Regional Outlook: Southeast Asia 2009-2010

The ASEAN-10

16 THE ASEAN-10 Pushpa Thambipillai • Sophal Ear • Bernhard Platzdasch • Martin Stuart-Fox • Johan Saravanamuttu • Robert H. Taylor • Felipe B. Miranda • Terence Chong • Supinya Klangnarong • David Koh Brunei Darussalam Brunei฀ Darussalam’s฀ name฀ —฀ the฀ Abode฀ of฀ Peace฀ —฀ is฀ an฀ apt฀ one,฀ for฀ compared฀ to฀ some฀ other฀ Southeast฀ Asian฀ countries,฀ it฀ represents฀ a฀model฀of฀stability.฀ The฀monarchical฀system฀is฀well฀entrenched,฀and฀will฀continue฀for฀ the฀foreseeable฀future.฀Neither฀the฀current฀ruler,฀Sultan฀Haji฀Hassanal฀ Bolkiah,฀ the฀ 29th ฀ Sultan฀ in฀ the฀ lineage,฀ nor฀ the฀ Crown฀ Prince฀ and฀ Deputy฀ Sultan,฀ Haji฀ Al-Muhtadee฀ Billah,฀ is฀ in฀ any฀ hurry฀ to฀ change฀ the฀national฀political฀order.฀The฀62-year-old฀Sultan฀is฀relatively฀young฀ in฀comparison฀with฀other฀monarchs฀around฀the฀world,฀and฀will฀likely฀ to฀continue฀in฀his฀position;฀this฀is฀also฀the฀desire฀of฀his฀subjects฀who฀ consider฀him฀the฀peoples’฀monarch.฀The฀father-son฀team฀will฀continue฀ as฀ Prime฀ Minister฀ and฀ Senior฀ Minister,฀ and฀ another฀ member฀ of฀ the฀ royal฀ family,฀ Prince฀ Mohamed฀ Bolkiah,฀ is฀ also฀ likely฀ to฀ continue฀ as฀ Foreign฀Minister.฀ That฀there฀will฀be฀some฀generational฀change฀in฀the฀political฀system฀ sometime฀ in฀ the฀ next฀ decade฀ is฀ evinced฀ by฀ the฀ fact฀ that฀ the฀ Crown฀ Prince฀ has฀ assumed฀ a฀ more฀ active฀ and฀ prominent฀ role.฀ For฀ instance,฀ Prince฀ Al-Muhtadee฀ Billah฀ addressed฀ the฀ new฀ session฀ of฀ the฀ United฀ Nations฀General฀Assembly฀(UNGA)฀in฀September฀2008,฀a฀task฀usually฀ undertaken฀ by฀ the฀ Sultan฀ himself฀ or฀ the฀ Foreign฀ Minister.฀ The฀ visit฀ 01 PolOutlk p16-54.indd 16 12/9/08 11:15:20 AM 17 THE ASEAN-10 BRUNEI DARUSSALAM Land Area: 5,770 sq. km. Population: 381,371 Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan Type of Government: Monarchy Head of State and Government: Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah Currency Used: Brunei dollar US$ exchange rate on 18 November 2008: US$1 = B$1.50 also฀exposed฀him฀to฀other฀high-level฀diplomatic฀activity฀including฀the฀ ASEAN฀ foreign฀ ministers฀ meeting,฀ the฀ special฀ Commonwealth฀ Heads฀ of฀ Government฀ Meeting฀ and฀ dinners฀ hosted฀ by฀ President฀ George฀ W.฀ Bush฀ and฀ the฀ Speaker฀ of฀ the฀ UNGA.฀ Those฀ occasions฀ did฀ not฀ fail฀ to฀ impress฀ television฀ viewers฀ back฀ home,฀ who฀ could฀ see฀ their฀ young฀ prince฀ taking฀ on฀ important฀ tasks฀ of฀ statecraft฀ to฀ equip฀ himself฀ for฀ weighty฀responsibilities฀in฀the฀future. The฀ current฀ monarch฀ will฀ continue฀ to฀ exercise฀ a฀ direct฀ influence฀ on฀ the฀ various฀ facets฀ of฀ the฀ state’s฀ development฀ as฀ he฀ is฀ both฀ head฀ of฀ state฀ and฀ of฀ government.฀ His฀ schedules฀ include฀ receiving฀ visiting฀ leaders฀ and฀ other฀ dignitaries.฀ He฀ personally฀ conducts฀ international฀ diplomacy฀ on฀ overseas฀ trips,฀ while฀ allocating฀ some฀ of฀ the฀ diplomatic฀ tasks฀to฀the฀Crown฀Prince.฀He฀exercises฀firm฀control฀over฀the฀political฀ and฀ administrative฀ matters฀ of฀ the฀ state.฀ The฀ August฀ 2008฀ cabinet฀ reshuffle,฀ in฀ which฀ three฀ ministers฀ were฀ reassigned,฀ is฀ an฀ indication฀ that฀he฀closely฀follows฀ministerial฀performances.฀ The฀ Sultan฀ continues฀ to฀ undertake฀ a฀ direct฀ interest฀ in฀ social฀ and฀ economic฀ matters฀ of฀ the฀ state.฀ In฀ 2008฀ the฀ two฀ main฀ theses฀ of฀ his฀ addresses฀have฀been฀the฀eradication฀of฀poverty฀and฀the฀importance฀of฀ food฀security.฀In฀a฀country฀that฀boasts฀a฀per฀capita฀income฀of฀around฀ 01 PolOutlk p16-54.indd 17 12/9/08 11:15:20 AM 18 POLITICAL OUTLOOK US$20,000,฀ it฀ is฀ disheartening฀ for฀ Bruneians฀ to฀ find฀ several฀ hundred฀ “hard฀ core”฀ poor฀ who฀ live฀ in฀ dilapidated฀ dwellings฀ and฀ survive฀ on฀ ฀ meager฀ incomes.฀ Thus฀ national฀ policies฀ in฀ 2009–2010฀ will฀ address฀ the฀ related฀ issues฀ of฀ eradicating฀ poverty,฀ extending฀ agricultural฀ productivity,฀ providing฀ adequate฀ housing฀ and฀ increasing฀ employment฀ opportunities. The฀state’s฀appointed฀legislative฀assembly฀meets฀early฀in฀the฀year฀ to฀deliberate฀and฀approve฀the฀annual฀national฀budget.฀The฀2008฀session฀ was฀ no฀ different฀ and฀ it฀ appears฀ it฀ will฀ maintain฀ its฀ present฀ format฀ ฀ over฀the฀next฀couple฀of฀years.฀The฀selected฀backbenchers฀will฀continue฀ to฀ be฀ the฀ only฀ source฀ of฀ public฀ query฀ or฀ criticism฀ of฀ government฀ ministers฀and฀their฀policies.฀ The฀ generation฀ that฀ was฀ in฀ public฀ service฀ during฀ the฀ post฀ independence฀ years฀ has฀ recently฀ retired฀ and฀ a฀ new฀ generation฀ of฀ ฀ younger฀ and฀ better฀ educated฀ personnel฀ is฀ taking฀ charge.฀ The฀ net฀ result฀ will฀ be฀ a฀ more฀ efficient฀ administrative฀ system฀ in฀ the฀ next฀ three฀ to฀ five฀ years.฀ Regular฀ reviews฀ and฀ training฀ is฀ being฀ pursued฀ in฀ meeting฀ that฀ target.฀ Another฀ area฀ that฀ will฀ see฀ better฀ management฀ is฀ the฀ e-government฀ sector฀ that฀ has฀ been฀ introduced฀ in฀ the฀ last฀ several฀ years฀in฀selected฀administrative฀areas.฀It฀has฀faced฀immense฀problems฀ in฀ its฀ start-up฀ stages฀ and฀ will฀ need฀ a฀ few฀ more฀ years฀ before฀ it฀ will฀ function...