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Mr. President,
It is an honour for me to lead my delegation to
the first Universal Periodic Review of Brunei
Darussalam. We commend you on your leadership
and compliment the essential preparations made
in ensuring its success. I assure you of our
full support in this endeavour.
Brunei welcomes this Review process as an
opportunity for us to share our thoughts and
experiences in the effort of promoting and
protecting human rights in our own country as
well as to give an account of what is being done
and those challenges that we face.
We have submitted a report which summarises our
approach in terms of the various aspects of our
Government’s policy towards enhancing the
welfare of our people. But first, I would like
to brief you on the historical and cultural
aspects of Brunei so that all that we have done,
all that we are doing, and all that we will be
doing, can be put into perspective.
Mr. President,
Our report A/HRC/WG.6/6/BRN/1 dated 9 September
2009, which have been circulated have given you
all a summary of the country profile, our
institutional and legal provision focusing on
the Constitution, the domestic legislation,
policy pertaining to the promotion and
protection of human rights including
safeguarding the welfare of all, especially the
vulnerable group in the country.
We have all given our commitments and pledges
through our membership to regional and
international organisations. We have highlighted
our promotion and protection of human rights by
focusing on Children, Advancement of Women,
Persons with Disabilities and the Elderly. We
also highlighted our policy in promoting
Education for All, Access to Health Services,
Adequate Housing, Treatment and Rehabilitation
of Offenders, Economic Opportunities and
Religious Tolerance.
We ended by looking at the challenges for the
future. The details are all in the report. What
I think would be useful is for me to try to put
all these in the historical, social and cultural
context so that our promotion and protection of
human rights can be fully appreciated.
Mr. President,
Brunei is an old Malay Kingdom. One of the first
recorded histories of our country from the
European sources was in 1521, when Antonio
Pigafetta came to Brunei as part of Ferdinand
Magellan’s voyage to the Spice Islands. However,
Brunei can trace its history even further back
to more than a thousand years ago, when its
first external relation was established, with
China.
The current system of monarchy can be traced
back to the 15th Century, where the present
Sultan is the 29th in the line of this direct
dynasty. Brunei was founded as a Malay State,
and from the 15th Century onwards, Islam was
established as the official religion of the
country. Thus, the term, Malay Islamic Monarchy.
In 1888, Brunei Darussalam became a British
protectorate, gaining its full independence on
1st January 1984. After the Second World War,
rehabilitation took place with the help of the
British and the Australians. In 1959, a written
Constitution was promulgated which provided the
process of election. But in 1962, an armed
rebellion took place and that dark episode of
our history showed that the introduction of new
institutions will need a lot of time.
His Majesty the Sultan, who acceded to the
throne in 1967, established a Committee in 2003
to look at the 1959 Constitution and make the
necessary amendments with the passage of time.
In 2004, the Legislative Council was
reconstituted with 19 members and in 2005; the
members increased to 21 and in 2006 to 29
members. These developments illustrate His
Majesty’s commitment for the people to be more
involved in the decision making process.
However, this is only the formal aspect.
His Majesty also practiced the informal way of
consultation through meeting the people when he
visits the villages, when he prays in different
mosques on Fridays. His Majesty opens his palace
to everyone for three days during the festive
season of “Eid” – after the fasting month.
Often, a third of the population converges in
the palace. On these occasions, the people often
deliver their requests and complaints in an
envelope and these are attended to immediately.
One can therefore see that the population of
Brunei has access to His Majesty and the
emphasis here is on “good governance”.
I would like now to elaborate a little on the
socio-cultural background of Brunei. It is a
Malay State and the majority of the population
is Malay. The dominant aspect in the Malay world
is the institution of the family. Here, the
concept is one of the large extended family. It
existed from its foundation and still exists
today. It is the foundation of the social fabric
of society in Brunei. Every aspect of the social
life revolves around the family. A house usually
consists of grandparents, parents and children.
Everyday contacts with relatives are
established. All functions involve the whole
extended family, be it in times of hardship or
in times of celebration. The extended family
becomes the social safety net.
The other reality is the Islamic religion which
was introduced in the 15th century. So, Islam is
the official religion and a way of life for the
people of Brunei. Since then, this was enshrined
in the 1959 Constitution and again reflected in
the amendment in 2004.
As such, the activities of the society in Brunei
revolve around its Malay culture and Islamic
faith. However, the non-Muslim can practice
their religions in peace and harmony and this
provision is also enshrined in the Constitution.
Mr. President,
Religion is a delicate issue, one that needs to
be handled with extreme care. I am glad to say
that the history in Brunei depicts a very
harmonious inter-religious relation. This
tolerance can be witnessed especially during the
“Eid” season. At that time, all our Muslim
friends in Brunei are having “open houses”, some
for a couple of days, some even for the whole
month. Everyone is welcomed and no one is
limited. Strangers would be fully welcomed and
embraced. This is still being practised in
Brunei. Likewise, similar practice has been
observed during the Chinese New Year
celebration. This practice and tradition
encourage the tolerance of ethnic and religious
groups in our peace loving country, Brunei.
The question of understanding and tolerance is
very important. His Majesty’s government
therefore supports the idea of the Alliance of
Civilisation, and participated in many
inter-faith dialogues organised by both regional
and international organisations.
Mr. President,
Last of all, I would like to share with you all
the policy of His Majesty’s government. It is
His Majesty’s wish to “look after the welfare of
his people”. That, Mr. President, is a simple
and fundamental policy of His Majesty’s
government. So, in all aspects, the core policy
is the people. How do we provide a peaceful
environment, a first class health system, a top
class educational system, how to provide
adequate housing, how to provide for people in
need, how to address poverty, how to ensure food
security, and how to provide jobs for the
people. All these are material needs but the
spiritual needs have also been catered for.
Mr. President,
Please allow me to highlight a few areas that we
are concentrating on in our endeavour to provide
the necessary services for the welfare of our
people. Education remains one of the top
priorities of the government. A total of 12
percent of the national budget has been
allocated for education. Providing universal
access to education has always been a
fundamental objective of Brunei’s education
policy. All levels of education in government
schools are provided free of charge. In 2007,
the Compulsory Education Order was enforced. The
main objective of the Order is to ensure all
children from the age of six to be in school for
at least nine years. Although, I can say that
since the 1960’s you do not need any legislation
to force parents to send their children to
school. In fact, it is the opposite, as parents
realise that the future of their children lies
in educating them and consequently to get a
better prospect of jobs.
Another point I would like to make is that after
establishing many secondary schools, technical
colleges and universities, the government is
still continuing the “scholarship system” where
students who make the grades are being sent
overseas to sixth form colleges and
universities, and in the 1950’s even to public
school like “Millfield” in U.K. Since then,
scholarship have been widened and expanded, both
locally and overseas, under the government
expenses.
Mr. President,
All of our delegation here are the products of
this very generous scholarship and I am proud to
see that His Majesty’s government is continuing
this beneficial and important policy of
providing free education to all.
This has led to Brunei having one of the highest
literacy rates of 94.9 percent in Asia. The
percentage of women’s participation in education
has also increased. 73 percent of the total
graduates in 2007 were female.
On health, the provision of a comprehensive free
health care system for the people is a priority
for Brunei. This service is not only available
in urban areas, but also in rural areas. The
government also provides flying medical
services. In 1987, the World Health Organisation
(WHO) declared Brunei “Malaria Free” and “Polio
free” in 2000. One example of His Majesty’s
government continuous concern and care of the
well-being of his people is the recent adequate
supply of H1N1 vaccine which is available for
free for the whole population.
The target is to attain “Health for All”. The
emphasis has been given to the development of a
health care system that is based on primary
health care, aimed at providing a wide range of
preventive, promotion, curative and
rehabilitative health care and support services
to meet the needs of the population. The main
policy objectives are reduction of infant
mortality, diseases and disabilities, and
premature deaths, thereby increasing life
expectancy, improvement of the environment and
control of communicable diseases.
Mr. President,
Housing is the other basic needs of the people.
Since 1952, various housing schemes were
provided. In 1984, the Ministry of Development
took over this task with the creation of the
“Housing Development Department”. Under the
National Housing Programme (NHP), the government
aims to realise its policy in terms of providing
citizens with house ownership and proper
accommodation in a pleasant environment. Besides
this effort, other agencies such as the Islamic
Religious Council and the Sultan Haji Hassanal
Bolkiah Foundation also provide homes for the
homeless.
The National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2012
has already targeted to deliver more than 12,000
houses to the eligible applicants of the
National Housing Scheme and Landless Indigenous
Citizen Housing Scheme. A total of B$1.2 billion
has been allocated under the current NDP for
housing development in various sites throughout
the country. Brunei has also taken into account
the challenge of optimising fully the scarce
land resources available for housing, as the
population is projected to reach half a million
by 2025. Furthermore, the Government also
provides accommodation to its employees at low
monthly rental as well as interest free housing
loans.
Brunei’s citizens have benefitted tremendously
through the housing scheme. The scheme does not
only provide the houses but also the basic
infrastructure or necessities that further
improve the standard of living of the people.
This can be seen with the building of more
health care centres, schools and other community
buildings within the allocated areas.
Mr. President,
Climate change is the issue at the moment. On
the environment, His Majesty’s government has
been very far sighted. In 1934, legislation was
enacted to stop logging for export. As a result,
58 percent of the total lands, mainly Tropical
Rainforest have been reserved. This will
definitely contribute to preserving our precious
planet.
I am glad to say that, according to the
2007/2008 UN Human Development Report, Brunei
scores 0.894 for its Human Development Index. It
ranked 30th place out of 177 nations.
Mr. President,
The Millennium Development Goals also provided
the additional impetus in our national efforts.
In fact, we place a high priority to meet the
targets set in the Goals. The government sees it
as crucial in its efforts to fulfill the prime
responsibility to ensure the people will be
confident in the future. Brunei will continue in
its efforts to achieve national harmony, unity,
stability and prosperity, based on ensuring
equitable socio-economic development. We see
this as important in our approach to respecting
the human rights of the people.
Mr. President,
We are also looking at the future challenges.
The Government’s Long-Term National Development
Plan, which looks forward to the year 2035, was
produced by consulting closely with the people
at all levels of society. With the thirty-year
national vision, and its related projects and
programmes, the government is committed to
providing maximum health care; high quality
education from early childhood onwards; easy
personal access to government and its
departments and agencies; the rule of law
applying equally to everyone and respect for
each individual, each family and each community,
whatever their background, culture or faith. At
the same time, the government ensures continued
economic development through employment and
future prospects.
Brunei has acceded to related treaties on the
promotion and protection of human rights,
subscribe to the UN Charter and UN relevant
decisions. Recently, we established the ASEAN
Human Rights Commission and of course we are
looking into various treaties which are
relevant.
Mr. President,
I would like to conclude by thanking you for
this opportunity that allows me to present
Brunei’s perspective in the promotion and
protection of human rights. This is a valuable
experience for us. Thank you for listening and
as I have stated earlier, it has been His
Majesty’s wish to provide a peaceful, stable
political and socioeconomic environment in
Brunei, so that the welfare of its people in all
aspects which have already been provided can be
further enhanced.
I would also like to thank those delegations
that have provided their advance comments and
constructive concerns. I will address those
questions at the end of the interactive session.
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