Negara Brunei Darussalam: Socio-Economic Concerns Amid Stability and Plenty

Summary

Introduction

The year 2002 was a mixed one for Brunei. Politically, it was an uneventful year with a minor change in the Cabinet line-up. The economy was sluggish despite the government's efforts to stimulate growth. The international and military front had a busy schedule. Socially, negative symptoms of a coddled society were beginning to show up.

A Coddled Society and Its Social Problems

Without a doubt, Bruneians are well-pampered people as a result of extensive welfare services and programmes initiated in the 1950s by the monarchy and funded by the wealth derived from oil and gas. Brunei has welfare programmes from the cradle to the grave. Most Bruneians enjoy the good life without having to pay income tax. They also enjoy the guarantee of government jobs as well as free education and health care. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Brunei was ranked thirty-sixth in its Human Development Index in 2002 and it was the highest ranked country in Southeast Asia.

Education

Education is free for Bruneians from primary up to secondary level. From 2003, it will be extended to the permanent residents of Brunei. Nonetheless, this generous provision of education has not been fully taken advantage of by Bruneians, as can be seen from the disappointing results of national public examinations at the primary and secondary levels. The Deputy Minister for Education pointed this out when he remarked that the results at these two levels “have yet to achieve satisfactory level”. About half of the candidates at the lower secondary public examination and at the “O” levels failed their examinations.

At the tertiary level, about 200 students were shocked to find their applications to study at the local university, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, rejected even after fulfilling the university's entry requirement. This was due to the introduction of a new quota system on university admissions by the Ministry of Education in order to alleviate the graduate unemployment problem in Brunei.