People, Culture and Language
People
The people of Brunei Darussalam are made of many different groups; Malay, Chinese, Indians, local Malays and so forth. Together they make up about 385, 000 people.
Malays
Melayu Brunei
Their houses are situated in rivers, and are on stilts. They live their lives as farmers to sell fruits and vegetables on a small boat from houses to houses (known as Padian) and also as a fisherman which is common job to earn for a living in the early years of Brunei Darussalam.
Kedayan
According to history, the Kedayans came from Jawa. Sultan Bolkiah, the 5th Sultan of Brunei was interested by their farming techniques and so invited them to live in Brunei and become local residents of Brunei.
Belait
These people are from the Belait District. Their main dialect is similar to Brunei Malay but has its own differences.
Tutong
They are those who live in the Tutong District. Their language is a bit different, but is very similar to Brunei Malay. It is said that Tutong was the name of a man who saved the village from cannibals, and in his honour, they called the area they lived in as Tutong, and the people there as Orang Tutong.
Bisaya, Dusun and Murut
These people live in the inlands of Brunei Darussalam. Most of them use farming as part of their everyday life as a source of income.
Nowadays all these groups live in any part of Brunei.
Culture
The culture of Brunei is mainly similar to the Culture of Malays. There are rules of etiquettes that the people here follow such as stated at EveryCulture.com
The following rules of etiquette are universal: pass items only with the right hand; refuse food by touching the container with the right hand, never verbally; use a thumb, never an index finger, to point; remove shoes whenever entering a home or public building, especially a mosque; shake hands gently and then gently touch the center of one's chest with the right hand afterward; never address a person by name alone; never consume items until specifically requested to do so; avoid public intersexual bodily contact; and never lose one's temper.
Other important etiquettes are stated in this article.
Language
The people of Brunei Darussalam speak many languages, but the most commonly used one is Brunei Malay. It is quite similar to Standard Malay, but has it's own uniqueness. Apparently most of the words beginning with letter H in Standard Malay is removed, because it is said that in the past, Bruneians could not pronounce the letter H. Examples are like "hilang" becoming "ilang".
Examples
"Hari ani syiok kaliah!"
Today was fun!
"Entah... tanya ia!!"
I don't know, ask him!
"Macam mana tah exam mu ah?" "Sadang....."
"How was your exam?" "It was okay"
posted by C.
