Day Five of LegCo: While the World Burns, Brunei Counts Its Budget and Watches Over Its Own.

KOPITALK LEGCO TRACKER | 22nd Legislative Council Session

What was said, what mattered, and what the public is still waiting for.

KopiTalk with MHO • Monday, 16 March 2026 • 22nd LegCo, Day Five

Your son is working in Doha. Your daughter is in Dubai. And on Monday, Brunei's Foreign Affairs Minister stood in the LegCo chamber and said: 760 of our people are in the Middle East. We are watching. We are in contact. Stay vigilant. That sentence landed differently than any budget figure. KopiTalk LegCo Tracker — Day Five.

 

 BND6.3 billion. Say it slowly. That is the national budget Brunei's Legislative Council is deliberating this week — a number large enough to carry ambition, heavy enough to carry responsibility, and specific enough to invite scrutiny.

 

For four days, the chamber has been moving steadily through questions, ministerial explanations and the familiar mechanics of the Supply Bill debate. But on Monday morning, something else entered the chamber. The world did.

 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs II, in his ministerial contribution to the Supply Bill debate, did not confine himself to diplomatic pleasantries. He named a war. He stated Brunei's formal condemnation of military actions by the United States and what he described as the Zionist regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran. He confirmed retaliatory strikes had extended to Iran's neighbours. He told the chamber he had personally called the foreign ministers of seven countries in the days that followed — Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE — to express Brunei's deep concern and solidarity.

 

And then he said the sentence that would have stopped every Bruneian parent, spouse or sibling with a loved one abroad: as of Monday, 760 Bruneian nationals are currently in the Middle East region. They have been advised to remain vigilant and take all necessary precautions. The ministry is monitoring the situation.

 

For the families of those 760 people — workers in the Gulf, students in Jordan, Bruneians on Umrah — that was not a foreign policy statement. That was personal. That was the sound of a government telling its people: we know where your loved ones are, and we are watching.

 

It is the kind of moment that reminds you what a legislature is ultimately for. Not just to debate budgets and policies, but to reassure a nation that its institutions are alert when the world outside becomes uncertain.

 

With that reminder of how quickly global events can reach the lives of ordinary citizens, the chamber returned to its agenda.

 

The rest of Day Five unfolded against that backdrop. A dense Question Time covering thirteen questions, dominated by the Ministry of Education. A budget debate in which three nominated members — with unusual frankness — interrogated the fiscal deficit, the unemployment rate, food security vulnerabilities, and the gap between government spending and public outcomes. Then ministers on their feet after the recess, accounting for their portfolios in a world that is, as one member put it, becoming more challenging by the day.

 

It was a full session. It was also a session that carried weight beyond its agenda — because the world outside the chamber was not waiting politely for proceedings to conclude.

 

WHAT WAS RAISED

 

Four themes carried genuine public weight on Day Five.

 

The fiscal deficit and the falling revenue ceiling.

 

Pengiran Haji Isa bin Pengiran Haji Aliuddin walked the chamber through numbers that deserve wider public attention. Brunei's projected budget deficit for 2026/2027 stands at BND2.72 billion — the gap between BND6.3 billion in expenditure and BND3.53 billion in projected revenue. More troubling is the direction of travel: estimated revenue for 2026/2027 has fallen to BND2.335 billion, down BND414 million from the previous year's revised estimate. Oil and gas revenue has dropped sharply — from BND1.93 billion to BND1.499 billion. Non-oil revenue has also fallen.

 

Brunei is spending more than it earns. And the gap is widening. This is not a new story. But it is a story that cannot be told too often, because it is the economic reality beneath every other conversation in the chamber.

 

Unemployment, skills mismatch, and the gap between education and work.

 

Awang Haji Md. Salleh bin Haji Othman raised what may be the most important number of Day Five: the unemployment rate among residents aged 18 and above has risen to 5.0 per cent in 2025, up from 4.7 per cent in 2024. That may sound like a small movement. It is not.

 

At the same time, around 60 per cent of employers still report difficulty finding and retaining suitable local workers. Unemployment is rising, and employers still cannot find the people they need. Both things are true simultaneously — which means this is not a numbers problem. It is a structural problem. It is a mismatch between what the education system produces and what the economy actually needs. No amount of spending resolves that mismatch unless the two systems are genuinely aligned.

 

Inclusive education: the policy is strong, the review is absent.

 

The Ministry of Education's answers in Question Time were detailed and professionally delivered. Brunei now has 102 institutions providing special needs education support — four Centres of Excellence, nine Model Inclusive Schools, 87 learning assistance centres, and two private schools. Individualised Education Plans are being strengthened. Teacher training is ongoing.

 

But when Dayang Hajah Rosmawatty asked directly whether an independent review exists to assess the effectiveness of the Model Inclusive School and Centre of Excellence model — including teacher-student ratios and economies of scale — the answer was clear: no independent review is currently planned. Internal monitoring will continue.

 

That answer is not wrong. But it is incomplete. A system serving children with special needs, growing in enrolment year by year, deserves to be tested against external benchmarks — not only against its own internal standards.

 

Climate adaptation, coastal erosion, and the urgency of prevention.

 

Awang Haji Mohamad Danial @ Tekpin bin Ya'akub made a case that went beyond environmental policy into something more immediate: the homes of actual people. He drew the chamber's attention to coastal settlements in areas such as Kampung Danau in Tutong District, where residents live with the reality of coastal erosion and wave action — not as a future risk, but as a present one.

 

He noted the BND148.21 million emergency preparedness allocation in the budget and argued that its spirit should extend beyond post-incident response to active prevention: seawalls, coastal protection structures, ecosystem restoration, and regular risk assessments.

 

His core argument was sound — that preventing damage is always cheaper than repairing it. Communities living on exposed coastlines should not have to wait for a disaster before the budget sees them.

 

WHAT THE ANSWERS REVEALED

 

The ministerial responses on Day Five ranged from genuinely informative to diplomatically careful — which is, in this chamber, an honest description of governance under pressure.

 

The Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism delivered one of the stronger performances of the session. International tourist arrivals reached 763,000 in 2025 — a 13 per cent increase over 2024, with cruise ship arrivals growing by 46 per cent. Food export values in the agriculture and agri-food sector rose by 52.4 per cent compared to the previous year. Visit Brunei Year 2027 has been formally set in motion.

 

These are real numbers, and they deserve to be acknowledged.

 

Beyond the immediate anxiety over Bruneians in the Middle East, the Foreign Affairs Minister's contribution mapped a foreign policy landscape that is more turbulent than at any point in recent memory. Russia and Ukraine. Palestine. Great power competition. Trade structure shifts. The weakening of multilateral rules-based order by the very nations that built it.

 

Against all of this, Brunei's response is consistent: dialogue, non-use of force, ASEAN centrality, and support for international law. It is a principled position and it is the right one for a small state.

 

He also confirmed Brunei's role as ASEAN-EU Coordinator through 2027 — a responsibility that will bring the 25th ASEAN-EU Foreign Ministers' Meeting to Brunei in April. For a country of half a million people, that is a meaningful platform. The question is whether Brunei uses it not just to host, but to be heard.

 

But the answer that revealed the most about where the system still has distance to travel came in the cost-of-living exchange. When Awang Lau How Teck asked about the real impact of rising living costs on ordinary people's incomes, the Finance Minister's response was structurally sound — subsidies maintained, minimum wage enforcement, the National Pension Scheme in place, FDI projects expected to generate jobs.

 

All of this is true. But much of the answer was framed in the future tense.

 

The young man at the kitchen table is not living in the future tense. He is living in the present one.

 

The budget is designed well on paper. The question the public is asking is simpler: when does the paper become something they can feel?

 

WHAT THE PUBLIC IS REALLY ASKING

 

• On unemployment at 5.0 per cent and rising: If 60 per cent of employers cannot find suitable local workers, and unemployment is going up at the same time, what exactly is the skills training system producing — and who is held accountable for the mismatch?

 

• On the BND2.72 billion deficit: Brunei has been running deficits for years. The plan is always to close the gap through diversification. When does diversification produce revenue that ordinary people can see reflected in national accounts — not in five years, but in the next budget cycle?

 

• On inclusive education: If enrolment in special needs programmes is growing year by year, and the ministry acknowledges it still needs more qualified teachers, why is an independent review of effectiveness not considered necessary? Who is checking whether what is being done is working well enough for the children it serves?

 

• On coastal communities and climate risk: A family in Kampung Danau whose home sits near an eroding coastline is not asking about carbon neutrality by 2050. They are asking whether anyone will build a seawall before the next storm season. When does climate adaptation policy reach the people it is supposed to protect?

 

• On tourism's 763,000 arrivals: That number is encouraging. But tourists come for experiences, and experiences require trained guides, accessible products, reliable transport, and a hospitality workforce that is ready. How much of the Visit Brunei Year 2027 plan is about marketing, and how much is about ensuring the product is actually ready?

 

THE SIGNAL OF THE DAY

 

The word that kept returning on Day Five — in speeches, in ministerial responses, and in the titah quoted by Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman — was agresif.

 

Aggressive. Be aggressive in attracting investors. Be aggressive in developing agriculture. Be aggressive in supporting local enterprises. Be aggressive in many things.

 

It is the right word. The problem is not the vocabulary. The problem is the machinery.

 

Being aggressive in intention requires a delivery system that can match the pace of the intention. Brunei has, over many years, built excellent plans. It has strategic blueprints, economic roadmaps, manpower frameworks, food industry roadmaps, tourism roadmaps, and climate policies. The plans are not the weakness.

 

The signal from Day Five is this: the chamber is asking the right questions with increasing sophistication. Members are no longer just asking what the government is doing — they are asking whether it is working, who is measuring it, and what happens when it is not. That is healthy. That is what a legislative council exists to do.

 

But the signal also carries a warning. A BND6.3 billion budget is a statement of intent. The public will judge it not by the number, but by whether the system behind the number can move with the urgency the country now needs — for the young man at the kitchen table, for the family on the eroding coastline, for the employer who still cannot find the right worker, and for the child with special needs waiting for a teacher who is qualified to help.

 

On Monday, Brunei's legislature moved through thirteen questions and four major policy speeches with order and professionalism. Ministers responded. Plans were affirmed. Numbers were cited. The chamber did its work.

 

And somewhere outside that chamber, a young man is still at his kitchen table. A family in a coastal village is watching the waterline. A parent of a child with special needs is wondering whether the system sees their child clearly enough to help them properly.

 

Budgets are written in billions. Lives are lived in the singular. The distance between those two things — between the chamber and the kitchen table — is exactly the distance that Wawasan 2035 must close.

 

Day Five reminded us that Brunei knows the direction. The debate in the chamber is becoming more probing, more focused, and more conscious of the gap between policy and delivery.

 

The urgent question now is the speed.

 

KopiTalk LegCo Tracker covers the 22nd Legislative Council session from a public-first perspective. What was said, what mattered, and what the public is still waiting for.

 

Taddabur Surah Al-A’la: Bila Hati Diangkat Semula

KopiTalk Jiwa

Renungan yang menyentuh hati, menggerakkan jiwa dan menginspirasikan hidup.

Oleh Malai Hassan Othman 

 

Pagi itu, apabila Surah Al-A’la disentuh dalam sesi taddabur, yang tinggal dalam fikiran saya bukan sekadar makna ayat-ayatnya, tetapi rasa yang dibawanya. Ada surah yang apabila dibaca, menambahkan ilmu. Ada pula surah yang datang menyentuh bahagian hati yang lama diam, tetapi sebenarnya sudah letih. Bagi saya, Surah Al-A’la hadir dengan cara yang begitu.

 

Surah ini bermula dengan satu seruan yang pendek, tetapi besar maknanya: Sabbihi isma rabbika al-a’la — sucikanlah nama Tuhanmu Yang Maha Tinggi. Sekali pandang, ia seperti satu ajakan untuk bertasbih. Tetapi apabila direnung perlahan-lahan, ayat itu terasa seperti satu teguran lembut kepada jiwa manusia yang terlalu lama sibuk dengan perkara-perkara kecil, hingga terlupa mengangkat semula hati kepada Allah.

 

Begitulah hidup sehari-hari. Kita mudah tenggelam dalam urusan dunia yang tidak pernah habis. Fikiran dipenuhi kerja yang belum selesai, beban keluarga, tekanan mencari rezeki, rasa kecewa, rasa tidak cukup, rasa tidak dihargai. Ada waktunya tubuh berjalan seperti biasa, tetapi hati terasa berat. Dalam keadaan begitu, Surah Al-A’la datang seolah-olah mahu membetulkan semula arah pandangan kita. Seakan-akan ia berbisik: jangan terlalu lama memandang ke bawah. Angkatlah semula hatimu ke atas. Ingat kembali kepada Tuhanmu.

 

Apabila Allah diperkenalkan sebagai Yang Maha Tinggi, saya merasakan surah ini sedang mengajar kita tentang susunan jiwa. Banyak perkara dalam hidup menjadi berat, bukan semestinya kerana masalah itu terlalu besar, tetapi kerana hati kita telah meletakkan masalah lebih tinggi daripada pergantungan kepada Allah. Kita membesarkan kerunsingan, tetapi mengecilkan keyakinan. Kita terlalu sibuk memikirkan apa yang hilang, sampai terlupa siapa yang masih memelihara kita.

 

Ayat-ayat selepas itu membawa kita kepada satu hakikat yang menenangkan: Allah mencipta, menyempurnakan, menentukan dan memberi petunjuk. Ringkas bunyinya, tetapi sangat dalam ertinya. Saya terfikir, betapa banyak masa dalam hidup ini habis kerana kita gelisah tentang perkara yang belum tentu. Kita mahu memahami segala-galanya sekaligus. Kita mahu jalan hidup ini terang dari awal sampai akhir. Sedangkan manusia tidak pernah memegang semua jawapan. Kita hanya berjalan setapak demi setapak.

 

Surah Al-A’la mengingatkan bahawa kita tidak dibiarkan berjalan sendirian. Allah yang mencipta kita lebih mengetahui di mana lemahnya kita, di mana kuatnya kita, di mana kita mudah jatuh, dan di mana kita memerlukan pimpinan-Nya. Kesedaran itu sangat melegakan. Ia melembutkan hati. Tidak semua perkara perlu kita kuasai. Tidak semua beban perlu kita pikul seolah-olah seluruh hidup ini terletak di atas bahu sendiri.

 

Antara gambaran yang paling kuat dalam surah ini ialah tentang tumbuhan yang mula-mula menghijau, kemudian menjadi kering dan kehitaman. Ayat ini terasa sangat dekat dengan hidup manusia. Banyak perkara di dunia pada mulanya tampak segar, indah, memikat, dan sangat penting. Tetapi masa mengajar kita bahawa tidak semua yang bersinar itu kekal. Ada yang kita kejar bersungguh-sungguh, akhirnya hilang nilainya. Ada yang kita sangka akan sentiasa bersama, rupa-rupanya hanya singgah seketika.

 

Barangkali di situlah letaknya salah satu pengajaran halus Surah Al-A’la. Dunia ini ada tempatnya, tetapi jangan sampai ia mengambil seluruh ruang dalam hati. Kita tetap perlu bekerja, berusaha, mencari nafkah dan memikul amanah hidup. Namun dunia jangan dibiarkan berakar terlalu dalam di jiwa. Bila hati terlalu terikat kepada yang sementara, ia mudah rapuh apabila sesuatu berubah. Sedangkan hidup ini memang tidak pernah kekal dalam satu rupa.

 

Yang juga sangat menyentuh saya ialah bagaimana surah ini membezakan antara orang yang menerima peringatan dengan orang yang berpaling daripadanya. Di situ saya terdiam sejenak. Kerana kadang-kadang kita suka mendengar peringatan, tetapi belum tentu benar-benar mahu berubah. Kita mungkin mendengar ayat yang sama berkali-kali, namun hati kita masih juga di tempat lama. Mungkin masalahnya bukan pada kurangnya ilmu. Mungkin masalahnya ialah hati yang terlalu penuh dengan diri sendiri.

 

Di situlah saya merasakan pentingnya pesan tentang membersihkan jiwa. Surah Al-A’la menyebut bahawa berjayalah orang yang mensucikan diri. Itu satu ukuran kejayaan yang sangat berbeza daripada ukuran dunia. Dunia sering mengajar bahawa kejayaan itu terletak pada apa yang kita miliki, apa yang kita capai, atau bagaimana orang memandang kita. Tetapi surah ini membawa kita pulang kepada satu soalan yang lebih sunyi: bagaimana sebenarnya keadaan hati kita?

 

Masihkah hati itu lembut? Masihkah ia mudah menerima nasihat? Masihkah ia malu apabila berbuat salah? Masihkah ia rindu untuk mendekati Al-Quran? Atau hati itu sudah terlalu letih, terlalu keras, terlalu sibuk dengan dunia, hingga tidak lagi terasa apa-apa?

 

Saya rasa itulah antara pengajaran yang paling dekat daripada taddabur Surah Al-A’la. Bahawa hidup ini bukan sekadar bergerak laju, tetapi memastikan arahnya betul. Kita boleh kelihatan sibuk, tetapi kosong. Kita boleh kelihatan berjaya, tetapi jauh. Kita boleh kelihatan tenang di luar, tetapi kusut di dalam. Surah ini seperti mengajak kita berhenti sejenak lalu bertanya: ke manakah sebenarnya hati ini sedang dibawa?

 

Dalam taddabur itu juga disentuh tentang pentingnya hubungan dengan Al-Quran. Bagi saya, ini juga satu teguran halus kepada diri sendiri. Kita selalu berkata mahu hati tenang, mahu fikiran jernih, mahu hidup lebih teratur. Tetapi sejauh mana Al-Quran benar-benar hadir dalam perjalanan harian kita? Bukan sekadar dibaca apabila ada waktu, tetapi didekati sebagai cahaya. Kadang-kadang kita mencari terlalu banyak jawapan di luar, sedangkan panduan yang paling benar sudah lama ada di depan mata, cuma kita belum benar-benar rapat dengannya.

 

Surah Al-A’la tidak datang dengan nada yang keras, tetapi kesannya dalam. Ia tidak menjerit kepada manusia. Ia seperti mengangkat manusia perlahan-lahan keluar daripada kelalaian. Ia mengingatkan bahawa ada hidup yang lebih besar daripada apa yang sedang kita kejar sekarang. Ada akhirat yang lebih baik dan lebih kekal. Dalam dunia yang begitu mudah membuat manusia lupa, peringatan seperti ini terasa amat berharga.

 

Bagi saya, pengajaran paling besar daripada taddabur Surah Al-A’la ialah ini: manusia mudah menjadi kecil apabila terlalu lama hidup dalam dunia yang kecil. Kita sibuk dengan urusan harian, terperangkap dalam letih sendiri, runsing tentang nasib, kecewa dengan manusia, gelisah tentang masa depan. Lalu kita terlupa bahawa kita mempunyai Tuhan Yang Maha Tinggi, yang mencipta, menyusun, memimpin dan mengetahui segala yang tersembunyi di dalam dada.

 

Mungkin sebab itu surah ini terasa begitu menenangkan. Ia tidak menjanjikan hidup tanpa ujian. Tetapi ia membetulkan tempat sandaran hati. Dan kadang-kadang, itu sahaja sudah cukup untuk membuat seseorang terus kuat melangkah.

 

Akhirnya, taddabur Surah Al-A’la bagi saya bukan sekadar memahami makna ayat. Ia seperti satu ajakan untuk menyusun semula hidup dari dalam. Supaya hati tidak terlalu dipenuhi dunia. Supaya jiwa tidak terlalu jauh daripada Al-Quran. Supaya diri ini sentiasa ingat bahawa kejayaan sebenar bukan pada apa yang kita kumpul di luar, tetapi pada apa yang berjaya kita bersihkan di dalam.

 

Dan mungkin itulah juga take away yang paling jujur. Dalam hidup yang sering menarik kita ke bawah, Surah Al-A’la datang untuk mengangkat semula pandangan hati ke atas. Mengangkatnya daripada gelisah kepada tawakal, daripada lalai kepada ingatan, daripada sibuk yang memenatkan kepada sedar yang menenangkan. Kerana apabila hati sudah kenal semula tempat sandarannya, hidup mungkin masih penuh ujian, tetapi jiwa tidak lagi mudah rebah. (MHO/03?2026)

 

Day Four of LegCo: Brunei Doesn’t Have a Planning Problem. It Has a Delivery Problem.

KOPITALK LEGCO TRACKER | 22nd Legislative Council Session

 

What was said, what mattered, and what the public is still waiting for.

 

Behind the broad support for a BND6.3 billion budget, one uncomfortable truth kept surfacing: Brunei does not have a shortage of plans. It has a shortage of delivery.

KopiTalk with MHO • Sunday, 15 March 2026 • 22nd LegCo, Day Four

Picture a young Bruneian woman. She has a Master’s degree. She has been applying for jobs for two years. She runs small deliveries on the side to help her parents pay the bills, but no bank will give her a loan to grow that small business because what she does is still not treated as formal employment. She is not lazy. She is not choosy. She is simply living in a system that has not fully caught up with how people actually work — or how desperately they need to. 

 

She was not in the chamber on Sunday. But she was the reason the chamber’s best moments mattered.

 

Day Four of the 22nd Legislative Council session opened with Question Time and moved into the policy debate on the Supply Bill and Development Fund for 2026/2027. Every member who spoke supported the BND6.3 billion budget. But the support came with conditions — and those conditions said more about where Brunei really stands in the final stretch towards Wawasan 2035.

 

WHAT WAS RAISED

 

Four issues carried genuine public weight on Day Four.

 

Youth unemployment and the gig economy.

 
The youth unemployment rate climbed to 18.3 per cent in 2024, up from 16.8 per cent the year before. Haji Salleh Bostaman noted something more telling than the statistic itself: births registered in Brunei fell from 6,500 in 2020 to 5,360 in 2024 — a drop of more than 1,100 children in four years. Young couples are not just struggling to find work. Many are postponing family plans because they do not feel secure enough about the future.

 

Project delivery under RKN12.

 
Of 305 development projects under the 12th National Development Plan, 91 remain in the design phase. Dayang Hajah Rosmawatty pushed for quarterly national-level monitoring, early warning systems for delays, and the willingness to reprioritise projects that are no longer earning their allocation. The development fund, she argued, is not merely government expenditure. It is a national investment. The standard should be higher.

 

Civil service transformation.

 
The Public Service Transformation Committee, JTPA, is still gathering data on current-state gaps before moving to actual intervention. The framework sounds right. But gathering data is not the same as moving. With eight years left before 2035, the pace of institutional reform is itself a public-interest issue.

 

Food and energy resilience.

 
Haji Salleh Bostaman raised geopolitical supply-chain disruption and a recent water supply failure caused by a landslide as reminders that Brunei remains exposed. In a country that imports more than 90 per cent of its food, the question of strategic stockpiles is not academic. It is about what happens to ordinary families when the next disruption arrives.

 

WHAT THE ANSWERS REVEALED

 

The government’s responses on Day Four were, for the most part, detailed and professionally delivered. The Minister of Transport and Info communications gave a thorough account of Muara Port’s expansion — capacity set to double to 500,000 TEUs by Q3 2027, new shipping lines established, and the Navigating 2030 strategic plan launched. The Minister of Finance and Economy II defended the currency arrangement with confidence and cited inflation below one per cent annually across four decades as evidence of monetary stability.

 

But on the questions that cut closest to daily life, the answers were thinner.

 

On gig workers and bank access, the reply was polite but thin. Encouragement, subject to employers, is not yet a real policy answer. For many young people already working on the margins, the system still asks them to be entrepreneurial without fully recognising them as economic actors. Nothing said on Sunday clearly changed that.

 

On civil service transformation, the message was even clearer: the machinery is still diagnosing itself. But with 2035 drawing closer, diagnosis alone no longer feels like progress.

 

On the 3,000 new jobs expected from 18 incoming FDI projects, the announcement was welcomed by every speaker. But welcomed with a harder question: what is being done right now to prepare local workers not only for entry-level roles, but for supervisory, mid-management, and eventually board-level positions? One member raised that concern directly. The Hansard records no clear answer.

 

WHAT THE PUBLIC IS REALLY ASKING

 

On the budget deficit: the Fiscal Consolidation Programme is now in its second iteration. When does consolidation produce something the public can actually feel — not another plan to reduce the deficit, but a visible reduction?

 

On youth unemployment: an 18.3 per cent youth unemployment rate is not just a trend to monitor. It is someone’s son or daughter, educated and willing, still waiting. When does the system absorb them?

 

On gig work and financing: why is a young Bruneian who works every day, pays for his or her own equipment, and contributes to the economy still half-visible to the banking system? How long will the country ask its young people to be entrepreneurial while refusing to treat too many of them as entrepreneurs?

 

On RKN12 projects: 91 projects are still in the design phase. Who is watching the clock? And if a project is running late, who is accountable — not just responsible, but accountable?

 

On the birth rate: when young couples decide not to have children because they are unsure they can afford to, that is not merely a demographic statistic. It is a quiet verdict on the economy.

 

THE SIGNAL OF THE DAY

 

The word that defined Day Four was bersama — together. The budget theme is Bersama Menjayakan Wawasan Brunei 2035. It is a good word. It carries the right spirit.

 

But bersama only works when every part of the system is actually moving and not drafting, and not studying and not gathering data. Moving.

 

The speeches in the chamber were, on balance, the best kind: honest, measured, constructive, and grounded in what people outside the chamber are actually experiencing. Members did not silence the budget with flattery. They asked it to prove itself.

 

That is healthy. That is what a legislative council is for.

 

What comes next — in project approvals, in gig-worker financing, in job placement, in the confidence of young couples deciding whether they can afford a future here — will determine whether Day Four’s questions were truly heard, or merely recorded.

 

The public does not live in the Hansard. It lives in the outcome.

 

And that is where Wawasan 2035 will ultimately be judged — not in this chamber, but in the lives of people still waiting for the system to move at the speed their situation demands.

 

KopiTalk LegCo Tracker covers the 22nd Legislative Council session from a public-first perspective: what was said, what mattered, and what the public is still waiting for. (MHO/03/2026)

 

 

Day Three of LegCo: When the Questions Turned Practical

KopiTalk LegCo Daily Tracker — Day 3

LegCo’s third day moved beyond formalities into something more revealing: the state of delivery itself. From costly housing approvals to weak road maintenance, public transport reform, and youth anxiety, the real issue was no longer whether the problems were known — but whether the system could still convince the public it could solve them. 

By Malai Hassan Othman | KopiTalk with MHO

 

If Day Two was mostly about tone and broad signals, Day Three felt closer to the ground.

 

The questions were less ceremonial and more practical. Members raised housing approvals, road markings, traffic congestion, public transport, airport security, youth debt, sports pathways, education reform, and finally, the national budget.

 

That made Day Three matter more.

 

This was one of those sittings where the government could no longer stay in the comfort of broad language. It was pulled into the harder language of systems, delivery, delays, weak spots, and public expectations.

 

In that sense, Day Three was not just another sitting. It was the day policy began to meet reality.

 

When the Questions Hit Daily Life

 

One of the most relatable issues raised early was housing. A question was asked on how ABCi could simplify and make approval procedures clearer, especially for people trying to build homes. In reply, the Minister of Development said ABCi has been trying to make the process smoother through one-to-one sessions with Qualified Persons, the One Kick Submission Clinic, outreach on official platforms, and public guidance before formal submission.

 

He also gave a cost illustration that would have caught public attention. For a private house costing around $250,000, professional fees for Qualified Persons could range from about 3.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent, or roughly $8,750 to $16,250, though common charges are often around $8,000 to $10,000. 

 

That answer mattered because it touched a frustration many people already feel quietly: building a house in Brunei can feel expensive, technical and tiring, even before the first brick goes up.

 

Transport and infrastructure then became one of the strongest themes of the day.

 

In one exchange, the Minister of Transport and Info-communications explained the physical and digital security system at Brunei International Airport. He referred to ICAO standards, airport policing, immigration, customs, CCTV, perimeter systems, digital access controls, cyber coordination, and emergency plans. It was a very technical answer, but the message was clear enough. The government wants to show that critical infrastructure is being handled through proper systems and international standards.

 

For ordinary people, however, the more immediate issue was public transport.

 

The minister said the government is now in further negotiations with shortlisted companies after the request for proposal stage, and that the rollout will be done in phases. The first focus will be on Demand Responsive Transit, a more flexible shared transport model using vans or minibuses based on actual demand. Fixed-route services are expected to come later, while bus stop upgrades and new shelters are also being worked on. The first phase will focus on urban areas, although school transport needs may later help expand the model into some kampung areas too. 

 

This was one of the most important practical signals of Day Three. For years, public transport in Brunei has sounded like an idea people keep hearing about. On Day Three, it sounded a little more like an actual system being shaped.

 

Plans Are There. The Public Still Wants to Feel Them

 

Road safety and road quality formed another major part of the sitting. Questions were raised on road markings, signage, drainage, lighting, congestion, and road widening.

 

The Transport Minister referred to the Road Safety Action 2030 plan and said all major roads are being targeted to reach at least a 3-star safety rating by 2030, while noting that the Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Bridge has already achieved 4-star status. 

 

The Minister of Development then added a more grounded picture. He said road marking work on highways is at around 75 per cent, major roads such as Jalan Gadong, Jalan Jerudong, Jalan Tutong and Jalan Muara are around 80 per cent, while village and housing roads are only around 30 per cent. He also said weather and overlapping project works often slow progress, and that road markings generally last only about two years before they need to be redone. 

 

That exchange captured something bigger. In Brunei, the issue is often not the lack of a plan. It is the gap between the plan and what people actually see in front of them.

 

When motorists still drive at night on roads with fading markings, when signs are damaged, when drainage is poor, and when congestion remains part of daily life, people do not judge delivery by frameworks. They judge it by experience.

 

The same point came up in the discussion on underused public facilities.

 

Asked why some public facilities appear underused or poorly maintained, the Minister of Development said projects do go through proper RKN evaluation and prioritisation. But he also acknowledged that some assets become difficult to use because they are old, damaged or in need of repairs. He referred to empty flats under the ministry’s responsibility, old playgrounds in housing areas, and efforts to repair and revive them based on available resources and priority. 

 

This was one of the more revealing parts of the sitting because it touched a public concern many people already recognise: sometimes the problem is not building something. The problem is keeping it useful.

 

The Quiet Anxiety Beneath the Debate

 

There was also an important question on public participation in policymaking, especially involving youth and entrepreneurs.

 

In reply, the Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office pointed to the Regular Public Engagement approach introduced since 2018, as well as Program Sua Muka, Program Masyarakat Bermaklumat, digital channels and other outreach efforts. 

 

That showed there are already consultation platforms in place. But it also leaves a larger question hanging in the air: are these channels truly shaping policy from the ground, or are they still more about managed consultation than real participatory governance?

 

Another issue with strong public relevance was youth debt and financial pressure.

 

The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports acknowledged the seriousness of the issue and pointed to financial literacy efforts involving PKBN, TAP, LiveWIRE and the broader national financial literacy framework. 

 

This may not sound as dramatic as roads or transport, but it goes to the heart of a deeper national worry. Many young people today are not only worried about getting stable work. Some are also entering adult life already exposed to poor spending habits, weak financial discipline and rising pressure.

 

Then came one of the day’s most substantive policy segments: the Minister of Education’s major statement on “Memperkasa Pendidikan Negara: Keutamaan Strategik Generasi Siaga Masa Hadapan.”

 

The statement framed education as the country’s frontline response to a changing world. It touched on technological disruption, demographic change, the green transition, economic uncertainty, and the need to prepare students for a future shaped by digital skills, AI, adaptability and industry needs.

 

The minister also stressed stronger industry linkages, more work-ready graduates, entrepreneurship, inclusion, and the Ministry’s Gen AI Guidance for Education, alongside efforts by higher education institutions to balance innovation with academic integrity. 

 

This was more than a routine update. It was the Education Ministry trying to position itself as future-facing and reform-minded. In simple terms, education is being presented as the bridge between Brunei’s aspirations and Brunei’s employment reality.

 

And that matters, because underneath many of the day’s topics — transport, youth debt, sports, technology, housing and even the budget — sits the same quiet national anxiety: whether the country is really preparing its people for the economy they will actually face.

 

Budget Reality Enters the Room

 

That concern became even clearer when the Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II tabled the Supply Bill for Financial Year 2026/2027, with a national budget of BND6.3 billion.

 

He framed the budget against a harder global climate marked by geopolitical tension, inflation pressure, trade disruption, energy exposure and Brunei’s continuing structural vulnerabilities. He also signalled that Brunei is projected to face a budget deficit, while noting early labour force findings showing resident unemployment among those aged 18 and above at around 5.0 per cent, pending finalisation of the 2025 Labour Force Survey. 

 

The budget was organised around three priorities: strengthening fiscal stability and financial governance, driving economic transformation and innovation, and ensuring social sustainability and future development. It also pointed to tighter spending discipline, diversification beyond oil and gas, more private-sector and foreign investment partnerships, digital transformation, food security, labour reform, TVET strengthening and more focused social support. 

 

Alongside that, the Development Fund motion of BND480 million was tabled, covering projects in food production, aquaculture, transport, ICT, education, sports, climate-related work, roads and water systems. 

 

Taken together, Day Three showed a government trying to sound realistic.

 

The Development Ministry sounded practical but somewhat defensive: yes, there are weaknesses, but work is ongoing, and resources are limited. The Transport Ministry sounded technical and structured: systems, standards, phases, compliance. The Education Ministry sounded ambitious and forward-looking. The Finance Ministry sounded cautious, reform-minded and aware of fiscal pressure. 

 

But for the public, the strongest takeaway from Day Three may be simpler.

 

Why is it still so costly and difficult to build a house?

Why do some public facilities lose value so quickly?

When will public transport become something people can actually depend on?

Why are road safety problems still so familiar?

Are young people being prepared for real jobs, or just being passed through the system?

And in a tighter fiscal climate, will spending finally lead to visible results?

 

That is why Day Three felt more important than Day Two.

 

It was less about broad official language and more about whether the delivery system can actually earn public trust.

 

And that may now be the real test of LegCo — not whether the right issues are being mentioned, but whether the systems behind them can finally deliver in a way the public can see and feel.

 

The real signal from Day Three was this: Brunei’s official conversation is becoming more practical. That is welcome. But practical talk alone will not satisfy the public. In the end, people do not live on explanations. They live on whether the system delivers. (MHO/03/2026)