When the country’s beloved monarch came over for a visit recently, nearly everyone from the community turned up to receive him.
Despite his very packed itinerary, he gracefully met the throngs of people waiting to greet him and accepted tall stacks of private letters – the fastest way to get his urgent attention without going through the normal channels.
One resident managed to get him to read about his plight on the spot!
His Majesty consented to visit this man’s residence at that very moment and thrashed through thick bushes and clutter with nary a thought for his safety – just so he could personally inspect this man’s residence.
I could hear the awe in the voices of those who relayed this story to me – as they joined the monarch on this inspection and had to refrain from venturing further than their cars because this man’s place was in such a dilapidated condition.
How lucky this man was to get his royal attention and successfully highlighted to the monarch how hard it must be for the poor to get help.
How frustrated this monarch must be to find that such living conditions still present in Brunei despite his government’s effort to provide help….and perhaps even a tad annoyed that an able-bodied person with no physical or mental disability could still be at such a disadvantage situation in his country?
One friend who is currently in the United States plans to tour the western part of the country – covering places like the Yellowstone, Jackson Hoke, Grand Teton, Salt Lake City among others.
Whenever we are back in Lumut or went down to Seria / Kuala Belait, many a times along certain main roads, mine could be the only car – that my kids learn to wonder where everybody had gone to!
Later on the day, while processing our documents, a government officer cheerfully shared his hopes that tomorrow’s newspaper will bring the most anticipated and wished-for royal message : pay raise.