BRUNEI
D101
Of the alien races the Chinese are by far the most numerous. They are immigrants from the South China Provinces and
China Provinces and are chiefly occupied as traders, shopkeepers, small farmers and labourers.. Next in order of numbers are the Indians of whom, however, there only a few hundred. They are prac- tically all of South Indian stock, mostly Tamils and Malayalis, and chiefly employed as labourers on the oilfield.
I
Religion. The religion of the Bruneis and Kedayans is Mohammedanism of the Shafei sect. The Tutongs and Belaits also generally profess Mohamme- danism, but it is often merely a thin veneer which overlays their essential paganism. The same family may comprise both believers and unbelievers. Pagan customs still cling; there remains, for instance, at Kuala Balai a long- house, the natural habitat of the Belaits, in the rafters of which are kept about a hundred preserved heads which are brought forth and laved ceremoniously on high days and holidays. Of the other indigenous races, the Dusuns, Dayaks and Muruts are all pagan animists.
Language.-The languages spoken in the Sate are on less diverse than the races which compose its population. The language of the Bruneis and Keda- yans is Malay, but of separate and distinct forms, both differing considerably from the Malay spoken in the Peninsula. The other indigenous races, the Tu- tongs, Belaits, Dusuns, Muruts and Dayaks, all have separate languages of their own.
For them, as for the alien races, Malay serves at the lingua franca. Of the foreign languages spoken in the State Chinese is the most common, the relative extent to which the principal dialects are spoken being, at the time of the 1931 census, Kheh 31 per cent, Hokkien 26 per cent and Cantonese 15 per cent.
The Indian population speaks principally Tamil or Malayalam.
VITAL STATISTICS
The total population of the State at the census of 1931 was 30,135, distri- buted by race as follows:
Europeans
...
...
Eurasians
Malaysians:
Malays Kedayans
Tutongs
Dusuns
Dayaks
Belaits
...
Muruts
Other Malaysians
Chinese ...
Indians
Others
...
...
...
...
...
...
099
60
10
14,835
5,871
2,733
2,118
453
446
290
...
226
26,972
2,683
37,7
33
The estimated population at the end of 1939 calculated by the balancing equation method was 39,387.
COMMERCE
Exports of crude oil and natural gas excepted, practically the whole of the external trade of the State passes through Singapore with transhipment at Labuan, and direct foreign trade is non-existent.
The State is largely dependent upon imports for its foodstuffs. About half of the rice, which forms the staple food of the bulk of the population, has to be imported, and the proportion of imports of most other foodstuffs, apart from fish and meat, is also high.
Crude oil by itself accounted for approximately 83.5 per cent of the total value of the export trade, followed, a long way behind, by plantation rubber with 11.8 per
cent.