Part One: The Departures Nobody Counts

    

For decades, Brunei has welcomed foreign workers seeking better livelihoods. Now, some of our own young people are looking overseas for opportunities. His Majesty recognised this possibility years ago. Yet we still lack a comprehensive record of those who leave. Are we losing talent, gaining experience, or overlooking a quiet change in our nation's future?

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Some of our young people are looking abroad for work. Who is counting them, and what does their leaving tell us about opportunities at home?

By Malai Hassan Othman

"Oh, how the tables have turned."

I came across that remark on an online forum where young Bruneians were discussing whether agencies should be set up to help them find work overseas, as Indonesia does for its citizens.

I read the discussion twice over my kopi. Some comments were angry, others crude, and a few plainly unfair. But beneath the frustration sat a thought I never expected to hear in Brunei.

A generation ago, young Bruneians waited for government jobs. Today, some are asking where else they might go.

For decades, Brunei has been a destination for people seeking a better living. A written answer to the Legislative Council in August 2026 put the number of foreign workers in Brunei's private sector at 82,013.

Now some of our own sons and daughters are thinking of becoming migrant workers themselves.

There is nothing shameful about working abroad. Millions do it, including highly qualified professionals. But when young citizens look elsewhere because doors at home seem closed, we ought to pay attention.

Too many waiting

The numbers explain part of it. Brunei's unemployment rate rose from 4.7 per cent in 2024 to 5.0 per cent in 2025. About 11,600 people were without work.

Among those aged 18 to 24, the rate stood at 18 per cent. Nearly one in five young people looking for work could not find it.

Behind those figures are graduates sending out applications, parents waiting for their children to stand on their own feet, and families putting plans on hold.

The businesses expected to hire them have troubles of their own. A written answer to the Legislative Council in March 2026 disclosed that 1,111 business names and 720 companies closed between 2021 and 2025.

Retail trade accounted for the largest share of business-name closures. Building construction recorded the largest share among companies.

A struggling shop cannot hire simply because young people need jobs. A young graduate, in turn, cannot build a future on wages that barely last the month.

The view across the border

Many Bruneians cross into Miri and Limbang for groceries, shopping and a cheaper meal. Before long, another comparison may enter the conversation: what people earn there.

Malaysia will raise its monthly minimum wage from RM1,700 to RM2,000 from June 2027. Smaller firms with annual sales below RM50 million will be exempted for now, but the new rate will still cover more than four million workers.

Brunei's minimum wage remains BND500 a month, and it applies only to designated industries. The construction worker and the shop assistant are still outside it, and those are the jobs many school leavers start with.

The two figures cannot be compared without considering living costs, taxes and exchange rates. Still, our young people can read a payslip, and they talk to friends across the border.

Money is not the whole story. Young Bruneians I have spoken to who work abroad tell me pay matters, but so do learning on the job, fair treatment and a workplace where their effort is noticed.

A salary may bring a young person to a job. It is the workplace that decides whether he stays.

On the forums, some complained of favouritism in recruitment, limited chances to advance and managers appointed through connections. These are individual allegations, not established findings.

Employers told their side too. They described staff who come late, miss days without notice, or leave soon after being trained.

Both sides deserve a hearing. Blaming employers for every disappointment, or young people for every empty post, has not yet filled a single vacancy.

Leaving alone

Working abroad is not a new idea in our conversation about jobs.

At the 34th Convocation Ceremony of Universiti Brunei Darussalam on 22 August 2022, His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, expressed the hope that graduates would be ready to secure employment at home or abroad, or to create their own.

His Majesty spoke in the context of sharpening graduates' professional skills and readiness for industry. The message was clear: opportunities for capable Bruneians need not stop at our borders.

Four years on, that hope deserves fresh attention.

Several contributors to the online discussion suggested a structured programme to help citizens find legitimate work overseas. Indonesia and the Philippines have long had dedicated arrangements for placing and protecting their workers abroad.

Brunei has no comparable, established national arrangement dedicated to placing and protecting its citizens in overseas employment.

Our embassies and high commissions do provide consular help, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs runs an eRegister system for citizens travelling or living abroad. These services matter.

But consular help is not the same as checking whether a foreign employer is genuine, reading a contract with a young worker, or explaining how an unfamiliar job market works. For now, a young Bruneian who leaves does all of that alone.

One contributor suggested a small pilot linking graduates of Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA), especially in Arabic, Shariah and translation, with employers in the Gulf.

It is worth trying, if the demand is real, the qualifications are recognised and the workers are properly looked after. If it works, it can grow from there.

Working abroad should never become an excuse for not creating good jobs at home. Nor should we look at a Bruneian who works overseas as someone who has turned his back on the country.

Experience gained abroad can come home with him, if there is something worth coming home to.

What we do not know

This is the part that troubles me most.

On 6 August 2025, in a written answer to the Legislative Council, the Government confirmed that Brunei has no comprehensive, integrated national database of citizens working overseas and their professions.

The question was raised by Yang Berhormat Dayang Hajah Rosmawatty binti Haji Abdul Mumin. The answer explained that what information exists comes mostly from voluntary registration with certain agencies.

The same answer welcomed Bruneians, graduates included, gaining international work experience. Such exposure, it said, could broaden their knowledge, introduce them to new technology and international standards, and help them contribute when they return.

I agree with every word of that. But if we value that experience, we should also know who is gaining it.

Without a comprehensive national record, we cannot establish how many work overseas, where they are employed, what occupations they hold, or how many intend to return.

It is not the only gap. The March 2026 answer also disclosed that the Registry of Companies and Business Names keeps no official data on why businesses close. We know how many shut their doors, but not why.

In an earlier column, I asked how many people hired through career fairs were still employed a year later, and whether their pay had improved. I am still waiting for that number.

So we count registrations, programmes, vacancies and visitors. We know far less about what happens to the people at the end of them.

We need not begin with grand solutions. A graduate survey can carry one more question about working abroad. Our missions overseas can do more to encourage citizens to register. And the agencies that each hold a piece of the picture can put the pieces together.

Most of all, the jobs at home have to be worth staying for, and worth coming back to.

The least we owe them

The young man who wrote about the tables turning was not being disloyal. He was being honest about his chances, as young people everywhere are.

Some of his generation will go. Many will send money home, and some will come back better than they left.

The least we owe them is to notice that they have gone. A country that counts its foreign workers to the last digit can surely begin counting its own.

 

When a School Letter Becomes a Public Controversy

A school letter goes viral. Admission offers withdrawn. Parents left scrambling. But who should answer for a problem left unresolved for years? The school, the authorities, or both? Beyond the controversy lies a bigger question: When rules are enforced, where do fairness, compassion and the children caught in between stand? Adil dan ihsan — put to the test.

 

11 November 2026

By Malai Hassan Othman

Families affected by the withdrawn 2027 offers at St Andrew's need answers before January, not after it.

The letter from St Andrew's School is dated 9 November 2026. The new school year opens in January. Between those two dates sit decisions that families believed they had already made.

It was written for parents and guardians. Soon afterwards, it was circulating on social media, and an administrative notice had become a public argument.

The letter itself is plain. The Ministry of Education has directed the school to withdraw admission offers for Kindergarten 3 through Year 9 for the 2027 academic year.

The stated reason is the school's failure to achieve full compliance with requirements for integrating Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) into the mainstream primary curriculum.

The school says its appeals were unsuccessful. Parents have been offered a refund, or the option of keeping their applications on file for 2028.

A refund returns the money. It does not return the place, or the months a family spent planning around it.

 

What the School Has Admitted

One line in the letter deserves more attention than it has received. The school acknowledges that it has not achieved full compliance.

That admission settles one argument and opens another. The rule is not in dispute. What remains unexplained is why a school with nearly seventy years of history could not meet it.

St Andrew's has educated generations of Bruneians since its founding in January 1957. That record earns it a fair hearing. It does not exempt it from national requirements.

Nor is the school a stranger to IRK. Its own website records that the Ministry of Religious Affairs has seconded its Islamic Religious Knowledge teachers since 1971.

The difficulty, therefore, appears to concern the newer integration requirements rather than the school's unfamiliarity with religious instruction.

Integration is not a paperwork exercise. It needs teachers, timetable hours and classroom space, and a school short of any one of these cannot simply decide its way to compliance.

Which was it, then: space, staff, money or the timetable? The school has not publicly explained the full circumstances. Parents are entitled to know what stood between their children and a place.

The school also owes an account of its timing. If compliance was in doubt, why were 2027 offers issued before the matter was settled?

What Remains Unexplained

The timing question applies equally to the Ministry. A directive confirmed in November, for a school year beginning in January, leaves families little room to adjust.

Two further questions deserve a direct answer.

The first is scope. The requirement concerns the primary curriculum, yet the withdrawal reaches Year 9. Why should a primary-level shortfall close secondary admission as well?

The second concerns implementation. What provisions, if any, allow schools to accommodate pupils with different educational or religious requirements?

These are not hostile questions. Clear explanations would do more to settle competing interpretations of this episode than any appeal for calm.

There is no established evidence that the decision was motivated by religious considerations. But when reasonable questions remain unanswered publicly, speculation can flourish, as the online commentary has demonstrated.

A third matter is whether St Andrew's stands alone. If other schools face similar compliance difficulties, this is a wider implementation question, not necessarily a single school's failure.

 

Where the Children Go

Then there is the most practical question of all. Where will these children sit when school opens in January?

Families who accepted offers may have declined places elsewhere. Other private schools may already have filled their 2027 intakes.

Government schools may become an alternative for some families. Has the Ministry assessed whether suitable places are available, and what arrangements can be made for affected children?

A directive that removes places should come with a plan for where the children land. Without one, the cost of a dispute between two institutions falls on families who were party to neither.

Adil dan Ihsan

In Brunei, the principles of adil dan ihsan, justice and benevolence, offer a familiar measure of responsible leadership. They sit within Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB), the Malay Islamic Monarchy that frames national life.

They are consistent, too, with the ideals of just and benevolent rule upheld by Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

Justice asks for fairness and accountability. Ihsan asks those holding authority to weigh the circumstances of the people their decisions touch.

Both principles should guide the school as firmly as the Ministry. Rules must be met. Obligations must be honoured—neither responsibility excuses leaving a child without a classroom.

A decision does not become wrong because it attracts criticism. Nor does it become right merely because the correct procedure was followed. Its justification, proportionality and consequences still have to stand up.

A school letter has travelled far beyond its intended readers. It demands answers before the first school bell of 2027.

 

When Justice Becomes Too Complicated for the Ordinary Citizen

  

You believe your rights have been overlooked. You have the documents, but do you understand the law well enough to defend yourself?

For ordinary Bruneians, navigating legal procedures can be daunting, especially without professional guidance.

How can we make the journey towards justice more accessible while upholding fairness, judicial independence and our values of adil dan ihsan?

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Why understanding the law, defending one's rights and simply reaching a courtroom can cost more than many Bruneians can afford.

By Malai Hassan Othman

Imagine an ordinary Bruneian walking into a courtroom, certain he has been wronged and determined to be heard.

He carries a folder of documents, years of correspondence and a clear memory of what happened. He believes the facts will speak for themselves.

He soon learns otherwise. A grievance is not the same as a claim the law will enforce. Knowing what happened is not the same as proving it.

There are procedures to follow, deadlines to meet, arguments to build and strict rules on what evidence the court may admit.

Across the room may sit an organisation represented by seasoned counsel, with research support, time and resources he cannot hope to match.

Both parties answer to the same law. The real question is whether both are equally equipped to use it.

This is not a complaint against our judiciary. The question is simpler, and harder to dismiss: can ordinary citizens actually exercise the rights the law gives them?

When the Law Becomes a Language of Its Own

To lawyers, words such as jurisdiction, limitation, admissibility and burden of proof are working tools. To the ordinary citizen, they can sound like a foreign language.

A man may believe a signed agreement proves his right to payment. The law may first ask who was bound by it, whether it is enforceable and whether he has sued the right party.

He may hold documents that support his account, then discover they must be introduced in a particular way before the court can consider them.

He may feel he was treated unfairly, only to learn that unfairness, dishonesty and illegality are separate questions in law, each with its own test.

These distinctions exist for good reason. They let courts decide disputes consistently and protect everyone from claims that cannot be proven.

Yet they leave a hard question. How does a person without legal training grasp them before spending his savings on a claim he believes is just?

The Judiciary recognises people who act for themselves, known as litigants in person. It publishes guidance on how civil claims are started, defended and taken through each stage.

Court staff will guide users through the process. But officers of the court are not permitted by law to give legal advice, draft documents or help prepare a case.

The right to represent oneself is not the same as the ability to do it well. Knowing the facts is one skill. Turning them into a sound legal argument is another.

The Price of Standing Up for Your Rights

Justice carries a price tag. We do not talk about it nearly enough.

For a wage earner, a lawyer's fees can mean choosing between legal costs and household bills. For a small entrepreneur, an unresolved contract dispute can choke cash flow.

For a retiree, a lifetime of savings may be at stake.

The gap widens when the other side is an organisation able to keep counsel on retainer through years of hearings and appeals.

Money does not decide cases. The better-funded party does not always win, and the unrepresented party is not always right. The concern is whether resources shape a person's ability to prepare, present and sustain a case.

Brunei has made a start. The Law Society of Brunei Darussalam runs a Legal Advice Clinic offering free preliminary advice to unrepresented people earning BND1,500 a month or less.

It is a meaningful service, and the lawyers who volunteer their time deserve credit. For some, it may be the only professional advice they ever receive.

But the clinic offers a consultation, not representation. A citizen may leave knowing exactly where he stands, yet still be unable to afford the lawyer his case requires.

And a household earning BND1,600, with children in school and an ageing parent at home, falls outside the line altogether.

A legal system can have able lawyers, capable judges and sound procedures, and still leave some citizens unable to afford meaningful representation.

I know this road. There was a time when I firmly believed I had been wronged, though not by any court.

What I could afford was one conversation with a lawyer. The other side, with far deeper pockets, was ready to fight for as long as it took. So I let it rest.

Procedure, Evidence and the Pursuit of Fairness

The law demands evidence. Fair enough. The other side must have a fair chance to answer, and courts cannot decide cases on sympathy alone.

Rules protect those principles. Without them, a hearing could become a contest of accusations. But a necessary rule can still be bewildering to someone facing it alone.

Its complexity, however, falls hardest on those who stand alone.

A litigant in person may miss a deadline, misunderstand a direction or bring convincing documents in a form the court cannot accept. He may know his story inside out, yet struggle to make it count in law.

Written submissions raise a quieter issue. Many self-represented parties put their arguments on paper because they cannot argue fluently aloud in a formal setting.

It would help if litigants in person were told plainly, and in advance, how written submissions are received and what form gives their arguments the clearest hearing.

The Magistrates' Court Civil Section offers practical help. Its legal assistants explain filing requirements and the stages of a case, but cannot say whether a claim is likely to succeed.

That limit is right, because court staff must stay impartial. Yet it leaves a gap between knowing how to file a document and knowing whether it helps the case.

And where, exactly, is he supposed to turn for that help?

Records matter just as much. A person weighing an appeal needs to know what was said at trial, and the notes of proceedings may be his only guide.

Reliable audio recording of civil proceedings, wherever practicable and subject to appropriate safeguards, could strengthen the accuracy of court records. It would also provide an additional means of resolving disputes over what was said during a hearing.

Citizens should also know what records exist, how to obtain them and what to do when their accuracy is in question.

Judgments pose a final challenge. A judgment brings legal finality, but not always understanding.

For the losing party, the reasons can matter as much as the result. Yet a carefully reasoned judgment may still be closed to a reader without legal training.

A short plain-language summary of reasons, issued alongside significant civil judgments, would not dilute the law. It would help the public see how decisions are reached, and trust them.

Justice, Benevolence and the National Amanah

In Brunei, justice carries a weight beyond the courtroom. It sits at the heart of Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB), our national philosophy.

The principle of adil dan ihsan, justice and benevolence, frames that responsibility. In Islamic governance, authority is an amanah, a trust demanding fairness, integrity and care for those it serves.

The Holy Quran, in Surah An-Nahl, verse 90, commands both justice and ihsan. One asks that obligations be met. The other asks that they be met with excellence and compassion.

For institutions, these values cannot stay on paper. They must show in daily conduct: how a counter clerk explains a form, how a letter is acknowledged, how a judgment's reasons are made known.

Justice requires the law to be applied impartially. Ihsan asks institutions to notice those whose circumstances leave them at a disadvantage.

Compassion does not override evidence, legal rights or judicial independence. It asks whether processes are understandable, accessible and responsive enough, without bending the law for anyone.

A person who cannot afford a lawyer does not deserve to win because he is disadvantaged. He deserves a real chance to understand his rights, present his case and weigh the consequences of his choices.

That is adil dan ihsan at work, at the counter and in the courtroom.

When Litigation Ends but Questions Remain

Losing a case does not mean justice has failed. A litigant may have had a fair hearing, presented his evidence and lost because the law was not on his side.

But the end of a case does not always end the search for understanding. He may still not know why an argument failed, or why certain evidence was excluded.

He may also carry separate grievances, about professional services or administrative conduct, that belong in different channels altogether.

A concluded judgment cannot simply be reopened because someone dislikes the result. But it should not take another legal battle to find out where a separate complaint belongs.

A citizen who writes to an authority should, at the very least, receive an acknowledgment, learn whether that body has jurisdiction and be told what happens next.

When an issue cuts across several ministries or agencies, someone should be able to tell him which door to knock on first.

Not every complaint is justified, and not every request can be granted. Confidentiality may limit what can be shared. A clear account of the process still goes a long way.

Then there is the human cost. Years of litigation can consume savings, time, health and peace of mind, even where every step was lawful.

Many are left wondering whether seeking redress was worth the sacrifice. For some, the heaviest burden is not knowing when, or how, it will end.

Making Justice More Accessible

Brunei is not starting from nothing. The Judiciary publishes guidance and forms for litigants in person, and offers court mediation in suitable civil disputes.

It has also reported improvements to Small Claims Tribunal procedures and continuing work to strengthen mediation. These are foundations worth building on.

The Judiciary reported that the Magistrates’ Courts achieved a civil case clearance rate of 100 per cent in 2024, compared with 83 per cent in 2023.

It was a notable improvement in case management. But clearing cases efficiently is not the same as making the legal process affordable and understandable.

So what would make a difference before a citizen reaches the courtroom?

An independent legal help desk, supported by a Law Society pro bono roster, could give eligible 
litigants preliminary legal guidance without asking court staff to abandon their impartial role.

Public bodies and regulators could also publish clear complaint-response standards. Acknowledging a letter, naming a contact and explaining where to go next should not feel like favours.

And why not offer plain-language guides in Malay and English, backed by community sessions across the districts? People should learn about mediation and their legal options before a dispute becomes a courtroom battle.

None of this would decide a case in anyone's favour. But before citizens spend years in court, and perhaps their savings, they deserve to know what they are getting into.

That matters to more than litigants. A small business waiting for payment, a family in dispute or a professional defending a contract all need a system they can understand and use.

Justice Must Be Within Reach

The strength of a legal system is not measured only by the sophistication of its laws or the authority of its courts. It is also measured by the experience of those who must use it.

Brunei’s aspirations under Wawasan Brunei 2035 include a high quality of life and a dynamic, sustainable economy. Both depend, in part, on effective governance, public confidence and an environment where citizens and businesses can understand and exercise their legal rights.

Justice does not mean everyone wins. It means everyone is fairly heard, with every decision resting on law and evidence.

That promise must hold beyond the pages of a statute book. For the ordinary citizen, the hardest part may not be the courtroom, but the long, costly and confusing road to reach it.

Justice must never become a privilege understood only by those who can afford to have it explained.

For a nation guided by adil dan ihsan, making justice understandable and within reach is no mere matter of legal services.

It is part of the amanah of good governance.

 

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Independent perspectives on issues that matter to Brunei Darussalam.

From Muscat to Riyadh: Old Friendships in a New Season

From Muscat to Riyadh, with Beijing in the background, Brunei’s diplomatic friendships are gaining new significance. But can royal visits and strategic partnerships deliver beyond ceremonial promises? With economic diversification increasingly urgent, the real challenge is turning diplomatic goodwill into investment, sustainable jobs and tangible prosperity for Bruneians.

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A historic royal visit from Oman and a call to Saudi Arabia show Brunei's longstanding Gulf ties gaining fresh relevance. The harder work is turning goodwill into meaningful cooperation and trade.

By Malai Hassan Othman

6 November 2026

In 2014, Oman's Minister of Heritage and Culture visited Brunei. This week, the same man returned as Sultan.

His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, the Sultan of Oman, made a state visit from 2 to 4 November, the first by a reigning Omani Sultan to Brunei. At the state banquet, he recalled that earlier visit.

The two sultanates elevated their relations to a Strategic Partnership. They signed five agreements covering visa exemptions for specified official passports, agriculture and fisheries, labour, economic planning and health.

On 5 November, His Royal Highness Prince 'Abdul Mateen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, telephoned Saudi Arabia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

Is the Gulf suddenly discovering Brunei? Not quite. What is changing is the world around friendships built over four decades.

Hormuz Is Closer Than It Looks

Sultan Haitham came to Brunei directly from Beijing. There, he and President Xi Jinping called for renewed dialogue between Iran and the United States and safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

That strait matters to Brunei. Our economy remains deeply dependent on oil and gas, while our downstream industries and international trade rely on secure shipping routes.

During their discussions at Istana Nurul Iman, His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, stressed freedom of navigation under international law.

Baginda Sultan also expressed concern about Middle East tensions and commended Oman's longstanding efforts to facilitate dialogue and regional stability.

Oman has maintained channels of communication across political divides, sometimes helping adversaries return to the negotiating table when other avenues have narrowed.

The diplomatic significance extends beyond the Gulf. China's economic interests are closely linked to Middle Eastern energy supplies, while Southeast Asia depends on secure maritime routes and predictable international trade.

The overlapping interests in peace, energy security and economic cooperation are therefore understandable.

Still, Beijing to Bandar Seri Begawan represents a sequence of established diplomatic relationships, not evidence of a new alliance. Nothing publicly announced indicates that Brunei has joined a Middle East mediation initiative.

But the wider convergence of interests deserves attention.

The Number Nobody Mentioned

Sultan Haitham was candid. He described Brunei as a gateway to Asian markets, while Oman could connect Brunei with the Gulf, Middle East and Africa.

He also acknowledged that trade between the two countries had not kept pace with the warmth of their diplomatic relationship.

The figures illustrate the gap.

According to UN Comtrade-derived statistics, Oman's reported merchandise trade with Brunei amounted to approximately US$103,000 in 2024.

Compare that with Oman's total international merchandise trade of approximately 41.7 billion Omani rials in the same year. Bilateral exchanges barely register against the country's wider trading activity.

People-to-people exchanges also remain modest. Omani statistics recorded only 126 visitors from Brunei during the first nine months of 2026.

Yet the foundation for meaningful cooperation already exists.

The Oman Brunei Investment Company (OBIC), established in 2009, acquired a 50 per cent stake in Golden Corporation, a Brunei-based aquaculture enterprise, in 2019.

That investment offers a practical example of how diplomatic goodwill can translate into business activity, employment and export opportunities.

It also demonstrates that cooperation need not be confined to oil and gas.

The opportunities are potentially much broader.

As Gulf economies strengthen their relationships with China and Southeast Asia, Brunei could become a useful partner in investment, logistics, energy, food security and regional commerce.

China brings industrial capacity and extensive trading networks. The Gulf offers energy resources, investment capital and established commercial connections. Brunei offers longstanding relationships and a place within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

These complementary interests do not imply a coordinated four-country arrangement. They do, however, provide opportunities for closer partnerships in an increasingly interconnected economy.

The question is whether Brunei has the commercial readiness to make those opportunities worthwhile.

A gateway requires more than geographical advantage and friendly governments. It needs efficient infrastructure, competitive businesses, capable institutions and reliable connections to international markets.

The newly signed agreements on agriculture, fisheries, labour, economic planning and health should therefore be judged by what they eventually deliver.

So, a few polite questions for the relevant ministries. Who will lead implementation? What targets have been established? When can the public expect the first progress report?

Diplomatic goodwill opens doors. Someone must still do the business.

The Call to Riyadh

The Saudi telephone conversation should be viewed in perspective.

Prince Faisal regularly engages foreign counterparts, and the Saudi Press Agency reported only a review of bilateral cooperation, ways to strengthen it and matters of mutual interest.

The call was initiated from the Bruneian side.

That detail is noteworthy, although it would be premature to interpret a single exchange as evidence of a new regional diplomatic strategy.

Brunei was already engaging Gulf partners as the Middle East crisis intensified. In March, its foreign-policy discussions included contacts with Riyadh and Doha.

The latest conversation therefore fits a pattern of continuing engagement rather than an abrupt change in direction.

Beyond bilateral diplomacy, relations between ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council are also developing, opening possibilities for trade, investment and cooperation across a wider range of sectors.

Brunei has an interest in those relationships, not only as an energy producer but as a nation seeking new sources of economic growth.

The challenge is to ensure that international cooperation creates opportunities for Bruneian businesses and workers, rather than becoming another collection of promising declarations.

In diplomacy, steady often matters more than sudden.

Small Country, Long Memory

Brunei cannot match China's industrial capacity or the economic weight of the Gulf's larger powers. But trust, consistency and longstanding relationships also carry value. They take decades to cultivate.

Diplomatic relations with Oman began on 24 March 1984, the year Brunei resumed full independence. Baginda Sultan visited Oman in 1984, 1985 and 2009, and has now received another invitation.

Sultan Haitham's own association with Brunei predates his accession to the throne. His return as Sultan gives this week's visit a personal and historical significance beyond ceremonial protocol.

The Strategic Partnership is a framework, not a finished building. Its worth will be measured by cooperation sustained, projects completed, jobs created and Bruneian enterprises that grow because of it.

There is also a larger question.

Can a small nation play a meaningful role in a world increasingly shaped by geopolitical rivalry and economic uncertainty?

Size does not determine every form of influence. A country's relevance may also depend on the relationships it maintains, the confidence it inspires and its ability to connect different interests.

Brunei does not need to become a major power to contribute constructively to international cooperation. But it must recognise where its strengths lie and how those strengths can serve national interests.

The diplomatic developments of this week may be separate expressions of longstanding friendship. Equally, they may reflect a broader convergence of interests as countries seek stability and dependable partnerships.

The evidence does not establish a coordinated diplomatic initiative. It does, however, suggest that familiar relationships are acquiring fresh significance in a changing world.

For Brunei, the opportunity lies in translating that significance into lasting national benefits.

During the state visit, the two Sultans inaugurated a photographic exhibition in Bandar Seri Begawan titled *Bridging the Sultanates*.

The title fits.

Brunei may be small on the world map, but a nation's significance is not always determined by the space it occupies.

Sometimes, it is measured by the bridges it can build.

A Wall Built on Amanah, Not Fear

A nation’s sovereignty is only as strong as the public service guarding it. But what happens when fear replaces integrity, bureaucracy stifles initiative, and citizens are left waiting? His Majesty calls for transformation. The question is whether those entrusted with amanah are prepared to act, not merely obey.

K O P I T A L K W I T H M H O

His Majesty calls the public service the nation’s wall of sovereignty. The titah also shows how
that wall must be built.

By Malai Hassan Othman
 

Benteng kedaulatan. A wall that guards the nation's sovereignty.

That is how His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum
Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei
Darussalam, described the public service at the close of the 33rd Public Service Day in Berakas on
29 October.

His Majesty said sovereignty depends not on physical defence alone, but on effective
administration. An honest officer defends the country against corruption, abuse of power and the
collapse of institutions.

The logic is simple. If the public service is weak, the wall is weak. And a weak wall leaves
everything it guards exposed: the nation, its people, the Monarchy and the faith.

Integrity is therefore not only a personal virtue. It is a matter of national sovereignty.

Every wall invites the same question: what is it made of? A public service built to protect its own
status quo can stand for years. It keeps out threats, but also ideas and reform. Sooner or later, it
cracks from within.

The titah points to a different material: integrity, initiative and service.

Rooted in Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB), public office is an amanah to the Raja, nation and people.

Why now

Vendors have waited. In June 2024, the Ministry of Finance and Economy publicly apologised for
payment delays following the introduction of a new treasury system. For a small contractor, an
unpaid invoice is not paperwork. It is wages, rent and a bank loan.

Projects have stalled. Official figures as at 31 March 2024 showed that only 54 of 221 projects
under the 11th National Development Plan had been completed. In August 2026, the Council again
heard about the causes of project delays.

The service struggles to house its own. On 3 August, the Legislative Council heard that 1,092 civil
servants were on the Public Service Department's waiting list for government housing, including
684 in Division IV, with average waits of one to four years.

The poor have waited too. In August, meeting the Brunei Islamic Religious Council, His Majesty
questioned delays in assistance to asnaf fakir miskin. Why, His Majesty asked, had such matters
been allowed to continue for so long? Earlier warnings, His Majesty said, had been like mencurah
air di daun keladi.

These are not merely failures of delivery. They can breed disappointment, frustration and a loss of
keyakinan in the administration, eroding the loyalty and trust that hold the wall together.

That is the backdrop to 29 October, and the real test of the wall.

A wall of fear

A wall can be built from fear. Fear of the superior. Fear of the mistake that damages a career. Fear
of saying aloud what everyone already knows.

Fear does not produce integrity. It produces caution of the wrong kind.

The frightened officer does not decide. He minutes the file upwards. He finds the regulation that
lets him say no, because no has never cost anyone a promotion.

One online commenter, recalling an attachment in a government office, described ideas ending up
in the dustbin, only to reappear under someone else's name. The junior was rejected, not the idea.
Tikam belakang, the commenter called it.

Every office knows the little Napoleon. He rules a small kingdom of files, treating requests as
favours, juniors as threats and questions as insubordination.

Petty authoritarianism corrodes the very integrity His Majesty expects the public service to defend.

When backstabbing becomes office culture and bullying becomes management style, initiative
dies. Officers who fear questioning a process will eventually stop questioning anything.

A workplace where an officer can raise a concern or report misconduct without punishment is not a
perk. It is part of the wall.

This is not an argument against discipline or accountability. The danger begins when compliance
becomes a hiding place from judgement.

A wall of amanah

His Majesty reminded officers that their posts are not merely jobs, but amalan yang
dipertanggungjawabkan oleh Raja dan Negara — responsibilities entrusted by the Raja and nation.
Nobody should need frightening into honouring an amanah.

Support for leadership, the titah said, is bukan sekadar retorik atau simbolik. It must be
demonstrated through diligent work and precise implementation.

Loyalty is proven at the desk, not performed in the meeting room.

Jangan hanya setakat mendengar, tetapi perlu melaksanakannya, dan jangan juga sekadar setuju,
tetapi perlu menyempurnakannya.

"Do not merely listen; act upon what you hear. And do not merely agree; see it through to
completion."

Fear produces attentive listeners and agreeable subordinates. Finished work requires officers
willing to own decisions and risk honest mistakes.

The stamp and the counter

Anyone who has stood at a government counter knows the other side. An application returned for
one missing photocopy. A complaint answered with a regulation instead of a solution.

A procedure should be the road to a decision, not a toll gate.

In August, Yang Berhormat Dr Awang Haji Mahali bin Haji Momin warned the Legislative
Council against a culture of passing responsibility between ministries. Necessary bureaucracy must
not become red tape.

His Majesty posed a more fundamental test: have public services truly made people's lives easier
while demonstrating loyalty to the Raja and nation?

In that test, easing the lives of the rakyat is how loyalty is shown. An officer who delays a citizen
to assert his importance is not guarding the wall. He is loosening a brick.

His Majesty's instruction was plain: perbaikilah dengan tindakan dan bukan keluhan. Correct them
through action, not complaints.

One online reader asked whether transformation begins after the meeting or after makan.

Another suggested inspecting problems at night and in heavy rain, before complaints reach Talian
Darussalam.

That is turun padang. Go to the problem instead of waiting for it to queue at the counter.

What the index cannot see

His Majesty noted Brunei's position in Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions
Index (CPI): 31st among 182 countries and second in ASEAN after Singapore.

Transparency International gave Brunei a score of 63 out of 100. But the CPI measures perceived
public-sector corruption, not how long an application takes. A clean ranking and an efficient
service are cousins, not twins.

A service where juniors fear raising problems will send good news upwards. Fear does not only
slow the service. It blinds it.

So a few questions for the Public Service Department.

Are agencies publishing actual performance against their Tekad Pemedulian Orang Ramai (TPOR),
or Client's Charter, commitments? When targets are missed, what changes? Are officers rewarded
for solving problems or avoiding mistakes? Can juniors report bottlenecks or bullying without
risking their careers?

The wall cannot be repaired if those responsible for maintaining it are afraid to report the cracks.

Muraqabah

Islam has a word for this integrity.

Muraqabah is the awareness that Allah sees what the supervisor does not.

Rules enforced by watching last only while somebody watches. Integrity rooted in muraqabah
remains at the desk after everyone has gone home.

His Majesty closed with four qualities: obedience, wisdom, readiness for change and steadfast
values.

Taat, bijaksana, pantas, teguh.

Obedience can be commanded. Wisdom cannot. Nor can initiative be frightened into existence.

Benteng kedaulatan will not be built with the stick, nor bought with the carrot.

It is laid brick by brick, by officers who keep their amanah when nobody is watching.

The Silent Crisis We Cannot Afford to Ignore

Nine lives lost in one year. In Brunei, that averaged one suicide every six weeks. Behind the figures are families left grieving. Beyond the hotline numbers and awareness campaigns, what happens after someone seeks help? Who follows through? And are we asking enough of those entrusted with protecting vulnerable lives?

  

KopiTalk with MHO

The Silent Crisis We Cannot Afford to Ignore

Nine lives were lost to suicide in Brunei in 2025. The public deserves to know what happens after a person first reaches out for help.

By Malai Hassan Othman

 

The news shook me. A young Bruneian man had reportedly died by suicide. It reached me through a close friend in Belait and left an uncomfortable question.

How much suffering remains unseen among people we greet every day?

I did not know him personally, and the circumstances have not been independently verified. His family deserves privacy. Yet the concern reaches well beyond one grieving household.

I grew up at a time when suicide was seldom spoken of in the community around me. Silence offered little reassurance then. It offers little now.

On 10 October, the Ministry of Health reported five suicide deaths in 2024 and nine in 2025.

In 2025, somewhere in Brunei, a life was lost to suicide on average every six weeks. Behind each death was suffering the annual figures cannot reveal.

Two years of figures do not establish a long-term trend. But nine lives lost in a single year should trouble the conscience of a country as closely connected as ours.

Do these losses hold our attention beyond the day the figures appear in the news?

The Ministry’s World Mental Health Day message also recorded approximately 17,014 patients receiving psychiatric or psychological treatment in 2025. Talian Harapan 145 received 2,515 calls that year.

A large proportion of callers were aged 18 to 35. The call total does not tell us how many different people called, or how many faced suicidal crisis.

People are reaching out. What these figures cannot show is the help they receive, particularly after that first call.

After the call

The hotline and the professionals providing mental-health care deserve recognition. Their work places them close to distress that most of us encounter only occasionally, if at all.

Yet the number of calls answered leaves an important question open: what happens next?

An answered call records contact. It does not, by itself, tell the public whether an urgent assessment followed, treatment began, or support continued afterwards.

Who remains responsible when a person needs further care? That answer should be clear within the service and understandable to the family trying to obtain help.

We do not know whether any of those who died in 2025 had contacted Talian Harapan. The figures provide no basis for blaming the service.

The Ministry of Health should explain how crisis support connects with treatment, who follows up and how it checks that people receive the care they need.

Coordination is familiar language in official statements. For a worried family, its meaning is simpler: somebody knows the next step and helps them take it.

In August, I wrote in this column, “Brunei’s Human Asset at Risk?”, about how unemployment, mental distress, bullying and other pressures could overlap in the lives of the same young people.

Government departments encounter different parts of that experience. The young person lives through all of it, alongside family obligations, financial worries and uncertainty about the future.

Those pressures alone cannot establish why an individual died. They do help explain why care cannot rest entirely within the walls of a clinic or hospital ward.

My earlier “Burnout Nation” column approached the concern through working life. Employers, too, influence whether people have the time, security and confidence to seek help.

Wawasan Brunei 2035 depends upon people being able to build a future. Their wellbeing belongs within that ambition, although nobody should have to prove their economic worth to deserve care.

Guidance already given

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, addressed mental health at Majlis Ilmu 2024.

His Majesty called for continued cooperation between health and religious authorities, and urged families and society to support those recovering. His Majesty also raised the effectiveness of community mental-health training.

Two years on, the authorities should account for how that guidance has been carried forward.

A Ministry of Religious Affairs report described a 12-week course for imams, ustaz and daie, organised with the Ministry of Health and completed in October 2024.

Approximately 20 participants attended. The training brought Islamic perspectives and medical knowledge together, giving trusted religious figures a stronger grounding in mental health and available support.

The course ended. What followed?

The health and religious authorities should explain how participants have applied their training, how many more have been trained since and how its effectiveness is being assessed.

Reported suicide deaths rose from five in 2024 to nine in 2025. That increase does not establish that the training failed. It makes those answers more urgent.

An imam need not become a psychiatrist. His trusted position can help someone speak about distress, overcome embarrassment and find appropriate professional care without feeling that faith has been set aside.

The same practical understanding matters within families. Someone may notice withdrawal or despair yet hesitate, uncertain whether to speak, fearful of offending, or worried about gossip.

Families need clear advice on whom to approach and how to obtain help. Concern is easier to act upon when the next step is understood.

An amanah beyond awareness

A whole-of-nation response involves many institutions. Shared responsibility still needs a clear answer to a basic question: who follows the person when responsibility passes between services?

Without that clarity, even well-intentioned efforts risk leaving families to make the connections themselves. Privacy must remain protected throughout; seeking help should never mean surrendering dignity.

The Ministry of Health should publish an annual account of suicide-prevention work. Several years of figures would give the public a clearer picture of what is happening.

That account should show how quickly urgent cases are assessed, whether referrals lead to treatment and what has improved. No family’s identity needs to be exposed.

Call totals and course attendance show activity. How long people wait, whether they receive treatment and whether support continues tell us more about the care delivered.

The mainstream media has a responsibility beyond carrying official statements. Reporting the annual figures should begin a conversation about prevention and care that continues through the year.

Access to treatment, the experience of seeking help and the results of prevention programmes are public-interest stories worth pursuing, long after World Mental Health Day has passed.

Private accounts cannot establish the cause of a death, and no family should surrender its privacy for a newsroom to examine public policy.

Responsible reporting can protect the bereaved while asking difficult questions of those entrusted with care.

Amanah means a trust. In this work, it rests with institutions charged with providing care and with those of us who may be the first to notice someone struggling.

My thoughts return to that grieving family. Their loss needs no public explanation to deserve sympathy, and their privacy deserves the same care as their grief.

For others who are struggling, recovery remains possible. A timely conversation, appropriate treatment and continuing support can help people find their way through a difficult period.

The next person who reaches out needs more than a number to call. They need care that follows through, and authorities able to show that it does.

Need someone to talk to? If you or someone you know is struggling, call Talian Harapan 145, or speak to a qualified healthcare professional or a trusted person who can help you reach care. If there is immediate danger, call 991 for an ambulance or go to the nearest emergency department.

 

Sources

–      Ministry of Health World Mental Health Day message, reported by Pelita Brunei, 10 October 2026.

–      His Majesty’s titah, Majlis Ilmu 2024, Prime Minister’s Office.

–      Ministry of Religious Affairs report on basic mental-health training, 18 December 2024.

–      “Brunei’s Human Asset at Risk?”, KopiTalk with MHO, 23 August 2026.

–      “Burnout Nation: Why Brunei’s Work-Life Balance Promise Can’t Wait?”, KopiTalk with MHO, 2 April 2025.