Job Discussion Forums

[lacsap]

There have been a lot of very positive posts here about Brunei, all true and indeed some by yours truly, and these are far exceeding the few negative ones. Most of the negative posters can also be easily identified as people who were fired, or just plain useless or mad. Anyway, just thinking that perhaps we do need to inject a little balance here. Wouldn't want people coming here thinking that they are coming to paradise on earth, the haven of peace and all that. So maybe we should just outline a few of the frustrations about the place, so that people coming here are fully prepared for what they will face. I'll start: the split weekend. Workdays in Brunei are Monday to Thursday and Saturday. Friday and Sunday are the "weekend" . I'll never get used to that. You can't go away for a couple of days at the weekend, the International schools work Monday to Friday, so if you have kids, school is a six day a week thing in most households. I could add more but over to the rest of you!

[celtica]

Here's a few niggly daily/weekly things....

Having to attend 2 - 2 1/2 hour meetings conducted in Malay when you could be busy doing more constructive work.

The heat and filth of most of the classrooms and the stairwells....Teacher's desk so dirty that even with cleaning every second day the cloth is still black afterwards....

No working system of discipline.... so much smoking in the toilets the boys reek of smoke, as do the classes close to the loo.......

[jsteventon]

The trouble with a thread like this is that grumbles are so personal! Also, the schools here vary so greatly.....for example, mine is modern, clean - no smoking problems and all meetings in English.

I agree not a good idea to make everything too rosy, but just needs to be borne in mind that everyone has a different perspective and everyone's schools is different....

JS

[lacsap]

Agreed Jsteventon, but is that not perhaps one of the problems, i.e. that everyone's experience may differ so radically. Imagine you arrive and are posted to a pretty crappy school, infested with rats (yes, schools like that do exist) teaching recalcitrant boys, without any interest in learning whatsoever, admin who either don't care, or who are actively obstructive, crumbling buildings and few resources. You think, well at least we are all in this together. You then meet someone who arrived around the same time, teaching nice clean, keen students in new buildings, supportive admin etc etc. What will you think? You know there's no hope of a transfer for at least two years, maybe three, so you are going to be a bit p****d off. Don't get me wrong, I very much like it here, but any newbies should be aware that things may not turn out quite as expected or promised.

[malu]

I'm surprised to hear about uncomfortably hot classrooms and offices. Don't Brunei schools have aircon?

[celtica]

In a word.....NO.

The majority of secondary schools have bare concrete walls and floors, fans only. As alluded to above, every school is different though....some schools do have aircon in some rooms....the 'A' classes perhaps, or specialist rooms some schools ahve more aircon than others.

The classrooms vary from just recently upgraded with nice clean tiles and paint to grimy, mouldy, grey, peeling, damp and dirty rooms that have had no maintenance for years......and all stages in between.

Quality of electricity supply varies. Sometimes a room may have no fans for a week or so ...sometimes supply trips regularly until it no longer works ,....then you wait for repairs.....sometimes there is no problem.

This is what Lacsap was trying to bring out ....the day to day realities of all the differing (and often difficult) situations in the schools here.

IMHO.....Personal resilience/response to these issues is a BIG factor in life in Brunei.

[celtica]

I should add that admin and staff-rooms on the whole have aircon. As do most shops and office buildings in town. ...

[jsteventon]

Conditions in many schools are as Celtica describes - however personal perspective does enter into how much this bothers the teacher concerned. I worked in one of the 'bottom end' schools for years, but was very happy there, due to the really good working atmosphere which existed in those less than beautiful classrooms. Great colleagues and a good school to be part of....

[gajackson1]

Am I allowed to play??? I'm not working yet, but have been here 10 months now

* Although the buses are inexpensive, I think they are in fairly bad shape. Only 2 of the lines run later in the evening, and drivers in general seem lackluster about any sort of time schedule - if there even is such a thing.

* Taxis are prohibitively expensive, with a number of otherwise unexpected surcharges worked in (I do NOT think it is dishonesty on their part; there just aren't a lot of cabs, and the service is really, really expensive in relation to vehicle, fuel, & maintenance costs).

* If you are a social drinker, you will pretty much have to build a home bar. Easier for a couple, definitely.

* If you are single and, ummmmmm, social, you will find certain elements here somewhat, ummmmmm frustrating. That is a good word for it.

* There is no public dock available in BSB proper. Boat ownership is, I believe, a HUGE plus here. But that is somewhat annoying.

* AirAsia doesn't fly into Brunei. We also don't have a TuneHotel here, and doubt one would ever be allowed in.

* Western-style boxed cereal is fweakin expensive! (lol - I was grocery shopping earlier this evening).

* It isn't the easiest of countries to be a dog owner - especially if you are an outdoors active + dog kinda person

* I can't speak for most, but if you are NOT in one of the more central areas, internet -while not overly expensive - is not fast, or stable, for streaming, downloading, high 2-way throughput stuff (like skyping or video chat)

* Although classy sultry sexy smooth clothing - guys & gals - is readly available in the region (and some even here in Brunei; we recently got a boutique announcement of a shop stocking Brazilian-style bikinis), you won't be wearing it out around Brunei in general.

* I find the book selections in the stores somewhat limited, but we are in a predominantly Malay country, with a smaller population.

* There is no Mexican food restaurant Either comida tradicional or Tex-Mex. You can pull together stuff to make it yourself. (***As you all may know, there will be 2 visiting guest chefs coming in to do full Mexican spreads at the end of the month - expect to see me there 3-4 times during that week!)

* Hmmm - while I am at it: I've seen no pizza buffet - but then again, I never found a steady one in Korea over 12 years. Maybe that IS just a USA thing.

* The new parking ticket voucher system is kinda annoying.

* I haven't seen/heard of a place here that rents scooters/motorcycles.

* Youth counterculture is pretty heavily frowned upon. Which is sad, because I believe in the positive aspects of hip-hop, turntablism, skate&blade culture, tagging artists, etc.

* If you live close to a mosque, that first wake-up call of the morning comes prettttttyyyyyy earrrrrlllly.

* If you like wilder, more au naturale beaches, Brunei is awesome (presuming you have transpo). But if you are looking for groomed beaches, you are kinda limited.

* Maybe I haven't found the right places, but I was expecting more Malay/Indo style furniture, at Malay/Indo prices. Hasn't happened - which is a shame, because I'd prefer to decorate my home in that style.

* Western-style washing machines seem uncommon, as do standard (well, maybe not so standard here) hot water heaters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, all that being said, I can still think of a whole lotta, lotta pluses over living in Korea, or back in the USA. And of course, for many people, the salary, benefits, cost of living and easy travel options really swing the balance.

But yes - it isn't all rosy all the time!

[lacsap]

OK, thanks gajackson1, we're collecting quite a list here, wouldn't want to go overboard though. Few things, first of all, Air Asia do fly into Brunei, once a day in and out of KL. That then gives you access to their whole network. You can also fly out of Miri, Labuan and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, all of which are reasonably accessible from Brunei. Miri is just a 2 hour drive away.
The thing about aircon in the classrooms. Rare to say the least. Most secondary schools make do with fans. There are four 6th Form colleges in the capital, two old ones and two new ones, the old ones have aircon in all classrooms, the two new ones don't. Go figure. Seems to be a point of principle for the MoE not to provide it in schools. Means the students are often listless in the heat, windows are open, meaning there is a lot of extraneous noise in the classrooms.
Bookshops - forget it. Miri has a couple of reasonable ones but Brunei is sadly devoid of these. Some of the clubs do have fairly extensive paperback libraries however.
Anyway, seems we have established a more balanced view. Anything else?

[jsteventon]

Hi

Have to disagree on a few of Glen's pointe - definitely no problems with water heaters and washing machines! Also, Air Asia definitely fly from Brunei..

You definitely need a car here so the bus and taxi issues don't bother you....CfBT stipulate that you need a driving license for that reason.

People with boats tend to dry dock them at the Yacht Club - or tow them to the coast from their home.

There may be no Mexican retaurants, but there are many Chinese, Thai, Korean, Italian, Indian etc.

Of course the call to prayer is loud - just be careful of the location of your house!

I could go on, but the point is that if folks want life in Brunei to be a replica of life in the States/Uk/Oz etc, then why not just stay at home?????

JS

[BOBBYSUE]

Well here's my 2 cents worth:

Yes, the lack of aircon is a shame, although the fans and the breeze can make it quite tolerable on most days. But there is one big factor people don't seem to be mentioning: THE HOURS! Most of us sit in an air conditioned staff room planning and marking for most of the day, and then have around 6 x 30 minute classes per day, a lot of these being repeats of what we've done with other groups. Now, anyone coming from the UK who is imagining transferring the hard work they do back there to a hot classroom is probably freaking out...but don't worry...the heat comes with a much more laid back workload. And I rarely ever take work home either!

But since we are being balanced- there are some things that take some getting used to here...it is a mix of modern rich country and 3rd world in some areas...all depends what you are used to. If you've never worked overseas before it will be a struggle for the first few months. If you've worked anywhere remotely challenging it should be much much easier here.

[Molson]

Seeing some of the complaints is why I had to take Brunei off my list.

I have a very high body core temperature and having to teach in non-airconditioned classrooms with a longsleeve shirt and a tie would probably land me in the hospital. In Canada teachers only teach for about 4hrs a day, so to me 3hrs a day in Brunei isn't that "cush". Teaching for 3hrs in hot and humid conditions feels a lot worse than 3hrs. I've done it in Korea and I lasted about 2 weeks before I had to insist on either air conditioning or me quitting me job.

I do hear the country is awesome in a lot of ways, and possibly one day I'll look into the International Schools there. For now, working in a Brunei school without prospects of airconditioning is just dangerous to my health.

[jsteventon]

If you suffer such a reaction to the heat, avoid the tropics! Even if the school has aircon in the classroom, you will still be living in a hot country and cannot avoid it! A plus for many, but obviously you need to be looking at cooler climes!

[roamingteacher]

Anyone got anything more to say about the students and teaching - good or bad? For example, are the kids 'fun-loving' like the Thais? Are desks fixed to the floor making mingling difficult? Are the lessons dictated by the department or do you generally just have objectives to meet? Are there possibilities to arrange out-of-classroom experiences?

And the only real complaint I've heard about the students is apathy - is this the case? Not rude or cheeky...ever??? And what about the apathy? How do you deal with it?

Any more info much appreciated