It's a long time since I mentioned food. Well, since Feb 4 actually (here). And what would a Brunei blog be without some discussion of food? So here is a picture of the sandwich I have almost every day for my lunch.I heard that some of my students expressed surprise when they found out that I often go round Bukit Shahbandar together with a few colleagues, as they had seen me eating lunch on my own and assumed that I must have no friends. Eating and chatting together is such an important activity in Brunei that it is simply incomprehensible to local people that I might choose to eat on my own. But I would like to reassure them: I actually do enjoy eating a simple lunch on my own. A sandwich and a couple of oranges are just what one needs in the middle of the day, and in fact I look forward to it. In contrast, the thought of eating greasy noodles or something like that for lunch is rather unpleasant to me.
I read in the newspapers that 55% of all government employees in Brunei are obese. Not just overweight, but obese. If this figure is accurate, it is truly alarming. Perhaps more people should be encouraged to eat sandwiches for lunch!
But that is never going to happen. Indeed, the collegiality of people chatting while eating together is a vitally important feature of Brunei society, so the authorities will have to find some other way of dealing with the obesity epidemic.
