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If you want to live in a land that gives free housing, free
medical, free education, free travel and pay you to go to university then you
need to go to the wonderful dream land of Brunei. I admit that I did about 30 minutes of
research before embarking on my quick journey to the land of Sultans, jungles
and mosques.
It all began with a prayer…actually two prayers. One to Jesus with my family and friends and
then the other to Allah with the flight team and passengers on Royal Brunei
Airlines. I thought I was safe… that
was until the loud speaker changed tack from prayers to warnings… should I take
in too many cigarettes or drinks to Brunei, I will get flogged or whipped. If there is any hint of drug deals or
trafficking there is an instant death penalty.
So I went from safe in the arms of God to fearing for my life... even
though I knew I was innocent.
Brunei is the
smallest non-island nation outside of Europe, with a population of 400,000 and
78% of the land still dense forest. The
inhabitants are fiercely proud of their heritage and their Sultan. The 29th Sultan of Brunai… note
that he is never referred to as ‘the sultan’
but by his long name and title which takes about 2 minutes to say!
After a pleasant flight and a friendly welcome I took the
free tour on offer from the airline. It
was 2 hour drive by of the city. It was well worth it if you are going to be
around a few hours. We stopped once, and that was at a small food market for
20mins to get a cheap feed. For Brunei
$1 ($1.20) you received a bowl of rice,
spicy sauce and some fried chicken; Nasi Kotak to be precise. It was delicious. They markets had all sorts of food and
drink. I was fooled however and when I
ordered what looked to be some kind of exotic concoction to drink (I was
feeling daring) it turned out to be a watery chocolate milk! WHAT!!
The tour was fast and very much an overview but good if
that’s all you can do. So with the next
7 hours what was I going to do? I
decided that I wanted a better look and a chance to get off the bus so I booked
a better tour and actually paid! It
wasn’t much because this whole country is cheaper that chips but it was well
worth it.
I got on a bus with a few others who were also transiting
for the day. We learned about the
economy, about the government, w e got detailed history of the sultan and his 3
wives, 12 children and son who is the future Sultan. First stop the Mosque of the current
sultan. Being a Thursday it was closed
in preparation for the next day of prayer however I was awed by the gold
mosaic, the water fountains, the superb gardens and the sheer size of the
place. I can proudly say that they use
New Zealand carpets, specially ordered by the Sultan (mum- it’s the same blue
as we have at home, you must have good taste).
That useless fact was from my over zealous tour guide called Sam.
The Royal regalia museum was good as was the National
museum. I was pretty sure I would have
liked it more if I was a little less tired though. There was some cool stuff, especially the
royal chariot used for the coronation and the new one ready to be used this
year in the 25 year celebration fo the rule if this Sultan. As you can hear from my email… EVERYTHING
revolves around the Sultan. HE pays for
everything… if you house burns down its ok he’ll buy you a new one!
He seems to be a good guy… 51c a litre for petrol, opening
his palace twice a year to anyone who wants to meet him. He does that for 33 days! What a peoples politician!
My favourite thing of the whole day was the 600 year old
water village. All the buildings were made on stilts and they have water taxis
that drive you around. There is no speed
limit in the water so think of a sped up, uglier Venice! Try going here to have a look. It reminded me of the water favela in Recife
however these places were big, furnished, not falling down and have
electricity. I guess its only that they
were wooden houses on brown water that was the same.
http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=4.881156,114.938107&spn=0.01054,0.019312&t=h&z=16
The whole place was pretty cool and I’d like to come here
again for more than just a day. There is
huge need for missionaries here. They
have in the whole county 2 churches- 1 Anglican and 1 catholic. There are also huge forests, walking areas,
beaches and a group of really friendly people.
So here I am about to board on my next prayer filled flight
to Dubai then London jotting down a few notes on Brunei. I hope you enjoyed.
