Brunei

“ Although my object was to visit the Baram river, yet I was obliged to pass on to Labuan and Brunei to obtain interpreters and guides. As we approached our little English colony we found our coal was all used, and we could scarcely reach the harbour, although we burnt a horse-box and everything available on board.
The coast line between Baram and Brunei is very pretty. As we approach the capital, the interminable jungle gives way to grassy hills, with a park-like distribution of timber. Curling wreaths of smoke rising from the shaded valleys, told us that the inhabitants were numerous. ”

“ I said that it seemed to me that Brunei would be well advised to join an area Federation, provided they secured the necessary safeguards so that the wishes of the Brunei community were respected.
In some ways Brunei is a lucky community. It has a small population, and during the last ten years has enjoyed a large income derived from the development of its natural resources. These, however, are not inexhaustible and certainly cannot be counted upon to last for ever. Diversification is almost nonexistent. ”

“ The first sultan of Brunei was Alak-ber-Tata, who was probably of Bisaya stock, and governed the country before the introduction of Islam, in the 15th century. He assumed the name of Mahommed on his conversion to Islam, which was brought about during a visit to the Malay peninsula. Brunei, at this time, was a dependency of Majapahit (Java) , and paid a yearly tribute of a jar of areca juice obtained from the young green nuts of the areca palm, and of no monetary value. ”

“ Sultan Bulkeiah was otherwise known as Nakoda Ragam; he was the greatest warrior of Brunei and made military expeditions to Java, Malacca, Luzon and all the coasts of Borneo. His tomb, which is handsomely built of stone, is still to be seen in Brunei, and is constantly visited by Malays, who leave money and various articles on the tomb as offerings to his memory. Others, again, come and take away anything they can find, which they keep as charms and mementoes. The Spaniards captured Brunei in 1580, the reigning sultan and his court retiring to Suai in the Baram district. ”

“ I should think that Brunei, of all other places in Borneo, is the last at which missionaries of any denomination would be likely to succeed. Their sphere is not with Mahomedans, whose faith is good, so far as it teaches cleanliness and temperance; but with the aboriginals of the interior, who are thrifty, honest, and truthful to a fault, and who have no systematic faith unless their belief in the cries and motions of birds and animals, and other omens can be so called. ”

“ After all, the advantages to Malaysia would be considerable. A yearly contribution of 40 million dollars to the Federation was agreed. Brunei has already invested in Malayan developments, and could do much more under proper safeguards. Malaya is short of money for development and is at this moment, as we have heard, raising £5 million on the London market. I fear that the failure to attract Brunei into the Federation will involve a heavier financial burden upon this country than would otherwise have been necessary. ”

“ The town of Brunei has been so often described that there is no need to add one more account, especially as there is no reason to believe that it has essentially altered in its character since the days when it was first visited by Europeans, though it has probably become reduced in size, and it must surely have also become meaner of aspect. ”

“ The East India Company started a factory in the town in the 18th century, but commerce had already decayed and the establishment was abandoned. In the early part of the 19th centuiy Brunei was but [v.04 p.0682] a resort for pirates and a market for the slave trade. During the 'forties Admiral (then Captain) Keppel and other officers of the British navy suppressed piracy in the neighbourhood. Sarawak was handed over to Raja Brooke, and, after the capture and temporary occupation of Brunei by Sir Thomas Cochrane, Labuan was ceded to the British empire. ”

“ I think it is dangerous that the Brunei situation should continue too long. Whereas one would be reluctant to see us twisting the arm of the Sultan too hard, it may be that there should be some extra pressure to indicate, as the noble Marquess put so gently, that it would be in his own interests or in the interests of his people—and I think it would be in his interests also—that they should join this Federation. ”

“ As Brunei decayed, Sarawak grew stronger. Its territory was enlarged from time to time and its prosperity has proved the benefit derived by the native inhabitants from strong and firm control.
An island rather larger than Guernsey, Labuan is the only British territory, as opposed to a Protectorate, which we shall find in this region. Rounding a headland we turn northwards into a broad and deep inlet, and come to anchor opposite a small town of white houses with red roofs and a background of low hills; this is Victoria, the capital and only town. ”

“ When the tide turned we left the Limbang and entered the mouth of Brunei River. Owing to the hills on the left bank of the lower reaches of this river the scenery is much prettier than that of the corresponding portions of other rivers of Sarawak. The right bank is merely the coast of a large alluvial island deposited in the combined delta of the Limbang, Brunei, and Kadayan rivers. ”

“ The bulk of the inhabitants, who consist of Malays, Kadayans, Orang Bukits and a few Muruts, are to be found in and about the capital—also called Brunei—the population of the city being estimated at about 15,000, and the population of the whole territory being about 25,000. ”

“ As Brunei is a rather autocratic State, I think there would be considerable advantage if, within a short time the democratic position in the State could be extended so that when the Sultan decides to enter the Federation, as I have no doubt he will decide, it will, again, be a decision of the people. We should not wish to feel that one part of this Federation had been brought in where the wishes of the people had not been declared. ”

“ The Malays of Borneo acknowledge the rule of a Sultan, who is assisted by various Ministers of State, who are principally his own relations. The Court at [145] Brunei is kept up by taxes imposed on the few Chinese merchants, and on the native Borneans who live inland beside the rivers on the north-west coast from the Baram to Kimanis. A yearly payment is also made to the Sultan by the Rajah of Sarawak. Many of the Malays are traders. The poorer classes are sailors, fishermen, or engaged in simple domestic industries. ”

“ The price of uncleaned rice has risen four hundred per cent. during my experience of Brunei. This partly arises from the ravages of the Kayans, who have lessened the agricultural population, and greatly narrowed the area of cultivation; and partly, as I have observed, from the dependencies ceasing to yield so much to the nobles, they are compelled to depend more on the neighbouring tribes.
I have not yet mentioned the people who inhabit the hills which surround the capital ”

“ The power of the sultans and of their subordinates, from the highest to the lowest, has for a long time been exerted to extract the maximum amount of revenue out of those unfortunate coastal tribes who, by their propinquity, could not escape from their cruel and rapacious neighbours. Whatever it may have been in the past, the history of the Brunei administration for the last half-century has been marked by rapine, bloodshed, extortion, injustice, and utter hopelessness. ”

“ Nowhere else in Borneo are the men such liars and thieves as here, and the Brunei women have been described by a former writer as being perhaps “the most immoral in the whole world.” Of classical celebrities, Cato and Phryne are certainly well represented in this great water city of the far East. The climate is sultry. ”

“ In Brunei, the wives and daughters of the sultan and of the nobles are much more concealed than holds with the Malays in other parts of Borneo, and one can only describe a harim from hearsay. It is nothing like the gorgeous palaces of Western Asia; the sultan’s house consists of a long building like a rough barn, raised on posts in the water, and is perhaps seventy feet long by thirty in [263] breadth. It is one story high, though in the roof are some rough attics: in this residence he keeps his wives, his concubines, and his female slaves ”

“ The Brunei government makes every effort to prevent the Chinese mixing with the aborigines, as it tends to destroy the monopoly of trade they seek to establish, and they fear also the teaching of the Chinese, who would never counsel submission to oppressive rulers, though when employed by the nobles as agents, they can be more systematically grinding than the Malays. ”

“ In Brunei, as all over Borneo, the bamboo, the palm and the creeping rattan provide the builder with material free of charge for posts, flooring, roofs and lashings—for the houses are tied, not nailed together. There is fish in abundance in the river, and we pass a 48 fleet of market boats, with women in large sun hats, bringing the catch for sale in the town; while in the forest all round there is fruit to be had for the picking. Nature has supplied the Malay with most of his necessaries at his very door. ”

“ The isolation of the town also prevented that intercourse with different peoples which affords the necessary stimulus for advancement. It is true that there were trading and diplomatic relations with China even in very early times, but that was in the days when Brunei was a living force, as it also must have been when centuries ago a Sultan of Brunei conquered the Philippines and the neighbouring islands. ”

“ A provisional government was established under Pangeran Mumein, a respectable noble, not of royal descent, and Pangeran Mahomed, a brother of Muda Hassim, but not of much intelligence; then a proclamation was issued, saying that the Sultan might return to his capital if he were prepared to fulfil his engagements.
Nothing ever raised the prestige of the English so much as the capture of Brunei. As a military feat of arms it was of no importance, but to the tribes of the interior it was looked upon as a marvel of heroism. ”

“ Since the Napoleonic wars, when the East Indian colonies were returned to Holland, the Dutch have gradually extended their rule in Borneo to include two-thirds of the island. In the remainder the British have consolidated their interests, and in 1906, the European occupation of Borneo was completed. The distribution of territory has roughly been placed thus: Dutch Borneo, seventy per cent; Sarawak and Brunei, twenty per cent; British North Borneo, ten per cent. ”

“ They had chanced to come across some natives belonging to a hostile tribe, and had promptly secured as many heads as they could.
The approach to the town of Brunei is extremely picturesque, but the place itself is not imposing. The wooden houses stand, as I have said, upon piles, and there is no means of communication between them except by boats, varying in size from house or shop boats to tiny canoes almost invisible beneath the widespreading hats of their occupants. The flooring of the houses is all open, and all refuse-matter falls or is thrown into the water beneath. ”

“ The direct assumption by His Majesty's Government of responsibility for administration in North Borneo. (b) The integration of Labuan with North Borneo. (c) The cession to His Majesty of full jurisdiction in Brunei and Sarawak. The purpose of political progress requires also that self-government in Brunei and Sarawak should not merely develop towards systems of autocratic rule but should provide for a growing participation in the Government by people of all communities in each territory. ”

“ Though there are practically no exports and imports, there is a certain amount of inland commerce, the Brunei Malay usually earning a living by trading with the interior tribes of Sarawak and British North Borneo. Some of them are skilled workers of brass, and the Brunei women make very beautiful cloth, interwoven and embroidered with gold thread. ”

“ The market held on the river every morning is one of the most singular sights of the place. Here you may see a hundred or more little boats containing fruit, fish, rice, and other produce, for sale or barter. Among the petty traders the Brunei women are most prominent, and many of them present a most singular appearance, the hats they wear being made of neatly plaited Nipa leaves, and being from two to three feet in diameter, they serve the purpose of both head covering and umbrella, and they screen the whole body of the wearer from the hot sun. ”

“ In the 18th century there was a considerable Chinese population settled in Brunei, engaged for the most part in planting and exporting pepper, but the consistent oppression of the native rajas destroyed their industry and led eventually to the practical extirpation of the Chinese. The Malay chiefs of other districts encouraged immigration from China with a view to developing the mineral resources of their territories, and before long Chinese settlers were to be found in considerable numbers in Sambas, Montrado, Pontianak and elsewhere. ”

“ In the case of Sarawak, the new treaty should also secure the acceptance by the Rajah of a resident British Adviser whose advice must be sought and acted upon in all substantial matters of policy and administration. (The present treaty with Brunei already provides for a resident British Adviser.) ⁠⁠3.⁠The territories in Borneo are still comparatively undeveloped and they have few racial or other affinities. ”

“ The Sulus, however, are now practically under the Manilla Government. Slavery, although not yet abolished in Borneo, is not nearly so common as was formerly the case. The native government at Brunei is practically under the eye of the British governor of Labuan, and thus many former abuses have become mitigated merely by the moral influence of a British colony being located thus near to the capital. [152]
It must not be imagined that either the Malays or the native Borneans are the bloodthirsty savages they are sometimes made out to be. ”