Toady London, New York. Tomorrow Brunei
By Ignatius Stephen

Bandar Seri Begawan - London, Singapore, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and perhaps New York and beyond.

And so they will all be soon flying off to the four corners of the globe in quest of degrees as there are letters in the alphabet. Watching them gather for a last drink in Brunei, their home, in a cafe downtown you cannot feel but proud seeing these smart young people, Brunei's treasure trove, taking in the night air, seemingly without a care in the world.

There is laughter in the table beyond and others elsewhere are in deep conversation. Yet for some their laptops keep them happy. But there is also a tinge of sadness.

Their summer holidays are coming to an end and you will not see them around for a while.

"How long?" you ask one of them, a Brunei student in Perth. "Eleven months," she says. "But I hope to come back now and then. After all Perth is not that far away."

But for others, studying in Britain and Canada it will be a while.

The "kids" are going first. Perhaps next week, says a senior student. They will miss Ramadhan. Their term starts earlier.

"I will be off mid October. I am glad that I will be with my family to break the fast for at least three weeks or so," he says.

And how rapidly children grow, you cannot help thinking. They were only so little just a while ago. And now look at them: Fine young men and lovely girls, so self possessed, sophisticated and classy.

But before you could realise it they will be back finally. Some of them, full of dreams to change the world and, of course, like all young people idealistically delightful, fresh in their innocence.

Only later will they find that that there is little chance to transform the universe to their liking and align things in their way now, today or even tomorrow.

That will take a while, if ever.

Nevertheless they are Brunei's real assets. No one can rob the nation of them, said a thoughtful young man sitting at the next table. The Amedeo crisis spirited away Brunei's billions in a short few years. The nation was left in the lurch and at a loss what to do.

But we had other assets, added the young man. Brunei had fortunately sunk in many billions in education. And now there is continued benefit for all.

"There must be hundreds of Brunei students in London and elsewhere. And most are coming back to work here," said a senior student who is in his final year.

Brunei had the sense to invest its surplus funds in educating its young and sending them overseas to some of the best institutions.

But then again when will we reach saturation point? Where are the jobs? Could we lose them all one by one? How far could we hold on to the comfortable though that no one would rob us of them?

Don't be that sure. Because the writing is already on the wall. Brunei pilots are already working in Singapore Airlines and other Bruneians are flying the Emirates national carrier, British qualified Brunei doctors are employed in foreign hospitals because they think there are no opportunities here to further themselves so are Brunei scientists and mathematicians.

And if this trend continues - will Brunei, in the not too distant future, so to speak face a massive brain drain?

For sure one cannot put them all in a box and keep them here, one observer pointed out. The world has become a global village and people are increasingly moving in and out.

However, the nation should try to keep some of them, preferably the cream, said the man at the nearby table. How are we to do this? Simple. Job creation. And who is going to create jobs? The irony of it is the immigrants.

Brunei should liberalise its immigration policies to create jobs. Surprised? They should bring in more outsiders, the man said.

How come they will come and take away our jobs if we open our gates too wide, someone said in surprise.

But local entrepreneurs could use the immigrants to build up businesses, which in turn will create jobs, and some locals could possibly be employed together with the outsiders, another man pointed out.

The government currently snaps up the best and the brightest. The rest, most probably will join Brunei Shell and such like. What is left is not sufficient to drive the local economy. There is insufficient number of local entrepreneurs to involve in the vital job creation effort.

That is one reason Brunei is in the doldrums, the man said. The economy is running down. Shopkeepers and others are not happy. More than 80 per cent of the shops along Jalan Sultan are running at a loss.

"They are not even making enough money to pay the rent," commented a local businessman who was listening in. So let us open the gate a little wider. Let them come in. We need the numbers. We need their energy and their brain power, he added.

Let them rent our homes, our shops and our cars. Let us do business with them and let our economy grow, he said. That way too we will keep our young in Brunei. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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