“The ban is ridiculous. It projects this image that Islam does not respect the rights of other religions to celebrate their faith,” said a Muslim mother in the capital, also too scared to provide her name.
“Islam teaches us to respect one another and I believe it starts with respecting other religions even if what is being banned are ornamental displays.”
Others were more tempered, and urged the prohibition to be respected.
“It is an Islamic country and so with respect to the law, churches need to keep decorations indoors,” said a Christian Bruneian, unfazed by the strict rules.
“The meaning of Christmas for us isn’t all about Christmas decorations.”
– Controversy at home –
However, the prohibition does not extend to the business interests of the sultan, whose estimated $20 billion fortune includes the historic Beverly Hills Hotel — part of his Dorchester Collection with branches in London, Paris, Milan and Rome.
It is Christmas as usual this year in the upscale Le Richemond hotel in Geneva where guests are greeted by lavish displays in the hotel lobby, include bowls overflowing with pine branches, ornaments and candles aplenty.
The Le Meurice hotel in Paris advertises a Christmas eve seven-course gourmet menu for 650 euros — before drinks — while the Beverly Hills Hotel is decked out for the holidays too.
Before unveiling the hardline law, the sultan had warned of pernicious foreign influences such as the Internet and indicated he intended to place more emphasis on Islam in the conservative Muslim country.
Strict rules against homosexuality in the sharia law, punishable with death by stoning, sparked a backlash among A-listers including Jay Leno, Ellen DeGeneres and business tycoon Richard Branson, who called for the hotels to be boycotted.
The sultan is no stranger to controversy at home either — the monarchy was deeply embarrassed by a family feud with his brother Jefri Bolkiah over the latter’s alleged embezzlement of $15 billion during his tenure as finance minister in the 1990s.
Court battles and investigations revealed salacious details of Jefri’s un-Islamic jetset lifestyle, including claims of a high-priced harem of foreign women and a luxury yacht he owned called “Tits”.
Some say that Brunei is on a dangerous path towards religious intolerance in a state where only nine percent of 430,000 population are Christian.
“In a globalised world, many countries are trying to unite different people and different religions but it doesn’t seem to be the case here,” a Catholic foreign worker told AFP.
“What’s happening here is that Christians are being alienated from the majority Muslim community.”
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