Brunei Darussalam: Consolidating the Foundations of its Future? (original) (raw)

Brunei Darussalam: A Nation at Peace

This article explains salient features of Brunei's political ethos which values peace, prosperity and security as national motto .Negara Brunei Darussalam is unique among the Southeast Asian states. Aside from being the smallest country in the region, Brunei has a novel, albeit neo-traditional form of government that is sometimes seen as anachronistic on account of the absence of elected representative institutions present in the other ASEAN member countries. Despite this, Brunei has emerged as a significant player in the region, and has attained a status well beyond its size in important international organizations, but especially so within the ASEAN group.

Continuity and Change in Brunei Darussalam

Continuity and Change in Brunei Darussalam. London: Routledge, 2021

This book analyses the processes of social and economic change in Brunei Darussalam. Drawing on recent studies undertaken by both locally based scholars and senior researchers from outside the state, the book explores the underlying strengths, characteristics, and uniqueness of Malay Islamic Monarchy in Brunei Darussalam in a historical context and examines these in an increasingly challenging regional and global environment. It considers events in Brunei's recent history and current socio-cultural transformations, which give expression to the traumatic years of decolonisation in Southeast Asia. A wide range of issues focus on foreign, non-Bruneian narratives of Brunei as against insider or domestic accounts of the sultanate, the status of minority ethnic groups in Brunei and the concept of 'Brunei society', as well as changes in the character and composition of the famous 'water village', Kampong Ayer, as the cultural heartland of Brunei Malay culture and the socio-cultural and economic effects of the resettlement of substantial segments of the population from a 'life on water' to a 'life on land'. A timely and very important study on Brunei Darussalam, the book will be of interest to anthropologists, sociologists, historians, geographers, and area studies specialists in Southeast Asian Studies and Asian Studies.

Brunei deals with its future

Limes Italian Journal of Geopolitics, 2020

Published in Limes Italian Journal of Geopolitics, 13/08/2020. English version of Stephen C. Druce and Abdul Hai Julay (2020) Il Brunei Fa i Conti Con Il Futuro. LIMES - Rivista Italiana di Geopolitica, 6. https://www.limesonline.com/en/brunei-deals-with-its-future

Brunei relations with Malaysia1963-1983.doc

In 1963, Brunei rejected to join Malaysia. Since its rejection of Malaysia in 1963, Brunei had never had a steady relationship with the Malaysian government. In 1960, the Malayan Prime Minister proposed the formation of the Federation of Malaysia which would consist of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. However, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III (r.1950III (r. -1967 refused to join Malaysia as he could not accept Malaysia's terms for examples on the control of Brunei's revenue and the Sultan's contribution to the federal government. Though Brunei rejected Malaysia, Britain was still planning to bring Brunei within the federation at least by 1965. 1 Brunei and the Malaysian Plan Initially, the British government hoped to see continuous co-operation from Malaysia in seconding Brunei its officers in various fields of administration even after Brunei's rejection of Malaysia in 1963. By giving Brunei this type of co-operation, the British government hoped that Brunei would become closer to and eventually enter Malaysia. Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister of Malaysia however, demanded that the Brunei government return the Malaysian officers to Malaysia, as he wished to teach Brunei a lesson for not joining the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. 2 Tunku Abdul Rahman hoped that by recalling the officers, their positions would be substituted by British expatriates. 3 When this happened, he expected that it would stimulate the people of Brunei to rise against the British in Brunei, push the British to grant Brunei independence and drive the Bruneians to seek membership of Malaysia. 4 Tunku Abdul Rahman's action in recalling Malaysia's seconded officers from Brunei impelled the Sultan to obtain British assistance in providing Brunei with technical and professional services. However, still seeking close co-operation between Malaysia and Brunei, the British government encouraged the Sultan to employ officers from Malaysia. 5 Although the Sultan claimed that he would review the position of the Malaysian officers 1 Muhammad Hadi Abdullah, 'Brunei's Political Development and the Formation of Malaysia: 1961 -1967', Ph.D. thesis, University of Hull, 2002, p. 137. 2 Ibid., pp. 249 -250. 3 When Brunei rejected the proposal to join Malaysia in 1963, the Malaysian government took its seconded officers in Brunei back to Malaysia. The Malaysian government withdrew the Malaysian Police Field Force unit, Malaysian officers and Non-Commissioned Officers serving with the Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (RBMR). 4 DO169/547, Bottomley to Reed, 25 October 1966. 5 Muhammad Hadi Abdullah, 'Brunei's Political Development', p. 259.

Brunei Darussalam: Origins, early history and social structure

Origins, History and Social Structure in Brunei Darussalam, eds Victor T. King and Stephen C. Druce. , 2021

The introductory chapter provides the rationale for the book, to acknowledge, celebrate and evaluate Professor Donald Brown’s pioneering studies on the Brunei sultanate. It is just over 50 years since Professor Brown undertook anthropological research in Brunei (1967–1968) for his Cornell University doctorate, which led to his seminal volume Brunei: The Structure and History of a Bornean Malay Sultanate published by The Brunei Museum as a special monograph in 1970 (see Prologue); it too celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. He also wrote more than 20 related papers on the history and social organisation of Brunei. These have become standard references for our understanding and appreciation of the society, culture and history of the Brunei sultanate. The chapter proposes that in any scholarly historical and social-science-based research on Brunei, and on historically and culturally related territories in Borneo and on Malay states more generally, Brown’s work is frequently cited. Though other studies were undertaken after the publication of Brown’s monograph, without his crucial scholarly contribution we would have had no major points of reference before the declaration of the full independence of Negara Brunei Darussalam from the British Crown on 1 January 1984.