This study is about the taboo of planting rice in Kampung Bebuloh. Kampung Bebuloh is inhabited by two tribes, the Dusun tribe and the Bisaya tribe. However, with the sharing of the village and way of life it became confusing for some scholars to identify the existence of the Dusun tribe in the village. The objective of this study is to identify and show taboos in Kampung Bebuloh which is dominated by the Dusun tribe. Taboo is part of the folklore material that functions as validation and reflects the identity of a society. Therefore, this study examines the prohibition of planting rice based on the anthropolinguistic theory presented by Duranti in 1997 and the folklore function theory of William R Bascom in 1965. Both theories can describe the prohibition of planting rice in detail according to the community that practices it. The findings of this study prove that the taboo against planting rice practiced in Kampung Bebuloh is believed to be mostly owned by the Dusun tribe. This can be seen from the taboos that are used according to the beliefs and culture of the Dusun tribe, which is the story of the origin of rice which is used as the source of their beliefs such as loving rice like their own children. With this study, the cultural heritage and customs of the Dusun Brunei tribe can be known and preserved.

This research investigates the rise of youth volunteerism in Brunei Darussalam, which has resulted in young people's contributions to addressing issues such as unemployment, youth skills development, and environmental degradation. To better understand the motivations for and the value of volunteering among youth in Brunei, I conducted interviews with fifteen individuals who had at least two years of volunteering experience. Integrating three sociological concepts, namely Bourdieu's capitals theory, Giddens' reflexivity and Foucault's self-governmentality, the study frames volunteering as a journey of active discovery, reflection and redefinition of the volunteers' experiences. The findings demonstrate that volunteering provides a space for young people to engage in self-exploration, which contributes to their personal development, identity formation and competency enhancement. Participants also express a strong sense of duty and responsibility to give back to their community and the state, viewing volunteering as a means to actualise their desire to be active members of the community. Moreover, as they gain more experience from volunteering, participants seek fulfilling careers. This is due to the fact that volunteering teaches them to and offers them opportunities to pursue impactful and meaningful work, underscoring their aspiration to lead meaningful lives.

The Medinah Charter has been studied from various perspectives. Most discourses on the Medinah Charter revolve around the political dimension. However, the Prophetic actions of the Medinah Charter need to be analyzed in the light of the Maqasid al-Shariah. This paper aims to explore the Medinah Charter from a Maqasid perspective taking into consideration its socio-religious structure. For this purpose, this research identifies some important Maqasid underlying the Medinah Charter and the Prophetic approach toward the people of other faiths. This study argues that the Medinah Charter and the measures taken by the Prophet Muhammad were potential means for materializing universal higher objectives of the Shariah. Based on descriptive and analytical methods, this study sheds light on some universal higher objectives of the Shariah in the Charter such as freedom of faith, peaceful co-existence, and social integrity. All these social objectives were preserved in Medinan society at a collective level. By analyzing those universal objectives, this paper establishes their relevance to fostering peaceful coexistence, freedom of faith, and social integrity between different ethnic-religious communities of the modern world, especially in Muslim minority societies.

The link between economic inequality and individual well-being has been gaining increasing research attention. This study examines this relationship using data from 71 countries with diverse national incomes, addressing three key research gaps: (1) incorporating measures of both perceived and objective economic inequality, (2) extending analysis to multiple components of well-being beyond happiness, including meaning in life, harmony, and spirituality, and (3) assessing levels of both current and ideal well-being. Findings reveal that perceived economic inequality predicts personal well-being more strongly than objective inequality. Additionally, perceived inequality is associated with a wider gap between current and ideal levels of happiness, meaning, harmony, and spirituality, although national income moderates the effects of meaning, harmony and spirituality. We discuss the implications of these results, highlighting the need for more culturally sensitive studies on perceived economic inequality and wellbeing.