brunei

I have been to many strange places in my life, but this must certainly be close to top of my weirdo list. The state of Brunei Darussalam, or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace is one of the richest countries in the world, and has an exceptionally high standard of living. This is all due to its leader, known as His Majesty. While some leaders sitting on huge oil and gas fields would use the resources exclusively to fill their own pockets, His Majesty has taken a more enlightened path. All 300,000 citizens enjoy free healthcare and free educations. Should they wish to go abroad to Britain for university, that is paid for as well. Over 50% of the citizens work directly for the government as civil servants, many of the rest are employed by the country’s oil and gas sector, which represents 95% of the GDP. They are all entitled to heavily subsidized housing, and much of that housing is spectacular, my dad notes as we pass through endless neighbourhoods of massive houses with swimming pools and satellite TV. Everyone assures us that basically any citizen who works is guaranteed a god, stable life filled with material comforts. Of course, His Majesty leads the way, with 4 massive palaces, the largest of which has nearly 2,000 rooms and is run for him by the Hyatt. His car collection supposedly contains nearly 5,000 cars. My father and I are invited to have tea at the house of a lady who (proudly?) identifies herself as one of the “less fortunate” (they don’t use the word “poor” here). She is a cook in a local school. Her house is a wood house built on stilts over the water. Her living room is bigger than the flat I share with other people in London, the snacks she serves are more nutritious than what I can typically afford.
Yet her house is also an indication of the conditions attached to this wealth. An entire wall in her living room is dedicated to His Majesty. Later, I stumble into a Bruneian wedding. There are 1,200 guests, all exquisitely. There is a massive buffet of delicious food that seems to span Indian and Chinese simultaneously, and where for the first time in my life I am treated to curried pineapple, a peculiar taste I conclude I enjoy- in small doses. And again, next to the picture of the bride and groom is a portrait of His Majesty. There is also one in every restaurant we visit, and every public building. On TV, journalists must address him by his full name, all 32 words of it, and they can face severe punishment if they mess up even one word. The national museum is a tribute to him and his family. It mainly contains gifts given to him by important people, such as honorary general’s and admiral’s uniforms given to him by Queen Elizabeth II while he was at Sandhurst. We also get to see the gold throne-mobile he gets carried around in by human labour. It is also a state that relies on the near slave labour of hardworking Philippinos and other South Asians. Of course I have seen many weird states with ruler-cults, but this one defies my stereotype, precisely because it is so damn wealthy and the people seem genuinely satisfied with their lot. They look at their neighbours in Malaysia and Indonesia, and thank their despotic ruler for bringing them 18th century style enlightened despotism. Weird place Brunei.