Brunei Darussalam: Part one.

There is so much to write about a country where I was born and raised! My country may not be the most popular tourist destination in Southeast Asia but we do have a number of unique attractions and each country have their own little charms. This is the first part of the blog on my country, Brunei Darussalam.

I have enlisted below the places which are worthy to visit based from my personal experiences working as both a land and underwater guide in Brunei. I moved out of the country in late 2014 when I was pursuing my degree in the UK and only been back a couple of times a year as I am working and moving around the region. So, my suggestions of places to see in Brunei may be outdated and things may have changed. But I do keep the fond and valuable memories I had of these places very close to my heart.

Brunei Darussalam is situated on the northern side of Borneo Island, facing the South China Sea and surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The country is divided into four districts namely Brunei Muara, Tutong, Kuala Belait and Temburong. The capital city is called Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB, or Bandar for short), in honour of the late sultan who abdicated 'begawan' (used to be Bandar Brunei). Brunei is only as big as Indonesia’s famous island of Bali (5765 km²) but with a much smaller population of about 450,000. Majority of Bruneian is Malay and Muslim, with a small portion of Chinese and minority ethnics (Iban, Dusun, Murut, Bisaya) of Christian, Buddhist and other religions.

The wealth of the nation is generated from the black gold extracted from offshore fields found in South China Sea and some in Belait district. The income from oil and gas has paid for the substantial benefits and subsidies enjoyed by the population. As a local, we are given free education from primary school level up to higher education (and full scholarships to pursue oversea education). Healthcare is free including ward stay, surgery, prescribed medicines, consultation and we’re only need to pay BND 1.00 for registration. Brunei is amongst the few countries that has no taxes so when you earn your salary, it is yours completely. On top of that, the price of fuel is cheaper than water (about BND 0.53 for a litre of petrol and BND 0.30 for a litre of diesel; a litre of bottled water is BND 1.00).

Brunei has an economic mutual agreement with Singapore, in which our currency is interchangeable BND 1 = SGD 1. Singapore dollars is fully accepted for use in Brunei, whereas from my personal experience visiting Singapore, Brunei physical notes are NOT accepted by shops. I am not too sure why this agreement is not honoured in Singapore, as much as we do it in Brunei.

Now before I begin, I must mention that Brunei observes the MIB (Melayu, Islam, Beraja) philosophy which translates to “Malay, Islam, Monarchy”. As a unitary state, the government has the absolute power and control over decisions and our head of state, the Sultan being the utmost and supreme authority. Yes, our current Sultan was once the richest man in the world but he is also the longest reigning leader (since 1967). While the royal lineage dates back all the way to the 14^th century, Brunei is relatively a young nation as we gained our independence from the British protection on Jan 1, 1984.

To keep this article organised, I will discuss about five main headings:
Brunei-Muara, Tutong, Kuala Belait, Temburong and The People: Bruneians.

This is the smallest district, and where most of the population is concentrated. The Brunei International Airport is most likely where you will land and from here you can have easy access to the attractions I am about to recommend below.

Let’s start with museums: The Brunei Museum had incredible galleries and I loved taking my tourists in there some time ago. The museum exhibits artifacts and specimens covering diverse areas such as Archaeology, Ethnography, History, Natural History and even housed a private collection of Islamic arts belonging to the Sultan. However, the Brunei Museum has been closed since last year (2017) for repair so we won’t be able to visit it for now.

On the other hand, the Royal Regalia is like a little piece of Brunei pride and it impresses the crowd upon visiting to this place. There are several galleries about the personal life of the Sultan, the royal regalia such as the royal throne, crown, sword, two carriages used during the Sultan’s coronation and the silver jubilee, gifts from diplomats and the locals and royal medals and titles. This is a great place if you want to learn a thing or two about the monarch of the kingdom.

The Malay Technology Museum and Maritime Museum are situated within the same area of Kota Batu, facing the serene Brunei river – so be sure to walk out of the museums to enjoy the river’s view. The Malay Technology Museum is a place for you to see life-sized models of the original Malay lifestyle i.e. houses on stilts, fishermen, metalsmiths, weaving clothes. It can be creepy at times when you are here on your own because these mannequins are placed at every corner of the galleries and the low number of visitors mean you will most probably be the only one there. Anyway, the Maritime Museum houses some salvaged items from different wrecks found within the coast of Brunei. The artifacts on displayed dated back to the 15^th century, tracing the trade relation with China.

Another museum I would highly recommend visiting is the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Islamic Exhibition gallery located at the State Mufti’s Office. It is amazing how the collection includes ancient Holy Qur’an and various manuscripts from all over the world, dating back a thousand year ago. There is the smallest and biggest Qur’an, as well as the unique praying beads made up of rare materials such as amber.

The two incredible mosques to visit is the Sultan Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien (SOAS) Mosque and the Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque. The first mosque is so iconic and it very beautiful both on the inside and outside. It is named after the previous sultan and was completed in 1958. The mosque has golden domes (allegedly pure gold), marble walls, stained glass windows, and is built around a man-made lagoon with a floating barge. The barge is meant to replicate the 16^th century boat of the famous conqueror Sultan Bolkiah (the fifth ruler of Brunei). Do check out the surrounding of the mosque as there is a new garden built called Eco-Corridor Park and it is nice here for photo-op.

The Jame Asr’ mosque is the largest in Brunei, with a capacity of 5,000 worshippers at a time and it has 29 golden domes to represent the 29^th Sultan (the current Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah). The mosque is unique as the walls are covered with mosaic tiles to create local, authentic patterns such as the corak aing mulih and the interior is absolutely beautiful with the custom-made prayer mats and huge chandelier.

We used to have a massive amusement park but it has massively downgraded to the newer, smaller, kid-friendlier rides: Jerudong Park. We even had Michael Jackson performing twice at the park’s amphitheater a very long time ago. Please come here on Saturday night, 9:30 pm sharp at the Jerudong Park Garden, for a spectacular dancing fountain show. Then we have the lavish, 5-star Empire Hotel & Country Club for a fancy stay if you’d like. However, if you are into nature I would suggest hiking up in Tasek Lama (easy) and scuba diving to see our awesome wrecks and reefs.

Kampong Ayer (water village) in Brunei is truly unique, I would say! This is the principal settlement of Brunei which has existed for centuries. A report by Antonio Pigafetta in the European Sources for the History of the Sultanate of Brunei in the Sixteenth Century stated that in 1521 the population of 25,000 resided in the water village. Presently there is less than 10,000 residence in Kampong Ayer, as most of the population has migrated to live on land instead. Generally, there are two types of houses in the water village; the traditional, wooden ones and the modern, concrete housing scheme provided by the government. The immediate ones (visible from the city) are only a small portion of Kampong Ayer. You can travel by boat towards the Brunei Bay you can see more houses (both modern and traditional) lining up the river banks.

The small and high speed water taxis roamed all around the water village and is a must try for tourists. You will see that the water village is self-sufficient to an extent in which there are schools on stilts, mosques, police station, fire department, fueling station, clinic and restaurants. The traditional houses discharge direct sewage into the river in contrast to the modern ones having a proper sewage system. Marine litter is a big issue here as the stilts are perfect to capture wastes coming from all around.

Once a year there will be a regatta (boat race) on the Brunei River where the water village is located. The Sultan and his family members, the ministers and the people of Brunei will compete against each other – rowing the traditional long boats from upstream. The city will be very lively at this time and it can be exhilarating to see other categories too like the jetski, fast boat and water taxi races.

The Kampong Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery is another place to visit as it is located within the water village itself. The surrounding double storey houses are part of the government housing scheme and if I am not mistaken there should be 65 houses altogether as it was launched to commemorate the Sultan’s 65^th birthday in 2011. The gallery showcases the historical facts, traditions, society and arts of Kampong Ayer and a collection of artefacts dating back to the 10^th century.

There are all sorts of wildlife found here such as the crocodiles, river otters, birds and if you travel upstream into the mangroves you will see big families of proboscis monkeys (endemic to Borneo!). It is worth the trip so get yourself on a tour or hire one of the water taxis to get you there.

Well this is a perfect choice if you want to immerse yourself within the local communities living along the river bank of Sungai Matan. Here you will get the chance to stay in a comfortable homestay with your local host families, learn traditional dishes, setting up traps for fish and crabs, as well as enjoying a local dance performance. Sunset is so beautiful here by the river.

I don’t really know what else to write in Tutong simply because this district to me is right in the middle between the busiest district of Brunei-Muara and the oil town, Kuala Belait. This means, I only get to pass by Tutong without actually exploring what is happening there. The town is very small, facing the river and the only time I would come here is probably for the martial arts training at Wolfpack gym.

There is a famous freshwater lake called Lugu Lake here where you can take a swim or even learn the stand-up paddling. My coach, Adib would recommend the jungle-biking experience / mountain bike at Bukit Ambok (Monkey Hill), but I personally have never tried it.

You can watch a youtube video here where UFC legend, Rich Franklin and his One Warrior Series rode the trail [https://goo.gl/GKacN5].

To be continued in Brunei Darussalam: Part Two...