We aren’t staying long in Brunei, so there is much that we will never know.
What we can say, is this:
Our first impressions of the country are very positive. It’s clean and well run, and second only to Singapore for infrastructure and development (not a close second, by any means, but second, for sure.)
The people we’ve encountered have been lovely, kind and helpful to a fault.
There don’t seem to be extremists. Although more a more conservative brand of Muslim than we’ve found elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the Bruneians are quite tolerant of outsiders and other religions. The fellow answering our questions in the mosque wished us a Merry Christmas as we left, with a very big smile. There are signs at the border about controlling funds entering the country to avoid the financing of extremist groups. They seem committed to their moniker, “The Abode of Peace.”
The pace of life is delightfully slower. There are no bars, so there is very little nightlife. The buses stop running at 5 p.m. People seem to take their time. We don’t feel quite the press of the throng of humanity here that we have elsewhere in Asia.
There is less shopping. Thankfully, although a guy who picked us up walking the other day was lamenting the fact as he drove. There are more fresh markets, and fewer malls than in Malaysia and Singapore.
In short, we like it here.