deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

The Nation of Brunei, Abode of Peace. Located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is separated into two parts by the Sarawak district of Limbang. Brunei is the only sovereign state entirely on Borneo; the remainder of the island is divided between Malaysia and Indonesia.

It was founded in 1400 when Sultan Muhammad Shah exploring the land came upon a river mouth and stated: “Baru Nah” (‘There it is’). From his words the single word Brunei came to be.

Brunei is ‘governed’ by a Sultan. It has a combination of English Common Law, Sharia Law and general Islamic Law. During it’s early history Brunei grew rapidly. In 1929 oil was found and oil well number 2 continues to produce even now. Brunei is 1 of 2 countries in the world that has ‘0’ debt.

With natural resources Brunei was seen as a desirable place to capture. Eight days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor they invaded Brunei. They stayed until the Australian army with US air support recaptured Brunei. After this the country continued to ‘shrink’. It finally gained it’s complete independence from The United Kingdom in 1984.

The flag of Brunei has a centered emblem of Brunei on a yellow field cut by black and white diagonal stripes (parallelograms at an angle). The yellow field represents the sultan of Brunei. The red crest consists of a crescent facing upwards, joined with a parasol, with hands on the sides. Black and white stripes run across the flag.