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Front: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah I (1946-)
Bolkiah was graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and has
received an honorary doctorate from a Russian University.
He became Sultan of Brunei in 1967 when his father abdicated voluntarily.
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, of which Brunei was a protectorate
until 1984, knighted him. Bolkiah also held the positions of Prime Minister,
Defense Minister, and Finance Minister. He has not favored democratization.
Brunei has no elected legislature since the Legislative Council was dissolved
in 1962.
The Sultan has married three times, the second marriage to a Bruneian air
stewardess ending in divorce and the third marriage to a former Malaysian TV3
presenter occurring in August 2005. The Sultan has a sizable private fortune.
He was considered by Forbes Magazine to be the world's richest man in 1997,
with a net worth of almost US$ 40 billion.
Back: Distinctive national landmarks of Singapore's Esplanade - Theatres on
the Bay and buildings along the city waterfront, and Brunei's Omar Ali
Saifuddien Mosque with the Royal Barge and the water village
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