Bcos the country have so much money at 1 time that it should have propelled the country to greater heights. Now you see brunei going down the ranks within Asean and experiencing unemployment issues . Normal citizens like us feel the crunch while the government officials are still in dream land. Unemployment and social problems are just ideas to them. Something to deal with on pieces of papers and documents while us citizens are the ones actually experiencing these issues. Sakit hati la when rich people say to poor people that we should do this we should do that to tackle the problem when they (gov officials) never turun padang and experience it first hand

Hope you're enjoying the generous benefits from our investment towards your townships

When you see the lack of opportunities, industries and small population, there's only so much one can do and achieve here. For example many highly skilled people who studied in areas like software developer, coder or job skills that do not have work placement for them, how do you think they feel? It's easy for you to speak up when you don't live here with restrictions in place like catering to tourists during Puasa where all eateries are closed etc, unless you're from here, you wouldn't understand what situations or issues the locals are facing here. So please don't simply ask out in the open when you haven't a proper idea of how things are like here.

If you buy a house here, even after 20-30 years the value won't go up much and even then if you have tenants renting the place, it might take close to 30 years or more to just get back the initial investments.

The simple answer is that things are not going as well as they used to, and there isn't much hope for the future. But the Sharia Law is a problem of misplaced priorities, not an actual problem affecting Bruneians.

Brunei's reliance on energy is well-known, and diversification has been a priority for 50 years. But its only after the 2014 oil shock that Bruneians actually feel the affect of lack of diversity. Government budgets are cut and less is spent, so there is less business and fewer jobs. By 2019, the economy (youth unemployment etc) is probably the main priority in most people's minds. On top of that, we look at the successes of Singapore, Dubai, and Qatar, and realize we missed our chance to join them. So when you see people displeased at the country, its mainly that we are displeased at lost opportunity and at the current economic trajectory. Sharia is more a symptom, not a cause.

As a society, Brunei will probably continue to be socially conservative. Brunei is a small country with a small population, where family is a key social structure. You can marry outside the family and still live only two hours away drive away (not even 1/6th of the way across Sarawak). In such situations, its important for families to rely on each other. This is usually why rural areas tend to be more conservative.

The Sharia Law is not even apply 100% yet I think. I believe ppl always have something to say about their own countries same like you guys malaysians.