Working Together in Prosperity

Article reproduced from Cyprus Mail in 2001, From Ross Pays

When telling someone that one is off on a business trip to Brunei the response is normally either where is that anyway? or a supposedly knowledgeable nod of the head and a glazed look.  Just occasionally someone who has served in the British army will brighten and reminisce on their days of jungle training something which the SAS still use the Brunei jungle for.  After the handover of Hong Kong Brunei is also the last permanent posting for the Ghurkhas.    

If one was looking for an exotic holiday destination it is unlikely that Brunei would be at the top of the list, it is likely to be a fair bet that very few could actually place it on a map. 9 times out of 10 the fingers would probably hover over the Middle East but that would leave you a couple of thousand miles west. A good start perhaps is to give the actual postal address!    Negara Brunei Darussalam, Borneo , East Indies - no not Dar Es Salaam .  It is actually somewhere Krakatoa is South and West of (in fact Krakatoa is west of Java also, so much for Hollywood ’s geography!). 

The actual location is on the north-west of the island of Borneo , between east longitudes 114 degrees 04' and 11 degrees 23' and north latitudes of 4 degrees 00' and 5 degrees 05'. It has a total area of 5,765-sq. km. with a coastline of about 161-km along the South China Sea . It is bounded on the North by the South China Sea and on all the other sides by Malaysian State of Sarawak . Apart from the built up areas it is an equatorial jungle, a rainforest.   

Brunei has a population of some 330,000 made up of 220,000 Malay, Kedayan, Tutong, Belait, Bisaya, Dusun, Murut , Iban, Dayak, Kelabit (the indigenous tribes and race), 50,000Chinese, and the rest mainly Europeans and immigrant workers.  The third largest oil producer in Southeast Asia producing 163,000 barrels per day, t is also the fourth largest producer of liquefied natural gas in the world.  With a GDP of US$14250 per head it is the richest nation in Asia and only slightly lower than the UK and higher than Spain , Portugal and Greece . With an economic growth rate of 5%, inflation a miniscule 2% and one of the highest per capita income rates in the world there is not much discontent amongst the population!  A country who’s membership that would have Brussels Eurocrats drooling. 

Probably most people will have heard of the Sultan of Brunei, he was the richest man in the world before Bill Gates took that title – and probably is again after the reversal of fortunes of the Microsoft Corporation and the subsequent fall in the value of technology stocks!  The Sultan was also involved in an early rescue bid for Barings after the ‘rogue trader’ affair. 

His reputation precedes him and even the citizens of my adopted home in Cyprus have heard of him – not least because of a legendary visit to the Four Seasons Hotel where fact, he took over an entire floor for his entourage and fiction, he gave all the staff a gold Rolex as a tip (fact he did leave a tip for all the staff who received at least £100 each! even the gardeners). He was also remembered for deciding that 3am was a good time to go shopping and arranged a number of local shops to be opened especially for him, many of the owners are rumoured to have retired on the profits and many of the purchases are still in storage.   

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, is the 29th of his line, which dates back to the fourteenth century.  Born on 15th July 1946 at the Istana (Palace) Darussalam in the capital, Brunei Town (now Bandar Seri Begawan ). He went to University in the United Kingdom where he later qualified for admission as an officer cadet at the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy and was commissioned as a Captain in 1967. He is very much an anglophile and has always had close ties with the British Royal family.

Besides being the Sultan and the Ruler, His Majesty is concurrently the Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Finance Minister, and head of religion of Brunei Darussalam. The Sultan is married to Her Majesty Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajjah Saleha and Her Royal Highness Pengiran Isteri Hajjah Mariam. He has ten children - four princes and six princesses.  Of course he also has two mother-in-laws! He does not get a lot of time to himself it seems!

In demonstration of his anglophile nature, on a trip to London, His Majesty was so impressed with Capital Radio he arranged to have it rebroadcast in Brunei in real time so that now while driving around Brunei Chris Tarrant’s efforts to make millionaires are not lost. It does seem a bit strange however listening to the breakfast show at 4 in the afternoon, mind you when the reports of the traffic and transport problems – and the temperatures – are broadcast the ‘wish I was there’ factor doesn’t apply!     

His Majesty's official residence is the Istana Nurul Iman, which is also the country's seat of administration and is one of the most awe inspiring palaces in the world – complete of course with its own polo field – it is said that it houses over six thousand of the Sultan’s nearest relatives!  There is also an underground car park in which resides His Majesty’s extensive collection of rare and expensive automobiles, driving along Jalan Sultan, the road outside the palace it is not uncommon to be held up outside the gates as His Majesty goes for a tour of the city driving his own Porsche and escorted by a posse of police motorcycles trying desperately to keep up. Hard to imagine the Queen belting down Pall Mall in her Ferrari!

The oil revenue, which makes the Sultan and the nation so wealthy, also means that Bruneians have no income tax to pay! There is also free medical care and pensions! Oil and therefore power is very cheap with a full tank of petrol for a medium size car costing about £10! The country also has an excellent road system between the inhabited areas, which is essentially the strip of land along the coast.  Straying off the road is possible in some places with a 4WD vehicle but in many areas penetrating more that a single pace without a bulldozer is not a proposition.

Islam is the official religion of Brunei although the country prides itself on religious tolerance.  It is, however, expected that foreigners will maintain a reasonable modesty of dress and naturally visits to Mosques or official areas require women to have shoulders and hair covered and below knee skirts.  The Muslim rules also mean that Brunei is officially a teetotaller’s idea of heaven.  Alcohol cannot be purchased anywhere in Brunei, not even in international hotels, again however tolerance is the keynote and non Muslims are allowed to bring a case of beer and two bottles of wine or spirits on every entry.

This has made a number of the border crossings to Malaysia very popular and busy and the “border run” to top up supplies is a regular part of expatriate life. A short half hour or less drive to the border a 5 minute walk across no man’s land and the first building on the Malaysian side is a pub and off licence!  If that conjures up pictures of Raffles bar in Singapore and Oddbins, well not exactly, it is a tumble down wooden hut on the edge of the forest run by a toothless Chinese/Malay woman who could easily be the offspring of a sumo wrestler and Bloody Mary, the larger that life entrepreneur Mrs Fixit in South Pacific.

Now buying supplies here is not the same as pushing a trolley around the drinks section of Tesco’s nor the local store where you ask for a Chablis or whatever takes your fancy, if you want your beer quota it is Malaysian Tiger and anything else, well you just have to go and see what is in stock! Reaching the storeroom of the establishment gives one a chance to play Indiana Jones, around the back of the hut, on the edge of the jungle (mind the snake, duck under the giant spider webs and preferably bath in mosquito repellent first!), across some rotting planks that bend and creak alarmingly, le patron undoes a quantity of very businesslike locks and padlocks and ushers you down a wooden spiral staircase, the wooden treads of which seem to be only being held together by the termites holding hands, and into Dante’s inferno.  If this is wine at room temperature then the room must be above a volcano!

Strangely the stock seems all to be marked MDNP (Malaysia Duty Not Paid) but this is definitely not an official duty free shop.  Perhaps that explains why the choice is rather limited and the brands available are never the same from one visit to the next, a suspicion that the stock may not come from ‘normal’ sources is reinforced when a car pulls up with four customs officers inside who sit down for a smoke and a beer and are then all given envelopes – surely they can’t all have a birthday on the same day!                

One result of the system is that a visit to a restaurant, even the most exclusive, has the diners all arriving clutching coolers! In a larger restaurant glasses and wine buckets are provided – but it is rather embarrassing when the sommelier asks someone to taste the wine – bit difficult to send it back when one brought it one self! In the more conservative local restaurants such self provided offerings (including beer) are decanted into a teapot and pored into china cups in order not to offend the sensibilities of the faithful.  It does make it all feel very decadent – but it makes entertaining much cheaper! Even when inviting friends for a BBQ or dinner at home they know they have a duty to bring sufficient for their own needs!

For all the little quirks Brunei is also one of the most modern countries in the world with a highly efficient infrastructure.  Apart from alcohol virtually any consumer desirable is available at very competitive prices the latest mini mobile phones, computers and electronic equipment.  The supermarkets shelves are stacked with all the familiar European items from OK Sauce to Pickled Onions, from Camembert to Sauerkraut as well as local delicacies and selection of fresh fruit and vegetables that puts Sainsbury’s to shame.  The variety of fish and seafood is also amazing with fresh Tiger Prawns the size of a Maine Lobster and Lobsters the size of a prize-winning marrow.

A cruise on the Brunei River at sunset affords the traveller a glimpse of Brunei Darussalam's culture and history, no head hunters left but it isn’t difficult to imagine them lurking in the jungle that runs right up to the river bank. The most striking landmark is the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, an edifice of classical Islamic architecture, with a golden dome. A colourful sight especially when it is lit up at night is an elegant stone boat that resembles a 16th century royal barge built in the middle of a lagoon and linked to the mosque.

On the river also is the water village, the famous Kampong Ayer, home to the 30,000 people in huddled wooden houses raised on stilts. The centuries-old settlement includes schools and medical clinics and houses with modern amenities. Raised walkways weave between the packed houses where underneath zoom wooden taxi boats with powerful outboard engines. There is no question that the residents are in anyway underprivileged judging by the number of satellite dishes o the houses and the hundreds of late model luxury cars parked on the riverbank opposite.

What else does Brunei have to offer? Some superb country parks, one of which is right in the centre of Bandar Seri Bagawan the capital city, an oasis of tranquillity with a waterfall emptying into a lake, palm fringed, golden sand beaches completely unspoilt and stretching as far as the eye can see, hornbills in the trees competing with troops of monkeys that occasionally venture into city gardens an friendly and helpful people and a final secret that is surely unique. For those brave enough to venture into the jungle although sadly there are no Orang Utans left there are Asian Bear, and some small deer as well as the monkeys and some incredibly varied reptiles including crocodiles and the Reticulated Python a 20ft specimen of which I actually saw being carried across the road by a squad of firemen!

If one is looking for pampered luxury the Empire Hotel just a few kilometres form the centre of the city, is located right on the beach and on the edge of the golf course and polo fields. There are not enough superlatives, firsts, biggests available to describe the Empire Hotel with its own attached multi screen cinema, manmade blue lagoon and huge swimming pool, the enormous atrium (biggest in the world), luxurious rooms with gold plated taps and bedroom doors 8 ft high and 4ft wide that look like they belong in a medieval castle and all yours for a modest US$100 per night! (A little more for the Presidential suite which has its own servant’s quarters and swimming pool!).

15 minutes from the centre of town is Jerudong Park , one of if not the largest polo complex in the world and also the home for the Royal Brunei Golf and Country Club. It also houses a Disneyland Style theme park opened three years ago. The park is on a grand scale and the Sultan arranged that for his visits a fleet of golf carts would be available to transport his extended family around.  Nowadays the golf carts are available to all, chauffeur driven and carrying six passengers they take the pampered visitors between attractions for the un-princely sum of £ 6 an hour!

In most of the world it would seem a bit of a waste of time to speed between rides with queues for the most popular up to three hours long.  Not so Jerudong, a wait of more than 5 minutes even at the busiest of times is unusual, even for the main rides such as the Log Plume a 5 minute log ride outstanding among its peers around and up a 50 metre high, man made mountain in the middle of the park.  For the ultimate thrill seeker there is the drop zone, strapped into a pilot’s seat in full harness the victim is lifted vertically up to then height of a ten-storey building an agonizing wait of what seems to be ten minutes, ends when the brakes are removed and the chair goes into accelerated free fall stopping only at the last second, it all happens so fast the screams of terror are locked in throats until the descent is over –not for the faint hearted!  It is also a lot of fun to have bumper cars where the staffs do not spend all their time telling one not to bump- in fact they join in!

The park also has an amazing array of food outlets all sorts of Asian foods plus burgers and milkshakes for the unadventurous. There are some beautiful gardens in the centre of which are the musical fountains every evening there are two half hour spectaculars of “son et lumiere” with computer controlled fountains producing a background which give the illusion of an extravagant firework display. 

But all this may be seen elsewhere two things make Jerudong different, first it doesn’t open until 5pm and closes weekdays at 2am ! 5am during Ramadan! And second amazingly all the rides and attractions are available for a total of the equivalent of around £6 courtesy of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan and the people of Brunei Darussalam.

Ross Pays is the Chairman of The FAA based in Cyprus. FAA offer advice on wills, tax registration services, home, health and car insurance, investment services and tax planning, including Inheritance Tax Planning, together with full accounting services.

Visit Ross Pays website at www.rosspays.com, Telephone 00 357 25 82 58 76, Fax 00 357 25 33 35 93 or e-mail ross@rosspays.com
Initial consultations are free and no obligation and fee quotations will be provided in advance for all services.