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Report no adverse news so the world can see Brunei as perfection



Brunei has warned local media not to report stories that mock the country's leaders and raise issues that can lead to the opposition of the Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) ideology. The media in Brunei are strictly controlled by the government under Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. Reporters Without Borders says there is "virtually no criticism of the government". Freedom House lists Brunei's media as "not free". The main privately-owned press, Brunei Press Sdn Bhd, publisher of the Borneo Bulletin, is actually owned by the Sultan's family. A press law provides prison terms of up to three years for reporting "state secrets" and "false news". State secrets include national finance and the Sultan's spending lifestyle. But the rise of new media is threatening to loosen the government's grip on information.





Brunei: New media such as Facebook, WhatsApp may disrupt society and bring chaos



The Deputy Prime Minister, Dato Paduka Hj Abd Wahab Juned, said freedom of expression is fundamental, but "not an absolute right" in Brunei. Speaking to 100 media personnel and government public relations officers, he said chaos and discord could ensue if the balance between freedom of expression and responsibility towards public interests is not kept. "The government is responsible for ensuring the local media is responsible, professional, ethical, pro-unity, supports good governance, fair and sensitive at all times for the safety, well-being and integrity of the country."



"The government is also consciously responsible for determining the balance between freedom of expression and the responsibility towards public interests," the deputy minister added. He went on to say that freedom of expression is highly dependent on faith, socio-cultural and national contexts. Even though freedom of expression is universal in nature, it is not practised in the same way everywhere, Dato Hj Abd Wahab said.





The Sultan of Brunei is the only head of state richer than national GDP



He added that human life is not only about freedom of speech. It consists several noble objectives in living within a country: to share prosperity, peace, unity, security and justice. "In the media, we are not solely determined by our commercial interests. Interests and welfare of the public is one of the noble objectives of the government," he added. Brunei recently suffers from mounting criticisms from global medias after it implemented the Sharia laws. Some began to question the national ideology which is based on race, religion and absolute monarchy, and the Sultan's lavish lifestyle, including his list of hotels in the U.S. and Europe that serve alcohols.



Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has a net worth of US$20 billion, which is more than Brunei's GDP of US$17 billion. Since independence, under his governance, the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA), the equivalent of Singapore's Temasek Holdings, saw its investment assets fallen from US$100 billion to US$40 billion now. Singapore also overtakes Brunei as the region's wealthiest in GDP per capita.





Brunei Sultan's palace is the biggest residential palace in the world at 1,788 rooms



According to Business Insider, Brunei's Prince Jefri personally blown through US$14.8 billion from a government oil investment fund he was purportedly overseeing, at one point reportedly spending US$50 million a month. As the Sultan fought a lengthy battle with his brother, the courts in London revealed that His Majesty himself spent £19.5 billion (US$32.3 billion) including secretly transferring £4 billion of state funds into his account as "special drawing" to bankroll his lifestyle. From there, the two spent US$47 billion in total. Meanwhile, according to Brunei Times, funding to develop Brunei under the 10th National Development Plan (RKN 10) totaled B$1.15 billion (US$0.92 billion) for the 2014/2015 financial year. Brunei is a wealthy nation but its infrastructure is grossly underdeveloped. The Brunei International Airport for instance, handles less passengers than Miri Airport, a neighboring city in Malaysia.



The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said that new media pose challenges to the government in disseminating reliable, fast and accurate information. Hj Md Rozan Dato Paduka Hj Md Yunos, who is in charge of the media, claimed the use of new media such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter challenged the government and private sector in controlling false and negative information.





Brunei was Southeast Asia richest state under British rule, but fell behind Singapore after independence



"This should be seen as a challenge towards us, who practice public relations as the government's mouthpiece with the help of local media in promoting information that is genuine, accurate and fast. Globalization and technology advancement has made promotion and distribution of information limitless," he added. As a result, the Information Department has established two focus groups to "improve" media relations. Hj Md Rozan explained that the first focus group was to review the function and structure of public relations in the country, while the second group aimed to improve "teamwork" among government agencies and the private media.





http://bt.com.bn/frontpage-news-national/2...-responsibility

http://bt.com.bn/news-national/2014/08/27/...enge-government

http://bt.com.bn/frontpage-news-national/2...n-budget-passed

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/the-m...eaner-7m-516409

http://www.businessinsider.com/prince-jefr...its-2011-6?op=1

Brunei has warned local media not to report stories that mock the country's leaders and raise issues that can lead to the opposition of the Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) ideology. The media in Brunei are strictly controlled by the government under Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. Reporters Without Borders says there is "virtually no criticism of the government". Freedom House lists Brunei's media as "not free". The main privately-owned press, Brunei Press Sdn Bhd, publisher of the Borneo Bulletin, is actually owned by the Sultan's family. A press law provides prison terms of up to three years for reporting "state secrets" and "false news". State secrets include national finance and the Sultan's spending lifestyle. But the rise of new media is threatening to loosen the government's grip on information.The Deputy Prime Minister, Dato Paduka Hj Abd Wahab Juned, said freedom of expression is fundamental, but "not an absolute right" in Brunei. Speaking to 100 media personnel and government public relations officers, he said chaos and discord could ensue if the balance between freedom of expression and responsibility towards public interests is not kept. "The government is responsible for ensuring the local media is responsible, professional, ethical, pro-unity, supports good governance, fair and sensitive at all times for the safety, well-being and integrity of the country.""The government is also consciously responsible for determining the balance between freedom of expression and the responsibility towards public interests," the deputy minister added. He went on to say that freedom of expression is highly dependent on faith, socio-cultural and national contexts. Even though freedom of expression is universal in nature, it is not practised in the same way everywhere, Dato Hj Abd Wahab said.He added that human life is not only about freedom of speech. It consists several noble objectives in living within a country: to share prosperity, peace, unity, security and justice. "In the media, we are not solely determined by our commercial interests. Interests and welfare of the public is one of the noble objectives of the government," he added. Brunei recently suffers from mounting criticisms from global medias after it implemented the Sharia laws. Some began to question the national ideology which is based on race, religion and absolute monarchy, and the Sultan's lavish lifestyle, including his list of hotels in the U.S. and Europe that serve alcohols.Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has a net worth of US$20 billion, which is more than Brunei's GDP of US$17 billion. Since independence, under his governance, the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA), the equivalent of Singapore's Temasek Holdings, saw its investment assets fallen from US$100 billion to US$40 billion now. Singapore also overtakes Brunei as the region's wealthiest in GDP per capita.According to Business Insider, Brunei's Prince Jefri personally blown through US$14.8 billion from a government oil investment fund he was purportedly overseeing, at one point reportedly spending US$50 million a month. As the Sultan fought a lengthy battle with his brother, the courts in London revealed that His Majesty himself spent £19.5 billion (US$32.3 billion) including secretly transferring £4 billion of state funds into his account as "special drawing" to bankroll his lifestyle. From there, the two spent US$47 billion in total. Meanwhile, according to Brunei Times, funding to develop Brunei under the 10th National Development Plan (RKN 10) totaled B$1.15 billion (US$0.92 billion) for the 2014/2015 financial year. Brunei is a wealthy nation but its infrastructure is grossly underdeveloped. The Brunei International Airport for instance, handles less passengers than Miri Airport, a neighboring city in Malaysia.The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said that new media pose challenges to the government in disseminating reliable, fast and accurate information. Hj Md Rozan Dato Paduka Hj Md Yunos, who is in charge of the media, claimed the use of new media such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter challenged the government and private sector in controlling false and negative information."This should be seen as a challenge towards us, who practice public relations as the government's mouthpiece with the help of local media in promoting information that is genuine, accurate and fast. Globalization and technology advancement has made promotion and distribution of information limitless," he added. As a result, the Information Department has established two focus groups to "improve" media relations. Hj Md Rozan explained that the first focus group was to review the function and structure of public relations in the country, while the second group aimed to improve "teamwork" among government agencies and the private media.