Hollywood is shocked and appalled. It refuses to be passive bystanders while inhumane laws are passed. Celebrities are taking a stand against morally reprehensible monarchies. In a world where the battle of wits is between the followers of Cardassian and Kardashian cults, each action of a celebrity has more weight than hundreds of words of the intelligentsia and thousands of the common man. Having one of these exalted beings overcome torpor to show an interest in socio-political issues is a godsend. Hordes of them swarming to react to a single matter is magnificent.
Brunei, one of the smallest countries in Asia and the 81st in the world to make homosexuality illegal, has achieved that by enacting a new criminal code. Cruelty of penalties and the unusual harshness for “value-based” crimes have been the subjects of the ire. A sovereign nation only since 1984, its laws were largely based on British law.
Family matters for the Muslim part of the population deferred to Sharia. This is the basis for the new code, confirmed on April 30 and applicable to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It is to be implemented in three broad phases over the next three years. The last of these phases is the one that penalises adultery and homosexuality, the one that has seen Hollywood Hippocrates and hypocrites rally behind their latest cause.
It would have been possible for the celebrities to be more forceful had they condemned the UAE over the years instead of basking in, and contributing to, the new face of Dubai, Abu Dhabi et al. Homosexuality, Hollywood’s cause celebre, has long been illegal there.
To say that the UAE’s human rights record is questionable is to turn a blind eye to it as the celebrities have done. Brunei’s move towards the Muslim world’s rendition of the Christian moral right that elected Ronald Reagan to the White House and dictates contemporary Republican politics is hardly uncommon.
For one thing, it coincides with stricter enforcement of Islamic laws in the region. For another, it comes out of the predominant Saudi Arabian school of thought, the steadfast ally of the United States, where these celebrities are boycotting businesses owned by the Sultan and Nation of Brunei, such as the Dorchester Collection that includes the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel. A chief difference between the two shows Brunei in a favourable light. It has codified what Saudi Arabia has not.
The latter’s latest display of legal bravado largely went unnoticed. Interior Ministry regulations, reinforced by Royal Decree 44, redefined the legality of terrorism in Saudi Arabia to include atheists, dissenters against the monarchy, and anyone with links to countries or groups hostile to the state. Promulgated by the authorities on January 31, the laws were firmly introduced in early April. Surprisingly, none of the chest-thumping celebrity warriors currently busy taking Brunei to task were anywhere to be seen. Questions relating to the further decline of human rights as a result of these new laws in Saudi Arabia were brushed under the same bulging carpet that the USA brings out from the storage facility of its blind-spot when required.
There is no place for morals in the pragmatic world of crude oil and natural gas. Luckily for Brunei, its wealthy economy is almost entirely supported by exports of both. It is the third largest producer of oil in Southeast Asia, and the fourth largest producer of liquefied natural gas in the world.
That is a billion-dollar petroleum industry worth of justification for a country that has a right to control its own internal matters as it sees fit. Furthermore, like Saudi Arabia, it should be applauded for not dressing a monarchy up as a democracy. The US and the rest of the world are indiscriminately accepting of autocratic regimes in either guise, so long as they serve their purpose.
None of this is to say that Brunei’s newfound bloodlust should be condoned, much less commended. However, if Saudi Arabia and the UAE are tolerated, celebrated, and allowed to be a part of the normal world, then faulting Brunei is little more than an overblown publicity stunt that ridicules real suffering.
Jay Leno, the face of the Dorchester Collection boycott and renowned automobile enthusiast, should also purchase ethically-sourced fuel for his innumerable vehicles if he gives up his Dorchester vice to lend meaning to this gesture. Otherwise, he and his fellow celebrities should be prepared to have their legitimate concerns dismissed by a hailstorm of abuse about their shameless double standards.
