For years, the general Brunei public are of the opinion that this is the way things are and there is no hope of it ever changing. The silver lining in this bleak picture may be that from observations, of mine as well as people I speak to, there are kindred spirits out there who want a change. Some have demanded such a change in vain, whilst the meeker ones sit around complaining to themselves. Nevertheless, the main point I'm trying to drive across in the past two paragraphs is that we Bruneians are aware of the need for change, regardless of the amount of proactivity we display.
This blog serves not to tarnish the good name of my home. Rather, it serves as a venue for the many opinions that may be deemed too "rude" or "sow cords of discontent". The ultimate aim of all this is that we are able to better see ourselves in a light we may not want. For progress, we, as a nation, must learn to first see that there are certain things we do wrongly. And openly admit that. For only when one learns of one's faults can one learn of ways to improve oneself. If this applies to an individual, and accepted as wisdom, does it not apply even more to a nation as a whole?
As an icebreaker, I quote the following article regarding Visit Brunei Year below and invite honest opinions in forms of either a blog comment or an email to rude.opinion@gmail.com before i dissect it in my next post.
Visit Brunei Not Next Year
Bandar Seri Begawan - The Visit Brunei Year (VBY) will not happen next year, but would probably be in 2009 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of our independence or 2010 to coincide with the Asean Tourism Forum (ATF), which Brunei is expected to host, CEO of Brunei Tourism Board revealed.
Speaking to the Weekend, Sheikh Jamaluddin said, "We were just toying with the idea of hosting it next year. It was not officially endorsed by the Tourism Board. We called 2008 as celebrating Brunei 2008-09.
On Brunei's big tourist spending in Malaysia where over $400 million (RM 1.1 billion) were spent during the first half of this year, Sheikh Jamaluddin said this is where the Kenali Negara Kitani (KNK) campaign or know our country is important as a step towards promoting Brunei's domestic tourism.
"The KNK campaign is very important in trying to encourage Bruneians to spend their holiday in the country itself This goes to show the importance of Brunei to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) to open more supermarkets, departmental stores and more high quality shopping in Brunei."
Malaysia's Bernama reported Malaysia's Deputy Tourism Minister, Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai, saying recently that Brunei is the third biggest contributor to Malaysia's tourism revenue after Singapore and Indonesia with RM 10.8 billion and RM 1.7 billion respectively.
Sheikh Jamaluddin added tourism is very important for Brunei. If we can bring more visitors to the country, these visitors will create the demand for the shop to prosper in their business. Tourism is a very important part of the nation building.
Talking about the current Brunei Golf Open, Sheikh Jamaluddin said players who come to Brunei for the first time love it. Our job is to market Brunei and it comes in many forms like golfing, familiarisation trips, trade shows and advertising.
During the recent KNK roadshow held at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, it was highlighted that in three years, KNK is expected to encourage Brunei citizens to be tourists in their own country, increase SME growth, increase quality of available products and lessen the dependence on foreign tourists.
Tourism has created 11 per cent of employment for locals and therefore it was important to develop tourism and the need for everyone to know about tourism. To support our international campaign, we want to focus on domestic (tourism) first and we have KNK partners ready to support us. The campaign is a domestic branding to promote domestic tourism, which gives emphasis on programmes, activities and events to promote domestic tourism.
The objective of the KNK is to increase demand and develop domestic tourism, to make Brunei an interesting destination, educate society on the potential of tourism industry, and open opportunities of employment and business. It is hoped that Brunei would be able to achieve $356 million in tourism industries by 2023. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
4 comments:
Observer, in my opinion, the idea of Brunei becoming a tourist destination is not realistic. Compared to the our neighbouring countries - Brunei is expensive, there's no infrastructure to support tourists and there is nothing to do. Bruneian people (I am Bruneian) can be intolerant, arrogant and racist. While we "say" that we want to develop Brunei as a tourist destination, the fact is that we don't really "want" to to it. I don't think many Bruneians will accept concessions to attract tourists eg serving alcohol or large resort-style developments that are not as high-end as the Empire. And besides, how may Bruneians want to work in the hospitality industry as chambermaids, porters, cleaners, waiters etc. What is the point of developing an industry to have it staffed by emigrant workers? Tourism is just another idea floated around by the government to show that we are trying to diversify the economy. The reality is that it is a plane that will never fly unless radical changes are made to the national policies.
Hi Katie-Ella!
Thanks for the feedback. I completely agree with your sentiments and "theory".
However, I'm still going to give them the benefit of doubt and write assuming that they WANT to develop tourism.
Your views indicate a person who's just given up all hope on the nation. :)
I haven't given up ALL hope. :) I love Brunei and it's still my home, even though I live far away now. I'm surprised that you haven't had more feedback though. Keep posting, I look forward to your next posts.
When it comes to Brunei (as with any other countries to be fair) you will have a lot of materials to write on.
I think more local should speak out - it's the only way to let those who are in charge knows that things need to change for the better. Criticizing doesn't always mean you don't care about the country.
Looking forward to hearing your other views.
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