All eyes on Brunei's royal newlyweds

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2007

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (AFP) — With a roar, the crowd surged forward, leaving the shade in front of the shops and plunging into the scorching street. Brunei's royal newlyweds were coming.

Bruneians mingled with Indonesian labourers, Indian migrants, Filipino workers and Western tourists -- all had their eyes in one direction Sunday, waiting for the motorcade of Princess Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah, 31, and her new husband Pengiran Khairul Khalil, 32.

"There is happiness in the air," said Adi Santoso, 27, an Indonesian construction worker squeezed into the shade of a large flower stand in the centre of a road lined with thousands of onlookers.

"It's a historic event," said Harrisman Haji Ali, 33, sheltering from the heat under an umbrella with his three children....