This article was downloaded by: [UNSW Library] On: 18 March 2015, At: 19:59 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Click for updates South Asian Diaspora Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rsad20 Fluidity and acculturation: the case of Pakistani Punjabis in Brunei Darussalam Abbas Zaidi a & Maya Khemlani David b a School of the Arts and Media, New South Wales University, Sydney, Australia b Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Published online: 16 Mar 2015. To cite this article: Abbas Zaidi & Maya Khemlani David (2015): Fluidity and acculturation: the case of Pakistani Punjabis in Brunei Darussalam, South Asian Diaspora, DOI: 10.1080/19438192.2015.1016830 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19438192.2015.1016830 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &
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This article was downloaded by: [UNSW Library]On: 18 March 2015, At: 19:59Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Click for updates
South Asian DiasporaPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rsad20
Fluidity and acculturation: the case ofPakistani Punjabis in Brunei DarussalamAbbas Zaidia & Maya Khemlani Davidb
a School of the Arts and Media, New South Wales University,Sydney, Australiab Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya, KualaLumpur, MalaysiaPublished online: 16 Mar 2015.
To cite this article: Abbas Zaidi & Maya Khemlani David (2015): Fluidity and acculturation:the case of Pakistani Punjabis in Brunei Darussalam, South Asian Diaspora, DOI:10.1080/19438192.2015.1016830
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19438192.2015.1016830
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &
Fluidity and acculturation: the case of Pakistani Punjabis inBrunei Darussalam
Abbas Zaidia∗ and Maya Khemlani Davidb
aSchool of the Arts and Media, New South Wales University, Sydney, Australia; bFaculty ofLanguages and Linguistics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
(Received 6 February 2014; accepted 3 February 2015)
This paper traces the history of Pakistani Punjabis living in Brunei Darussalam, acommunity that began its journey long before the country’s establishment as asovereign country in 1984. The most significant feature of this community is itsfluidity because its stay in Brunei is not permanent. This makes the Punjabis anon-local/non-native community, which is markedly different from Punjabicommunities living in countries such as Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.While locating the Punjabis within the socio-cultural setting of BruneiDarussalam, the objective of this study is to investigate the lives of PakistaniPunjabis in Brunei as expatriates to gain a deeper knowledge about how theirfluid status in Brunei has affected their identity with regard to Punjabiness andPunjabi self, their values and beliefs and whether or not they are a diasporiccommunity.
Keywords: acculturation; anxiety; diaspora; expatriate; family structure; PakistaniPunjabi; social identity
Introduction
Brunei Darussalam is a small country situated on the northeastern tip of the island ofBorneo. Its area is 5765 km2 and its population is around 370,000 people. The literacyrate is over 90%: Brunei Darussalam (hence, Brunei) has one of the highest literacyrates in Southeast Asia (Maricar and Tuan 2003; United Nations 2013).1 Headed bythe Sultan, Brunei is officially an Islamic country ruled on the concept of theMelayu Islam Beraja (Milner 2010).2 As a political system, Brunei is an absolute mon-archy in which there is no room for political activity. Political parties were banned asearly as in 1963 (Poole 2009). Top bureaucratic and administrative posts are held by thetraditional ruling elite.
Despite its small size, Brunei is a multilingual, multiracial and multi-religiouscountry (Kong 2000; De Mejıa 2002). A number of indigenous and foreign languagesare spoken there, Malay and English being the official languages. English is widelyspoken and is the language of business and general communication.
Brunei is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. According to Greenfield,writing in Forbes, Brunei is the fifth richest country in the world with a GDP ofover US$48,000 (Greenfield 2012). Its economy is almost entirely (95%) based on
oil and gas export (The Report: Brunei Darussalam 2011). Given the infrastructure andwell-planned deployment of various resources, Brunei is a welfare state where edu-cation and health are free.
Brunei is a classic case of rentier state (Gunn 1997; Kershaw 2001). Because ofBrunei’s rentier economy, there exist diverse expatriate communities in the country.The Punjabis are one of many such communities. The Punjabis in Brunei hail fromIndia, Malaysia and Pakistan.3
Like other expatriates, Punjabi teachers and doctors live comfortably and can affordto send their children to international schools or abroad for which the government paysa good portion. Those Punjabis who have low-paid jobs, for example, truck drivers andtailors, live in rooms usually above their place of work.4 Brunei does not have ghettosof expatriates or locals. These low-paid Punjabis find it easy to send money to theirfamilies living in Pakistan. Overall, as far as the economic condition of the Punjabisis concerned, there does not seem to be a problem.
This paper focuses on the Pakistani Punjabis living in Brunei. It endeavors to under-stand both micro and macro aspects of their socio-cultural lives as a community.5 Thestudy is aimed to find out how their status in the fluid expatriate community of Bruneihas affected their identity with regard to Punjabiness and Punjabi self, their values andbeliefs, and whether or not they can be considered a diasporic community.
Diaspora
Diaspora is used nowadays as a term of reference about communities living outsidetheir homelands. Safran (1991) set out six rules to distinguish diasporas frommigrant communities. These included criteria that members of a given group maintaina myth or collective memory of their homeland; they regard their ancestral homeland astheir true home, to which they will eventually return; being committed to the restorationor maintenance of that homeland; and they relate ‘personally or vicariously’ to thehomeland to a point where it shapes their identity (Brubaker 2005; Cohen 2008;Weinar 2010). Based on Cohen’s (1997) diasporic typology (victim, labor, trade,imperial and cultural), diaspora is now an all-inclusive term; thus, ‘any and every name-able category that is to some extent dispersed in space’ may be named as diasporic(Brubaker 2005, 3).
After reviewing the problem of defining the term, Safran (1991) thinks that expatri-ate communities can also be called diasporic because: (i) they are in foreign regions,(ii) they know they will not be accepted in the host society, (iii) they have collectivememory of the homeland, and (iv) their ancestral home is idealized where their descen-dants can return. Diaspora, then, may be understood in geographical as well as emotiveterms, which should bring in its loop both physical and psychological realities of agroup in question. This understanding also covers the argument that diaspora isabout roots and routes (Gilroy 1993).
Before presenting the results of this study, a brief history of the Pakistani Punjabisin Brunei is presented to find out if this minority community can be classified as dia-sporic to set the stage for the discussion in the fifth section.
There are five major ethnic groups in Pakistan: Punjabis, Mohajirs, Pathans, Sindhisand Baloch. Of all the Pakistani expatriate communities living in Brunei, the Punjabisare in the majority after the Pathans. The population break-up of the Pakistanis living inBrunei in December 2012 is shown in Table 1.
The sole purpose of the existence of the Punjabis6 in Brunei has been economic, butthey do not perform the so-called dirty jobs (e.g. grass-cutters, janitors and rubbishcollectors).
Methodology
The data for research were gathered by one of the researcher’s participant-observerstatus. Being a Punjabi and having lived in Brunei for the past two decades, theresearcher has been an active part of the Pakistani (Punjabi included) community,and thus did not face any ‘gate-keeping’ barrier to pursue a friend-of-friend line ofaction (Milroy and Milroy 1987). An ethnographic diary was maintained to keeptrack of various activities observed and conversation struck.
The purpose of the ethnographic diary was to gain insights into the respondents’attitudes, beliefs, outlooks and values. Being part of the Punjabi community, theresearcher was always welcomed by the respondents. His ethnographic work forthis paper covered those informal sessions that followed once the interviews wereconducted. For example, if a respondent said that a Punjabi dress consisted ofshalwar and kamiz (which is not the traditional Punjabi dress), the question (notprepared in advance) asked at the formal end of the session was to find out whatthey thought of kurta–laacha (the traditional Punjabi dress for females) andkurta–dhoti (the traditional Punjabi dress for men). Such additional questionshelped in eliciting more information from the respondents. Participating in therespondents’ various activities and observation of this community aided in datacollection.
Instrument
A semi-structured interview was designed to elicit data on the respondents’ socio-cultural practices. The instrument focused on the following aspects of the community:(i) history in Brunei, (ii) description as a speech community, (iii) economy, (iv) edu-cation, (v) experience as expatriates, (vi) social networking, (vii) values, (viii) topicsin social gatherings, (ix) feelings of Punjabiness, (x) ties with Pakistan, and (xi) diaspo-ric wherewithal.
Different instruments were designed for the two generations of Punjabis. Generally,the questions for both generations were the same, but when specific information wasneeded in generational terms, the questions were generation-specific.
The aim of this research was to cover the entire population of the Punjabis based inBrunei. Certain exceptions were made. First, only those Punjabis were brought intothe research loop who had lived in Brunei for two years or more. The reason for thisbenchmark was to work with only those respondents who had settled down inBrunei and felt themselves to be part of their community. There was another angleto the two-year benchmark. In Brunei, a contract given to an expatriate in the privatesector is for two years; in the public/government sector, the duration of a contract isthree years.7 Thus, once one’s contract has been renewed for another span of two (orthree) years, one feels better settled down in the country.
Another decision made about the respondents was to exclude members of the youngergeneration (i.e. the children of the working people and their spouses) who were below theage of 14. This was done because many parents were not willing to allow their children beinterviewed because they thought that they were too young. As a result only members ofthe younger generation who were aged 14/15 and above were interviewed and observed
Another limitation confronted in the process of data collection was the impossibilityof having free access to women’s gatherings. The data obtained about women, apart fromthe interview and an ethnographic journal, was mainly based upon the self-reporting doneby the wives of four Punjabi friends. One of the researchers has known these families forover a decade, and there was a great deal of trust, friendship and frankness between them.The other source of information on the Punjabi women was mutual family visits. In smallgatherings, men and women sit in two groups, but close enough to be audible and notice-able, usually in the living room. Those were valuable moments to observe what was beingdiscussed. At the time of writing, there were only seven working Punjabi women; four ofthem nurses and three doctors.8 The rest of the Punjabi women were housewives; theywere generally educated and had college or university degrees.
A few respondents did not want to be part of the research for various reasons. Forinstance, one respondent said he did not want his identity to be stolen. A few men didnot want their wives to be interviewed. The total number of respondents researched was96 out of the total population of 188, which means that 51% of the speech communitywas included in this study.
Significance and limitation of the study
In Brunei, there are a number of expatriate communities. As indicated above, Brunei isa multi-ethnic country. A number of studies have been carried out on Brunei’s indigen-ous communities (e.g. King 1994; Raedt and Hoskin 1996; Kershaw 2000; Sercombeand Sellato 2008; Metcalf 2010). However, very little work has been done on expatriatecommunities in Brunei. The present study is the first of its kind carried out on anexpatriate community. Although this, we would like to believe, is a significant researchevent on its own, it has its own limitations. There was no previous literature for us torely on for comparison, contrast and guidance. We hope that this study will encouragemore research on Brunei’s expatriate communities.
Report of the results and discussion
A brief history of the Punjabis in Brunei and the results obtained from the interviewsand observations are presented in this section.
As shown in Table 1, Punjabis are the second major group of Pakistani immigrants inBrunei. The presence of the Punjabis in Brunei may be chronologically divided in twohistorical phases, namely, the first wave of immigrants arriving to Brunei from Pakistan(then India) in the late 1940s and the second wave arriving after Brunei’s independencein 1984.
First wave of Pakistanis’ immigration to Brunei
The first two Punjabis (henceforth called Mr A and Mr B to keep their identities con-fidential) arrived in Brunei in the late 1940s after World War II ended. They had foughtthe War as soldiers in a British regiment in Europe. Both of them married local Bru-neian Malay women, settled down in Bandar Seri Begawan and started their careeras cloth vendors. As vendors, they were part of the Pathan vendor community (also,from what is now Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province).9 The Pathans beganarriving in Brunei in the 1920s both from Malaysia (then Malaya) and Pakistan (thena part of India).10
Since there were few speakers of Punjabi in Brunei in those days, these immigrantshad no opportunity to speak their language. Mr A died in 1999 and Mr B in 2003. Mr Bwas very keen to speak Punjabi to anyone who was willing to speak to him. His Punjabiwas not very good and he spoke it in a non-Punjabi accent. It was, as he explained,because he had spent his childhood in Mansehra, a Pashto-speaking town in theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where he found few Punjabi-speaking peopleoutside the home.
One significant point to note is that Mr A and Mr B socialized mainly with thePathans. The only Punjabi that they regularly socialized with and befriended wasHaji Inayat (see below). With local Bruneian wives and in-laws, Mr A and Mr Badopted the Bruneian lifestyle: they dressed and greeted like the Bruneians and livedamongst the Bruneians.11 Mr A and Mr B’s descendants live in the suburbs ofBandar Seri Begawan and have their own businesses. In every respect, they are Bru-neians and not Punjabis/Pakistanis. They cannot speak Punjabi or Urdu. Their languageis Malay. Moreover, they have never socialized with Pakistanis. They are married tolocal Bruneians. They can be regarded as assimilated Punjabis, or assimilated Bruneian,depending on one’s perspective.
Perhaps the most significant Punjabi presence in Brunei has been that of HajiInayat.12 He was the main source of information about Mr A and Mr B. Haji Inayatarrived in Brunei in 1969 on a ship from Singapore as a laborer.13 As is typical ofmigrant workers, he worked very hard and his sponsor/boss had his work permitextended after it expired in 1971. In 1974, Haji Inayat married a local Malay,opened a company in his wife’s name and became her manager. Through his hardwork and contacts, he was able to make good money. He set up the Pakistan Associ-ation in 1986 and remained its president until 2005. Haji Inayat expanded his businessand recruited his relatives, all from his native city of Gujrat in Punjab, to work as tailors,towing-truck drivers and laborers.14 He sponsored his own brother who found work as asub-engineer in the Muara Port.
Haji Inayat has maintained his contacts in Pakistan. He and his eldest son regularlyvisit Pakistan in connection with their business; they also meet their relatives there. Hespeaks Punjabi to anyone who wants to speak to him in Punjabi, but none of his 11
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children can speak any of the Pakistani languages. Only his eldest son can understandsome Urdu and can use a few Urdu expressions.
Haji Inayat has a very extensive social life with Pakistanis – Punjabis as well asnon-Punjabis. However, he does not socialize with Pakistanis on a family basis.When asked, he explained that his wife and children did not have much in commonwith their Pakistani counterparts.
Second wave of Pakistani immigration to Brunei
The new generation of Pakistanis arrived in Brunei after the country gained indepen-dence from the UK in 1984. In October 1985, the very first group of Pakistani pro-fessionals arrived in Brunei. They were all teachers. They were 26 in number; 10 ofthem Punjabis. Soon afterwards, Punjabi teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers and com-puter experts began to arrive in groups as well as on an individual basis; they continueto arrive to this day.
The Punjabis in Brunei can broadly be categorized as comprising two generations.Generation one (hence, G1) are the parents, and generation two (G2) their children. Oneof the parents, generally the father, is the breadwinner and the other, that is, the mother,is the homemaker. G2 are students who study in Brunei or abroad but regularly visitBrunei to meet their parents. There are a few Punjabis, both male and female, whowork in Brunei while their families live in Pakistan. Technically, these single Punjabisare G1s.
The Punjabis in Brunei share a number of characteristics. For example, they are allMuslim, live in Brunei for a specific purpose (job), have common goals like the edu-cation and welfare of their children, and have shared interests, concerns and hopesso far as their home country, Pakistan, is concerned.
Fluidity
In Brunei, expatriates work on a contract basis. As noted above, those working with thegovernment are given three-year contracts and those in the private sector two years. Allcontracts are renewable depending on circumstances. In principle, any contract can beterminated any time, and in some cases, expatriates were required to leave the countrywithin 24 hours for a breach of their contracts. However, the majority of the expatriateshave been working for over a decade. However, since recently there has been a demandfor localization, many expatriates have had to leave, especially those teaching inprimary and secondary schools where qualified Bruneians were available. It is not poss-ible to give a stable number of any of the numerous expatriate communities or sub-com-munities. For example, if the number of a community is 110 in January, it is possible forthis number to become 108 in two/three months’ time (in case someone’s contract is notrenewed, or someone decides to leave the country on their own) or 112 (new recruits).
According to a respondent, ‘When I apply for a [contract] renewal, I assume itwould be my last contract.’
Another respondent said:
It is up to the government to renew a contract or not, but when you are settled down in aplace and your children go to school and are happy, you wish to continue. But then younever know when they will tell you that your services are not required anymore.
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The bottom line is: expatriates cannot live in Brunei in perpetuity especially now whenlocalization is in vogue. Another fact about living in Brunei as an expatriate is that onecannot become its citizen or even a permanent resident easily. Most of the non-Malays,especially the Indians, who hold Brunei citizenship are ones who (or whose parents)served in the British army; they were given citizenship by the British before 1984.Only those who are married to the locals can get some status.15 It was only in 2006that Haji Inayat, one of the first three Punjabis to arrive in Brunei, was granted perma-nent residence status. Besides, non-Bruneians cannot own property other than themovables that they can take home when they leave Brunei.
This background information helps to understand the frame of mind of expatriateswhose current contracts can be their last. The process of contract renewal takesbetween six months and one year, and a number of people spend those monthsfeeling nervous. Even those who have been working in Brunei for over a decadefeel they have no roots there given the fluid nature of their stay in the country.That is why, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Burmese and Indians try to getsome legal status in countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand as soon asthey can. If these expatriate professionals obtain legal status in these countries, butcannot find jobs, they usually send their families there to obtain Canadian or othersimilar passports in order to secure their children’s future. In many cases, the familieshave returned after getting passports in these other countries. Those who cannotobtain such a status tend to send their children to the above-mentioned countriesfor higher education.
Education
The Punjabis working in Brunei are teachers, doctors, engineers, drivers, tailors andhousewives. Most of the educated professionals are highly educated and havedegrees from Pakistan, the UK and Australia. Their professional experience pre-datestheir professional work in Brunei.
If there is one thing which binds all Punjabis (indeed all Pakistanis) together regard-less of educational background, professional standing or nature of job, it is the valueplaced on education. Everyone wants his or her children to get educated in a prestigiousuniversity in an English-speaking country. For this purpose, they are willing to spend asmuch of their savings as possible. Academic achievements are respected as trueachievements. Not a single Punjabi wanted their children to become sporting pro-fessionals. They believe that even if one does not wish to have a job but wants tohave one’s own business, education is of great importance. This plays a vital part intheir socializing. Often an academic achievement (good result or admission into adesired field) is celebrated.
According to a truck driver, ‘I will send my sons to Australia where they can studyto become doctors and engineers’. Another respondent, a teacher, said, ‘We earn for ourchildren’s education. If they get good education, the money is well spent’.
Many professionals have taken permanent residence or citizenship of countries likeAustralia, Canada and New Zealand so that their children can study in good schools. Itoften happens thus: A professional, usually a male, obtains a migrant status in one of theEnglish-speaking countries. He settles his family members there and returns to Bruneito continue to work and support his dependents who study in the adopted country.Often spousal separation occurs, a price which people are willing to pay so that theirchildren can study while still being with a parent.
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The Brunei experience and social networking
This section is based mainly on the responses to the questions about the Punjabis’experience in Brunei and their social networking. The information on social networkingwas elicited by asking the respondents to speak about their experience in Brunei. Therewere two separate questions for G1 and G2.
G1s were asked: ‘When you arrived in Brunei who helped you settle down. How?’
All those working in the private sectors as laborers and drivers have come from thesame village in the Gujrat district of Pakistan, and know one another very well: theywere either related to one another or were neighbors ‘back home’ (i.e. Pakistan). Itwas their relatives and neighbors who helped them settle down in Brunei, and they con-tinue to form a lasting kind of brotherhood. They either share houses or live close by.Their lives, hence, are confined to one another’s company. They watch Pakistani chan-nels, cook and do other chores. These gentlemen are seldom seen in private or officialPakistani functions.
On the other hand, those who have been hired by the government, the majorityof the G1 respondents, did not have problems settling down because they wereprovided with hotel accommodation or serviced apartments offered by the govern-ment. These respondents started by making friends with the Pakistanis who wereeither their colleagues or lived in the vicinity. Some of the respondents hadbrought with them names of the Pakistanis who were known to their relatives orfriends. Hence, there was no ethnic dimension to making friends when arrivingin Brunei.
This finding is in accordance with Milroy’s description of closed and open net-works. She states that social networks connect members of a speech community inways which may be considered ‘closed’ or ‘open’ (Milroy 1987). A closed networkis one in which members know one another closely. On the other hand, an opennetwork is one in which members do not know one another closely. Closed networksare considered to be of high density while open networks are said to be of low density.The links between people may be of different kinds: people can relate to one another asrelatives, as neighbors, as workmates and as friends. Where individuals are linked inseveral ways, for example, by job, family and leisure activities, then the network tiesare said to be multiplex.
The question asked of G2 was: ‘When you arrived in Brunei who were your earliestfriends? Why?’
G2 made friends with: (i) the children of their parents’ friends if these children were of thesame age; (ii) those living in the neighborhood; and (iii) those they met in school. Thefriends of G2 belonged to different ethnic groups. No ethnic preference was found inG2’s making friends. On the linguistic side, G2 tended to use Urdu with Pakistanifriends and English with others.
Conversational topics in social gatherings
In a community structure, the nature of people’s interaction is multi-dimensional. Forexample, it is through their conversations that people express their thoughts, opinionsand feelings. It is in a social gathering that people seek and are able to have their viewsconfirmed, affirmed, modified, denied or even radically changed. Since social
conversations are collaborative, a great deal can be learned about people’s beliefs andvalues from the topics of their conversations.
Topics of discourse in men’s social gatherings (G1)
What are the topics that dominate in the Punjabis’ meetings?The Punjabis, just like other Pakistanis, like to engage in political discussions when-
ever they get together. The topics of conversations of the Punjabis in Brunei are over-whelmingly about Pakistani society: corruption, education, governance and sectarianism.
Sectarian bias also features in the discussions. The Ahmadis are freely denounced asinfidels.16 In Pakistan, to be virulently anti-Ahmadi is not only politically correct, but italso establishes one’s Islamic credential.17
Post-9/11 a change has occurred. India (Hindus) does not figure much in discus-sions anymore because there has been a begrudging acceptance, and perhaps uncon-scious acknowledgement, that India has gone far ahead of Pakistan in many fields,especially in economy and science and technology. Besides, there are more Muslimsliving in India than in Pakistan, and given the Internet and the Satellite channels(Indian channels included), the alleged persecution of the Indian Muslims (an officialline in Pakistan) is not visible. Even the Godhra tragedy, a Hindu–Muslim clash in2002 in which round 2000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed, does not evoke asangry a response in the Pakistani community as it would have if it had happenedpre-9/11. India, however, is still an enemy abetted by the USA.
Apart from the above two themes, the Punjabis also hold monthly dars which is animportant religious discourse event amongst Pakistani/Punjabi gatherings.18 The darsis attended by Muslims of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh who understand Urdu.There is no set venue for a dars. At the end of a dars, someone announces that thenext dars will be held in his home. The main speaker at these darses is a Pakistanischolar, a Pathan, who is an advisor in Islamic law and jurisprudence to the governmentof Brunei. The nature of the talk at the darses is based upon the Koran and deals withissues of personal piety, unity of the ummah19 and some aspects of the Shariah.20 Nopolitics is discussed at the darses. A meal is served at the end of every dars. The wholeactivity ends after the late evening ish’a prayer led by the speaker.
Discourse at women’s social gatherings (G1)
The women do not like to talk politics. If ever they do, it is about some incident inPakistan. The Punjabi women mostly talk about: (i) the education and future of theirchildren (including marriage), (ii) their own future (living in Pakistan or abroad iftheir children decide not to live in Pakistan), (iii) fashion and (iv) religion (mostlynon-controversial topics like specific Koranic recitations for certain occasions, per-forming the hajj, etc.)
The darses and milads21 are also held, but not regularly. Thus, the Punjabi womenare not very active collectively like the men. Their traditional role is to support theirhusbands in every way possible and take care of their children.
Social gatherings: generation 2
The age of the children of the Punjabi professionals in Brunei ranges from very youngto adults. Like the children of other Pakistanis, their relationship with their parents is
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based upon the traditional concept of filial respect and unquestioned loyalty. The livesof G2 Punjabis are marked by a near certainty: that after completing their school theywill go to an English-speaking country (Australia, Canada, the UK or the USA) tostudy. Just like in Pakistan (regardless of ethnicity), the Punjabi parents want their chil-dren to go into medicine, engineering or business management. Few want their childrento become teachers or artists. In Pakistan, teaching is not a very well respected pro-fession, though in Brunei it is.22 As mentioned earlier, one purpose of obtaining perma-nent residence in an English-speaking country is to give one’s children an opportunityto study in reputed universities and get degrees that can ensure a good future for them.Within Brunei too, the parents send their children to the best schools even if the fees arevery high.
Hence, the main responsibility on the G2 Punjabis’ shoulders is their performance ineducation. Parents driving their children to private tutors are a common sight. They havetheir social lives too. They have friends, watch movies and listen to music. Their friendsbelong to different nationalities and (Pakistani) ethnicities. No ethnocentric preference infriendship networks was found. They are active in extra-curricular activities too and par-ticipate in sports like hockey and football. Cricket is a national passion and obsession inPakistan, and it is well reflected in the Pakistani community in Brunei, the Punjabisincluded. The Punjabi children have always represented Brunei’s cricket team.23
A Generation 2 respondent had this to say, ‘My parents are willing to give any sacri-fice in order to educate me. I will not disappoint them. I may have my own ambition,but I will give preference to my parents’ ambition for me.’
Overall, they are happy living with their parents. Nevertheless, they are well awarethat in Brunei they are in transition: their destination is a good university outside Brunei.
Values and family structure
A socio-cultural account of any community is to study its value system. However,values per se are a vast topic, which is beyond the objectives of this study. The discus-sion which follows is limited to the most essential values of the community: familystructure, religious identity, political association and Punjabiness.
The family structure of the Punjabis in Brunei is the same as in Pakistan: there is theusual patriarchal hierarchy in which the wife is subordinate to the husband. Filialloyalty is a pre-given and the way the children are brought up is just like in Pakistan.Filial loyalty is seen as a natural outcome of the parent–child relationship. Males (G2)enjoy far more freedom than females (G2). Once the males are old enough to look afterthemselves, they can go out with friends on their own, but the same does not apply tothe females. The parents have definite ideas about their children’s careers and wantthem to become doctors or engineers. There is, consequently, pressure on the childrento perform academically.
Another important part of the family values of the G1 Punjabis is the marital futureof their children. They say they would not mind their children marrying of their ownaccord, but they definitely want them to marry Muslims, Pakistani Muslims beingthe first priority.
Religious identity
The Punjabis in Brunei are conservative in religious matters. They generally pray reg-ularly. At any function, if it is prayer time, the Punjabis, just like other Pakistanis, do
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not miss saying their prayers. Religious talks are regularly held. Apart from the darsfixture, prayer sessions are regularly held; it is called dua-salamat.24 In addition,special prayer meetings are held in people’s homes to celebrate a religious day ofimportance such as Prophet Muhammad’s birth anniversary. During the fastingmonth of Ramadan, the Koranic recitation prayer25 is held in someone’s homewhere Pakistanis, Punjabis included, pray collectively every night for about one hour.26
Performing religious rituals is another important part of their lives. For instance,going to Mecca is considered very important. Many respondents reported thatdespite high expenses, they regularly visited Mecca to perform the hajj and theumrah (a minor hajj) and at times took their families with them.
One respondent said, ‘What I earn here is given by Allah. When I spend to performthe hajj or the umrah, I spend from what is His, and not mine.’
Another respondent gave a more inclusive answer, ‘I took my little children toMecca because going there at such an early age will instill the true spirit of Islam inthem.’
Another respondent said:
As a Muslim it is mandatory that we perform the hajj. It may not be possible to do so fromPakistan. Even though it is expensive to go to Saudi Arabia from Brunei, we cannot callourselves Muslim if we prefer saving money to performing the hajj.
Just like the other Pakistanis, the Punjabis make sure their children become goodMuslims. Every household has hired a Koranic teacher to teach children how to readthe Koran in Arabic.
To the Punjabis, just like the other Pakistani groups based in Brunei, to be a goodMuslim is an end in itself. They have very clear views on what is halal (permitted) inIslam and what is haram (forbidden) such as alcohol, pork and promiscuity.
Punjabiness
Punjabiness is used in this discussion to denote Punjabi culture and lifestyle. The contin-ued practice of an ethnic culture in a foreign land is very important even if the ethnicpeople do not live in an ethnic enclosure. This view gets support from Cohen’s argument:
Our argument has been, then, that whether or not its structural boundaries remain intactthe reality of community lies in its members’ perception of the vitality of its culture.People construct community symbolically, making it a resource and repository ofmeaning, and a referent of their identity. (1985, 118)
No instrument can obtain data on every aspect of culture. In this paper, we provide anaccount of only those aspects of Punjabiness, which have been observed.
The traditional dress for the Punjabi males is kurta (tunic) and dhoti (like the sarong).The respondents cannot be expected to wear kurta–dhoti in their public lives. At homeand going to the mosque or the market, men usually wear kurta and shalwar (baggypants). Both in urban Punjab in Pakistan and with the educated Punjabis elsewhere,kurta–shalwar as dress is preferred to kurta–dhoti, and it is only in the villages thatkurta–dhoti is worn as the usual dress. Punjabi women’s traditional dress is slightly differ-ent and is called kurta–laacha, and in Brunei this has met the same fate as dhoti-kurta.
Another aspect of Punjabiness amongst the Punjabis in Brunei is the issue of caste.As Islam is often compared to Hinduism in South Asia, it is proudly claimed by the
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Pakistanis that as opposed to the caste hierarchy of Hinduism, Islam makes no such dis-tinction: in Islam all are equal. According to Ibbetson (1998[1916]),27 there are threethousand castes amongst the Punjabis. A number of Punjabi surnames in Brunei arefound in Ibbetson’s caste enumeration. Anyone familiar with the contemporary politicsof Pakistan is aware that caste makes a difference in many walks of life in Punjab: inter-caste marriages may be possible in urban centers, but this is not possible in the ruralareas where the majority of the people still live. Caste favoritism in employment andbusiness is taken for granted. Politics in the province of Punjab has almost entirelybeen based upon caste affiliations. It was only in 1971 that Pakistan People’s Partywas able to wean the Punjabi masses away from their caste loyalties. But in 1977 Zul-fiqar Ali Bhutto, the PPP chairman and Pakistan’s prime minister, was overthrown andlater hanged by a highly caste conscious Punjabi, General Zia. The Arains, members ofGeneral Zia’s own caste, rose to phenomenal heights in wealth and bureaucracy. Thevoting patterns of all the results of the elections held under General Zia’s governancewere caste based (Ahmed 1984).
Brunei’s Punjabis are very caste conscious and believe their caste is superior to therest of the castes. Given their expatriate and powerless status in Brunei, their beliefsabout castes carry no weight.
Diasporic wherewithal
Based upon the above brief discussion, diasporic features of the Punjabis in Brunei canbe summarized thus:
Anxiety
The Punjabis in general are very concerned about the future of Pakistan. There is asense of victimhood amongst the Punjabis. However, it does not come from beinguprooted from Pakistan but rather it comes from the state of affairs of Pakistan. Inthe words of a respondent, ‘If Pakistan were one-tenth as peaceful as Brunei, Iwould not have left it.’ Another respondent said, ‘You can manage with fewer ame-nities on your own land, but when your very life is threatened, it is a different thing.’
The Punjabis strongly believe that Pakistan is a victim of international conspiraciesbecause it is the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons, and the entire non-Muslimworld has ganged up to destroy its nuclear program. They believe the current state ofterrorist violence in Pakistan is the result of those conspiracies. They are, however, veryappreciative of communist China which they believe has always helped Pakistan inneed.
Contact with homeland
The Punjabis maintain contact with Pakistan on a regular basis using telephones or theInternet. They also visit Pakistan regularly. But the most important link to Pakistan, thecountry and society, is through the satellite dish. There are over 60 Pakistani channelsavailable on the satellite dish. The Punjabis keep themselves informed of the situationand problems in Pakistan. Since these channels are available round the clock and caterfor all kinds of tastes, the respondents reported that they did not read newspapers asmuch as they used to before the arrival of these channels. Political talk shows are extre-mely popular.
Living outside their country, many respondents said that at times they felt bored andhemmed in. In Brunei, there are very limited options in terms of mobility, fashionand interaction. A female respondent said, ‘We wait to go to Pakistan to buy latestclothes and jewelry. The quality of cloth and jewelry is Brunei is good, but thedesigns are of very poor and different quality.’
One male respondent said, ‘I wait to go to Pakistan to eat the food of my choice.’Another respondent said, ‘Brunei’s weather is the same all year round. In Pakistan,
when it is hot, we just have to drive for a few hours to go to a cool hill spot and spend acouple of days’.
Many respondents complained that despite the use of technology (Skype andmobiles), they missed the company of their relatives and old friends. The overwhelmingmajority of the respondents said that they went to Pakistan to celebrate the festival ofEid with their relatives and friends. ‘If Eid is not spent with friends and relatives, it isnot Eid, but a most boring and depressing day,’ a respondent said.
The greatest diversion which the respondents identified was Pakistani channelswhere they watch drama, news, entertainment programs and cooking shows.
Reversion
Every G1 Punjabi interviewed talked about returning to Pakistan on retiring. The G2Punjabis also wanted to live in Pakistan after the completion of their education.Most of the respondents said that they would return to Pakistan once their childrenhad completed their education.
According to a respondent, ‘Brunei is great, but it is not my country. Even if I livehere for one hundred years, I will not be accepted here.’
Another respondent who had citizenship of an English-speaking county said,‘Wherever I am outside Pakistan, I will be a second rate citizen.’ Another respondentsaid, ‘I want to be buried in my country.’
According to a respondent, ‘Brunei is great. It is also a Muslim country, peacefuland crime free. But one has to leave it ultimately.’
Thus, it is obvious that the relation of the Punjabis with Brunei is instrumental. Butwith Pakistan, it is very much an affective matter. There was not a single respondentwho had anything negative to say about his/her stay in Brunei. Everyone said thatBrunei was a great place. Many said that it was a great place in terms of peace andsecurity. One G1 respondent said: ‘Living in Brunei is an ongoing dream!’ The G1swho had acquired permanent residence or citizenship of Australia, Canada or NewZealand thanked Brunei because, they said, it would not have been possible tomigrate to Australia or any other country from Pakistan. Almost all of them saidthey wanted to continue to work in Brunei as long as they could. But at the sametime they missed Pakistan and wished to return to their country after accomplishingtheir objectives – mainly their children’s education – in Brunei.
Optimism
Despite their anxiety and ennui, the Punjabis are largely optimistic that Pakistan willcome out of its problems. Many of them said that it was Islam, which would savePakistan. ‘Pakistan,’ a respondent said, ‘was created in the name of Islam. Allah will
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ultimately save it.’ Another respondent said, ‘Despite terrorism, our mosques are filledwith worshippers. Pakistan will not go down because Allah will take care of it even ifthe rulers have failed.’
Ties with ‘home ahead’
The notion of ‘home ahead’ is about geographical mobility of the Punjabis. As indi-cated before, there are a number of Punjabis who have acquired migrant status incountries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Although there are no data onhow many of the Punjabis have moved to new countries, and have not gone back toPakistan, it can be safely said that most, if not all, Punjabis have been able tomigrate to these countries. If a G1 member cannot get an immigrant status in one ofthe countries mentioned above, they usually succeed in sending their children tothese countries for education where they hope to join them in future. One of theresearchers knows scores of Punjabis who have migrated directly, that is, throughimmigration, or indirectly, that is, were sponsored by their children whom they sentoverseas for education. Auckland, Brisbane and Melbourne are some of the citieswhere Brunei’s Punjabis have found ‘home ahead’.
A number of them have bought houses in countries like Australia and New Zealand.But these ties are temporary. For both generations these countries are important fromthe point of view of education.
Members of both generations want to return to Pakistan once members of G2 havecompleted their education. This emphasizes the fluidity of their stay in Brunei. Theirwill to return to Pakistan shows their love and concern for Pakistan. However, thereis a consensus in both generations that it would be a good idea to stay on in theadopted country for some time if job prospects and professional developmentdemanded it; the parents are willing to stay with their children. However, ultimatelythey all want to return to Pakistan. Whether they will actually return or not is a differentmatter.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the data that the lifestyle of the Punjabis in Brunei is regimen-ted and focused: their lives have goals and purposes. Since their stay in Brunei is tem-porary, their goal-directed single-mindedness is well pronounced. From the socio-cultural point of view, a few observations can be made. Their lives are value-laden;these values are religious (concern for Islam), sectarian (dislike and suspicion of theAhmadis), economic (career, education), nationalistic (concern for Pakistan), nostalgic(return to Pakistan) and ethnocentric (caste considerations). But the grand central nar-rative, which controls their lives and thoughts, is Islam. If anything appears contrary tothe dictates of Islam, it is bad and must be avoided. Thus, their values can be subsumedunder the broad template of Islam.
Appadurai has argued that in order to understand a community, one must read it as a‘structure of feeling’ (1996, 199). The lifestyle and worldview of the Punjabis in Bruneiare marked by conceptual-emotive ideality and materialism, but they show a markeddeficit in terms of having an identity based upon pure Punjabiness. Before beingPunjabi, they are Pakistani. Being Pakistani has precedence over being Punjabis. Inother words, nationality takes first place; ethnicity is ancillary in their consciousness.Having the same nationality, they freely socialize with fellow Pakistanis and also
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they socialize with the Indian and Bangladeshi Muslims who speak Urdu. Religion isthe basis of their social networking followed by nationality. They endeavor to live inaccordance with a code of ethics, which they have inherited from Pakistan. Theirfamily structure is traditional in which great significance is attached to Islam, parentalresponsibilities, filial duties, education, friendship, prosperity and patriotism.
The fluid community of the Punjabis can be classified under diasporic communitiessince the members of the community hope to return to their country once they haveaccomplished their purpose in Brunei. Their cultural vitality is very high with regardto Pakistan and Islam.
Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes1. The report is available online at: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Tables.
pdf. Accessed on 20 May 2012.2. Better referred to as (the) MIB in Brunei. This is a Malay expression, which translates as
‘the Malay Islamic Monarchy’.3. We would like to point out that this paper is about Pakistani Punjabis only.4. A usual practice in the country.5. What do we study under the template of ‘sociocultural’? Geuss thinks that sociocultural
features of a group mainly include ‘the kinship system, patterns of land-tenure, artistic tra-ditions, religious and scientific beliefs, legal institutions, values, agricultural technologyetc.’ (1981, 4). Although this is a comprehensive list, it is fundamentally an impressionisticone. It is the principle of contextual relevance, which determines what variables to bestudied of a given sociocultural group. For instance, ‘patterns of land-tenure’ is an irrele-vant phenomenon in an expatriate scenario.
6. For the sake of clarity, we would like to repeat that ‘Punjabis’ should be understood as‘Pakistani Punjabis’ unless specified.
7. The majority of the expatriates in Brunei, the Punjabis included, work in the private sector.8. The data collected up to December 2012.9. In Brunei, the main occupation of the Pathans is selling cloth, usually as vendors. Some of
them have their own shops.10. For an update on the Pathan community, the authors are grateful to Rauf Khan, a Pathan
cloth vendor who settled in Brunei 40 years ago. He is married to a Malay-Bruneian and isnow absorbed in the Malay–Brunei culture.
11. It appears that after coming to Brunei, Mr A and Mr B did not maintain any contacts inPakistan.
12. We have used the actual name of the person in question because he was happy to be named.Haji Inayat was generous enough to give his time whenever requested. He became a goodfriend of one of the researchers, the main author of this paper.
13. He came to Brunei on the invitation of a Bruneian he had met in Singapore.14. Unskilled workers engaged in the building industry.15. They get indefinite stay permit or in some cases a permanent resident status, but not citizen-
ship. Obtaining citizenship is a very long process.16. Ahmadis are a sect of Islam which originated in the early twentieth century in Qadian, a
village in East Punjab, now in India. They do not believe that the Prophet Muhammadwas the last prophet of Islam. They have their own chain of prophets to guide them.They have traditionally been persecuted in Pakistan. It was as a result of an extremelyviolent campaign launched by the Islamic fundamentalists that they were declared non-Muslim by the Pakistan parliament in 1974. The Ahmadis are intensely hated by the Isla-mists. In the media, they are portrayed as the creation of colonial Britain (pre-Partition),and now as agents of the United States and the Jews. Thousands of the Ahmadis have
left Pakistan. For details, see Valentine, 2008 who provides the history of the Ahmadis andtheir persecution, and conspiracy theories about them.
17. For a detailed discussion of the state, status and demonization of the Ahmadis in Pakistan,see Zaidi (2012).
18. The evening of every last Sunday of the month is set aside for the dars.19. The universal Muslim brotherhood.20. The Islamic system of governance.21. A religious gathering in which the Prophet Muhammad is praised and blessed.22. This might change given the present boom in private universities offering high salaries.23. Officially, half of the members of the international teams playing for Bruneians are allowed
to be expatriates.24. It is a local/Malay term.25. Called Taraway or Taravi.26. Many of them offer the Taraway/Taravi prayer in mosques.27. I refer to the reprint of the 1916 edition.
Notes on contributorsAbbas Zaidi has taught academic writing and media studies in various universities in Sydney. Heis completing a Ph.D. in the School of the Arts and Media, New South Wales University, wherehe tutors in journalism. He is the author of Two and a Half Words and Other Stories (SavvyPress, New York) and Language Shift: Sociolinguistic Lives of Two Punjabi Generations inBrunei Darussalam (Classic Books, Lahore).
Maya Khemlani David is a Professor, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University ofMalaya, Kuala Lumpur. Maya David is the Linguapax Prize Winner for 2007. Her publicationsinclude The Sindhis of Malaysia: A Sociolinguistic Account (2001, ASEAN, London).
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