That Brunei glitter sure is gold

BRUNEI - The Sultan of Brunei's stately pleasure dome lacks for nothing except perhaps taste - as Helen Clark discovered at first-hand last night.

Arriving in Brunei for this year's Apec meeting, the Prime Minister paid her first call on the oil-rich host, the second richest man in the world after Bill Gates.

She diplomatically likened the Sultan's $900 million palace to being a bit like the French equivalent at Versailles in terms of sheer opulence.

The Sultan's version has 1788 rooms, 200 toilets, a banquet hall that seats 4000 and an underground carpark which would do any large supermarket proud.

It comes with hot and cold running servants, all bowing and scraping in the Sultan's direction.

But it is the gold that stands out. Gold is everywhere, even to the point of gold threads running through the carpet, glittering off the light of the crystal chandeliers.

Outside, amid the marble walkways and fountains, run hundreds of metres of red carpet, all perfectly vacuumed without a speck of dust.

Visitors to the palace in this strict Muslim country must obey certain rules. They must wear jackets, and jeans are banned - as some in the Prime Minister's party found to their expense.

So how comfortable did our centre-left Prime Minister feel, sitting in a high-backed chair as Brunei television cameramen left the room bowing towards her and the Sultan?

"It's not the New Zealand style," said Helen Clark tactfully. "Our Prime Ministers are used to a more modest existence."

Apec formally gets under way today.

Herald Online feature: Apec