Brunei

Southeast Asia An emirate on the northern coast of Borneo .

Southeast Asia's only monarchy , Sultan still holds all the power, similar to Saudi Arabia . Unlike Saudi Arabia, a legal system without the Constitution and the government, there are nominal constitutions and governments, but the royal family is in fact.

The diplomatic religion is Islam , the title of the monarch is Sultan . The capital is Bandar Seri Begawan.

The human development index is the second highest after Singapore in Southeast Asia , and the GDP per capita is the fourth highest in the world. It is a oil producer , and it has a lot of money in the country, and this money provides or more welfare that is equivalent to some countries that are famous for well -maintained welfare systems such as Sweden .

Although the aforementioned human development index is said to be the second highest in Southeast Asia, the gap with Singapore, which ranks first and is a developed country, is as wide as the sky. Above all, the corruption problem is so severe that it has not yet entered the developed world but is instead entering the advanced developing countries.

The problem is that despite its economic power, the country is closed. So, illegal immigration is rare, but it is also difficult for foreigners to enter because it is exclusive.

It belongs to ASEAN , Commonwealth of Nations and APEC .

It is located on the northern tip of Borneo Island and borders Malaysia . It is a very small country with a land area of ​​5,765㎢, about three times that of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province . Although it is a small country with a population of just over 400,000 people, it is almost the same size as Trinidad and Tobago or the Southern Kuril Islands, a disputed region of the Kuril Islands. Brunei's population is Daejeon Metropolitan City It is at a similar level to the West .

It is a country where only Muslims can acquire nationality. To be precise, only Muslim Malays have Bruneian nationality, and Chinese Bruneians, that is, Chinese , Koreans , and some British immigrants, are all foreigners residing in Brunei with visas . The Korean residents are Korean nationals, but the problem is that they are Chinese people who have lost their minds . There are many people in the older generation who survive on British overseas passports, and the younger generation has been able to avoid statelessness by receiving Malaysian citizenship because Malaysia is the only country that issues passports .

Currently, due to these problems, Chinese Brunei Christians are increasingly migrating to Singapore , Hong Kong , Australia , New Zealand , and the United Kingdom , especially to Australia and Singapore.

Because of this brutal discrimination, many foreigners, especially British and overseas Chinese , especially persecuted Chinese Christians, abandoned Brunei and moved to Singapore , which became a brother country by cooperating in the process of joining the Malay Federation , with money.[6]

The currency is the Brunei dollar, and a 1:1 equivalence agreement has been signed with the Singapore dollar . Therefore, it is okay to just take Singapore dollars with you and spend them in the market. There is no need to go looking for Brunei dollars or double exchange them for US dollars. This is because diplomatic relations between Singapore and Brunei are at the level of brother countries. In fact, the two sides cooperated on the issue of joining the Malay Federation, and the Brunei royal family provided large amounts of aid to Singapore, which was poor after Singapore's independence in 1965 .

The official name of the country is Brunei Darussalam (Negara Brunei Darussalam). According to legend, the name Brunei originated from Muhammad Shah, the founder of the Sultanate of Brunei, who exclaimed Baru nah (Ah, this is the place!) when he first visited this place. However, it is likely that it actually comes from the Sanskrit word varuṇ (वरुण) , meaning 'sailor' .

'Darussalam' (دار السلام‎ / Darussalam) is a compound word of the Arabic words dar (land) and salam (peace) and has the meaning of 'peaceful land'.[7] Negara means 'country' in Malay, so a direct translation of the official country name into Korean would be 'Brunei, Land of Peace'. In English, the name of the country is also used as literally as possible, such as Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, rather than Brunei Darussalam.

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Brunei's national emblem is the emblem at the center of the flag and consists of a flag, parasol, wings, hands, and a crescent moon. On the crescent moon is written the Arabic national motto , 'Always follow God's lead' (الدائمون المحسنون بالهدى), and on the ribbon below it is Brunei Darussalam (بروني), the official name of Brunei. دارالسلام) is engraved in Jawi characters .

The flag and parasol represent the royal family of Brunei, and the wings symbolize justice, tranquility, prosperity and peace. The crescent moon is, of course, a symbol of Brunei's state religion, Islam . The hands on both sides symbolize the government's role in protecting Brunei's citizens.

Brunei's national anthem is 'Allah Peliharakan Sultan, الله فليهاراكن سلطن' (Allah Peliharakan Sultan).

It was written by Pengiran Haji Mohamed Yusuf bin Abdul Rahim and composed by Awang Haji Besar bin Sagap, and was designated as the national anthem in 1951 .

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It is a premise monarchy . The political parties are allowed only one national alliance that supports the royal family, and the freedom of media, publishing, assembly, and association is limited. Even in the 21st century, Brunei Sultan 's rule is a huge oil resource. Using a huge oil money , we have realized a direct tax -free country , such as income tax and property tax that walks to the general public. Of course, other taxes, such as corporate taxes, exist. # This is great, but it is pointed out that there is a gloomy prospect that the natural resources that are not directly taxed are depleted in more than 30 years. #

2019 On April 3 , it was criticized for passing Sharia law, and received international condemnation when it was reported that it punished homosexuals and included stoning, as well as amputation for theft. # And when Sharia law was passed, protests continued, such as boycotting the use of hotels owned by the Brunei government. # However, neighboring countries have not released an official position on this. # JP Morgan also banned its employees from using hotels owned by the Brunei royal family. # As criticism from the international community grew, Brunei announced that it would suspend the implementation of Sharia law. #

Since the land area is a city -state level, the administrative district is divided into four districts (DAERAHS). In detail, there are 38 mucims under the lower administrative area.

In the South China Sea , the Louisza reef is effective .

To put it simply, it is a Southeast Asian version of Saudi Arabia or Iran , a higher-end compatible version of Turkmenistan , and a prosperous Afghanistan . To begin with, this country is an absolute monarchy in which all power is concentrated in one person, the king , and is a dictatorship in which the Brunei National Union Party is the only legitimate political party.

Although it is a small country, its international recognition is low, in terms of freedom and human rights suppression, Brunei is as serious as the oil-producing theocratic states in the Middle East . The king declared in 2014 that Sharia would be applied to national law. Article . It is notorious for banning all non-Islamic missionary work of other religions and even executing them . Foreign missionaries are expelled without exception. Women are forced to wear the hijab , and this law is applied even to people of other religions and foreigners .[9] The media is subject to censorship and control without exception, and criticism of Islam, the monarchy, the government, and the state is unthinkable. That is why Brunei always fails in press freedom indexes .

In particular, censorship of publications and the Internet is arbitrary, and there is no freedom of assembly. It is almost at the level of countries notorious for dictatorships such as Iran , Russia , and China .

In addition, Sharia national law is extremely unfair because only the royal family is an exception .[10]

Despite this unfairness, most people seem to be patient and satisfied, partly because public dissatisfaction is being suppressed with extensive welfare based on oil money . In fact, even if all kinds of things are banned, the people have a lot of money, so it is okay to go to neighboring countries such as Singapore , Malaysia , or Indonesia to have fun.

However, due to the effects of falling oil prices, there are limits to oil money, the only carrot given to the people, and internal dissatisfaction and various problems continue to grow.

In addition, thinking Brunei people are very dissatisfied and angry about the royal dictatorship and oppression using religion, and even talented people with thoughts have no intention of working for the oppressive motherland, so many give up their nationality and have freedom of religion, but the oppression is severe. to a foreign country not[11] exit through immigration

Therefore, Brunei is a country with a severe brain drain , and this is becoming a serious problem within Brunei.

In 2006 , professor Lee Won-bok, a liberal arts cartoonist, expressed doubts in the second volume of his book Aspect and Vertical World History about whether stability and peace in Brunei would continue as is and how long the people would remain patient with their mouths and ears closed. If they gradually become aware of democratic values, such as freedom of speech, publishing, freedom of assembly/association, and multi-party system, the country itself may experience chaos it has never experienced before, and the logic is concluded by saying that 'democracy is an age-old problem for Asia .'

As a side note, since it is an ultra-hardline Islamic country on the level of Iran or Afghanistan , Christian phobia is rampant, suppressing Christianity and even declaring war on Christmas . #

In particular, Chinese churches are persecuted so openly that they sometimes close suddenly without warning. The rule is that if missionaries are caught proselytizing, they are flogged and then deported.

Buddhism , Taoism , Hinduism, etc. are not overtly discriminated against, but the expansion of temples is prohibited, and because of this, Buddhism in Brunei virtually ceases to exist. For example, there are no monks in the temple (?!).

From the beginning, clergy of other religions, namely Christianity Pastor / Priest or Buddhist Monk , Judaism Rabbis and others do not even issue visas. The younger generation has become semi-religious due to Westernization and dead traditions, and has declined to the point where people go to fortune-telling or go to temples for fun, such as on Buddha's Birthday or other wishes, and have virtually disappeared for a long time. You should not think of places like Thailand , and in fact, Brunei is close to a place without religious freedom, so many Buddhists actually had to move to Thailand.

Half of the Chinese in this country are Buddhists and half are Christians . Among them, Christians who could not stand the extreme religious oppression that was carried out openly against Chinese Christians fled in large numbers to neighboring countries with many Christians, such as Singapore and Australia . In the case of the Catholic Church , even the seminaries necessary for the training of priests are banned, so there is a tendency to become like Kakure Kirishitan because there are no priests . Protestant churches also have many chapels without pastors . In Australia , Chinese Bruneians , along with Chinese Malaysians and Chinese Indonesians, are forming churches, and in Singapore, the number of Chinese Christians from Brunei is increasing.

Buddhist Chinese people are Buddhist in name only, but these days, they are virtually non-religious. They are said to be 'less' discriminated against by the Brunei government because they have no religious affiliation, but even so, they are in a pitiful situation where they are not even given nationality , and they are persecuted like Christians in general. So, Buddhist Chinese could not endure it and left in large numbers to other countries such as Thailand .

Because of this oppression and persecution, the proportion of Christians in Brunei has decreased significantly. Unlike neighboring Malaysia , where there is a mix of ethnic minorities, 8% of Christians are all Chinese and Bruneians, and other ethnic groups are prohibited by law from practicing Christianity.

The level of Christian phobia in this country is so severe that there are frequent cases of religious police suddenly barging in and shutting down Chinese churches without prior notice. Compared to the neighboring Malay -Muslim countries, Malaysia and Indonesia , these two countries face religious discrimination and mistreatment, but Christian activities are recognized by the government , and religious life is fairly guaranteed , except for some Islamic extremist riots, riots, and crimes. However, Brunei is a perfect place to fly away with harsh words. This can be considered a serious level.

In particular, Christian missionary work is strictly prohibited, and carrying a Bible is regarded as propagation, and is arrested on the spot by the religious police and sometimes beaten.

Homosexuality can be punished by flogging or the death penalty, and the death penalty will not be executed by modern methods such as drug injection, but by stoning , that is, the brutal death penalty by throwing stones .[12] Statute . Please note that this applies not only to its citizens but also to foreigners within Brunei's territory . For this reason, airlines do not provide alcoholic beverages when passing through Brunei airspace . Or, you may even turn around slightly.

They view it as a bad thing to sell alcohol in restaurants run by Chinese Bruneian Christians, and they also consider it obscene and blasphemous for Chinese Christian women to wear clothes that reveal their bodies, such as leggings , hot pants , miniskirts , belly t-shirts , or sleeveless tops .[13] On the other hand , Malay women are 100% Muslim, and since Brunei is a place like Iran or Afghanistan , they are required to wear a hijab .

Looking at this atmosphere, it seems almost like Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan would force women to wear burqas .[14] Fortunately, due to the humid climate , only the hijab is compulsory and the burqa is not compulsory.

Despite this harsh persecution, more than half of the Chinese[15] It remains largely Christian, and Chinese churches also remain, although they are often closed.

In short, Chinese people, especially Christians, are almost treated as ugly ducklings in Brunei. At least, it is possible to coexist if Chinese people have Buddhism as a religion or have no religion, but Chinese people who believe in Christianity are subject to extreme persecution and discrimination. When news about the oppression of Chinese Christians in Brunei becomes boring, it appears in Catholic and Protestant media in Australia and Singapore .

A small number of Koreans residing in Brunei are treated the same as Chinese citizens, making it absolutely impossible for them to acquire nationality. To the leaders of this country, Koreans are just annoying heretics . There are also frequent cases of deportation of Korean Protestant missionaries .

Buddhists , who make up 50% of the Chinese community , and Taoists , who make up 20%, are in the same situation, and among Christians, Catholics are just as discriminated against as Protestants . Buddhist temples cannot be expanded without permission, and Buddhist missionary work is prohibited just like Christianity.

Brunei strengthens Islamic fundamentalism and enacts Sharia law in 2019, which allows cutting off the wrists of thieves and even stoning those who commit homosexuality or adultery. When it was announced that it would be implemented from April 3 , controversy over human rights violations grew, and Amnesty also criticized it. #1 , #2 In addition, it is known that the Sharia law implemented in Brunei also applies to foreign tourists (!). #1 , #2 Because of this, a boycott of hotels owned by the Brunei government is also spreading. # However, Sharia law eventually came into effect on April 3, 2019 amidst criticism. # Deutsche Bank announced that it would ban the use of hotels owned by the Brunei Investment Corporation in protest of Brunei's stoning of homosexuals . # The United States and France also criticized it and called for its abolition, and Canada also protested and issued a travel warning. # However, despite receiving so much criticism from the international community, Brunei protested, saying that the purpose was more prevention than punishment. #

Still, one of the 13 new cardinals was from Brunei. #

In any case, it can be said that Christianity in Brunei is virtually dry. Currently, the only people who believe in other religions are Chinese Bruneians who believe in Buddhism and Taoism . It has been a long time since Chinese Brunei Christians either hid their Christian identity out of fear for their lives or packed up their money and left for places like Singapore , Australia , New Zealand , and Hong Kong , where there is religious freedom but strong Christian influence .

As is the case in most Muslim countries, Israeli nationals are denied entry into Brunei.

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It is evaluated to be similar to Saudi Arabia in many ways, but in terms of welfare , the welfare level and national income are higher than Saudi Arabia , where only the royal family is rich and the people are poor. However, this is not because the Brunei royal family respects the people more than the Saudi royal family, but this welfare is maintained because it is a city-state-sized country with a very small population.

Of course, all medical and educational services are free of charge, and the government provides full support if you wish to study abroad.

It may be called welfare, but since it is an oil-producing country , oil prices are known to be very low, like oil-producing countries in the Middle East. When purchasing a car, you do not have to pay any registration tax and the car tax is free. For this reason, among Asian countries, the penetration rate of private passenger cars is as high as that of the United States.[16]

In particular, a high-end housing complex was planned for the people, but there are so many people who want to live in traditional floating houses, and it is also famous for plastering the top-of-the-line facilities on the floating houses .[17]

Every year, at the beginning of the new year, the sultan invites low-income or broken families to the palace and gives them 700,000 to 1 million won. Give pocket money. It is known that New Year's money is paid to all citizens, but this is not true. New Year's money is usually given to low-income families or broken families, and sometimes there are cases where it is paid to people who studied abroad through government funds.[18]

After oil prices peaked in 2014 , welfare was gradually being reduced due to austerity policies due to the blow from low oil prices . However, the link above is also an old story. As oil prices began to soar again due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 , the recovery of aviation demand after the coronavirus pandemic, and the failure of shale gas, a lot of money is being made from oil again, and welfare has returned to the previous level.

The king's family is famous for living an extremely extravagant lifestyle, and in fact, King Hassanal Bolkiah was recognized as the second wealthiest ruler after Thailand 's King Rama IX according to Forbes magazine statistics in 2011 . This is no different from Saudi Arabia .

First of all, the royal palace , Istana Nurul Iman, is covered in marble and gold in all directions , and when there is a birthday party, the royal family brings in luxury sports cars and sedans covered in gold, and even luxury cars such as Mercedes-Benz and Bentley covered in tens of thousands of small diamonds .

Not only that, when the King's 50th birthday party was held in 1996 , the enormous amount of money presented by King Bolkiah surprised royals from around the world who attended as congratulatory envoys, including Britain 's Charles III . Here, Michael Jackson 's concert was held as a guest singer, with full support and a guarantee included. Best of all, admission was completely free . For this reason , numerous people flocked to see Michael Jackson's performance not only from Brunei but also from neighboring countries such as Malaysia , Indonesia , Thailand , Singapore , Australia , the Philippines , Hong Kong , Macau , Vietnam , and Taiwan . As you can see from the performance video, there were Mercedes Benzes parked at the airport. In particular , many Australians who had difficulty going to the United States due to the distance from the United States traveled here via Singapore in large numbers to see Michael Jackson in person. However, because of this incident, Michael Jackson suffered from rumors for a while, accusing him of receiving a large amount of money and acting as a clown for a country that oppressed human rights.

In short, the Brunei royal family is as much of a moneymaker as the Saudi Arabian royal family.

For reference, the Sultan's younger brother, Geoffrey Bolkiah, wasted a huge amount of money through failed business investments and was ridiculed internationally, but the people of Brunei are not even able to raise an issue about this.

In 2013 , it was reported that Hollywood star Lindsay Lohan was invited to the New Year's birthday party of Prince Haji Abdul Azim, third in line to the throne of Brunei, and enjoyed a date at a luxury hotel in London . The problem is that the money spent on Lohan's invitation was about 100 million won.

Additionally, the King is ranked as the person who owns the most cars in the world. It is known that more than 4,000 units are owned. It is said that there are more than 100 mechanics on site to manage it. If you go to the garage, you can see the world's famous cars, such as Ferrari , by type and color . There also seem to be many specially custom-made models. For example, a Ferrari 456 sedan, a gold-plated Rolls-Royce , etc. Originally, my hobby was collecting bikes , but I got tired of it, so I threw away all the bikes I collected and started a new hobby, collecting cars.

Another well-known hobby is collecting real airplanes , which in some ways is a successful hobby.

If you go to the collection site, which boasts a scale the size of an actual airport, there are about 300 different types of real airplanes, from Boeing 747 to Cessna 172 .[19] What's even more surprising is that all of these collectibles are maintained in operational condition . And the King has a pilot's license. So sometimes I fly a private plane myself .

Among the aircraft collected is a private plane owned by the Brunei government.[20]

As an aside, King Bolkiah is said to be very fond of strawberries among fruits . They were desperate to collect strawberries that only grow in temperate climates, and of course money was spent in this process, and they were importing strawberries from countries such as Korea and China .

There are also rumors that the queen is Korean , but that is not true. You can't find such information even overseas. It appears that there was a misrepresentation that one of the royal family members married a Korean about 50 years ago.

For reference, Brunei's vehicle license plates have different numbers of digits depending on social status, and it is said that the lower the number of digits on the license plate, the higher the status. The highest royal families have one to two digit license plates, and most cars have anywhere from two to five or six digits.

Surprisingly, there is a soccer player from the Brunei royal family. He is also the son of King Hassanal Bolkiah's younger brother, Geoffrey Bolkiah, and King Hassanal Bolkiah's nephew, Pike Bolkiah . Thailand now He plays for Chonburi FC in Thai League 1 and is also the captain of the Brunei national football team . He even has a lot of money, setting a record as the world's richest soccer player, richer than Ronaldo . domestic article

Although soccer is popular in sports , it is the weakest weight class in Southeast Asia. By the way, 1982 Japan 's coach was even sacked after only winning the game against Brunei 2:1. It was the same in the 2000s , with the team losing 0:12 to the United Arab Emirates in 2001 . For more information about football in this country, see the Brunei national football team section.

There is a dark history of being the only IOC member country to not participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympics , in which 204 countries participated . The reason for non-participation is that the player registration was not completed by the deadline (...)

Their performance at the Asian Games was also poor, with only one silver medal and five bronze medals being won in the past Asian Games. Of these, four bronze medals were won in karate and one was won in sepak takraw . The only silver medal was at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. Obtained from Wushu .

The official language is Malay , but it is Brunei-style Malay, not regular Malay. This dialect originates from the Borneo dialect, so it is greatly different from mainland Malay or the Bahasa dialect, which is Indonesian -style Malay.

The standard form is Brunei Standard Malay, which is almost identical to Malaysia 's Standard Malay and Indonesia's Malay, Indonesian , so they are originally spoken together, but in reality, Bruneians speak Brunei Malay rather than Standard Malay , and this differs greatly from Standard Malay, making it difficult to communicate with standard Malay speakers and Indonesian speakers. it's tough.

Unlike Malaysia and Indonesia, which use the Roman alphabet , the Jawi script created by borrowing the Arabic alphabet is still used in many places. Additionally, Jawi characters are taught at school in the first grade of elementary school. Brunei Jawi script learning textbook Unlike Malaysia, Jawi script is used quite a bit because it is an official notation. So, just looking at the sign makes you feel like you are in the Arabian Peninsula . Right now, all the signs are plastered with Arabic letters, so foreigners may feel dizzy (...).

And for religious reasons, Arabic is also designated as a major foreign language. The national motto is also Arabic.

In addition, due to the influence of British rule, British English is also used along with Malaysia and Singapore , and the writing follows the British style. Brunei English , as spoken in Brunei, is similar to other non-native speaking countries, including those that boast some unique dialects.[21] There is a large difference in dialect, so it is very difficult to understand.[22]

And of course, the Chinese people use Chinese . To be precise , standard Chinese is shared, but since various groups such as those from Fujian and Guangdong provinces , as well as those from Hainan province, Hakka , and Chiu Chau coexist, Chinese Bruneians who do not speak standard Chinese cannot communicate with each other. Minnan and Hakka , spoken in Fujian Province and Taiwan, are the largest, followed by Cantonese and Chaozhou.

And these Chinese people, like Chinese Singaporeans and Chinese Malaysians , often use English interchangeably. To a lesser extent, Rojak, a language mixing phenomenon spoken in Singapore.[23] This also appears in Brunei , where there are quite a few conversations in which half Mandarin , half local dialect, half English, and half Malay are randomly mixed.

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