Blogs from Brunei, Asia - page 16

Four days after leaving Australia, we came to the little Muslim country of Brunei where we spent the day, as our tour literature said, admiring the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Brunei (rhymes with soon-eye) is a tiny oil-rich Islamic sultanate (its sultan is head of state) on the large island of Borneo. It has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. (Less than the US, but much higher than most of its SE Asia neighbors.) Its huge reserves of oil and natural gas finance a lavish life style for the Sultan and aristocracy, with enough left over to provide free education and healthcare for all citizens, plus subsidized food and housing. Brunei imports 80% of its food, as said citizens can live quite comfortably as clerks or subsistence farmers without going ... read more