BRUNEI

Dato Paduka Dr. Haji Johar bin Dato Paduka Haji Nordin was Brunei's Minister of Health. Our Ambassador, Donald Ensenat, had arranged a meeting to discuss telemedicine.

Appointments are difficult to make in this oil-rich country--a waiting time of many months is not unusual. I got mine without delay, for which I'm indebted to the Ambassador.

And that's not all. Lulu and I were his house guests. To reach his residence from downtown Bandar Seri Begawan, you passed the palace of the Sultan of Brunei -- seventeen hundred rooms which he shared with his first wife. The palace of his second wife was more modest. There were many children from both marriages.

Donald and Taylor Ensenat had two children--Farish, a budding beauty of fourteen, and Will, an outgoing, charming little guy of ten.

Lulu asked him if he and his sister ever played with the Sultan's children.

"No," he said. "They play with themselves."

Then he cracked up.

"I said a funny, didn't I?"

Ambassador Ensenat had loaned us his car and driver to go sight seeing. Brunei is a tiny but beautiful tropical country. Wealthy because of oil and successful foreign investments, living is quite luxurious. Few of the people do menial or manual work. This is done by contracted workers from other countries.

There is a small and very special group of these outsiders, but workers is hardly the proper description. They are players, polo players from Argentina.

The Sultan of Brunei is dedicated to polo, a sport few of his countrymen find of interest. So, on a rotating basis, the Sultan contracts with Argentinean players. They come to Brunei eagerly. Stay is limited, pay is generous, handsome living quarters are on a hillside overlooking elaborate, air-conditioned stables, tailored polo field and luxurious clubhouse.