It has been four years since I’ve lived in Brunei.
I first wrote about my life here when I came for the first time: Being and Becoming in Brunei: The Story of a Trailing Spouse (Part 1-The Arrival) Although I have some work-related occupations outside Brunei, still, I spend a major part of the year in Brunei as a stay-at-home wife as my spouse works in Brunei. The piece described my efforts in trying to understand and come in terms with living here as a trailing stay-at-home wife and my struggles trying to become a part of this country.
I had lived in Singapore for 15 years as a working woman before arriving in Brunei and initially, I didn’t know how important a role finding information would become as I became accustomed to living here. I lived in a place where there was information flow: be it through technology, billboards, shopping malls, and newspapers or simply asking strangers sitting next to you on the train. When I first landed in Brunei, we stayed in a hotel for about two months. I checked with a local receptionist about a few things. First one was about where to shop for clothes. She said online. Second, I asked her if there are any classes for art and craft. She said she is not aware of any. As I got to move around Brunei, I realized she was right.
One thing was that there aren’t very many signs in Brunei of what is available and where. The Internet also was not of much help, because things really did not exist for publicity or visibility. There were no efforts by the vendors or marketers. To put it in the language of business: “The needs were not perceived or the markets were not evolved in Brunei.” Perhaps the needs of a new expat arriving in Brunei and locals living in the country touted as 5th richest in the world are very different. Therefore for an outsider, Brunei was still amusing. After that, I had made peace with myself and my surprises. Even until now, Brunei Darussalam does not appear in the drop-down list of counties of many companies such as Amazon who ship worldwide.
Has anything changed in the last 5 years? Yes, a lot. The country when I arrived was on a brink of transition. Social media technologies; mostly Instagram, and WhatsApp group communities together have now made many things visible inside Brunei and also available to an outsider in this otherwise non-visible part of the world.
One thing is for sure. You must belong to a group, to begin with — to find people and know what’s going on around you. The big thing is once you register with your consulate, you get to know your fellow expats. This becomes a starting point in knowing your fellow countrymen provided our consulate is active enough. Most nationalities celebrate their national and major festivals. For me, it was not enough to live like an expat. I was more interested in learning with and knowing about locals. Having lived in multicultural settings in the last 25 years, I am more comfortable in diverse groups. I wanted to do what locals and diverse groups do.
As mentioned in my other blog Being and Becoming in Brunei: The Story of a Trailing Spouse (Part 2-Being and Becoming) the journey took a lot of effort. First I joined a non-profit club called Brunei Speakers Club (IG: @bruneispeakersclub), open to all. Luckily it had a Facebook page. It focuses on educational programmes in communication and leadership. Joining this club made me active since it was expected that a member participates in the club activities every week. Interestingly, there were only four of us who were expat members. There I got to meet mostly young local Bruneians and I was in awe of their accommodating, non-competing and humble nature. They were all there to grow and learn from each other.
While looking out for the gym, I was told that there was one in Kiulap and the other in Jerudong. The Jerudong gym was very far for me, so was out of consideration. The Kiulap Gym was a complete facility and offered a good experience with its group exercise classes. Exercise classes included cycling, dancing, yoga, and many other muscle pumping classes. I was particularly fond of yoga classes. Over a period of 3 years I was with them, the popularity of yoga grew and classes began overflowing. A big cosy group became a regular to the yoga. They conversed with each other and with the instructor in their mother tongue though they knew English. We were only two who were regular for the yoga class who did not speak Chinese or Malay language. Having them around as my co-practitioners, hearing them speak in their mother tongue during the class and not understanding the language often made us feel like outsiders. However, I continued to focus on the yoga since the instructor was good and so were her instructions. At some point along, more fitness studios cycling, yoga, dance and other group workout classes opened in Brunei. @lifeflowyoga.bn @shinecyclebrunei and @studio.eleve.bn They provided a choice and the diversity of people, experiences and locations.
Another big change I saw happen in the entertainment scene. A comedy show (IG: @bruhahacomedy) is now periodically performed by locals. I went for one recently. A few comedians performed in Malay language and some other in English. In some cases, even for the English-speaking ones, the punchline is in Malay. But there are some shows that are English-only as well. Jerudong international school arts centre (@jisartscentre) happens to be a venue for music, and drama. Although most shows are performed by the students to develop their performance skills in music and drama, targeting mostly the parents, there are a couple of big productions yearly that happen involving over 200 actors and crew. These productions are generally sponsored by corporate groups in Brunei and are targeted for public audiences. Coincidently, the person directing these shows is an expat like me and I had met him in Toastmaster’s club when he too was new to Brunei.
There is no public art gallery in Brunei, however, a few artists have come together and hired a place in Sengkurong (@creative.space.brunei) to display their work. These artists are also working towards developing a community of artiste. One of their attempts is to provide workshops and classes in drawings and paintings for a fee. As I write this, I have done two classes (Remember, I was looking for such art classes?) at the same venue. The venue is 35 min drive away for me and since I live in Bandar, the Sunday Bandarku ceria event means an extra 20 minutes. As most of the roads going in and out of Bandar are closed for motorists on Sunday mornings, I have to take a detour resulting in a 50 min travel to the venue. At the same venue, the senior artistes hold a month-long weekly discussion session in “pause and rewind” where new age digital artists and traditional artistes hold a joint discussion where everyone is welcome. A fellow Bruneian taking the drawing class with me confirmed my earlier suspicion the event is now being advertised only on social media.
I-centre is chosen as a venue by a company (@benchlab.co) that have sprung up to offer craft workshops. Most of the instructors the company hires are locals and offer a workshop in basket weaving, makeup, mandala and cartoon drawing etc. I took a decoupage workshop with them, which cost $85. I made two small boxes of decoupage in 3 hours. According to the instructor, she sources raw material from Malaysia. I guess that makes things pricey in Brunei. Another scene that has come up is that there are culinary workshops on the offer. Workshops range from preparing local delicacies such as kueh, Vietnamese Pho to baking pizza and cake. You think of a particular culinary dish to learn, and it is there on offer. The venues for culinary classes differ depending on who the instructor is. The venue could be a kitchen of a restaurant or instructor’s personal kitchen.
Bandar is the city centre of Brunei. Bandar has tall buildings and many corporate groups have their offices in those buildings. This area is buzzing with people and cars during office hours. Come evenings and Sundays and public holidays, the streets in Bandar were deserted. However, since last year the scene has somewhat changed. The Government-initiated Bandarku ceria happens every Sunday in Bandar. From morning 7-11 in the morning all the roads in the Bandar are closed for vehicles. This initiative has given families a chance to take a stroll, or do leisurely activities such as aerobics, tai chi in the gardens and lawns in Bandar. 
There are vendors too who set up stalls and sell wares such as clothes and handicrafts. This event is also evolving. Many government and non-government companies now set up their stalls in the Bandarku ceria event and provide information to educate people in general. A highlight of Bandarku ceria is that often His Majesty of Brunei also cycles around to encourage healthy activities amongst the people of Brunei, and it is also a chance for the public to cycle with him.
When I first came to Brunei, I had followed two bloggers: a food blogger (@thanislim)and the other(@ranoadidas) who covered local events, news, and products. I found about them since they had their presence on the internet when I had searched about Brunei. Both are great for recommendations.
I haven’t seen any of the above activities being publicized in the traditional channels anytime. Instagram and WhatsApp group are the forefronts of what is used to advertise and inform people in Brunei. One thing for sure is that it is impossible to live in Brunei if do not know how to navigate through social media. So get your Instagram account going.
(an outsider) inside brunei 