While the world was shaking from wars, crises and prime ministers falling like dominoes, one man has sat on the same throne for nearly 59 years. The Sultan of Brunei turns 80 today. And while our politicians fight to survive a single term, he has outlived them all - the prime ministers, the constitutions, and the fashions too.

Hassanal Bolkiah was enthroned on 4 October 1967. Since then - silence. Not because he has nothing to say, but because he doesn't have to. The constitution of this small state in the north of Borneo literally prescribes that the sultan "can never do wrong" - neither as a private person, nor in his official role. Imagine a politician whom the law guarantees is always right. That's not a monarchy, that's untouchability pressed into paper.

And just in case, he holds all the keys himself. Besides being king, he is also prime minister, defence minister, finance minister, and head of Islam in the country. One person, four chairs. When all of that is in the same hands, the question "who will answer for it" simply has no one to be put to.

A family like a small state

The Bolkiah dynasty is one of the richest still ruling. The sultan has 12 children - five sons and seven daughters - from three marriages. The eldest, crown prince Al-Muhtadee Billah, is 52. From the younger generation the best known is Prince Abdul Mateen, whom social media turned into a star - charming, always at his father's side at official events, a face for a new audience.

Wealth that's hard to count

The residence is called Nurul Iman and is the second-largest palace in the world - 200,000 square metres, over 18,000 rooms and 290 bathrooms. It's bigger than the Vatican. Only the Forbidden City in Beijing outdoes it. Inside there are golden domes; in the courtyard - a collection of over 5,000 luxury cars. Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, and even seven of the hundred McLaren Formula 1 cars ever built.

His personal wealth is estimated at around 16 billion dollars, mainly from oil and gas. For years he topped the "Forbes" lists. He has six planes, two helicopters and a fully customised Boeing 747 that holds over 500 passengers. For his fiftieth birthday he ordered a private concert by Michael Jackson - who in the end didn't even show up.

It's easy to read this as a fairy tale about a distant, exotic king. But behind the shine stands a different story: a state where one person holds everything, where wealth flows from the ground rather than from people's labour, and where silence isn't modesty but power. A ruler's longevity doesn't mean the system is healthy. Sometimes it means exactly the opposite - that no one has the space, or the right, to ask otherwise.