Travel with the Zenks: The Nation of Brunei, Abode of Peace

That is the official name of this small country, possibly the richest nation on earth, per capita. The ocean off the shore of Brunei is lit up, day and night, by oil platforms. That is one reason, but the other reason is that no one can become a citizen of Brunei unless your parents are citizens of Brunei. Everyone has a national identity card. If you are a foreigner working in the country, and there are a lot of these people, you are considered a foreign worker until you have been here 25 years and pass a very difficult exam on the history, culture and laws of the country, only given in the native language. If you pass, you get a different colored national identity card (pink) and are considered a foreign resident. Only the third group, native born, are considered citizens.

They get a monthly stipend, free education and medical care and other benefits. This keeps the population down, or it would if the average family did not have 6 to 8 children. Under Sharia law, a man may have up to 4 wives, if he can afford them. He must provide a separate house for each wife and treat them all equally. If a wife feels slighted, she may sue him. British law applies to major crimes, but Sharia law governs the day to day actions of the people. Alcohol and tobacco are forbidden. No one may even enter a restaurant which is not halal (like kosher, but for Muslims.) A male and female who are not closely related may not be alone together after dark. Women wear head scarves, except when there is a reason not to. Our guide did not wear a scarf because it would interfere with her job as a tour guide using a headset to talk to us.

Old style houses in a Water Village

Our visit started with a trip to the technology museum, but what they really meant was a look at the old way of life in a water village. I am not sure why the people chose to live this way, but they have build their houses on stilts along the shore. All the houses are connected by wooden walkways. In previous times, the house were made of palm branches woven to make walls and to thatch the roof. They wove cloth, and worked in gold, silver and bronze. Houses were single room and single story.

The modern houses in the water village are built on cement pilings and are made of wood. Some of them are 2 story and have several rooms. Electricity and water are provided. Many people have television, telephones and internet. Thousands of people live in these water villages. they have schools also built on platforms. However, since these too are made of wood and since the houses are close together, fire is a major problem. There is a fire station at the land side of the water village with 3 nice fire trucks, but I did not see any fire boats. Whole sections have been destroyed by fire. The government will resettle the people on land, but many of them prefer to rebuild on the old foundation.

Water taxi jetty. A ride is only a phone call away.

To get from one section of the village to another, you could find your way by a series of walkways, I suppose, but the preferred way to get to another place is by water taxi. If people have jobs in the city, they take a water taxi to a parking lot and drive into the big town or to wherever they work.

We were fed a snack of traditional foods at one of the houses in a living room about 20 feet long. Several generations may live in the same house with separate bedrooms but share the kitchen and living room.

Our last stop, after a water taxi ride back to land, was at the local market where the freshest ingredients are available to the cooks. As an alternative, vendors also go by boat so you can shop at your doorstep.