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A Tale Of Two Nations
By Ignatius Stephen

Bandar Seri Begawan – “We want to be like you,” she said. “One day”.

There was hope in her voice. And admiration. She was indeed sincere.

She was part of an East Timor delegation visiting Brunei.

The group had called on other Asean capitals while on an invitational trip.

The visitors were apparently mid level civil servants. That was about a year ago.

Brunei, they found, was something akin to them. It was the best fit. A model to follow. The road to paradise for their much troubled nation along which to travel.

“We have much in common,” she said. “We are both small nations. And above all we have sizeable oil and gas reserves. We want to know how your country uses it for the good of the nation and the people,” she added.

“We see that everyone is happy and the country is beautiful and clean. It is so peaceful too.”

A fitting compliment indeed. Brunei like East Timor was not wealthy once upon a time. That is to say not too long ago. But it is now a shining light of stability, peace and prosperity. It did the right things and made the correct decisions.

What then have we in common with East Timor, as the delegation member put it? Yes, some things perhaps. As far as it goes.

East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is 5,376 square miles while Brunei covers 2,226 square miles. Both are, therefore, small. Its population at 1 million is more than double that of Brunei.

East Timor has also promising oil and gas reserves. That is another similarity.

The country is engaged in development with Australia of petroleum and natural gas resources in the waters southeast of Timor.

The Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea is the largest petroleum resource in the country.

On July 7, 2005, an agreement was signed under which both Australia and East Timor would set aside a dispute over maintenance boundary.

Under this treaty East Timor would get 50 percent of the revenues, estimated at US$20 billion over the lifetime of the project from the Greater Sunrise development.

Other developments within waters claimed by East Timor continue to be exploited unilaterally by Australia.

The country’s petroleum fund savings have increased from US$623.4 million last financial year to US$1.01 billion for 2006-07.

Therein lies the points of semblance. Offshore oil and gas and the attendant border negotiations and the rest. Also the oil money surplus. The point is how to filter it down to the people.

But East Timor also has a large and potentially lucrative coffee industry, which sells organic coffee to numerous Fair Trade retailers and on the open market. That is one variation.

However the most telling difference now is that East Timor’s per capita GDP at US$400 is the lowest in the world.

Brunei’s per capita GDP is US$24,826, maintaining 26th position among world countries. People are still not benefiting from the oil wealth like Brunei.

Colonised by Portugal in the 16th century, East Timor was invaded by Indonesia in 1975, which occupied it in 1999.

And when the people of East Timor voted overwhelmly for independence following bloody political upheavels under a UN sponsored referendum further mayhem broke out.

Anti-independence militias and Indonesian troops laid waste 70 percent of East Timor economy. The rampaging forces burnt and pillaged local homes mercilessly. Many lost their lives.

More than 260,000 people fled westward and 8,000 UN peacekeepers were deployed to stabilise the situation and soon reconstruction began in a country so tragically destroyed.

Refugees were eventually beginning to return and some were held at special camps before resettlement.

These are some lessons the delegates from the East Timur should bring home and ponder hard. Do they really want to be like us? Perhaps, not really.

So, where else to look?

Singapore! Why? Singapore had had nothing but great leaders with great visions. Its people were the only resources they had and they really capitalized on them. The rest is history!

Name: SM

Why compare Brunei with the worst and be happy about it. Let's take Singapore as a beacon.

Besides, Brunei lacks transparency. People should be told where the nation's wealth is exaclty invested and how much is has.

Secrecy on the subject could only lead to another disaster like Amadeo. Let the people be the watch dog. That will be good for the future of the nation that's the only.

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I find it encouraging for our neighbours to emulate us. Feel free to do so and we should not be afraid to show our feeling of pride. But what we have does not necessarily be the outcome of what we did. Things might have happened naturally through time. East Timor has the resources but lacks the leaders with the proper attitude to lead it out of its current misery. Maybe years under different powers could have made it that way. The same with us. Though we may lack the one or two extra resources like East Timor, we have leaders that steered the country towards prosperity. The main thing is not to be complacent, lest we may end up like them and they like us, eventually.

Name: pushover
Email: pushover@gmail.com