A few weeks ago, my officemate and I had an interesting conversation. He comes from Guyana, a country in South America. We were discussing about our economies. And he asked me whether Brunei has any economic problems. Well of course I told him that we have had the problem of trying to diversify our economy and being a 'richly' oil-dependent country we also have our own unique set of problems which include unemployment and to a certain extent, poverty.
So he asked me how is 'poverty' in Brunei? Poverty in Guyana according to him means you are so poor that you probably can't even buy the basic food for the day. And about 40% of the population is poor.
Well to tell you the truth it is quite a difficult question to answer. Firstly, we don't have or rather we don't publish (if there is one, that is!) our poverty line. Poverty line is the minimum level of income that is required in order to achieve an adequate standard of living. Of course, different countries have different levels of poverty line. Richer countries would have higher rates. So I guess, if Brunei were to have its poverty line, ours would be higher than the Guyana's. It would also be VERY interesting to know what percentage of people falls below the poverty line (perhaps a post on this topic soon, ya?) Anyway, I told him, I have not yet seen or heard of extreme poverty in Brunei probably because we are quite blessed with a caring and a giving society. The moment we hear someone is in need, we quickly rush to give some help.
Anyway, our conversation continued. Guyana, being a poor agricultural country, imposes about 30% income tax and on top of that about 20% value added tax (i.e. tax on goods and services). I then asked him whether he was thinking of migrating to the US or even the UK. And interestingly he told me NO. Despite the fact that the economy and the politics are in sh*tty conditions, he said he would still want to go back and DO something for the country. He said, people accept their lives. High taxes and so on. As long as they are happy, then they are not complaining. They are grateful with what they have and with their beautiful country.
At that time I was thinking to myself, there we were debating whether or not Brunei should stop giving the fuel subsidy, when these people from poor countries are so content with their lives! How pathetic can we be? Who are poorer? They may be poor in monetary terms but their spirits and strengths are definitely richer than us. In that sense also, we are poorer in terms of our inability to become less dependent from the help of the government. I actually wonder how many people or graduates have actually thought that they want to work for the government to help build the nation rather than thinking of getting all those perks?
What I'm trying to say is that we should be grateful with what Allah s.w.t has blessed us with and to a large extent, our caring government. We have no political havoc to deal with and apart from the road tax, we have never had to pay any other taxes. Perhaps, for a great many of us, don't even know what 'tax' is?
Anyway, in light of our coming 24th National Day, let us all together be strong in spirit and strength, independent in minds and together help build our nation.
Salaam.
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Yeah, I always remind myself of what an advice given by an ustaz, "sekaya-kaya manusia ialah orang yang bersyukur". Alhamdulilah. Even if I don't get to wear a Prada or a Gucci, it's okay, as long as I have a fat balance in my bank with fixed deposits here and there. And bersyukur that my family and I don't get hungry. I also acknowledge that I owe my services to the government. I am one of the lucky Bruneians to have been granted scholarships to study abroad, and with that, I always remind myself of what JFK once said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for the country".
Also, I'd like to make a point that there are Bruneians yang bersyukur dengan apa yang ada and they are usually the average ones. The ones yang pernah hidup susah and once they can help their families, all they can say is alhamdulilah. I have come across youngsters yang study abroad (privately sponsored by their high positioned parents) who regard Quality as something that cannot be compromised. I was amazed at how they spend their parents' money lavishly on branded items but when it comes to basics, such as food, printers or papers for studies, they complain that they don't have enough money and often leech from friends with scholarships (because these students are usually more sensible in terms of spending what they have for school necessities). And not only that, their excuse would be "eh, kamu siuk, ada elaun dari kerajaan", yeah but the elaun yang kana bari atu untuk kegunaan hidup di luar negeri and untuk kegunaan sekulah which, kalau inda berjimat2 (i.e. spending on leisure before necessities) inda cukup sampai ujung bulan. Kan minta antarkan duit dari Brunei, mana lagi indung kan mikirkan adi-beradi yang masih sekulah, inda mau menyusahkan indung kali ah. So yeah, back to "quality cannot be compromised" ani, when these students can save on cheaper items for groceries, a boy even had the nerve to say "eh, jgn tah bali yang murah atu, nda bagus tu, bali saja .... cheese, baru nyaman" and mind you, there was like 5 -6 dollars of difference between the two items and I was thinking "WOW, kalau cemani idupnya, padan tah belanja untuk rent rumah pun payah2an kan bebayar". And mind you, there was a girl (also privately sponsored) who taught me the skills of shopping! Kalau half price, it means, you can buy the same item for 2 in different colours! WOW! Supaya inda paning memilih which colour to buy. Imagine that. Tapi, kalau kan buat keraja skulah, she can't even buy a printer which costs less than 100 dollars (and to think that she spent 100 dollars on a bag for two?!). But of course, there are students yang privately sponsored by their parents yang sensible and berakal. The point being is, I have no qualms if you have the money to spend on quality items, but if you can't even pay ur rent (hoping to leech off ur friends and parents who are probably struggling to pay off their debts for their children abroad) ukur tah saja baju dibadan sendiri atu ah.
Anyway, enough venting. kadang2 ah, membari gerigitan jua ada org cemani ani, yang kasiannya the parents. But then again, I wonder, do they learn this kind of behaviour from their parents jua? I don't know. What do I know? I also have my own problems to think about, asal saja inda menyusahkan org lain. I was just amazed at how these youngsters have gotten their priorities wrong. Alhamdulilah, my parents have always instilled in us (adi-beradi) supaya mendahulukan yang penting, i.e. what we need, rather than what we want.
I'd like to mention how I've seen households in Brunei that, I'm sure, would be way below the country's poverty line (if there's one).
I've personally seen houses that were in such bad state (leaking roofs, lack of windows, no electricity, etc.), and these houses would still be occupied.
Others I've seen through reading articles in newspapers about poor families living in pitiful houses, where the parents (or worse, the single parent) has to take care of his/her/their MANY children.
It makes me feel sad everytime I come across this kind of experience.
Not just that, seeing poorly dressed people or even seeing an overly inexpensive-looking car packed with more than half a dozen family members really makes me realize how lucky I am and how blessed (by Allah the Almighty) of a life I'm going through.
It's truely disappointing how I find myself being complacent of Allah's blessings.
Oh, I also feel the same way whenever I come across adults with jobs that are sure to have very low wages. Macam kesian, especially yang old-old.
However, I do hope that someday I will be able to help poverty-stricken households financially. I'd also like to increase the minimum wage for workers in Brunei and supply more government welfare to poorer households. Haha :p
"You boys are wallowing in your own ignorance" - Michael Nayagam, Math teacher
That quote came to mind as i was verifying that Guyana is in fact a country.
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