ETHICS AND AESTHETICS IN THE SOCIOCULTURAL ASPECTS OF BRUNAI PEOPLE

ABSTRACT: Observation was conducted on ethics and aesthetics in the sociocultural aspects of Brunaipeople.Activities involved in the observation include visiting the State Museum of Brunai, scrutinizing thedesign of local residences, and analyzing the academic life of Brunai people. The objective of this research is toprovide description about ethics and aesthetics in the sociocultural aspects of Brunai people. Method of researchis qualitative descriptive. Local residents were observed and then invited for interview. Information regardingthe topics of research were collected from the officials of two higher education institutions in Brunai, namelyUniversitas Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA)and Kolej Universiti Perguruan Ugama Seri Begawan(KUPUSB).Discussion on the topicswas held by the author with the linguistic academicians in the StateUniversity of Malang. Data analysis involves stages consisting of sorting, verification, tabulation, interpretation,and conclusion. The product of this research is the description about ethics and aesthetics in the socioculturalaspects of of Brunai people. Some results were obtained. It was found that ethics and aesthetics in thesociocultural aspects of Brunai people are rooted genetically from Malay ethnic culture, which is mainlycharacterized by aristocracy. Sociocultural life pattern of Brunai people is spiritually oriented to Islam religion.The mix of Malay genetic factor and Islam spirituality has shaped sociocultural mentality of Brunai people,which manifests in their preferencesfor spirituality, regularity, and self-reliance. Those preferences arecomponents that make up Brunai’s national identity.

Keywords: ethics, aesthetics, sociocultural, Malay, people.