I read somewhere that Brunei Darussalam was the most “Facebooked” country in the world, on a per capita basis. Whether or not that’s true, Brunei’s extraordinary levels of literacy (94.9%, among the highest in the world), and online of freedom of expression, combine to make “virtual Brunei” a dynamic and fascinating place.
With a population of only 400,000, many of whom one can meet at The Mall on a Saturday afternoon, it is possible to get to know personally netizens whom, in other countries, one might only be able to interact with online. On this first hand (First Life?) evidence, Brunei is creating something rare: an internet-savvy population which displays as much courtesy at the keyboard as it does in the “real world”. That contrasts starkly with some of the online bullying (and worse) which one reads about elsewhere.
That was certainly what William Hague found, when he visited Brunei for the EU / ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in April. The Foreign Secretary asked to meet some of Brunei’s best known bloggers, which we managed to arrange (Read the blogger’s accounts: Delwin Keasberry’s ‘Who is William Hague?‘ and @emmagoodegg’s ‘@williamjhague: Selamat Pagi Brunei’) just before he dived into the conference. William Hague stayed in touch with virtual Brunei in a series of tweets throughout that busy day:
I have since contributed guest blogs to all three of the prominent bloggers whom we invited to meet the Foreign Secretary.
- With “Emma Goodegg”, I explored the nostalgia we had both felt when judging a film competition about student life in the UK: “Is university wasted on the young?” [Please check back later for the link]
- With “Projek Brunei”, I shared my reactions to Brunei’s National Environment Conference: “Pure water in a glass half full”.
- And with “Anak Brunei”, himself a Chevening Scholar and, as a result, a Dr of New Media, I talked about our Diamond Jubilee Queen’s Birthday Party reception, and the special pleasure I had inviting the Melilas Longhouse community, given their role as stewards of the rainforest. That blog contains a link to my favourite home movie, a tribute to the River Ingei Expedition deep in the Heart of Borneo.
The knowledge economy is like a river, and in Brunei it rises here.
