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No Sight For Sore Eyes As All That Glitters Is Not Gold
By Ignatius Stephen

Bandar Seri Begawan - "So you expected Brunei roads to be paved in gold?" I asked her, trying to sound a little sarcastic. "Not exactly. But, yes, I am more than a little disappointed. Brunei has such a splendid image overseas being oil rich and all," she replied.

"But, sad to see reality is somewhat different," she added. She was a visitor from a western country. "Yes," added her companion, surveying the dingy row of shops that night, right across the road from a cafe where they were sipping coffee in Jalan Sultan. I could not help glancing that way, too. I saw the row of old buildings with paint peeling off and vegetation growing here and there from the cracks, and the streak of dirty stains that a burst drainpipe had left on the wall. Yes, this structure and many others in the capital should have been bulldozed and rebuilt long ago. How right these visitors were.

I could not help feeling a little ashamed as well. After all, this is our capital city and Jalan Sultan is supposed to be our premier street, like The Orchard Road of Singapore, the Champs-Elysee, Bond Street of London, but then it is not perhaps any of these by any stretch of imagination.

And I tried to keep a brave front. "But these dilapidated buildings will soon go," I said, telling a little white lie. Or was it a big fat fib? Because I knew that no such redevelopment plans were on the cards unless a fire wiped out the entire row. Even so, you will have to wait for what seems a lifetime for a fresh structure to appear, thanks to family bickering and official red tape. Soon the visitors finished their coffee. I was still feeling more than uncomfortable as their remarks still rang in my ears. The humiliation was hard to bear. I had to do something. And fast. So I said, "Let me show you the rest of the city. It is still early." And they readily accepted. Why not? A free tour "Well, the splendour of Brunei, the splendour of Brunei," I said to myself. "What shall I do to impress them and save our image?" And as I hit the highway I thought, "The Empire Hotel!" And that worked like a miracle.

"This is more like the Brunei I had in my mind," my visitor exclaimed as soon as she viewed the magnificent edifice and as she stepped into the spectacular surroundings. After that, I was glad to show the visitors our stunning mosques and palaces and much else. Soon, we were back in Jalan Sultan for another round of coffee. Yes, they were sufficiently full of admiration. Yet they had a question.

"If you have all these super places like the Empire, why then are the private buildings in the capital in such bad shape?" one of them asked "Why the neglect? Why the disparity?" That set me thinking. My mind's eye roved from place to place in the capital.

There was the uncompleted grey hulk of a building in Jalan Kianggeh and another near- abandoned structure in the junction in Jalan Pemancha and where once two banks were housed and also a gaping hole in Jalan Sultan, part of which is in the process of being filled after so many years.

And once again, I was put on the defensive as they questioned. I could only tell them soon things will change and perhaps during their next visit, Bandar will be different. But why is it taking so long, they wanted to know.

But I did not want to go into the real reason why our capital is rapidly threatening to become an abandoned rat infested township. One reason is that, I am told, the authorities do not have enough teeth to compel a definite urban redevelopment plan. It lacks the necessary legislative powers, someone the other day told me. They do not have the legal authority to tell the landlords to build and redevelop or else.

If such a mechanism exists like in most progressive countries, landlords of vacant and abandoned properties could be compelled to redevelop their empty plots to the satisfaction of the authorities. The owners of the now pest-ridden filthy premises and office blocks could be called to account, whoever they are, to give reasons as to why their properties are not kept in good order and an effort made to get them occupied.

And if they are not interested to rebuild, their lots could be compulsorily taken over and developed. Lack of legislation is one reason, of course. And why are the necessary legislation and the execution taking so long? There are umpteen other reasons. But I could not tell them all that. I could only grin and bear their remarks in silence.

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