COVER N. 553 - BRUNEI

Postmark: Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei Darussalam 04.11.2024

Posted on the 4th November 2024; Received on the 17th January 2025

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Another country joins the fold, again through the generous and kind action of one of the most active supporters of this humble blog, my friend the Flying Dutchman. I am truly indebted to you Eric for again making sure my letterbox is the opposite of a Pandora box... a constant source of pleasure and bewilderment. Muito Obrigado, Eric!

Brunei, a tiny but immensely rich state led by an absolute monarch under a mix of common and sharia law... the man that celebrated his 50th birthday with free for all  Michael Jackson concerts and at some point advocated death by stoning for homosexuals...

Oh this world of ours is a strange place and the problem is that it keeps getting stranger, as money more and more makes the world go round.....

Oil is the source of all the wealth for the tiny Sultanate, independent form the UK, the former colonial power, since 1984, occupying a tiny area of 5,765 km2 in the huge island of Borneo, which is mostly divided between Malasya and Indonesia. 

On a positive note, it should be acknowledged that the country ranks very high in the Human Development Index, with free or highly subsidised housing, health and education being provided to its citizens, what does indeed prove that some of the national wealth has been duly transferred too where it matters most.

UNESCO proclaimed 1979 as the International Year of the Child as a way to draw the attention of the world to the problems that children all over the planet are confronted with.... about time UNESCO does it again, I guess, though no one in the most powerful states in the world seem to give a damn about the UN these days....

Brunei, a member of the UN since the year of its independence, 1984, issued on 14JUN1979, a two stamp set (10 sen; 1 Dollar) celebrating this proclamation.

The one dollar stamp was used on this cover, being illustrated with the logo of the International Year and as in all its stamps, following the practice of the former colonial power, the effigy of its Monarch.