Timeline Brunei
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Brunei's complete name is Negara Brunei Darusallam
(Brunei, abode of
peace). It is located on the island of Borneo, the 3rd largest in the
world. The island was divided among the sultanate of Brunei, Indonesia,
and the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah. Brunei at 5,270 sq. km.
is about the size of Delaware. The largest city and capital is Bandar
Seri Begawan.
(SFEC, 10/18/98, p.T10)(WSJ, 10/25/05, p.A1)(SSFC,
7/16/06, p.A17)
Empire Hotel: www.empire.com.bn
1838
Gideon Barr of England borrowed money to buy an
oceangoing schooner and sailed to Borneo, called Kalimantaan by the
natives. He put down a rebellion against the sultan of Brunei and
became the rajah of the territory. The 1998 novel “Kalimantaan” by C.S.
Godshalk was based on these events.
(SFEC, 3/22/98, BR p.6)
1946 Jul 15, Haji Hassanal Bolkiah
Mu’Izzaddin Waddaulah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, was born. He is the
latest ruling member of one of the world's oldest dynasties. His assets
totaled some $30 billion.
(www.britannica.com/eb/article-9342924?hook=702222)(WSJ, 10/25/05, p.A1)
1958 The Omar Ali Saifuddien
Mosque was built and named after the ruling Sultan.
(SSFC, 6/28/03, p.C6)
1967 Oct 5, Haji Hassanal Bolkiah
Mu’Izzaddin Waddaulah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, ascended to the
throne.
(www.brunei.gov.bn/government/)
1979 Oil production in Brunei
peaked.
(WSJ, 10/25/05, p.A1)
1984 Jan 8, Brunei Darussalam
joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ASEAN was
established in Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
(www.aseansec.org/64.htm)
1984 Brunei gained independence
from Britain.
(SFC, 7/1/97, p.A9)
1985 London’s Dorchester Hotel was
purchased by the Sultan of Brunei.
(http://tinyurl.com/zf7fo)
1987 The Sultan of Brunei, leader
of the independent sultanate on the northern coast of Borneo, sent $10
million to support the Nicaraguan contras.
(HNQ, 12/14/98)
1987 Marvin Davis (1925-2004), oil
mogul and former owner of 20th Century Fox, sold the Beverly Hills
Hotel to the Sultan of Brunei for a $65 million profit.
(SSFC, 9/26/04, p.B7)
1998 Prince Jefri, the younger
brother of the sultan, resigned as the finance minister and was
stripped of his post as head of the Brunei Investment Agency after
Amedeo Development Corp. lost an estimated $16 billion.
(SFC, 2/25/00, p.D4)
2000 Feb 24, The Brunei government
began legal proceedings against Prince Jefri Bolkiah and froze his
assets. He was accused of improper use of embezzling nearly $16 million
from state coffers while serving as finance minister from 1986-1998.
Jefri reached an out-of-court settlement with the government agreeing
to pay the money back, which he allegedly used to buy hotels and other
expensive assets.
(SFC, 2/25/00, p.D4)(SSFC, 12/2/07, p.A31)
2000 Nov 16, World leaders at the
economic summit in Brunei agreed to restart global trade talks in 2001.
(WSJ, 11/17/00, p.A1)
2001 Aug 11, In Brunei some 10,000
items belonging to Prince Jefri Bolkiah’s bankrupt development
corporation went on auction.
(SSFC, 8/12/01, p.A18)
2002 Jul 31, In Brunei U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell met his North Korean counterpart for an
informal chat, as easing inter-Korean tensions stole the spotlight at
an Asia-Pacific security forum.
(Reuters, 7/31/02)
2002 Nov 4, China signed a
landmark agreement with Southeast Asian countries (Brunei, Malaysia,
Philippines, Vietnam) on avoiding open conflict in the disputed South
China Sea Spratly Islands. Indonesia objected and Taiwan was barred
from signing.
(Reuters, 11/4/02)(Econ, 5/22/04, p.40)
2003 May 24, Malaysia PM Mahathir
Mohamad met with Brunei's 29th Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin
Waddaulah to address the issue of the Kikeh oil find off Borneo.
(WSJ, 6/27/03, p.A11)(SSFC, 6/28/03, p.C6)
2004 Mar 4, Brunei officials
reported that two retired senior army and police intelligence officers
and a businessman had been jailed without trial for leaking government
secrets, some of them posted on the Internet.
(AP, 3/4/04)
2004 Sep 9, Crown Prince
Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah (30), the future king of the oil-rich
sultanate of Brunei, married a 17-year-old half-Swiss commoner.
(AP, 9/9/04)
2005 Brunei’s population in
2005 was about 370,000.
(WSJ, 10/25/05, p.A1)(SSFC, 7/16/06, p.A17)
2006 Jun 12, Brunei police said 3
men have been sentenced to a year in prison for sending cell phone
video clips that were considered seditious and insulting to the royal
family.
(AP, 6/13/06)
2006 In Brunei oil production this
year measured 221,000 barrels a day. Gas production was 1.2 billion
cubic feet per day.
(WSJ, 3/1/08, p.A6)
2007 Jun 10, In Brunei a two-week
lavish wedding celebration for the daughter of Brunei's sultan, one of
the world's richest men, culminated in a ceremony steeped in the royal
tradition.
(AP, 6/10/07)
2007 Nov 8, Britain’s Privy
Council ruled that Prince Jefri Bolkiah (53) of Brunei must transfer
ownership of 2 US hotels and 3 residences in Los Angeles, London and
Paris along with a trust fund to the Brunei Investment Agency. Jefri
had failed to return assets in a 2000 agreement to settle accusations
of embezzlement.
(SSFC, 12/2/07, p.A31)(http://tinyurl.com/39fvcf)
2007 The population of Brunei this
year was about 374,000. Malays comprised 67% and Chinese 15%. Muslims
comprised 67% and Buddhists 13%.
(WSJ, 3/1/08, p.A6)
2008 Feb 26, Brunei’s Prince Jefri
effectively lost control of the 55-story New York Palace Hotel,
formerly known as the Helmsley Palace. A firm owned by prince Jefri
paid $202 million for the hotel in 1993 using funds from the Brunei
Investment Agency (BAI).
(WSJ, 3/1/08, p.A6)
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