Talk:Brunei

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Koyaanis-

This is a lovely article. Sets a high standard for these country-specific social studies pieces, like my too-long in progress Japan/History. I have a couple of questions though. Between the vague CIA definition, and your very detailed definition, I think we should have a phrase that concisely summarizes Brunei's government, if only because it's so unusual. ( A GDP per capita of, what, 25,000 US? And not a democracy. ) Do you think that an "Effectively near absolute monarchy?" would be right? Or "effectively absolute monarchy?" Or is it even near-absolute? I'm not sure exactly how absolute it is, because all I've read just gushes over the fact that the Sultan built a free amusement park. And has a big house. I'm fairly sure there's no legislative body with any real degree of power, so I suppose the only thing standing in the way of absolute monarchy would be the Judiciary, of which I don't know much.

Actually, now that I read what I wrote, this seems to be more a question for my benefit than for the article's. Well I suppose that's just another plus of patronizing Wikipedia, eh?

Also, for the articles' sake, I've got something else. On independence under a British-written constitution ( that called for a government in the British mold ), didn't the Sultan immediately dissolve the parliament that the constitution mandated? Or maybe he stripped them of power. Whichever, it was in 1984 as I remember. I think that ought to get a mention if I remember the facts right. That's why I'm asking you, as matter of fact, because you seem to have a lot more of the facts a lot straighter than I do. I don't want to post anything too outrageously wrong.

Well, I do very much appreciate the vote of confidence, but I didn't write the article--I cut and pasted it from the Department of State website, which offers info in the public domain on various countries (unless it's got a copyright notice on that page; otherwise it's free/free). But so unfortunately I can't answer your question. I'm really not very informed about various countries; I just think it's a valuable resource to have on Wikipedia. Someone probably should go over them asking questions and starting discussions; I've only removed glaring biases and attempts at propaganda; I imagine there are several scattered throughout, a bit submerged.

BTW, there's more info on the porting here, if you're interested. I don't mind doing it myself, but I wouldn't mind additional help either.  :-)--KQ

Oh, ah well. I suppose that means I'll have to look into it. I've been so busy lately though that I need to get this Japanese History article out of the way ( I just got back to school a few days ago. ) Porting seems like a good idea. This article is probably much more accurate than anything I can write. Especially to get things started up. This Japaneses history thing needs to get done first though.

-Seckstu

The coat of arms is in the .gif format, which should be avoided. If no one changes this, I will do it.

--zeno 01:23, 9 Jan 2004 (UTC)

I've replaced the following "Britain still maintains a garrison in Brunei on the request of the Sultan and to protect the oil fields in the West of the country." to identify that it's not the British army but a garrison of Gurkha soliders who are on Sultan's payroll who are actually stationed in Brunei. This was done with the arrangement of the British Army (via veiled threats that Brunei will relocate all its investments away from Britian if this arrangement was not accepted.

Couple of events in the past decade includes "official coronation of the Crown Prince" (i.e. official confirmation that he will be the next Sultan), the Sultan's youngest brother is now living in exile in France due to mismanagement and emblezzment of money (US$3b worth) that sent the Brunei economy into a tailspin. I didn't know whether these events would be suitable but it does impact the country.

I have added an expansion of the description of the history and use of Anduki Airfield to the Brunei Revolt section based on my personal tour of the facilities there in 1998. At the time, I was trying to get permission to use a part of this airfield for a proposed Bruneian ultralight aircraft mfg/flight center but was denied any approval (in the usual Bruneian manner of being very polite but doing exactly nothing), mostly due to the reluctance of heavily British-run Brunei Shell to allow any other activity there - especially one with Americans involved. Although the ultralight flight center was intended to be part of the developing Jerudong tourist/hotel area near the famous Jerudong Amusement Park, I also encountered subtle Bruneian resistance to my mission, apparently stemming from the idea that the ultralights might fly over some of the Royal Family residences (istanas) near there. They did not seem to fear them posing a hazard so much as the idea that some of the Royal Family's activities and extravagant facilities might be observed from the air. On some of my numerous flights into Brunei, the Royal Brunei Airlines stewardesses made a point of drawing all the airplanes' window shades down while approaching and flying over the coast where the Royals' istanas are generally located. TYSON BA

This was just before Prince Jefri was brought to heel by the Sultan for his unauthorized and extremely wasteful (some would say completely mad) financial extravagances. The British businesspeople in Brunei, especially those connected with petroleum and aviation activities, sharply and actively opposed any involvement in Brunei by American businessmen or investors- a fact quite amazingly at odds with the representations of the Bruneian aviation and development authorities who induced the company I represented to consider the Sultanate for U.S. aviation investment. This ultralight mfg. and training center project was initially conceived based on the representations of the then-Aviation Director of Brunei while on a trade mission to the USA. A proposal for substantial Bruneian military participation in and benefit from the ultralight mfg. project was floated as a possible answer to their resistance, but was killed even though it was pointed out that stealthy ultralight aircraft patrols over Brunei's extensive and valuable forest borders would likely detect and deter much of their multimillion-$ yearly losses to eco-destructive timber thieves stealing teak and other valuable hardwoods. These timber thieves are so active and industrious that they have been known to lay their own mini-railroads from the rainforest to the beach in order to float their timber out. Naturally criminal activities on this scale could never be concealed from the air. In sum, Brunei remains an almost exclusively British and Malaysian (Bhumiputra) business preserve, and any American firms seeking to invest there in any area of business should be strongly cautioned about the inevitable vicious and stubborn British resistance they will encounter from the human relics of that decaying empire still in place there.

By the way, Prince Jefri has been repatriated but his passport has been seized, his aircraft auctioned, and he has been consigned to living on the miserable budget of only $300,00 per month by his brother the Sultan. Widely rumored to be mentally deficient -explaining the fact that he was always heavily sequestered and kept out of sight by the Bruneians and his entourage when formerly overseas- Prince Jefri Bolkiah has now been stripped of his chairmanship of the Brunei Investment Agency and the direction of the now-defunct Amedeo Corp., the vehicle for most Bruneian development initiatives in the past. He now lives under a sort of "Royal house arrest" in Brunei in his many garish and even bizarrely built istanas (palaces). The Bruneian people themselves are afraid to talk openly about the Royals because of the pervasiveness of Bruneian Internal Security informers, but I certainly heard some great stories in private while living there in 1997-1998. Publicly at least, the Bruneian Government is based on the so-called "MIB concept": Malay culture, Islamic religion, and "Beraja" - an untranslatable cultural concept stressing the respect the people have for the Sultan and his alleged historical identity and unity with the people and their interests. At least 51% of working Bruneians are in fact employed directly by the Government of Brunei, as a sort of social welfare program and as some answer to the high local unemployment problem.

Yes indeed, the Sultanate of Brunei is one of the last remaining utter and absolute monarchies on the planet, but Wikipedia may not be the place to elucidate all of its more bizarre aspects. Some of the things I learned and saw personally there truly beggar description and would strain your credulity if I told you. But I can say that the next Sultan, the present Crown Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah is an interesting and fairly decent chap much like his father. What I won't put here are all the other things I learned about the Royals and the inner workings of the Sultanate. Had some very well-placed friends and informants myself, including a former leader (now pardoned and quite aged) of the Brunei Revolt of '61 itself.

I could further describe at length the extent of the Monarchy there, its anachronistic rituals and overwhelming influence, and the very peculiar workings of H.M's Gov't - but this is my initial contrib to Wiki and I now lay down the keyboard to see how this will be accepted.

--sryan@io.com 206.224.69.3 00:35, 22 September 2005 (UTC)


MIB (Melayu Islam Beraja) vaguely means a Malay Islamic Sultanate, Brunei is the only MIB country in the world.Caramel16 10:51, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

This is very interesting.

As a resident of brunei for some odd 20 years. these facts have not been known to me. its even more interesting that a foreigner who has resided in brunei for 2 years can arrive at this level of knowledge about the internal workings of the bruneian goevernment. this is the clarity or objectivity that is needed in the media as a next phase in the development of the country.

at its present state of equilibrium, the country will not progress. it will be trapped in a state of equilibrium whereby the tertiary educated and competant migrate out and the non tertiary educated from neighbouring countries malaysia migrate in. unlike 1960 and 1970s singapore, brunei does not have a culture or history of competetiveness,innovation and entrepreneurship. It lacks a competant ambitious middle class which is vital in developing the economy at a grassroots level. instead, the working ,middle class foreign immigrants (especially non-malay or muslim) are restricted, citizenship or permanent residency is not granted even after decades of residency in brunei. this protectionist policy results in immigrant foreigners regarding brunei as but a mere stepping stone for other countries which is deplorable because ideally, the immigrant residents leave not because of indifference to the bruneian culture and society but due to the lack of acknowledgement and indifferent treatment by the government.

Brunei needs to adopt an open attitude towards foreign influence in this ever increasing globalized world. It needs to shed off its isolationist and secularist policies if it aims to progress as a nation. Otherwise it is potential wasted.

I hope such a viewpoint can be incorporated into the article to better reflect the perspective of the internalized foreigners who are treated indifferently. That brunei is a nation, and not a racial community.

-sec

Contents

[edit] rebellion prevented

Was there or wasn't there a rebellion? What does it mean to say there WAS a rebellion that was PREVENTED? 08:00, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

---

I added a judicial section.


Regarding the Gurkha soldier being station in Brunei. They are probably on Sultan's payroll but they are still a British Garrison because they are many British soldiers (not just Gurkhas) in the garrison. They have also been called to serve outside Brunei, as in a few ago Gurkha troops from Brunei Garrison served in peacekeeping efforts in East Timor.

[edit] more details

I am very dissapointed to see this article on brunei and fail to see a single metion for restriction on freedom [ of all kinds ]. Even in a country with more freedom than brunei, malaysia, there are even articles about freedom restriction. In a country with even less freedom, should'nt there be at least a small section about freedom restrictions ?

' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_of_religious_freedom_in_Malaysia '

Just read this report from the US government ;

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 8, 2006

There were problems in the government's human rights record, particularly in the area of civil liberties. The following human rights problems were reported:

   * inability of citizens to change their government
   * arbitrary detention
   * no freedom of speech, press, assembly, or association
   * restrictions on religious freedom
   * discrimination against women
   * restricted labor rights
   * exploitation of foreign workers


http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61602.htm

Yet i fail to see any of these mentioned in the article. Not including any of this makes this article both un-clear and inaccurate. Ignoring these problems is very bias, as civil liberties are essential for a free society ; it brings self-fufillment, justice, freedom to think and do without external influence, and many others. I am not saying that brunei should be free or will be etc, what i am saying is if you want to write an article on a country, it should cover all major history and happenings ; both negative and positive.
—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.160.33.119 (talk • contribs) 20:13, 14 June 2006.

Possible POV violation? The statement in the article, "Due to the absolute rule of the Sultan, Brunei is one of the most politically stable countries in Asia," could be understood as a plea for the advantages of despotic rule. --IslandGyrl 20:05, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] suggestion

1. remove the arabic naming. Reason: Arabic is not one the main lingua franca in brunei. number of arabic speaker is so little with exception of those who study in school. Even the no. of Hokkien (Chinese languages) speaker in Brunei is even greater. If you wanna put the arabic naming then there sould also be the chinese naming.

2. no one mentioned that Brunei one of the few countries in Southeast Asia that reached the United Nation Millenium Development Goals

3. why did everyone put the negatives things about brunei? what did they want? TYSON.254-5792773344

  • What Arabic naming are you talking about? Those are Malay language in Jawi script --Bukhrin 16:39, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] suggestion

It would be interesting to know the economic data on Brunei, especially the distribution of wealth. Also, I was in Malaysia last week and heard stories of people who had been tortured in Brunei because they were suspected of proselytizing. It would be interesting to have more material on religious freedom. scott 06:05, 12 December 2006 (UTC)Jscottbasiko

[edit] Proposed WikiProject

In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Southeastern Asia at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Southeastern Asia whose scope would include Brunei. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 16:42, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Brunei/Borneo

Are these related words? I would think there has to be some common etymology. Chris 03:34, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

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