World’s Richest Man Aims to Be Model of a Modern Muslim Monarch : Brunei: Sultan’s new creed stresses loyalty, religious values. One diplomat likens state to ‘Victorian Islam.’

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the world’s richest man, is casting himself as the very model of a modern, Muslim monarch--caring, religious and as one with his subjects.

No longer a globe-trotting playboy, he has adopted a more sober image. He appears less often in military uniforms and astride polo ponies, doesn’t travel as much, and, diplomats say, is exercising more direct rule.

Hassanal, 46, says he wants to blend Islam, his absolute monarchy and the cultural life of this oil-rich, Delaware-size country on the northern coast of Borneo.

“The relationship between the monarch and the people is not purely based on the tradition of the ruler and the people, but it is also due to a sense of mutual responsibility in carrying out together the amanah (trust) of Allah,” the sultan said.

He said during October celebrations of his 25 years on the throne that Southeast Asia’s oldest continuous royal line would change with the times, but on its own terms.

Hassanal began to shed his playboy image and become more involved in Brunei’s affairs after the 1986 death of his father, Omar Ali Saifuddin, who gave up the throne in 1967 but continued to run the sultanate behind the scenes.

Hassanal’s new creed of Melayu Islam Beraja (Malay Muslim Monarchy) stresses conservative Islamic values, the uniqueness of Brunei Malay society and the sultan as defender of the faith.

The creed was announced two years ago and in practice has meant that Brunei has become a stricter Muslim state. It is not fundamentalism, but rather a prudish form of religious observance that one Asian diplomat likened to “Victorian Islam.”

Muslim holidays are being celebrated in a bigger way and upholding the creed is the main theme on these occasions.

All students are required to attend courses on the monarchy creed at the country’s only university, where an academy of Brunei studies has been launched.

Alcohol has been banned, although visitors from abroad are allowed to bring in two bottles. Dating couples require a chaperone.

The chador, which fully covers the body, is the dress code for women, who are expected to be modest in both garb and behavior. A few years ago, only the very religious wore the chador.

Western diplomats and bankers, all of whom insisted on anonymity because of the sensitiveness of talking about the host government, said the creed as well as Hassanal’s silver jubilee in October stressed loyalty to the sultan.

Officials insist the creed is nothing new, just a reemphasis of what makes Brunei different.

One of the world’s few absolute monarchs, Hassanal is regarded as the richest of the rich by the Guinness Book of Records and Fortune magazine because Brunei’s oil income and foreign currency reserves are “effectively at his disposal.” That cash hoard has been estimated at $37 billion.

All secular, religious and military powers rest with the sultan, a hereditary ruler who functions as head of state as well as prime minister, defense minister and commander of the armed forces.

The royal family, which has held power for 29 generations, tries to ensure continuing support for an autocratic form of government by providing subsidized food, fuel and housing and free education and medical care. There is no personal income tax.

Visitors find a prosperous, easygoing backwater with no evidence of serious political dissent, ethnic tension or religious zealotry. Brunei has no foreign enemies and cultivates good relations with Malaysia and Indonesia, the other countries that share the island of Borneo.

Bruneians seem content with their largely rural, conservative Muslim society. The happiest are probably government employees, who make up half the work force of 85,000 in a country of only 261,000 people. In addition to the standard benefits, they get a pension, free health care and interest-free loans for cars and houses.

Traffic jams are common since there are more than 110,000 cars in the country, or one for every 2.3 people.

There is no national debt, no trade deficit, no balance of payments problem and the budget always shows a surplus.