Brunei At A Glance

The people are friendly, not as pushy as in Indo. The state, controlled by the Sultan, controls everything. All citizens, only Brunei can become citizens and own property, have free health care, free education, and no taxation. For this, they give their loyalty and devotion to the Sultan. If there is fraud, as bribery, theoretically anyway, the one caught forfeits everything. All this works in theory since not long ago the brother of the sultan, who was the finance minister, was removed from office for inappropriate behavior. This brother has 2000 cars, of which 600 are Ferraris. The Sultan removed his brother from office and sold several of his Ferraris to balance some of the discrepancy. That said, the brother, who will remain un-named by me, still lives as if he still owns the world, which he probably does, at least the family does. I have never felt unsafe here. No one would knock me over the head to rile through my pockets. Yet, there could be a breaking into the room. I carry my passport, money, and camera with me. The rest is dispendable. No one wants my clothes or toiletries. That is a guarantee. Plus, we are almost always walking around in groups. Backpackers stick together. Like any group, we look out for each other.