More from the hansard. Jobs, foreign workers, and for the first time, real numbers on whether Wawasan 2035 is actually going anywhere, not just something on a banner by the roundabout.
If you or your anak buah is job hunting
No sugarcoating here. Out of everyone working in the private sector, only 45 out of every 100 are Bruneian. The rest, 55 out of 100, are foreign workers. That is the real ratio, not a guess.
Some jobs you will barely see a local face at all. Construction sites, 8 out of 10 workers are foreign. Farming and fishing, 3 out of 4. Your favourite warung or kedai makan, roughly 2 out of 3 working there are foreign too. Even the factories, more than half.
Government did not pretend you can just flip a switch and swap them all out for Bruneians tomorrow. Depends whether we are ready, skilled, and honestly, willing to do those jobs. Fair point, if we are being honest.
Since 2017, over 16,000 Bruneians went through job training programmes. Only 6 out of 10 who finished actually got hired after. Nearly 2 out of 10, nothing, no job to show for it. That is a real gap, not just numbers on paper.
In retail alone, there are around 2,000 jobs open right now for O Level and below. But almost 4,600 Bruneians in that same bracket are still looking. Nearly 1,800 people with no seat when the music stops. Government said this straight in the chamber. Did not try to hide it.
Is Wawasan 2035 actually working, or just a slogan
This is the part that made me sit up, finally something with real numbers instead of just the usual poster talk.
On having a skilled, capable workforce, Brunei is sitting in the bottom third of the world right now. Government wants us in the top quarter by 2035. Big climb.
On quality of life overall, health, income, education combined, we are ranked 60th in the world. Target is top 10 by 2035. We are already considered a good place to live, this is about climbing further, not starting over.
On income per person, we are already 8th in the world. Target was top 10. So this box, already ticked.
On not depending so much on oil and gas, this is the one still lagging behind. Government has a target score to hit by 2035 and we are still far from it. Long way to go on this one, honestly.
A new rule for your reps in LegCo
The Code of Ethics debate from last time moved forward. Several members spoke up, mostly backing it fully now.
The Minister of Development answered the worries head on. Secrecy rules, he said, only cover stuff clearly stamped secret or top secret. Not the normal, everyday official info members might want to explain to us.
Bit of history too. This is not the first try at a code of ethics. Tried once in 2014, did not go through. Twelve years later, looks like this one will.
On declaring assets, he did not soften it. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Coming from someone who used to run the Anti-Corruption Bureau, that hits different.
Why this matters to you
The job numbers sting a bit, but at least they are honest. Nobody is pretending the gap is not there. And now, for the first time, we have actual numbers to check Wawasan 2035 against, not just the slogan on the banner. Keep these figures in your back pocket next time someone tells you 2035 is just talk.
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