Taken
from the CIA fact book – Brunei us the 128th richest
country by GDP in the world and 12th for per person
wealth. It's an autocracy, for the last 700 years the Sultan has
ruled and governed. In modern Brunei the Sultan provides free
housing, medical care and education for his subjects and of course
there are more jobs, than Bruneians available to work so people have
come from places like Qatar, Philippines, Malaysia and Nepal to fill
the need.
The
reigning King is 68 now and encourages his people to devote more time
to their families and their faith. This means Government regulations
prohibit any activities between midday and 2pm on Fridays; shops and
offices closed, restaurants closed to allow families time to visit
their mosque. And by fate we chose today, Friday to visit the
capital, Bandar Seri Begawan or BSB.
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| Sultan's ceremonial coach |
 |
| umbrellas of attending nobles |
Fortunately
BSB is compact and we were able to find our way around and spend over
an hour in the Sultan's Regalia Museum before midday closing. The
museum is a wonderful piece of architecture, all marble and deep pile
carpet, showcasing gifts given to the King, ceremonial paraphernalia
from his coronation and his Silver Jubilee. There's room after room
of priceless objet d'art and one room of ceremonial medals presented
on state visits to foreign countries. I was particularly fascinated
by the Order of Chrysanthemum from Japan. One might think that's
for valour in the garden
 |
| Golden mosque |
With
everything closed we wandered around the outside of the Golden Mosque
and through the shops to the bus station where we found our bus ready
to go. An hour later we were back at the YC.
This was
are interesting 2 days in Brunei. There was still time for a late
afternoon visit to the ferry terminal to complete exit paperwork,
swimming in the pool while another load of laundry whirled away and
later another splendid meal at the yacht club. Next morning we left
at first light to return to Malaysia and rejoin the rally.
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