Many people, most of them Bruneians, with whom I interacted at the onset of and during fieldwork undertaken for our poverty study (described here), held the belief that the nature of poverty in Brunei is unique and relative. They stated that views of what poverty is in Brunei are different from those in other countries. As they put it, some poor people in the country, for example, own cars and beautiful (well-built and comfortable) houses, which is not the case in other countries. Poor Bruneians, as some of the people described, are those “with a quality of life that is below the expected standard of living in the country, and their children do not enjoy a life that children from better-off families enjoy”; those whose “living conditions are not as good as those who are better off”; or those who do “not live like other people.”  

Our study also examined whether the nature of poverty in Brunei is indeed unique. It was beyond the scope of the study to ascertain in what ways poverty in the country is relative, but you can get some ideas about it here, here, and here. Our study did, however, manage to examine what could make poverty in Brunei relative. Here is a summary of the findings:

The nature of poverty in Brunei is not unique: The nature of poverty does not refer to its severity but to the meanings, causes and multidimensionality of poverty. The meanings of poverty in Brunei –  shared in my first blog post and here –  are similar to those found in other countries, such as Indonesia, India, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. The causes of poverty in Brunei, which include mindsets, poor financial management, lack of self-confidence, lack of education, unemployment or limited opportunities and dysfunctional families, are similar, too, to those of poverty in Ireland, the United Kingdom, India and South Africa. As we have argued here, poverty has financial, economic, material, social, environmental and seasonal dimensions, which are mutually reinforcing.  The multidimensional nature of poverty in Brunei is no different from that found in other countries. By way of example, the nature of financial poverty in the country – which is characterised by a lack of income, savings and access to loans from formal financial institutions and indebtedness – is similar to that found in Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam.  In addition, social poverty in Brunei – as is in Indonesia, Madagascar, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Ukraine and Jamaica – is associated with the inability to host or attend social ceremonies, being isolated or having weak social capital, and lacking self-confidence, amongst other descriptors.  Most of the forms of seasonal poverty noted in Cambodia and Zimbabwe are also common to Brunei.

Indeed, as observed during fieldwork, some poor people in Brunei own cars and well-built houses, but this is not exceptional.  The fact that poverty is multidimensional implies that one may be seemingly well off materially but deprived in other dimensions of poverty. This is common the world over.  In the United Kingdom, for example, more than half of the poor are homeowners.  In Zimbabwe, too, some poor people drive cars and/or live in or own well-built houses.

The nature of poverty in Brunei is therefore not unique, but the same cannot be said for the severity of poverty. Although it was beyond the scope of our study to examine the severity of poverty in Brunei, based on my observation and research experience, poverty in this country is not as severe as it is in other countries, especially those in the Global South.  

Poverty in Brunei could be relative because of:

• sound social protection programmes: the country has social safety nets on education, health, housing, cash transfers, and pensions, etc., which cover almost all vulnerable groups, such as female-head households, single mothers, orphans and the elderly and unemployed people
• government subsidies on education, health, housing, electricity, foodstuff, water and sanitation, fuel and other necessities.
• differences in wages or income, level of education, participation in economic activities or ability to make choices or to seize available opportunities, access to benefits, and health status.
• charitable attitude: Bruneians who are better off are doing much to help to keep absolute poverty at bay.

In researching the aspects of poverty in Brunei, I have observed that the country is making significant strides towards poverty eradication. In my 5^th blog, I will share the possible reasons for Brunei’s remarkable achievements in poverty eradication and what lessons other countries, especially those in the Global South, could learn from this.  My 4^th blog, meanwhile, will review Zimbabwe’s latest poverty report. Do look out for it!

Thank you for stopping by!  Take care!