Can a Stricter Version of Islam be Used a Guarantor of Social Equality?
Looking at the published stats, the tiny Sultanate of Brunei in northern part of the island of Borneo, sandwiched between Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, is definitely one of the wealthiest states in the world. Massive income from exporting oil and liquified natural gas have created a land where every citizen enjoys automatic enrollments in hefty and regular pension payments, near universal access to modern facilities, perhaps the highest per capita consumption of cars in Asia. Many a travel guide out there refers to the country as the "Islamic Singapore."
But aside from drawing the obvious similarities in absolute cleanliness and almost completely crime-free streets that both countries are so proud of (and definitely quite rare in other parts of polluted, congested urban Southeast Asia) The comparison of the two countries does not really add up when one looks at them beyond superficial physical features. Unlike the highly stressful and tensely energetic Singapore where fortunes are made and lost due to the economic health of its myriad trading partners, Brunei seems to be a much more laid-back place with much less "showiness."
Brunei has not in anyway became a "Dubai of the East" due its fabulous oil wealth. Its capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan is an unassuming little town, with little shops run by Indians and Arab traders that resemble the back streets of provincial Penang or even Banjul rather than the capital of a micro-state that sit squarely in the international Top Ten for per capita disposable income since oil was discovered in the 1920s. In fact, the only ornate and grandiose structures that can be found in the entirety of this strict Islamic country are religious or quasi-religious-looking government buildings.
There are no flashy shopping malls, no expensive cars, no gigantic villa-style for anyone besides the royal family. No one carries around Gucci or LV bags, and no one shows off expensive watches or jewelry.. Instead, a regular T-shirt and shorts seems to carry the day, as a large portion of the common people continue to reside in wooden houses perched on top of wooden planks above the Brunei River just has generations of their forefathers have done, both before and after the discovery of oil. The contrast of those simple wooden houses with the ornate mosque in the background is stark by any definition.
Surely those wooden houses are fully equipped with AC, Satellite TV, and any other modern household conveniences modernity and cold hard cash can offer, but still, from the outside, honestly they look like a cross between a wooden Venice with seriously polluted waters and a hastily constructed shantytown in the outskirts of an African metropolis. Their residents can certainly afford to move out, and their government can definitely afford to foot the bills and provide the land to do so even if the residents themselves are unwilling to pay. So why so adamant about maintaining this "traditional style of living"?
The Bruneian version of strict Islamic ideology, known locally as Maleyu Islam Beraja (MIB) which combines utmost adherence for Malay culture with strict punishment for possession of pork, alcohol, and male-female "indecent" behaviors in the public. The result is no nightlife, no boys and girls even daring to walk too close to each other (don't even think about holding hands or, God forbid, kissing), and no ladies wearing anything more sensual than a T-shirt and long, to-the-ankle, skirt. Combined with focus on family values, these rules have placed a serious damper on consumerism and materialism.
The mandatory complete lack of immorality is, while making the country a bit too boring for anyone (including the Bruneians, who hop over the border to Sarawak to unleash their inner craziness from time to time), also made it as physically equal and thrifty as a country this wealthy can possibly be. Walking around, one cannot even tell who is a Bruneian living off fat government paychecks and who is a Bangladeshi laborer just scrapping by very little remains after sending the majority of his hard-earned cash back home as remittances.
And above all, the people of Brunei have become genuinely mild and hospitable. A water-taxi driver waves a friendly goodbye and drive off after a "No, thank you" from the traveler (much unlike fellow Muslim brethren in places like Turkey and Morocco where aggressive peddling rules) and cars stop on the street to beckon the traveler for a ride even though the traveler did not attempt to hitch-hike. After all, when people have so much money that they just keep themselves employed for fun, theft is practically unheard of, and there is no social pressure to compete with others to look good, there is no need to be anything but friendly.
But aside from drawing the obvious similarities in absolute cleanliness and almost completely crime-free streets that both countries are so proud of (and definitely quite rare in other parts of polluted, congested urban Southeast Asia) The comparison of the two countries does not really add up when one looks at them beyond superficial physical features. Unlike the highly stressful and tensely energetic Singapore where fortunes are made and lost due to the economic health of its myriad trading partners, Brunei seems to be a much more laid-back place with much less "showiness."
Brunei has not in anyway became a "Dubai of the East" due its fabulous oil wealth. Its capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan is an unassuming little town, with little shops run by Indians and Arab traders that resemble the back streets of provincial Penang or even Banjul rather than the capital of a micro-state that sit squarely in the international Top Ten for per capita disposable income since oil was discovered in the 1920s. In fact, the only ornate and grandiose structures that can be found in the entirety of this strict Islamic country are religious or quasi-religious-looking government buildings.
There are no flashy shopping malls, no expensive cars, no gigantic villa-style for anyone besides the royal family. No one carries around Gucci or LV bags, and no one shows off expensive watches or jewelry.. Instead, a regular T-shirt and shorts seems to carry the day, as a large portion of the common people continue to reside in wooden houses perched on top of wooden planks above the Brunei River just has generations of their forefathers have done, both before and after the discovery of oil. The contrast of those simple wooden houses with the ornate mosque in the background is stark by any definition.
Surely those wooden houses are fully equipped with AC, Satellite TV, and any other modern household conveniences modernity and cold hard cash can offer, but still, from the outside, honestly they look like a cross between a wooden Venice with seriously polluted waters and a hastily constructed shantytown in the outskirts of an African metropolis. Their residents can certainly afford to move out, and their government can definitely afford to foot the bills and provide the land to do so even if the residents themselves are unwilling to pay. So why so adamant about maintaining this "traditional style of living"?
The Bruneian version of strict Islamic ideology, known locally as Maleyu Islam Beraja (MIB) which combines utmost adherence for Malay culture with strict punishment for possession of pork, alcohol, and male-female "indecent" behaviors in the public. The result is no nightlife, no boys and girls even daring to walk too close to each other (don't even think about holding hands or, God forbid, kissing), and no ladies wearing anything more sensual than a T-shirt and long, to-the-ankle, skirt. Combined with focus on family values, these rules have placed a serious damper on consumerism and materialism.
The mandatory complete lack of immorality is, while making the country a bit too boring for anyone (including the Bruneians, who hop over the border to Sarawak to unleash their inner craziness from time to time), also made it as physically equal and thrifty as a country this wealthy can possibly be. Walking around, one cannot even tell who is a Bruneian living off fat government paychecks and who is a Bangladeshi laborer just scrapping by very little remains after sending the majority of his hard-earned cash back home as remittances.
And above all, the people of Brunei have become genuinely mild and hospitable. A water-taxi driver waves a friendly goodbye and drive off after a "No, thank you" from the traveler (much unlike fellow Muslim brethren in places like Turkey and Morocco where aggressive peddling rules) and cars stop on the street to beckon the traveler for a ride even though the traveler did not attempt to hitch-hike. After all, when people have so much money that they just keep themselves employed for fun, theft is practically unheard of, and there is no social pressure to compete with others to look good, there is no need to be anything but friendly.
I don't know. Having some experience in Iran (which, admittedly, is a bit flashy on the outside), a lot of people save their "fun" and taste for expensive stuff/affairs for indoor guest-warming or parties. I'm skeptical that this society is that much less egotistical and image conscious than others. I feel it's human nature to some degree, and in Islamic cultures, when "vice squads" try to enforce their version of morality in the public, it's mainly in the private households, in the ostentatious parties and secret caches of expensive imported alcohol, that we really see the showiness.
ReplyDeletehey, I am not saying these guys in Brunei dont do it, they just dont do it in public within their own country (like one of my Malaysian friends mentions, "the border town is where it all happens")
ReplyDeleteBut either way, for their amount of loaded-ness (believe me, the Bruneians, as a collective, is one of the most loaded people in the world) their down-to-Earth, friendly image is just unbelievably genuine.
Maybe they do have a couple of Cognacs or what not in their houses, but still, the societal atmosphere, so to speak, really dont give off the impression that that sort of thing happens in a massive scale.