“For instance, a convicted thief will be allowed to choose which of his hands are cut off,” she said.
At first sight it seems incredible that this tiny nation of a little more than 400,000, with the fifth highest per capita income in the world, should be implementing a measure which owes more to the Middle Ages than the 21st century; a measure that also includes the stoning of adulterers and floggings for abortions and homosexual acts.
Even harder to believe is that the changes are being implemented without any public debate and with the slightest signs of dissent threatened with the full force of the Sharia law itself.
This is because the word
of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang-di Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin
Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, is absolute and total law.
The latest in a line
that traces itself back to the 14th century, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
is one of the world’s last absolute hereditary monarchs – and aims to keep it
that way.
The fact that he can do
this is partly due to one of the most strictly-controlled societies outside
North Korea, but mainly because of the country’s fabulous oil and gas revenues.
With so few subjects, the royal house has been able to spread the largess
around – free health care and education, no income tax and quality
infrastructure ensures a largely contented and passive population. Even so there
is plenty left over for the Sultan and his family to live in a 1,800-room
palace easily maintained by his personal wealth estimated at $20 billion.
Even this display of
ostentation is dwarfed by the past antics of the Sultan’s younger brother, Prince
Jefri, who was reported to own 2000 luxury cars, a private Jumbo Jet, various
properties around the world and a yacht called Tits, all of which fed his predilection for some decidedly un-Islamic
activities.
Once the country’s
Minister for Finance, Prince Jefri spent a period in exile, but in recent years
has been allowed back into the country.
On the other hand, Sultan
Hassanal Bolkiah, now in his late 60s, has reportedly developed a more
spiritual outlook on life, although this spirituality does not extend to tolerating
any criticism of his decisions.
While some of the
country’s non-Muslim subjects, mainly Christians and Buddhists, have taken to
the internet to express alarm over the moves towards Sharia law, the Sultan has
stated they “can no longer be given the liberty to continue with their mockery
and would be charged with slandering the monarch”.
He proclaimed that “all
races will be united under Sharia law” and that integrating it into the penal
code “will form part of the great history of our nation, providing special
guidance from God”.
Foreign critics, mostly
human rights groups “should respect us in the same way that we respect them”,
the Sultan said.
International online
reporting on the subject almost always carries a defence in the comments
section, probably by a Government stooge, and often making wild and
unsubstantiated statements such as neighbouring Malaysians yearning for the
introduction of a similar Sharia regime.
As for internal
reporting, the Brunei Times, sticks
to commenting on the Friday sermons of Imams and the latest developments in
ICT. The only possible statement of defiance I saw in the country was a car
driven by a hijab-clad female which whizzed past us outside the Royal Regalia
Museum. Women are supposedly banned from driving in Brunei.
“Well she’s pushing the
boundaries,” the guide said.
A colleague thought the
country was being run on similar lines to a Victorian-era nursery. “The people
are the children that are coddled, indulged and given toys and fairy stories to
cut them off from the real world,” she said.
“But in the end father’s
word is law and father always knows best.”
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