One of my colleagues told me today that, when you make an appointment in Brunei say for 10 am the next day, people might ask Janji melayu atau janji orang putih kah? (Malay time or Western time?).
It seems a bit sad that one facet of local culture is a lack of respect for time. Or maybe some people feel comfortable with a tolerance for flexibility, and they feel an obsession with punctuality is an unwelcome Western trait.
It seems to me that, in the modern world, we should try to be punctual, to meet deadlines, and so forth; and that is one of the things I try to insist for my students at UBD. Today I had a written assignment due, and 20 out of 26 students handed it in on time. I guess that's not too bad.
