With his fleet of 7,000 cars and haircuts worth £15,000, the Sultan of Brunei couldn't be more different from India's Narendra Modi, who has made a fortune over the years despite his modest upbringing.
As Modi marks the first bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister to the small, oil-rich Southeast Asian country, the meeting underscores Brunei's growing importance to India's geopolitical ambitions in the region.
Mr Modi, who sold tea at a train station as a boy, has signalled his intention to strengthen ties between India and the small country on the northern coast of the Southeast Asian island of Borneo.
Brunei is a key partner in India's Act East Policy and Indo-Pacific Vision – policies aimed at strengthening trade and business ties with Southeast Asia and other countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
Who is Haji Hassanal Bolkiah?
The Sultan of Brunei, whose net worth is estimated at $30 billion, is known for his extravagant lifestyle. His car collection is estimated at $5 billion and consists of 7,000 vehicles, including a gold Rolls-Royce that he bought for his daughter's wedding.
He was crowned the 29th Sultan of Brunei in 1968 and is the second longest-reigning monarch after the late Queen Elizabeth II. He lives in the Istana Nurul Iman, the world's largest residential palace with 1,788 rooms.
The power of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who is also prime minister of Brunei, extends far beyond that of a typical monarch. According to his official biography, he holds several high-ranking positions, including the portfolios of defense, finance and foreign affairs.
He was made Crown Prince in 1961 at the age of 15, and his father Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddin abdicated six years later. Although Brunei was still a British protectorate at the time, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah had already received military training in Britain and studied in Malaysia.
The Sultan trained as an officer at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst in the United Kingdom between 1966 and 1967, the official website reports.
He is also a certified pilot and can fly both airplanes and helicopters.
Under his rule, Brunei cemented its status as one of the world's wealthiest countries, based on its vast oil wealth and high per capita income, after gaining independence in 1984.
The last parliamentary elections in Brunei, a country about the size of Delaware in the US, were held in 1968.
The sultan's extravagant spending has fascinated outsiders for decades. His palace features an elaborate polo complex, complete with about 100 ponies and a stud farm. He reportedly paid Michael Jackson $17 million to perform at his 50th birthday party, attended by Britain's then-Prince Charles. The festivities lasted more than two weeks.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is said to have a private collection of around 500 Rolls-Royces. In the 1990s, the Bolkiah family was reportedly responsible for nearly half of all luxury car sales worldwide.
Prince Abdul Mateen, one of the Sultan's 12 children, regularly posts pictures of his extravagant lifestyle on Instagram. Prince Mateen is sixth in line to the throne of Brunei and a pilot and polo player with more than 2.4 million followers on Instagram. The prince's Instagram posts, who has often been compared to Britain's Prince Harry in the past, show a mix of official duties on yachts, trips in private jets and stays in world-class hotels.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's younger brother, Prince Jefri Bolkiah, was accused by the state of Brunei on behalf of the sultan of embezzling some $40 billion in state funds, in one of Asia's most sensational royal scandals. The sultan accused his younger brother in 2000, sparking a long-running feud between the two.
Brunei, a small country of about 463,000 with a predominantly Muslim population, bans drinking, dancing, gambling and homosexuality. The sultan has come under increasing international scrutiny, particularly after 2019, when Brunei rolled out its interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, allowing flogging and stoning to death for those found guilty of adultery, sodomy and rape.
The new measures were met with global outrage and caused panic and fear among Brunei's gay community. Although homosexuality was already illegal in the country, the enforcement of these harsher penalties led to calls to boycott the Sultan's luxury hotels, including the Dorchester in London, the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Bel-Air Hotel in Los Angeles.
The US, Britain, France, Germany and other countries, along with several celebrities including George Clooney, Ellen DeGeneres and Elton John, protested the law. To quell the celebrity backlash, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah extended a moratorium on the death penalty, but critics said other harsh punishments, including flogging and mutilation, remained in place and called for stricter revisions to the law.
The Sultan's “flying palace” is a private aircraft fleet of ultra-luxury aircraft, including a Boeing 747-8 (V8-BKH), a luxury long-haul aircraft, a Boeing 767-200 (V8-MHB), another high-end aircraft for long-haul flights, a Boeing 787-8 (V8-OAS), a modern and spacious jet designed for comfort, apart from Sikorsky S70 and S76, helicopters used for shorter trips and local travel.
The Sultan reportedly spends around £15,000 on a haircut and arranges for his favourite hairdresser, who works at the Dorchester Hotel in London, to fly first class to Brunei.
The 78-year-old also owns a private zoo with 30 Bengal tigers and a variety of exotic birds, including falcons, flamingos and cockatoos. According to a GQ report, these birds can ride miniature bikes, play ball, sing and imitate other animals.
Observers say the sultan's extravagant lifestyle stands in stark contrast to the lives of ordinary citizens in a country where strict Islamic laws and a state of emergency have long restricted personal freedoms. The sultan has also been criticized for promoting a conservative interpretation of Islam that stands in stark contrast to the lifestyles of members of the royal family.
The Sultan is currently married to Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha. He has 12 children from three spouses. In 2020, Prince Abdul Azim, the Sultan's 38-year-old son and fourth in line to the throne, passed away. Azim was known for his work as a film producer in Hollywood.
Azim was also known for his prominent presence on the international party scene, often seen with celebrities such as Pamela Anderson, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey.
In a 2017 CNN report, Michael Auslin of the Hoover Institution was quoted as saying, “They are [the royal family] probably fairly well insulated from criticism, since Bruneians are better off than almost anyone in Asia. Here you have oil wealth spread throughout society, the majority benefiting from it.
“Their lifestyle is literally unthinkable to the vast majority of humanity. It is extravagantly lavish. Take everything you can imagine in the lifestyle of the rich and famous and multiply it.”
