https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909619900218 Journal of Asian and African Studies 1–18 © The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0021909619900218 journals.sagepub.com/home/jas J A A S Perceptions of the Language and Meaning of Poverty in Brunei Darussalam Blessing Gweshengwe , Noor Hasharina Hassan and Hairuni Mohamed Ali Maricar Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam Abstract Despite the proliferation of poverty studies, poverty in Brunei Darussalam (hereafter, Brunei) is under- researched. What poverty means in Brunei is, therefore, little understood, and there is a local belief that poverty in the country is unique and relative. Moreover, the terms ‘poverty’ (kemiskinan) and ‘poor’ (miskin) are somewhat sensitive in Brunei, but the reason(s) for this sentiment and preferred terms are not known. This study examines the language and meaning of poverty in Brunei. It also sheds light on the local belief about poverty within the country. The study used an exploratory research methodology and data were collected from poor and non-poor households and key informants. Results show that Bruneians use different terms to refer to poverty or poor people, but preferred terms are ‘living in need’, ‘difficult life’ and ‘needy people’. Bruneians avoid the terms ‘poverty’ and ‘poor’ because they can erode one’s self-confidence or self-esteem. Poverty in Brunei is construed in different ways, but it is mostly perceived as relative, and its nature is not unique. Keywords Poverty, poor people, perceptions of poverty, terminologies, Brunei, Asia Introduction Poverty is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century facing the world. In 2018, about 1.34 billion people from 105 countries were multidimensionally poor – 41.6% and 40.6% of them lived in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, respectively (Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, 2018). Thus, poverty eradication is at the top of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, which calls for the elimination of all the forms of poverty throughout the world by 2030 (Koehler, 2017; United Nations, 2015). Success in eradicating poverty depends on, among other factors, how much we know about poverty. It is for this reason that numerous poverty studies have been conducted. Global research on poverty includes Narayan et al. (2000a, 2000b, 2009), Narayan and Petesch (2002, 2007, 2010) and World Bank (2001). The scholarly literature Corresponding author: Blessing Gweshengwe, Geography, Environment and Development Programme, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, 10198 Magodo Road, Budiriro 5A, Harare, Zimbabwe. Email: gweshengwe@yahoo.com 900218JAS 0 0 10.1177/0021909619900218Journal of Asian and African StudiesGweshengwe et al. research-article 2019 Original Article