Update on the Code of Ethics story from my last two posts. It has an ending, for now. What actually happened The original plan was for the ethics code to take effect immediately, starting 10 August. Then something interesting happened. The same member who drafted the whole thing stood up…
Jobs, Foreign Workers, And What 2035 Actually Measures
More from the hansard. Jobs, foreign workers, and for the first time, real numbers on whether Wawasan 2035 is actually going anywhere, not just something on a banner by the roundabout. If you or your anak buah is job hunting No sugarcoating here. Out of everyone working in the private…
Personal & Family
Looking Back on a Chevening Year
It has been a while since I got on that flight, ushering in Aidil Fitri somewhere over the Middle East, bound for a city I had only read about in a prospectus. Looking back at it now, from this distance, the Chevening year sits differently than it did when I…
Society & Culture
Fifty-Nine Years On, What Does ASEAN Mean to You?
Today marks the fifty-ninth anniversary of ASEAN, and if you’re in Jakarta there will be a proper ceremony for it, the anthem, a video presentation, remarks from the Secretary-General, a message from the Philippines as this year’s Chair. The theme this year is “Navigating Our Future, Together.” It’s also the…
Brunei & Governance
AI In Schools, And A Debate Over Ethics Rules
Two things happened at this LegCo sitting worth knowing about separately from the economy talk. AI is coming to your kid’s school, officially now The Education Minister stood up and laid out the plan. The idea is called “Sovereign AI”. Basically, Brunei wants to decide how AI gets used here,…
Brunei & Governance
What This LegCo Sitting Actually Means For You
I have been reading through the actual hansard from this LegCo sitting. Not the press releases, the real transcripts. Here is what matters if you are just trying to live your life in Brunei right now. If you are waiting for government housing There are 1,092 civil servants on the…