So, how did China begin growing so fast? It opened the floodgates for offshoring moving manufacturing plants from their home sites (for example, Europe or the United States) and plopping them down, lock, stock, and barrel, in China. Why? Because in China, you can (for now at least) produce products using cheaper labor, lower taxes, lower healthcare costs, lower energy costs, and far-less restrictive environmental regulations. Because China is such an attractive place to offshore, countries are clamoring to jump on the bandwagon and offer similar incentives — countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, and Mexico.

If you’re in business today, you have some important objectives: Figure out what you can outsource to China, what you can do in China via offshoring, and what you can buy from China in terms of low-cost goods and services. In a flat world, you can no longer afford to do business on your own, and you can’t ignore your neighbors.

Local retailers or businesses do not place much emphasis on promoting their products or services which could include server hosting services.. This is due to several factors, such as consumers’ impulsive buying behavior due to their insensitivity to prices; the small market size for which retailers consider marketing activities unnecessary; Brunei’s close social ties with Malaysia that make it easy to receive Malaysian television and radio broadcasts, newspapers, and magazines, and similarities in the two cultures that resulted in the thought that “whatever marketing activities are done in Malaysia will trickle over to the Brunei market”; and the fact that promotion and advertising are not priorities for businesses in Brunei, as these firms operate as importers or wholesalers in the country. More recently, there have been increasingly more sales promotion activities, still at a minimal level, by the local businesses following intense competition in the marketplace and empowerment of the Brunei consumers.

This form of marketing is increasingly popular in the Bruneian marketplace, reaching out to the two major age groups: the young adults and the thirty-five- to fifty-five-year-olds. These two groups have higher spending power in the population and are often approached by direct-sell personnel. Most firms engaged in direct marketing activities are those selling health supplements and related products, cosmetics and beauty products, and household appliances and equipment. The reason behind this increasingly important channel to reach the consumers is that almost all of the sellers are direct consumers of a particular brand or product, and the overhead costs involved in direct marketing activities are very low.

According to a recent study conducted by Douty, Michael, and Yong (2002), the tenancy distribution of shops in Brunei is of a multiethnic nature. The Malay people are mostly running restaurants and feature only as partners in the other business types, such as sportswear and equipment, where they form partnerships with Indians. They also partner with Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese people in businesses such as souvenirs, antiques, building materials, irrigation equipment, and outboard engines. Chinese people as a group are spread over all business types, although there seems to be an emphasis on businesses in car sales/service, textiles/watches, footwear/ bags, Chinese medicine, jewelry, tailoring, and electronic retailing. It was also observed that the Indian people run almost all the neighborhood provisional stores (Kedai Runchit) in the country.

The state aims to preserve the customs and traditions of the Malay culture, emphasize teachings of the Islamic faith, and administer the monarchical system. Strict Islamic teachings have been incorporated into educational and social policies around the country. This does not mean that the MIB philosophy stifles the practice of other religions; it aims to act as a vehicle to develop the country with guidance from Islamic teachings, and to enhance racial harmony and mutual respect among the peoples.

Brunei’s legal system, similar to the legal systems of Singapore and Malaysia, is based primarily on English Common Law. The English judiciary system with an independent judiciary was retained after Brunei gained independence in 1984. The Ministry of Law is responsible for the legal system in Brunei, while the attorney general is the chief advisor on constitutional and legal matters (Borneo Bulletin 2000). The Supreme Court, the Intermediate Court, and the Subordinate Court hold the judiciary power in the country. The Supreme Court consists of the High Court and the Court of Appeal, and the Subordinate Courts comprise the Magistrate Courts. Syariah (Islamic) Courts exist side by side with the Supreme Court and deal with Islamic laws. In 1991, Intermediate Courts were established with civil and criminal jurisdiction, but these courts have no jurisdiction over capital cases.

From 1906 to 1959, a British Resident held administrative power, while the Brunei Sultan’s jurisdiction was restricted to Malay traditions and religion. In 1959, Brunei’s first written constitution was presented, bestowing full executive authority on the Sultan as the Head of State. The Sultan is assisted and advised by five councils; the Religious Council, the Privy Council, the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet), the Legislative Council, and the Council of Succession. In 1984, Brunei gained full political independence from the United Kingdom and has since maintained a cabinet style of government. The Sultan, also the prime minister as well as finance and defense minister, holds real political power, as the system of government revolves around him. Appointments of cabinet ministers are made at the Sultan’s discretion, as the 1959 constitution states that the sultan exercises power of appointment to the councils. Therein, Brunei is an independent sovereign sultanate that is governed on the basis of a written constitution.

This contrasts with the majority of free white settlers who were skilled Protestant artisans from England and Scotland who came to this new country in search of a better life. As a result, two distinct classes were emerging by the late 1800s—the Protestant urban upper class and the highly unionized and predominately Catholic labor force. There have been tensions between these groups for much of Australia’s history,and many cultural values of “a fair go,” egalitarianism, and distrust of authority (the tall poppy syndrome) can be traced back to conflicts between these two groups.