A Prodigal Son Comes of Age

By Pico Iyer

Rich but sheltered, the sultanate prepares to go it alone

Brunei has long resembled the proverbial child in a candy store, both buoyed and bewildered by the wealth of its options. For almost a century the nation has enjoyed the paternal guidance of Britain; meanwhile, its improbable combination of huge oil revenues and a population (209,000) smaller than that of Corpus Christi, Texas, has blessed the average citizen with a whopping annual income of $20,000. Soon a spanking new 2,200-room palace will join the gleaming glass towers that grace the once sleepy capital of Bandar Seri Begawan; even in the heart of the jungle, every wooden longhouseis furnished with government-supplied generators and TV sets.

But so prodigal a life-style in so protected a land makes for some rich ironies. It was said that upon first receiving television sets, tribal elders would huddle in front of The Virginian and marvel that there could be so many horses in Brunei.

At last week's celebration of the Sultan's 37th birthday, His Highness inspected his troops from a gold-upholstered Land Rover, while Gucci-shod women in traditional black robes looked on.

The monthlong festivities mark more than a new page in the life of Sir Muda Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'Izzaddin Waddaulah; they herald a fresh chapter in the history of his sultanate. On Jan. 1, 1984, Brunei will, somewhat gingerly, gain its independence. After 96 years of British rule, the transition is bound to be tricky. Although since 1959 Britain has looked after nothing more than foreign affairs and defense for the Sultan, it has also, for an estimated annual fee of $12 million, supplied the nation with a highly disciplined corps of 750 Gurkha soldiers. In a rare interview on the eve of his birthday, the Sultan told TIME that there was no truth to speculation that the troops would be leaving with the British. "The Gurkha battalion will stay," he declared.

Politically, Brunei will remain an unlikely hybrid, half absolute monarchy and half welfare state. In 1962, when the country's first elections were held, a group of militant nationalists, calling themselves the Brunei People's Party, swept 97% of all seats, only to be prevented from taking office. When, four months later, the leftists mounted an armed rebellion, thousands of them were thrown, often without trial, into jail. Some still linger there.

Yet even as it suppresses its enemies, the government treats its citizens with the fond indulgence of a grandfather. It provides free education, free health care, and, for civil servants and young farmers, free housing. It also lavishes upon its residents low-interest loans, allowing them to buy so freely that there is now one car for every four residents. Iban tribesmen are flown to Singapore if they need special medical treatment; senior government employees are given free pilgrimages to Mecca. Despite its profligate habits, Brunei still earns up to $1.5 billion more than it can spend each year. Says a ranking civil servant: "People are being overindulged, and there should be a more intense debate on how much they should get without paying."

Despite the widespread drop in prices, the oil and natural gas unearthed by the Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. are expected to pay for the collective extravaganza by bringing in $3 billion this year alone. The government has used its oil revenues prudently: between 1980 and 1983 it pumped some $1 billion of its oil dollars into defense. During its spurt of unusual prosperity, it also poured new money into its welfare schemes. Thanks to its farsightedness, Brunei now enjoys international reserves large enough to cover twelve years of imports at the present rate and to sustain a growth rate of 4% into 1984. Says the Sultan: "God is very kind to Brunei."

But in some respects the "Shell-fare state" has turned the sultanate into a poor little rich land. Foreigners make up more than 30% of the country's labor force. The retailing and construction businesses are dominated by some of the 50,000 enterprising residents who are of Chinese descent. And, naturally enough, some 40% of the 45,000 native workers choose to work for the government, where they will be spoiled by a king's ransom of benefits.

When his father abruptly abdicated in 1967, the trim, mustachioed Sultan agreed to don the crown, some say reluctantly, at the age of 21. Trained at Sandhurst, he indulges in a passion for things English, including Rolls-Royces, Savile Row suits and polo. Although some of his countrymen have considered him to be an absentee ruler, His Highness has become increasingly active with the approach of independence. He has visited every department in his bureaucracy, while also establishing a small, well-educated team of technocrats to pave the way for self-rule. He has even parlayed his passion for polo into a friendship with the ruler of Malaysia, helping to heal the longstanding animosity between the two countries. In addition, the Sultan denies that independence will push his nation closer to Islamic fundamentalism. "We cannot mix religion and the administration of government," he told TIME.

As the richest nation in Southeast Asia, independent Brunei may nonetheless find itself some day under pressure from such larger neighbors as Malaysia and Indonesia. Says British Brigadier General John Friedberger, who serves at present under the Sultan: "Brunei is rich, and man is greedy, and if you are not strong, the big boys will sometimes come and take your apples away." In the absence of its benevolent godfather, the well-favored child may attract a host of persistent and unsolicited suitors.

-- By Pico Iyer Reported by Sandra Burton/Bander Seri Begawan

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