Lord of the rigs

Article Abstract:

Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah manipulates culture and religion to keep his status as Eastern Asia's only absolute monarch. Although Brunei's 300,000 people have no say whatever in how the sultan governs, the small but oil-rich country's per capita income of $18,500 has produced little dissatisfaction with autocratic rule. The emergence of the Malay Muslim Monarchy movement, which Islamic conservatives used to increase their influence, induced the sultan to become more conservative himself. In Oct 1992 he observed the 25th anniversary of his accession.

Cover Story, Brunei, Heads of state, Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei

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Material god: middle-class Thais pray for wealth in this world, not the next

Article Abstract:

Materialism in Thailand has transformed spirituality into a way to ensure worldly success, to the distress of many critics but the benefit of splinter Buddhist sects. Rather than emphasize a transcendant deity, such cults as that devoted to Kuan Im promise worshippers wealth and immediate gratification, wrapped in a mantle of mercy and compassion rather than the strength and invulnerability sought a generation ago. Some observers blame a new insecurity in Thai life and peoples' alienation from their families.

Economic aspects, Thailand, Economics, Religion, Religious aspects, Buddhism, Religion and economics

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Double blow: deputy premiers' illness upsets leadership equation

Article Abstract:

Singapore's political leadership is precarious after the announcement that both Deputy Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong and Ong Teng Cheong have cancer. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has stressed the urgency of finding new political successors for the ailing deputy premiers, especially because Lee had been slated as Goh's successor. However, the political situation has not affected Singapore's business community or the economic situation.

Singapore, Political aspects, Lee Hsien Loong

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