Brunei

Brunei has close trading ties with Singapore, its Asian neighbor. But these two tiny countries are far apart in most ways. Though Brunei is about 8 times bigger than Singapore, it has less than one tenth of its population. While Singapore is a financial and trading world powerhouse which fosters diversity and excellence, Brunei is a tightly controlled, oil-rich nation ruled by the whims of its all powerful king. It was quite a contrast visiting one right after the other.

Our most interesting visit in Brunei was Kampong Ayer, or the Water Village. This is a settlement built on stilts above the Brunei River which goes back at least 600 years. It is the world’s largest settlement on stilts, with houses, mosques, schools and homes clustered among 40 villages. About 30,000 people live there and travel by boat or a network of boardwalks and footbridges. And walking the bridges, many of which sway and have no rails, is a challenge for newcomers! Today many of the homes have electricity and cable. And some people also own homes on the shore and keep their water home for family and day use.

What looks like a gold domed minaret on the right is actually a bridge pillar. The pillars are all given that mosque-like treatment and the domes are lit at night. The actual mosque is on the left, built on stilts in the water with its minaret rising behind the red roof.

This is the community’s fire station, which uses pumps to spray river water on fires. When a home catches fire, it can quickly spread. Brunei is replacing many of the traditional wooden homes with concrete structures.

These blue trimmed boats are the tourist and commuter boats, like the one we rode on.

You can see the warren of wires spread across the village, bringing in its electricity and cable. Instead of street names, there are jetty numbers.

A mainland mosque is visible between a few of the newer concrete homes.

We stopped for tea and local treats at one of the homes where a large extended family lives. Photos of the king and one of his wives are prominently placed here as they are in all the places we visited.

We found that our Brunei Heritage tour had a lot to do with the heritage and grandeur that is the country’s king, his Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien. The Royal Regalia Museum was described as a museum dedicated to Brunei tradition and history. Mainly it is dedicated to aggrandizing the Sultan. His carriages, pictures of him and his family, royal gifts and replicas of rooms in his palace are all displayed here. This king is one of the few absolute monarchs in the world. He has taken for himself all of the country’s most important titles, including Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and of Finance. In other words, if the king rules it to be so, then so it shall be.

The front entry hall has a display of the huge royal chariot the king rode during the parade on the occasion of his silver jubilee in 1992.

A different royal occasion, a different magnificent carriage with costumed dummies representing the regiments that carried the king by hand (no horses or engine) through the streets.

Since most people can’t enter the royal palace, our guide told us the king generously ordered a small replica of the palace entry hall to be displayed in the museum.

This is the Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque, named for the king and the largest mosque in Brunei. The main dome is made of millions of pieces of pure gold Venetian mosaic and the spire is 24K goldleaf.

We visited the night market in Brunei. Night life in Brunei is scarce, since this is a country without theaters (except for carefully curated cinema), clubs, bars, or alcohol. The night market, though it closes at 9, is one of the few places in Brunei where people can go to walk, hang out and meet people. It’s a huge open warehouse-type building holding a food court and market and it’s fun to watch the action. We were struck by the friendliness of most people as we wandered about and took pictures. Thanks for the high signs and good night, Brunei.