Narrow Results

This paper examines the nexus of income and multidimensional life satisfaction (LS) in the oil- and gas-rich Belait district of Brunei Darussalam. Using a random sample of 1,000 Belait residents and principal component factor analysis to sort 11 domains-of-life satisfaction into three uncorrelated LS spheres–LS with materialist life (job, stress, and income); LS with post-materialist life (family, spirituality, neighbors, and community activities); and LS with public life (health, neighborhood facility, feeling safe at home, and quality of living environment)—we discover the following. First, positive income effects on LS with materialist life sphere are evidenced from lower-middle- to high-income bands. Second, a positive income effect on LS with post-materialist life sphere is only found in the high-income band. Income does not relate to LS with public life sphere. These findings are robust to using each domains-of-life satisfaction and treating scores on domain satisfaction as ordinal and cardinal measures.

This paper investigates the sources of macroeconomic fluctuations in Brunei Darussalam from 2003Q1 to 2014Q3 using a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model. Shocks are identified by imposing block exogeneity and long-run restrictions motivated by an open economy model that includes oil prices. The results show that oil price shocks account for only a small proportion of output fluctuations while productivity shocks have the largest share. Real exchange rate movements are largely driven by demand shocks while monetary shocks explain most of the variability in prices. Economic policies should focus on productivity improvement and capital investment to increase output in the long run, and the conduct of fiscal policy should take into account the impact on real exchange rate volatility.

Researchers have argued that the use of comics in teaching mathematics is ideal for improving problem-solving skills among primary and secondary students. However, there are only a handful of studies that utilize comics, particularly in Bruneian classrooms. In this study, we share the journey of three teachers who enacted the use of comics in their respective mathematics lessons. All of them implemented their own choice and designs of different yet educationally related comics as intervention lessons, intending to scaffold the conceptual knowledge of the mathematics topics taught while encouraging collaboration and participation among their students. Their students’ perceptions on the use of comics were gathered from the surveys and/or the interviews and analyzed qualitatively. Among the overall main themes found were the students’ positive insights on the use of comics, the impact of their learning and engagement on the subject, the influence of color and image constructs of the comics, the emotions triggered by comics and the beneficial inclusivity particularly at the primary and secondary school levels.

Attitudes toward advertising is an established construct in marketing. The construct has been researched mostly using the attitude theory and has been of interest to both marketing academicians and practitioners. Attitudes toward advertising have been researched with different frameworks, in different markets and for advertising in different media. However, there is limited research on consumers’ attitudes toward advertising in Asian markets. In particular, there is no study so far on attitudes toward advertising in Brunei Darussalam, an affluent but less populous South East Asian market. This paper investigates attitudes toward advertising, antecedents to attitudes toward advertising and consequent behaviors in Brunei. The framework proposed by Pollay and Mittal (1993), later further by Wolin et al. (2002) is used in this paper. Responses from the consumer surveys were analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). It was found that most of the belief factors in Pollay and Mittal framework influenced attitudes toward advertising among Bruneian consumers. Overall positive attitudes toward advertising were observed, which in turn influenced advertising-related behaviors. The significance of these traits is explained based on the distinctive socio-economic environment as well as the advertising landscape of Brunei Darussalam. Understanding consumers’ attitudes toward advertising and ensuing behaviors for previously unexplored markets shall be an important initiation in improving the quality as well as productivity of advertising.

This paper is a case study on Brunei Darussalam’s public sector employees’ observations regarding the new performance appraisal system introduced in 2018. While the new system was aimed at instilling a more “performance-driven” public sector, however, based on the survey findings of this paper, a majority of respondents raised their concerns on the key performance indicators (KPIs) and other aspects of the appraisal system. The findings highlight the need for more research to be done on appraisal systems and their processes, specifically in the public sector, where an effective appraisal system can create a performance-driven public sector which can improve overall governance.

In Islamic finance, Profit and Loss Sharing (PLS) concepts are widely advocated as one of the most equitable concepts available for Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs), given the equitable nature of sharing one’s profit and loss. However, in practice its use is limited as challenges exist which include moral hazard and a mismatch of the competencies of contemporary IFIs vis-a-vis the risk profile of PLS concepts. These challenges of PLS from an IFI perspective had been extensively covered in the literature, therefore this paper attempts to assess the challenges of PLS from a consumer or demand perspective. It is argued that there should be a reasonable level of awareness and willingness for consumers to demand a particular product; it is economically inefficient to create a product for which demand is lacking. Using a mixed method research design which includes surveys to 177 MSMEs and semi-structured interviews with two Islamic finance academicians, the findings indicate a low-level awareness of Mudarabah and Musharakah amongst MSMEs. Further, the willingness to use PLS financing among MSMEs is also found to be low, notably in terms of the willingness to share profits with IFIs, as well as having reservations on IFIs to be involved in playing an operational role in the small enterprise. These findings prompt the need for enhanced marketing approaches to enhance the awareness of these concepts for MSMES, and at the same time, defining a selective target market to explore the willingness amongst MSMEs, should PLS financing be widely available in Brunei.

COVID-19 highlighted the fragility of the sectors and the economies, tested by lockdowns and quarantines. This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the Brunei Darussalam economy and its key sectors. Further, it explores the policy responses undertaken and their impact to control the COVID-19 transmission within Brunei. This analysis identifies the social and economic policy responses to COVID-19 and summarises the invaluable lessons learnt in the context of businesses, sectors, and the economy. It is observed that Brunei economy had a positive growth during the pandemic due to its effort to enhance economic diversification to overcome the challenges faced by high dependence on the oil and gas sector. It facilitated the growth of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors, wholesale and retail sectors, communication sector, and non-oil and gas sector despite the restrictions of the pandemic. The outbreak underscored the opportunity for businesses, sectors, and government to prioritise dynamic policies to facilitate and operationalise new growth prospects, which were among the reasons for the growth of Brunei amidst the COVID-19.

This chapter describes a comparative study of the perceptions of my “best” mathematics teachers expressed by a sample of upper primary school pupils in Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. Data were collected in October 1998 as part of an inter-institutional research collaboration between the National Institute of Education, Singapore and the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Brunei Darussalam. The pupils were asked to describe in words the qualities of their “best” mathematics teacher and to draw a picture of this teacher teaching in class. The descriptions and drawings provide interesting insights about the qualities of good mathematics teachers and teaching that can be debated by the mathematics education community.