Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
A striking note is that women play a leading role in
direct action protests. While most men are forced into the
cash economy , women are left behind to care for villages
and families. Women often work part-time in local indus-
tries but still must maintain their subsistence agricultural
plots. With their diverse experiences and interests,
women are driven to participate in protest events against
the logging companies.
A sign of the times is a cultural center near Kuching,
which has model villages of all the major tribes of the re-
gion. This has been developed for tourists. If you want to
see the old ways of doing things, you can go there. T Tradi-
tional ways of life in Malaysia are sadly disappearing in
the wake of development. Both environments and peo-
ples are being devastated.
In the early 1900s, Brunei was known for its
exports of cutch (or gambier), a dye produced from
mangrove trees and used for dying leather. T Today, ,
the country is known for its oil, with Royal Dutch
Shell as the major company . Oil accounts for half of
Brunei' s GDP and 90 percent of its ports. So much
wealth derives from oil that Bruneians are the
wealthiest people in Asia after the Japanese. Brunei
is sometimes called the “Shellfare State,” as its citi-
zens do not pay income tax, and enjoy free educa-
tion, medical care, and old-age pensions. Bruneians
seldom do manual labor; this is done by Filipino,
Thai, and Indonesian immigrants. More than half of
Brunei citizens hold government jobs. Most Malays
are well-housed, although there is a long-lived stilt
village in the primate city capital of Bandar Seri Be-
gawan (Figure 16-13). This more traditional village
has electricity and running water.
The Sultan of Brunei is one of the world' is richest
men, reputedly earning $100 a minute from oil. He
lives an extravagant lifestyle and has no problem rec-
onciling his lavish spending and partying with the
strictures of Islam. Rock star concerts and alcohol
consumption in the palace are generally ignored by
the populace. After all, “he is the Sultan.” He also
has a team of polo horses outfitted at-the-ready every
morning whether he is going to play or not. T To en-
sure his safety , the Sultan maintains a contingent of
(British) Gurkha troops in addition to his own army .
Brunei: Micro-State
Brunei Darussalam—the country' s official name—
means “Abode of Peace.” T Territorially, , Brunei is
about the size of Luxembourg, a mere 3,577 square
miles (5,769 km 2 ). In 1981, the government pur-
chased a cattle ranch in Australia' s Northern T Terri-
tory . The ranch is larger than Brunei. Brunei is a
fragmented state, and people go from one part to the
other by boats referred to as “flying coffins.” These
long-boats are totally enclosed. Passengers are enter-
tained by programs of Kung Fu genre films.
Figure 16-13
Note the contrast between Kampung Ayer and
the Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque in Bandar Seri
Begawan, the capital of Brunei. Kampung Ayer is
400 years old and is the world' is largest stilt vil-
lage, housing around 30,000 people, mostly
Malays. In 1987, it was declared a national mon-
ument and remains Brunei' s most popular tourist
attraction. Photograph courtesy of B. A. Weightman.
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