We spent today in Muara, Brunei. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even know such a country existed until yesterday! Brunei is a tiny country that shares the huge island of Borneo with Malaysia and Indonesia. The full name of the country is Negara Brunei Darussalam (means "abode of peace"). Brunei is an absolute monarchy ruled by a Sultan, who is the world's second longest reigning monarch after Queen Elizabeth II with over 50 years rule.
I’m always amazed at the hoops we have to jump through to enter another country, even if only for a few hours. Did I mention that we were fingerprinted in Singapore? Entering other countries has required us to complete all kinds of forms, including health declarations, customs declarations, arrival cards, full visas and passport checks, as well as temperature checks, declaring physical currency and providing various other information. My point is that other countries know who is coming in and going out of their country. Our arrival card for this island had this warning in red, "DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS UNDER BRUNEI LAW."
Brunei boasts a crime rate of less than 1%. Being an Islamic country, there are strict rules that must be adhered to by guests as well as Brunei citizens. Our guide told us that the policemen in Brunei are fat because they do not have to chase criminals. Ha! Brunei citizens are under both Sharia and Common Law. Certain crimes can result in deadly consequences. Alcohol or tobacco cannot be sold or consumed in Brunei. Drug smugglers are put to death. Lesser crimes can result in caning or extended jail sentences. I could list many other offenses that result in severe punishment in this country that Americans do freely and openly every day. It’s no surprise to me why they have such a low crime rate! Additionally, businesses are closed from 12-2 every day for prayer.
Today’s excursion was a mangrove cruise through a swamp to try and spot proboscis monkeys followed by a visit to a water village. Unfortunately, the monkeys were few and far between. Being another equatorial country, it was super hot just as it has been everywhere for the past several weeks.
We also visited another water village where the houses are built on stilts over the water. We disembarked the boat and followed the wooden walkway to a home where we were served refreshments on a covered porch, then invited inside the main room of the house. At least 3 generations of the family were there to greet us, including men, women and children. I met the matriarch and took a photo of her sitting next to her jewelry collection. I’ll include some other photos I snapped inside the house. As in Indonesia, the people were very welcoming. I’m sure they receive compensation as they have been allowing tour groups into their home since 2009.
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| a river boat ride |
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| water was a brown swampy color |
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| swampy water runs through lush tropical forest |
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| an occasional monkey sighting |
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| Kampong Ayer water village |
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| life in a water village |
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| houses are connected by bridges or walkways |
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| large mosque in the village |
Only 30% of the land space in Brunei is occupied; 70% is still raw jungle. Brunei is a wealthy country. According to our guide, Bruneians pay no income tax. Education (all the way through college) is “free” as are medical services. Correction: any medical service in any hospital costs $1. The government provides housing for anyone who does not own land and their water and electricity is super cheap. When asked how the government is able to do all of this, our guide simply replied “oil and gas.” Brunei has a monument celebrating "The Billionth Barrel of Oil Produced."
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| view from boat of one (of 3) 22 carat golden domes - Istana Nurul Iman Palace |
Speaking of the Sultan (Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III), he is highly revered by all the people. As we motored down the waterway, we could see the domes of his palace at a distance from our boat. It has 3 large gold domes, each covered in 22 kt gold. The Sultan's palace is the world's largest residential palace with 1,788 rooms (257 are bathrooms), 5 swimming pools, space for parking 110 of his 601 cars, a banquet hall with capacity for 5,000 guests and an air conditioned stable that houses his 200 polo ponies. And of course a mosque. His wealth is estimated at $30 billion. He has 12 children from 3 wives (he has divorced his second wife, but shhh…we’re not supposed to know that). When the current Sultan dies or steps down, his son will be the next Sultan. His son’s palace has already been built and is waiting on him to move in at the proper time, at which time the domes will also be plated in gold.
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| cute little greeting committee |
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| Welcome to our home |
Here are some photos I snapped inside the house. I wonder how they feel with 20 strangers walking around inside their home taking pictures? Thankfully, they didn't seem at all bothered by it.
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| seating in main living area |
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| Sultan when he was younger |
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| framed photo in living room |
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| framed family photos in living area |
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| family members |
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| young mom with a cute 2 year old |
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| matriarch of the family |
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| her jewelry case |
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| kids playing and being kids |
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| wooden bridge decorated for guests |
We walked past a Muslim cemetery just off the water's edge where I also snapped a few photos.
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| notice the chairs and stools near the grave sites |
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| bodies are laid on right side facing Mecca |
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| shrubs planted on top of grave sites |
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| different shaped markers for men and women |
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| scented water to pour over graves |
Hope
you enjoyed the photos. Sorry I couldn't get a look inside the palace! lol Another sea day and we're on our way to Vietnam, a place that brings back different emotions for many Americans.
Bharberts: the children were adorable. Read Brunei is supposed to be a very happy place. I guess if you are submissive and willing to not question the laws, you know you boundaries. People seem to be dressed better than in the last few ports. It is interesting at how lavish the furniture is within the house. In many ways, it reminds me of Hawaii. From the outside, houses did not look nice at all, but inside they would be beautiful. I read Brunei has about 500,000 people total, and most of them are in the city where you were. Immigration(legal) to the USA is stringent. It requires piles of paperwork and fingerprints or eye scans.
ReplyDeleteThe children were adorable. They are probably used to a lot of strangers coming through their house. I agree that the inside of the house didn't at all match the outside. However, I'm not sure how typical this one is. I'm sure it would be a MAJOR effort to immigrate to the US!
DeleteMy uncle Jake McCallister was a World War II soldier in the jungles of Borneo. Many battles in the Pacific were fought there. He picked up a few words from there at the time and relayed ro us kids. One word was Bagoos meaning good. I might not have spelled it right.
DeleteAnother neat thing about Borneo. A native carved a spoon out of ebony wood for my uncle to give to me as a spoon collector. Lj
ReplyDeleteVery cool! If you still have it, you'll have to show it to me sometime. I'm guessing it was made from teak wood.
DeleteMade another comment that disappeared into space. A native carved out an ebony spoon and gave to my uncle to bring back home to me a spoon collector. Must have some ebony wood over there
ReplyDeletebHarberts: one of Dad's friends was stranded in WWII in Borneo. He had been with an Australian group and the Japanese captured them. Dad's friend hid in the jungle. He said he was able to survive because he'd been an orphan and lived on his own from the time he was 10 or so in the country. An Indonesian family found him and they kept him and hid him when he came down with some kind of fever. After the War, he went back to Borneo and married the daughter. They lived in Ft.Worth. She was a wonderful woman.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a story! I can't imagine how one could survive alone in that thick jungle for any length of time! But sounds like God was preparing him for it as he was growing up. Perhaps it was dengue fever? He was a walking miracle!
DeleteBharberts: It could have been dengue, though I think it might have been encephalitis of some kind as his body was always weak and he had horrendous headaches, which he never had before. His wife never went back to Borneo-she said her family would not accept she married him. Their children, who were a bit older than me, went there in the early 2000's and only one of their mother's siblings was living. She told the kids that when you married out of the culture, you were dead to the family. They were Muslim now, but in WWII they were animists.
DeleteSo very sad. :(
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