Job Discussion Forums

[gajackson1]

I needed to adjust my Brunei 'motorcycle' topic, and hoping someone could answer some of these:

i went to immigration this morning, and met with a senior officer. He said enrolling in Divemaster / Assistant Instructor courses at the Empire was no problem, as he could see, as long as i received no payment for doing the internship/practicum portion of the coursework.

Once I file a letter, from ScubaTech, with Immigration about the course enrollment invitation, I am free to enroll, and rent a house/apartment as I see fit (although, again, I don't know if 2-month rentals are an option in Brunei).

Now, my next concern is getting to/from the Empire. I will find out tomorrow if the Empire has some sort of shuttle service for employees that I can get a ride with when needed, if I get a place out in Jerudong.

What I would prefer to do, though, is buy a 2nd-hand motorcycle or car, so I can explore the country more freely in my free time. The immigration officer said he didn't know of any problems with buying, IF someone would sell me one. However, he also said he had no idea if I could register it, insure it, etc. without a Brunei IC (Identity Card). I would guess not, and should probably check with the MoT.

He DID tell me that I can use my IDL to drive/ride in Brunei 90 days, in any case, before i would have to get a Brunei license.

So:

1) Is an IC needed to buy/register/insure a vehicle here? Does the cc of the motor make a difference for a bike??? (for example, in SoKo, it is only necessary over a certain size, for mopeds/scooters/small bikes)

2) Failing that, are there cheaper car rental agencies than the 'normal' ones, a la Hertz/Avis? In fact, is it possible to rent a bike here at all, like in Thailand or Malaysia???

3) Failing THAT, does anyone know where I would go to find/buy a folding-style men's mountain bike?

Thanks for any input!

Glen

[gajackson1]

Minor update here:

It is possible, because the Divemaster could possibly take 3+ months (depends on the number of people coming through the Empire/ScubaTech doing courses I can assist with), that I may be required/ask to apply for a 'professional' visitor visa. I thought it would be some kind of student visa, but those are for 'normal' school/uni students - not for training courses (which apparently my DM is).

So again, if anyone has any experience/insight about purchasing a vehicle, with or without an IC, I'd love to hear it. I went & did some browsing in the later evening yesterday, but still can't find the 'big' used bike shop I saw before. On the road between BSB central & jerudong, there were LOTS of used car places, with signs posted in the $1000-$4000 range, so that is encouraging, as well.

Cheers!

Glen

[jsteventon]

Hi
You definitely need an IC to buy a car - I would say your best bet is to put a post in the 'Wanted' section of the Brunei internet 'magazine' - address below. See if anyone has a second car they don't use which you could rent off them for the 2 months...

As you realise, your own transport is a must for exploring....

Also, for the housing - post on there too - or there are some agents who advertise on there who you could call...I think the house depends if you can come to an informal arrangement with a landlord.

Web address
www.bobwhatson.com

good luck!
JS

[gajackson1]

Dear JS ~

And yet once again, I am indebted. I have made a local Bruneian friend, college guy, who has been helping me out as he can with some of these things.

I have been so used to a wealth of expat-related information on the Korean boards side of DESL Cafe, so this has been a big shift!

We are looking through the papers, and musthafa is also going through the malay papers & some of his family to see what they can come up with. The more I keep my eyes & ears open here, the more it does seem to be a country that puts a lot of emphasis on personal/social/family networking, for all sorts of things.

Regards,

Glen

Oh - and does anyone know how the heck a person gets a driving map??? I have tried tourist info, book stores, and a couple of gas stations - no luck so far . . .

[gajackson1]

I had gone from browsing the Bobwhatson ads to writing my own.

And, as mentioned in the Thumbs up! thread, it paid off -

I found a month-by-month rental, that met all my qualifications, AND the owne has an older car (Daewoo, ironically) he will rent/lease/sell me over a few months and/or until i get a job - which he is also willing to help with (guy came into Brunei from India under similar circumstances to mine, and has even worked FOR the MoE).

So, I can attest - Bobwhatson worked for me!

G.

[jsteventon]

Hi Glen,

CONGRATULATIONS!! So glad everything is falling into place! Good luck with everything...

JS