EmmaGoodEgg

@williamjhague: Selamat Pagi Brunei

Last Friday the Brunei twitterverse received a tweet from none other than the UK Foreign Secretary @williamjhague bidding all a “Selamat Pagi Brunei”. Mr. Hague was in the country for the EU-ASEAN Foreign Ministerial meeting held at the ICC, where he and other dignitaries would hobnob with others from around the globe.

Savvy in social media, in the days prior to his visit to the region, William Hague used LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to pose the question to British businesses in the region, “How can the UK grow trade with SE Asia? Tell the Foreign Secretary”.  The answers he received in return included - focus on health care; aviation and aeronautical sector; education arts and culture. 

Just before coming to Brunei he tweeted, “Friendly debate with acting FM of Singapore: #Facebook v #Twitter: which is better tool for communicating? He said Facebook, I said Twitter”. He even got Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore to write on his Facebook page.

So, some of us online folks were lucky to have a tete-a-tete with William Hague at the Residence of the British High Commissioner, just before his meeting at the ICC. He was obviously interested in how we use social media in Brunei.

Before our chat Mr. Hague and Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, Minister of Education, officially launched the "BUBA Awards" Schools’ Competition, an essay writing competition amongst the sixth form colleges in Brunei.

According to the press release, BUBA stands for the British Universities’ Brunei Association, and is made up of forty-eight British universities and colleges with a track record in the Brunei market. In the past, BUBA has focused on maintaining levels of customer satisfaction in Brunei. Now, in response to the Brunei government’s focus on economic diversification, the knowledge economy and research, and the emergence in Brunei of strong partners for British universities, BUBA aspires to a more strategic role. BUBA’s members seek to involve Bruneian academics and institutions in their own research networks. The “BUBA Awards” are intended to advertise that opportunity amongst future generations of Bruneian researchers; and to encourage collaboration between educational institutions of the UK and Brunei.

I understand that it has been many years since the last tour of Asia by a British foreign secretary, but the word is that Britain is now looking east to do business.

Though in Brunei, British influence and presence has never really diminished, as we are still one of the youngest states in Asia, and defence cooperation is quite apparent. In the rest of Asia, the Brits have over the years, been seen to retreat strategically back to Europe. There was a recent editorial in the Singapore papers that questioned the British strategic ability to project real power and influence into Asia, given their economic preoccupations and straightened defence circumstances. While Obama may be able to back up economic talk with the “walk”, so to speak, of the Seventh Fleet, the Royal Navy is not what it once was. But at least they have Will and Kate.

I think that following on from the responses received on line, the British export to Brunei that would provide the most mutual benefit is education.

I read with interest an article in the London Times that investigated the rise in foreign admission, especially from Russia and China, in traditional English public schools. Apparently the oligarchs and champagne communists can't get enough of an exclusive boarding school education.

But for us, its not just cold showers and wintery cross-country runs. Though any time spent in education abroad is bound to broaden an individual's experience, be it from taking the bus or riding the tube, finding a halal butcher or living on a diet of instant noodles, it is the kind of education that encourages independent thought and acquisition of knowledge that is the greatest value. 

We in Brunei would like to encourage creativity and innovation. The past week has seen a great deal of press and official statements to this effect, especially in relation to the creation and protection of patents and other intellectual property. I believe that in order for us to be truly innovative, or to arrive at ideas and solutions that are unique and useful, we would need not just technical knowledge and skills, but the ability to exercise independent thought and reason. To defend one’s views, and not to accept things on face value.

After all, in order to create a patent, one needs an original idea.  

@emmagoodegg

For the version that I mistakenly sent to my editor click here.

 

Rabbit Time

A couple of days ago there were reports in the newspapers about the decline of Brunei’s annual birth rate. According to the Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE), Brunei's annual population growth rate was at 1.7 per cent in 2011 down from 2.5 per cent in 2001.  As a general guide, a country’s birth rate should be above 2% in order to maintain a constant population, in order to keep a “replacement rate”, that is, births keeping up with deaths.  

On the other hand, the figures also show that the total population, including foreign workers, their dependents and permanent residents increased over the ten years from 2001 to 2011, to 393,162 from 332,844.  This suggests two things, people are living longer (births outnumber deaths), and that the population has increased as a result of immigration.

So, as one would expect, on-line, every smart aleck had an opinion on how to increase the birth rate/population. It was last weeks’ running joke. 

Firstly, and obviously from the guys - make it easier to marry four, nay, encourage it! Given that men outnumber women by 3%, it means that you would have to import the extra brides.  On-line the choice seems to be from Venezuela, Bulgaria, and Thailand. Obviously that one won’t fly with me, or the rest of the female population. It would also make for a colourful, tall and Spanish speaking population in the second half of this century.

Then there is financial incentive for more children. The problem is, what more do people need? We already have a substantial welfare structure in place. Would you give allowances for the third child and above? - yaaawn enough already with the spending, and also, you might end up with the wrong kind of people trying to take advantage, and therefore having the wrong kind of population.  

Some suggest more “rabbit time” – perhaps we could organize rolling blackouts and a cut of satellite and Internet transmission in the evenings? Legitimize “Valentine’s day” every month?

How about physiology? Mass deep breathing exercises could be encouraged. Ban tofu and tight spendet for men.

But seriously, there are some who view a global trend towards a decreasing population growth rate as a good thing. Substantially more people on this earth means greater competition for scarce resources and a strain on the environment. A decrease in the global population over time may be said to be beneficial and environmentally sound.

For us in Brunei, it can be said that a decrease in the birth rate would be in fact expected and a natural consequence of better living standards and education. As women especially, gain greater education and opportunities in the work place, they will put off marriage and children to later on in life. They would prefer to concentrate on first getting their careers on track.  As our life styles have changed – you now don’t need 10 children to work the fields - couples have made an economic choice to have fewer children. People would prefer to concentrate time and resources on fewer children than to spread them over more.

There may be a view that a smaller population for Brunei is a good thing. It means that there is less demand for state resources, making existing welfare arrangements sustainable.

I don’t believe that the issues can be taken lightly. Policy makers will probably need to grapple with these over years to come, as they will affect the future cultural and social make up of the nation.

As stated by the JPKE, one needs to consider that a small population will not be able to support any real kind of industry or commerce. At the moment, it is not a pressing issue, but as every one says, the oil and gas industry may not be able to keep up with existing expectations.

A point to be made is that as neighbouring countries prosper, the supply of cheap foreign labour may be constrained. People may not want to work for a low income in Brunei when job prospects and incomes are similar back home. 

So where does that leave us? We have a strong sense of national identity, but this should not lead us to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world, and particularly neighbouring countries. In order to trade effectively I believe we are going to have to be more accepting of outsiders. More able to allow them to grow and have a future alongside us. In a sense, so that all can grow together. 

@emmagoodegg

Illustration by Cuboi Art.

For the online version click here.

Smash Hits

“Ayam Penyet”, literally translated as smashed or flattened chicken, was until six or seven years ago a pretty unknown dish. It is now a lunch or dinnertime staple as popular as “nasi katok”.

There is nothing unusual about this Indonesian dish. Its components are straightforward: fried chicken, ‘ulam-ulaman’ (vegetables, usually raw cucumber and blanched cabbage), plain rice and ‘sambal’. Some would want to jazz it up with tempe, a sprinkling of ‘uras’ (golden crumbs left at the bottom of the deep fry strainer) from the batter or crackers. It is a simple dish, but as everyone knows, the greatest meals are not necessarily multi-coursed, multi-sauced feasts but simple homely dishes prepared with love and care.

You used to only find Ayam Penyet in insalubrious locales without a Rampaian Licence but its popularity as a cheap and cheerful dish has grown. Now everyone has a favourite Ayam Penyet place and I thought I would try to sample a few.

I started my research of Brunei-Muara District’s favourite penyet places as I do when needing an answer to a burning question these days: ask Twitter and Facebook. I enlisted my beloved and we set out to review the most popular choices, those with three votes or more. We paid for our own meals and I list them in order of consumption.

The first place we went to was the newly opened Ayam Penyet AP, located at Units 20 & 21, Ground Floor Block B, Gadong Central. It is a franchise joint – a sign of how far this dish has gone; like burgers, pizza or fried chicken (wait a minute, it IS fried chicken). It is a Malaysian enterprise that has been given the “license” from the Indonesian Government to use the name “Ayam Penyet”. So in other words, Indonesia owns this part of culture but the Malaysians reap the benefit.

Anyway, this place is run with modern tick-the-box stick-with-the-manual industrial efficiency. It had laminated menus with glossy pictures, snazzy drinks with at least three ingredients and stylish furniture. The menu had a wide variety of new fangled penyets aside from the normal chicken: beef and duck and ironically, Skate, a flat fish.

It was busy at 9pm on a weekday night and generally delivered a clean, efficient dining experience, far removed from the sidewalk gerai origins of this dish. Ayam Penyet cost $5.10 and drinks, mocktails especially, were pricey.

Objective Ratings:

Vegetable: 2/5 Not a big helping. Lacked zing. 

Sambal: 3.5/5 Strong but to the point of overpowering the tongue.

Rice: 2.5/5 You had to pay extra for rice.

Chicken: 3/5 Nice enough, but not moist on the inside.

Service/Ambience: 3.5/5 Zippy.

Total: 14.5 from 25

Subjective Rating: If this place was a diplomatic incident, it would have been won by the Malaysians.

The next day for lunch we headed to Pondok Sari Wangi, 1^st Floor , Unit 12 and 13 Block A, Abdul Razak Complex Gadong, a popular Indonesian restaurant that has been around for some 22 years. We went to the Gadong branch. The Ayam Penyet and its accouterments came in a designed round white plate lined with banana leaf. It is accompanied with tempe and a few crackers thrown in for good measure. This is a more full-blown restaurant than the first, with a full menu of Indonesian delicacies, and service to match. Ayam Penyet was $5.00, lime juice was $3.00.

Objective Ratings:

Vegetable: 4.5/5 Fresh. Crispy blanched cabbage and flavourful cucumbers. 

Sambal: 4/5 Light in colour, but the heat was clear, as was the taste of fresh tomato. 

Rice: 4/5 Moist.

Chicken: 4/5 Fresh, still succulent inside.

Service and Atmosphere: 3/5 MTV at lunch.

Total: 19.5 from 25

Subjective Rating: If this Ayam Penyet was an item of clothing, it would be a classic Chanel handbag, reassuringly expensive.

In the evening we went to Taman Selera, opposite the Sharia Courts building in Bandar. Stall Number 4, Gerai Selera Damas has dining alfresco, indeed there is no inside eating. This gerai is within a large food court, which is quite lively in the evenings, with large families feasting and a few tourists tentatively picking at the live seafood offerings. Damas seems to cater to those in the know; indeed an old school friend was seated at the next table. After a while, he simply went into the kitchen, cut his own vegetables and fried his own fish. I asked him if he had any ownership interests, he said that he was only a regular. 3 orders of ayam penyet came family style, $3.00 each and $1.00 for a drink. The economy option.    

Objective Ratings:

Vegetable: 2.5/5 Cucumber and cabbage.

Sambal: 4/5 2 types hot and medium. The medium was balanced and had a deep tomato flavor.

Rice: 2/5 No portion control.

Chicken: 3/5

Service and Atmosphere: 3/5 Street cuisine.

Total: 14.5 from 25

Subjective Rating: If this gerai was a night out in any other city it would be a Dangdut Club playing Inul Daratista karaoke.

We tried Arzy Restaurant’s Ayam Penyet next. Formerly located on the 2^nd floor PGGMB Building and now at the food court of Wisma Setia on Jalan Pemancha. I have to thank Arzy for getting me hooked on Ayam Penyet. The service was familiar and cheery. You dine in a food court filled with a mix of office and manual workers. Ayam Penyet was $4.00, Coke $1.00. Recommended for lunch only.

Objective Ratings:

Vegetable: 4/5 Cucumber, cabbage beans and kenikir ferns.

Sambal: 3/5 Less tomato, more belacan. More rock than keroncong.

Rice: 3/5

Chicken: 3.5/5 Properly smashed, skin flavourful.

Service and Atmosphere: 3/5 I like being greeted like a long lost friend, but minus points for cleanliness.

Total: 16.5 from 25

Subjective Rating: For me this place would be like a favourite piece of clothing, a comfortable and familiar pair of jeans that have seen better days.

Gerai Makan Ayam Penyet Tanjung Nangka is on Simpang 1626 just beyond the Jerudong turn off on Jalan Tutong. This received the most votes. We first went when it was a wooden shack over a monsoon drain. Now it has proper parking and its own concrete building. The proprietress, an elderly lady from the kampung, still lords it over the cash till regardless whether it was in a wooden shack or in the new comfortable surroundings. Her golden bangles like Wonder Woman’s cuffs of power. Ayam Penyet was $3.50, lime juice was $1.00.

Objective Ratings:

Vegetable: 3/5 Muang beans!

Sambal: 4/5 Mild, balanced.

Rice: 4/5 Local short grain.

Chicken: 4/5 Flavourful local bird.

Service and Atmosphere: 3/5 Functional.

Total: 18 from 25

Subjective Rating: If this Gerai was a football team, it would be the Brunei Under 21 National team, the local contender.

Our final Ayam Penyet epic was completed at Gerai Mak Siti, on Simpang 178-16, Kampong Kiarong. It can be seen from the highway, on the left as you pass RIPAS before Jame’. The Gerai is in someone’s garden, with twinkling fairy lights and an absence of fluorescence. Seating is in a cosy wooden structure. It is, if anything, a gerai for dating. Ayam Penyet was $3.00, Coke was $1.00, economical.  

Objective Ratings:

Vegetable: 3/5

Sambal: 3/5 Two types again, the hot was hot, and the mild was sweet.

Rice: 4/5

Chicken: 3/5 Smells good.

Service and Atmosphere: 4.5/5

Total: 17.5 from 25

Subjective Rating: If this restaurant was a P. Ramlee song, it would be “Getaran Jiwa”.   

 

@emmagoodegg

Illustration by Cuboi Art.

For the online version click here.

The Mute Liberal

It was a dark and starry night and everyone was minding their own business. I was sitting on the balcony surfing the world wide web looking for some interesting news. After checking in with The Google and after skimming many sites I came across a post on a forum that highlighted the average GDP growths of several ASEAN countries, including Brunei. The picture that was painted about Brunei was hardly flattering, rather depressing and ominous, but the basics seemed accurate. It produced some IMF statistics that stated that our GDP growth was, as compared to neighboring countries, unsustainably low and essentially that not quite enough was being done to diversify the economy. I pondered about sharing it with the world. Now in a melancholic mood (you would be too if you read the post) I argued with my beloved about why I shouldn’t or couldn’t, but finally decided against it. The fear of retribution a choke-hold on my liberal sensibilities.

It got me thinking why this is so. 

You open the local papers or websites these days and you are bound to find some radical who foams at the mouth to all and sundry, just one stop short of incendiary in any other circumstance. They demand the regulation of this, the prohibition of that. Greater subsidy, more aid, more assistance, greater benefits, larger packages. Just because you are loud doesn’t necessarily mean that you are right. 

I will have to admit my general outlook is liberal. Those three of you, (thanks mom, dad, husband) who regularly read my weekly submission, may have an inkling of this.

It may be my social circle, but my understanding is that generally there are many people around who share a similar outlook: liberal,  but not radical. 

I think that there are quite a few of us who simply wish to lead life simply, peacefully; without imposing on others, and without being unduly imposed upon. People who want to go about their business in a reasonable, self reliant manner, not to take unjustly - to do no harm and to give more than they receive. 

This stance could not, and should not, be taken in any way as radical or threatening. 

Unfortunately, we do hear voices in local media, both in print and online, that would appear to harangue all and sundry in the name of and with the justification that it is for the preservation of culture and “conservative” values. Sometimes these are in fact more radical or more disruptive than anything else. 

Generally, the problem with a liberal bent is that you end up not speaking up for yourself, because after all let’s live and let live. But then your views are not heard, digested or considered, to your (and possibly others) detriment. Sometimes I feel bullied. 

Have you ever met a radical liberal? I thought not. Their voices are generally muted. 

But no more. 

I am liberal, hear me roar...or rather, type reasonably and politely on my mac.

@emmagoodegg

Illustration by Cuboi Art.

For the online version click here.

The Hunger Games

The most memorable piece of television for me of recent years was the sight, on the Amazing Race Season 3, of the elderly American couple Teri and Ian parading their disposable underwear while getting into the Dugong enclosure at the Singapore Zoo.

Reality TV has become the not-so-guilty cultural obsession of the early 21^st Century. Shows like “Big Brother” and “Survivor” started it all. We now have “Akademi Fantasia”, “American Idol”, and “Keeping up with the Kardashians”, amongst others. It seems that there is nothing else on television these days, including a set of super competitive cooking tweens rustling up mushroom risottos on “Junior Masterchef”. It is the mixture of “normal” and “everyday” people in competitive situations, given a shot at stardom, and a satiation of our voyeuristic tendencies that makes this type of television so compelling.

“The Hunger Games” is the first part of a popular trilogy of books written for young adults by Suzanne Collins that has been adapted for the big screen and was recently released worldwide to much acclaim.  Rotten Tomatoes, the online film critic, gave this film an almost perfect score.

The trilogy is set in the future, in the fantasy land of Panem, in which the urban elite, based in the capital city, imaginatively called “The Capitol”, lord it over the disenfranchised rural poor. The rural workers live in 12 districts, toiling at manual jobs providing basic necessities such as coal, wheat and steel for The Capitol, whose residents appear to live in lavish and decadent luxury. 

Every year, 2 teenagers, a boy and a girl from each district are chosen by lottery to become tribute to The Capitol, to participate in, “the Hunger Games”. These Games are meant to be a reminder to the residents of the districts of the suffering that came about after a rebellion against The Capitol some 75 years previously. The 24 “tributes” participate in a deadly form of reality television, a mix of “Survivor”, the “Truman Show” and  “Akademi Fantasia”, in which they are pitted against one another in a fight to the death for which only one can emerge victorious, rich and covered in glory.  

The heroine of the piece is Katniss Everdeen, played with vulnerability and toughness by 23 year-old Jennifer Lawrence. Katniss starts the film yomping through the woods, catching her own food with a bow and arrow and sporting a pair of photogenic knee high leather boots. Katniss bravely volunteers to take the place of her younger sister, Primrose, for the Hunger Games.

The second act of the film depicts the media hype and build up before the actual games, much like the early part of an American Idol Season, where the viewing population is introduced to and chooses their favourites. It is in the part of the film that clearly, the hair, make up and wardrobe departments had their day. The musician Lenny Kravitz, plays Cinna, the District 12 stylist who himself parades shimmering golden eye shadow.  The Capitol is depicted as a cross between Ancient Rome and the movie The Fifth Element.

The actual games take place in a camera-laden forest where events can be manipulated and different factions and alliances are built. It is rather bloody, but never breaches its PG -13 rating.

All in all I would agree with the critics, it was a good adaption of the first novel, and I look forward to the next two films.

But my main reason for enjoying the books and the movie is Miss Everdeen,  the reluctant hero who should be a hero to girls everywhere, who protects her family and manages to overcome obstacles and gets out of the woods without needing the help of a handsome sparkly vampire.

The Hunger Games opened in Brunei cinemas last Thursday.

@emmagoodegg

Photo from The Brunei Times cos Cuboi's got a mental block for this one :)

For the online version with the sensational title click here.

 

Life Is A Game, Football Is Serious

Its been a long twelve years since we have seen a National Football team succeed as the Youth team did on last Friday night’s tournament success. As everyone now knows, the Under 21 National Football team capped an amazing run of success by seeing off a strong Indonesian side, 2-0, in a superb showcase final. Thousands of fans in yellow for Brunei and red for Indonesia braved the possibility of rain and warmed the seats of the National Stadium, filling it to capacity, bringing great colour and excitement, with wave after wave of the Mexican variety. Thousands more sat outside, and on the Belapan football pitch, a plastic bottle throw away, watching the match on huge mounted screens.

On the way to the finals of the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy For Asean Youth Football Championship 2012, Brunei's young team beat traditional heavyweights like Malaysia and new footballing power, Myanmar. The lads’ road to success was not one without drama. Reports surfaced online about some bad behavior amongst the fans marring the semi finals match between Brunei and Myanmar.

But that's the thing about football matches; they sure do elicit strong emotions.

A number of posts, pictures and tweets concerning badly behaved Bruneians at the Semis went viral. It was all that anyone could talk about it seems. Everyone had something to say, but many were ashamed at the atrocious behavior of some of our bad apples. There is a particular photo that showed the queue lines for the Brunei fans and Indonesian fans. Orderly for the Indonesians and not so much for us. If anything, this has shown me, with proof, that Indonesians know how to queue better than Bruneians.

There is also a You Tube posting of fans of both Red and Yellow outside the Stadium throwing plastic drinks bottles at Brunei fans inside, having had bottles dropped on them from above in the first place. A twisted case of ‘have (ticket) and have not’?  I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

It doesn't and it shouldn't take anything away from our lads who played well and with grace and determination emerging as first time winners, lifting the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy towards the stars that evening. Credit has got to be given for the hard work that they put into preparation, and the sportsmanship and good nature exhibited by these young heroes on the field should be an example to all of us off it.

For some of us who have been keeping up with the current Legislative Council debates, there were a couple of things that made one sit up and take notice. Least of not were the rumblings about the ownership of land through powers of attorney and trust deeds by permanent residents of Brunei and foreigners.

Whilst it is understandable that measures need to be taken to encourage ownership of landed property by citizens, and that they are not priced out of the property market, what caught the eye was the statement that existing trust arrangements (some of which may have been in existence for years) are to be converted into leases. 

This type of retrospective action is to say the least, unusual. As I understand it, these types of transaction had in the past not been viewed with the same sort of severity. In other words, they were seen as acceptable. To now, with a stroke of the pen, invalidate these, or entirely “rewrite” a contract is not seen as something that is done in a just or civilized nation. 

This kind of thing will not, in the long run, give investors very much confidence. It would have been healthier to have had discussion and notice first. Perhaps even a form of registration and a system of land and capital gains tax that would discourage these types of interests moving forward could be considered. There are after all, many ways to skin a cat.

For a small country, we don’t do as well as we should in the World Bank ease of doing business survey. The beauty of a small jurisdiction should be that it is easy to get things done. Shocks to investors' confidence such as this will not continue to help.

It should be noted that there have long been calls for a clear system of what can or cannot be registered at the Land Office rather than having an opaque system based on “policy”. It is hoped that confidence will quickly be restored, and that clear rules will emerge. It is all too easy to feel emotional about issues concerning the security of investments in the motherland, as it is when watching the football finals.

I hope that we can all strive towards climbing the World Bank Rankings, as we have done with the FIFA rankings.

And all that remains to be said is Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole!

@emmagoodegg

Illustration by Cuboi Art.

For the online version click here.

Meryl and Margaret

It was Oscars last Monday and Meryl Streep won for her third Oscar, this time in the Best Leading Actress category. According to IMDB, she has been nominated an astonishing 17 times for this.

Even though she is dressed in resplendent burnt gold, Meryl always manages to look like she's just come out of the kitchen after roasting the family a whole leg of lamb. If you ask me this is the secret to her staying power and her popularity - her ability to juggle sophistication and homely womanliness. She gave a charming acceptance speech where she thanked her husband first. Makeup and hairstyle comes and goes, but Meryl's womanly wiles have and will be here for the long run.

The movie Meryl Streep won for this year is “The Iron Lady”, a portrait of Britain's first and so far only lady Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. It told the story of Maggie T from her days as the daughter of a grocer; to dealing with the class and gender prejudice of the conservative party; to her becoming an icon of her time; to becoming a grand old dame coping with the onset of dementia and suffering the loss of her soul mate.

It's both disconcerting and riveting to watch the elderly Margaret Thatcher talk to her dead husband Denis, who she imagines speaking to her. This is the longest serving British Prime Minister of the twentieth century! With that helmet of hair, and booming drawl, she is the Iron Lady - she can't grow old! But grow old she does.

Meryl has been known for taking on the role of “the steely woman”, and plays Dame Thatcher to a T.

Unpopular at first, with her strong armed policies that closed down uneconomical state owned business. She also took on the trade unions that to her mind held the economy hostage. To the unemployed she simply told them to get to work.

The film, as a historical document, shows that these at the time, radical, policy of deregulation succeeded in turning matters round and creating wealth.

Along with the change of economic fortunes, Margaret Thatcher’s popularity rocketed on her firm stance on the invasion of the Falkland Island and her insistence not to be bullied. It took nerves of steel to make that massive decision to launch the first salvo and to sink the Argentine Cruiser, the General Belgrano, and she made it unflinchingly.

It must not have been easy to be a woman in politics during the time she became a Member of Parliament. There is a scene in the film where they show Thatcher going for voice lessons in her preparation to lead the Conservative Party. They said her voice was too nasally when it needed to be imperious. Off with the curls, hat and pearls. She got rid of the hat and kept the pearls and the hairdo finally sported became her trademark of sorts. A forbidding blonde hair-sprayed helmet, school marm-like, and one certainly not to be trifled with.

Next week on the 8th of March we celebrate International Women's Day with this year's theme of Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures. If I had my way, there would be a screening of The Iron Lady at every event aimed to inspire girls and mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. We'd all leave the room empowered, not to mention hopeful that we will, or be thankful that we have found the right man to support the passion. I believe her great untold story, as acknowledged by Meryl’s acceptance speech, was her love affair with her husband Denis who throughout appears to have been an unwavering and supportive presence. 

@emmagoodegg

Illustration by Cuboi Art.

For the online version click here.

Boomer, X or Y

Brunei Darussalam celebrated its 28th National Day on Thursday this week at the capital's Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar 'Ali Saifuddien (SOAS) in front of the SOAS mosque right smack in the center of town. Thousands of school children, companies and organizations in uniformed attire, all waving mini Brunei flags, marched in military precision to show their love for king and country. The army, navy and police personnel, resplendent in their uniforms, were no less patriotic. There was a colorful field show emphasizing "My Country Brunei Darussalam" which is the theme of this year's National Day. The show culminated in a patriotic cry of "Merdeka!" (Or Independence!), rejoicing in our 28 years of independence.

In human terms, 28 years would put you pretty much in the middle of young adulthood. As a 28 year old, you would have completed your education and have just embarked on a career. You still have youthful energy and enthusiasm, should as yet be unjaded but with life starting to get more serious. Some would categorize you as being part of “Generation Y”.

Western marketers have divided the generations into easy segmentation to understand a little bit more in what makes or drives a person, though some say this is only to make it easy to sell things.

First you have the generation of Baby Boomers, those who where born in the peace and stability of the years just after the Second World War. Sociologists have defined the characteristics of the Baby Boomers as work-centric, independent, goal oriented and competitive. In the West, this generation was born into difficult years, but in the fifties and sixties life became more prosperous. They grew up during the uncertainties of the Cold War and the threat of nuclear Armageddon.  Although competitive and goal oriented, those growing up in the sixties and seventies experienced a cultural revolution emphasizing individual liberty and self-expression.

Generation X followed the Baby Boomers, known to be individualistic, technologically adept, flexible and valuing a work/life balance. Born into the relative economic prosperity of the late sixties and seventies, these are the children of the Baby Boomers.  This is my generation. We did not face down the great communist threat, we did not build nations, we watched films such as “Reality Bites” and “Slackers” and worried that our future would not be the present of our parents.  

A 28 year old in 2012 would be classified as coming from Generation Y. This is the generation that are tech-savvy, family centric, achievement oriented, team oriented and attention craving. Generation Y could be said to have not suffered the angst of Generation X. Is it unfair of me to say that the work of the previous generations have been taken for granted? Generation Y is perhaps a little bit more comfortable of their place in the world.

As a country that has celebrated 28 years of independence, can we really define ourselves as Generation Y?

I don't think so. Any nation is made up of diverse demographics.

Let's not forget that we did not gain independence on the 23rd of February 1984, but resumed it. In a sense, Brunei is both young and very old, almost 1300 years in fact.

But for an aging Gen X such as myself, age is nothing but a number. It is what is inside that counts, and for a nation, it is the quality of its people and its institutions.

Happy Resumption of Independence Day Brunei.

@emmagoodegg

Illustration by Cuboi Art.

For the online version click here.

Portraits Of Modern Brunei: Max, The Oil and Gas Contractor

Max (not his real name) is a youthful 60 year old former soldier, who by any measure, can be said to have done pretty well for himself and his family in the oil and gas industry. This is a result of hard work, education, common sense and a whole lot of application (and as he says maybe a little bit of luck).

The company he started 12 short years ago as a one man show in the room above his garage, hustling for contracts in the oil and gas industry, in 2012 now handles multi-million dollar contracts. His company has 186 on a permanent payroll, and depending on seasonal requirements, can be responsible for up to 530.

His tale is one that anyone should be proud of.

In 1971 and at the age of 17 he entered as a cadet with the Armed Forces. It was his good fortune to be mentored by officers who felt (perhaps against the conventional  thinking of the time) that it would be a good idea to see to the higher education of army officers.

The Armed Forces afforded him education and training that otherwise may not have been available to him. During his 25 years in the Armed Forces, he managed to travel to the Staff College in Malaysia, undertook a postgraduate diploma and completed a Masters Degree researched in Leningrad on International Relations. The Masters Degree coincided with the time of Soviet Perestroika and Glasnost. His tutors almost failed his Masters thesis in 1988 for his impudent view that the Berlin Wall would fall. Which it did, a year later.

After 25 years in the military, with his last position being in a job that he is not at liberty to speak about, he retired in 1996 at the grand old age of 42.

As a 42 year old retiree he had a number of options. To play golf, try to find some government work, or go do something in oil and gas. Well he did try some government work, but found the politics unnerving. With ingrained military acumen he concluded that the oil and gas industry, which makes up 95% of the country's economic activity would have a place for him.

He started helping out a relative to salvage a private sector contract that had gone bad, gaining some knowledge in the way that things work. In 2002 he gained his first contract, along with an overseas principal, managing materials for sub strata surveys in the up stream industry. As time went on he took on more people and more work. The company headquarters in Sungai Bera is a full on industrial facility. His work has expanded to the supply of sophisticated equipment and machinery and serious technology.

He is by no means the largest local oil and gas contractor, but he has carved out a substantial and comfortable niche for himself and his family.

While obviously he has had no high technical education, a Masters in 'Sino-Soviet Detente' certainly equipped him to deal with the ins and outs of bureaucracy. And I guess knowing how to drive a tank may have given him certain basic technical skills. But I think what has been useful to him has been the ability to gain knowledge and giving order to it. The research degree would have equipped him with skills for the independent acquisition of knowledge and the intellectual rigor required to formulate and defend his views. To me it just goes to show that with the right attitude and a  willingness to learn, anything is possible.

With 95 percent of his workforce local, Max is a big believer of local business development and is grateful for the government's policies in this respect. He is proud of the fact that his company now competes with international firms for contracts, and is equally proud of his team. Indeed he believes that the most valuable asset for a company is its human resources. "Invest in your people, just like a country. Get the right people for the right job", he told me.

Finally one should not discount the importance of flexibility. I am not sure if he was quoting Sun Tzu's "Art of War" when he said, "I firmly believe that if you cannot get them through the front, then you take them from the back"...

@emmagoodegg

Illustration by Cuboi Art.

For the online version click here.

Easy Come Easy Go

For years, the now disgraced Texas financier, Robert Allen Stanford, led a glamorous jet-setting lifestyle in the Caribbean. He received a knighthood from Antigua in 2006, funded a cricket league, and ran airlines, newspapers and banks. His wealth ran into the billions.

Once known as one of the richest men in the United States, Stanford is currently on trial in Houston, Texas for allegedly masterminding a 7 billion US dollar fraud and one of the largest Ponzi schemes ever orchestrated.

In a Ponzi scheme, potential investors are wooed with promises of unusually large returns, usually attributed to the investment manager’s savvy, skill or some other secret sauce.

The returns are repaid, at least for a time, out of new investors’ principal, not from profits. This can continue as long as new investors line up with cash, and old investors don’t try to withdraw too much of their money at once.

Ponzi schemes are also known as pyramid schemes, from the shape of any chart that reflects their basic premise — that ever-growing layers of new recruits are needed to provide gains to the smaller, earlier cohorts.

Even in our peaceful corner of the globe, our community has not been spared from this type of fraudulent activity. What is distressing is that for a small community such as ours, we seem to be subjected to instances of this type of phenomena much too regularly. It is almost as if we never learn.

About 11 years ago, I can recall a big fuss over an outfit in Jerudong, which promised high returns on capital, but which allegedly siphoned out these funds, leaving many “investors” high and dry.

In 2010, the directors of “Pan Phoenix Dina” were successfully prosecuted, the first of its kind under the Banking Order 2006, of illegal deposit taking. That case involved 5.7 million Brunei dollars from 269 people. Their activities lasted for 7 months in Brunei, meaning that almost a million dollars a month was collected and channeled back to investors, with the “managers” skimming off the top. There was also a Malaysian side to this organization, who where also charged in Malaysia.

In my consultation with The Google, I came across a Wordpress blog that in 2007 posed the simple question about “Dina”, “Anybody knows about this Investment?”. This elicited 565 responses ranging from, “hold on to your wallet”, to passionate defenses of their credibility. The last forlorn response dated February 2010, bids salam to all and states that the poster is “still waiting for my money to be refunded.”

The saddest thing in these types of scheme is when the people who can least afford to lose their money get involved. Usually, they are also those who come in later, and are more likely to lose out, as early “investors” have been paid off. It is perhaps important that these schemes are stopped before they get too big: the larger the pyramid, the greater the fallout. Unfortunately, action tends to only get taken if a complaint is made, by which time it is too late.

What is it with get rich quick schemes? Obviously it is human nature to hope to receive plenty with the least effort. Perhaps we do not do enough to encourage or appreciate that the only guarantee for the creation of wealth at the end of the day is prudence and hard work.

@emmagoodegg

Illustration by Cuboi Art.

For the online version click here.