of Germany, 2 x Luxembourg)
Population: 401,890 ( 1.16% of Canada, 0.49 % of Germany, 78.5% of Luxembourg)
Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan
Currency: Brunei dollar (BRD)
Time travelled: 4 days
Distance travelled: 3,164 km (2,964 km by plane)
Highlights in chronological order:
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Having been to Bandar Seri Begawan
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Walking through Kampung Ayer, the biggest water village in the world
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Meeting wonderful CSers
Brunei Darussalam, Abode of Peace, is quite an interesting country. We had expected a green Dubai, but that is far from being the case. Although it is also a small Muslim Sultanate rich in oil, it lacks the opulence of its Middle-Eastern cousins.
The People: While chatting with Rudy and Iza, we learnt a lot about Brunei. They also told us about the amazing benefits of being Bruneian, which explains why it’s so difficult to become one. After 20 years of permanent residence you can (might) get the citizenship, but first you have to take a test. Even then, you are not granted citizenship, but they put you on a “waiting list”. People born in Brunei are not Bruneian automatically, unless their parents are Bruneian. So some are stateless because their parents are only permanent residents. They get a different passport saying that they are “stateless” (and border officers around the world make fun of them) and they need entry visas for all countries in the world. It’s pretty sad, but one of the CS girls was in this situation. She went to study in Singapore and got citizenship there in order to belong to some country. To understand why they keep citizenship so exclusive, we need to give some examples:
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free education and scholarship to study abroad, regardless of grades
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free health care (if no expert is available in Brunei, they fly the sick person and his family to Singapore, pay for the treatment and all other expenses during the stay)
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at 18 years old, you get a house from the government for free
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government job (well-paid)
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social welfare allowance if you don’t work
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old age pension
It is not difficult to see that they want to keep the population benefiting of these perks as small as possible since the Sultan doesn’t want to spread his wealth too much. But even as a permanent resident, there are no income taxes in Brunei and gas is really cheap ($0.50 per litre). Iza and Rudy (who are not Bruneian citizens themselves) feel that this system encourages the Bruneians to be lazy because everything is taken care of for them. They told us that the Bruneians love to shop and go spend all their money because they don’t know the concept of saving. Also, not only does every person have a car, but some people have 2-3 cars, if not more. Cars are very cheap (and so is gas), so people keep cars and change them for every day of the week! They also mentioned some nicknames Bruneians use for them: “Bananas” are Chinese people that go to English school and have a Western upbringing (“yellow on the outside, white on the inside” like Rudy). “Coconuts” are “brown on the outside, white on the inside”, like Iza. It sounds pretty racist, but they were laughing about it. For us it’s pretty sad because some of these people have been there for generations and they feel Bruneian, but they are second-class citizens.
The Culture: Since its independence from Britain in 1984, Brunei has adopted a national philosophy where Malay, Islam and Monarchy stand in the centre. Basically, it has strong cultural and linguistic influences from Malaysia, emphasizes the meaning of Islam in its everyday life as well as in politics and cherishes the Monarchy, headed by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. He is the 29th ruler of “the world’s oldest continuously reigning dynasty” and claims descendance from the Prophet Mohammed. His palace, Istana Nurul Iman, built in 1984 is the largest residential palace in the world. With its 200,000 sq meters, it is more than double the size of Buckingham Palace. It has domes made of gold, 1,788 rooms, a banquet hall for 4,000 guests, a 110-car garage and a mosque to accommodate 1,500 people. We didn’t visit it, as it is only open to the public during a festival at the end of the Ramadan. The people practice a devout, but moderate Islam and are tolerant of other traditions and cultures.
The Food: The food is similar to the Malay cuisine, but there are also Thai curries and Chinese food to be found everywhere. A truly typical Bruneian dish is “ambuyat”, a glue-like substance made from the interior trunk of the sago palm. You eat it by rolling the paste around the prongs of a bamboo fork and then dipping it in sauces. We also had crepe filled with crushed peanuts and raisins which was delicious.
The Economy: After the government, the main sector of the economy is oil and gas production, which has led to Brunei’s richness. It is owned by Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP), a joint venture owned in equal shares by the Brunei Government (aka the Sultan) and the Royal Dutch/Shell group. The country is almost totally supported by exports of crude oil and natural gas, with revenues from the petroleum sector accounting for over half of GDP. Per capita GDP is high (18,300 USD in 2002) and the government provides for all medical services and subsidizes food and housing (for Bruneians). The government has shown progress in its basic policy of diversifying the economy away from oil and gas, in case the reserves run out, but there is no rush.
Transportation: As one can see from our stories in BSB, public transportation is horrendous in Brunei. So either you have a car, or you stay at home. We were told that BSB has a population of about 200,000 inhabitants and 400,000 cars. That’s 2 cars per person, including children. Gas is $0.50 per litre and there are no import taxes on cars, so Bruneians drive EVERYWHERE. They do not consider walking even a few meters, so public transportation is out of the question. There are a few mini-buses, but they don’t follow a schedule or a route, so it’s nearly impossible to get around with them. Basically, if you travel in Brunei, you better have a car or know someone who does.