Abdul Taib Mahmud, who dominated the East Malaysian state of Sarawak as a private fiefdom for 33 years, delivered implausible wealth to his household and a close-knit group of sycophants, has been laid to relaxation at a state funeral in Kuching following his loss of life on the age of 87.
Often known as Pak Uban or the “white haired uncle,” Taib introduced his retirement as chief minister in March 2014, after amassing a fortune value about $20 billion which at the moment ranked his kin because the world’s fifth richest household, after the Walton household of Walmart fame.
As anticipated, hagiographers emerged from his house state following his February 21 loss of life.
The Borneo Submit carried the headline, “Remembering Sarawak’s Best Statesman,” after which quoted him as saying that the “politics of growth is a holistic strategy in balancing the entire spectrum of socioeconomic growth.”
Hardly. Sarawak’s absolute poverty charges are among the many worst within the nation.
The Star quoted his final spouse, 44-year-old Syrian-born socialite Raghad Kurdi, as saying: “No phrases can describe how a lot Taib meant to me,” after she took to social media to refute manic on-line claims that her husband had been kidnapped from a hospital.
However total, Malaysian media shops had been unusually reserved in saying his loss of life. The official Bernama information company famous nationwide cupboard ministers had despatched their condolences and Malaysiakini revealed an article underneath the headline, “Taib Mahmud, trying again at a senior chief’s checkered previous.”
That was a veiled reference to the allegations – typically backed by overwhelming proof – of gross corruption centered round unlawful logging and dam building in Sarawak, a state that was already blessed with substantial offshore oil and fuel reserves.
All through his tenure Taib maintained a decent grip over the Christian-majority state inside Muslim-majority Malaysia by way of malapportionment and gerrymandering, successful him a political fan membership among the many ruling elites in Kuala Lumpur.
His politicking ensured the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, which had dominated Malaysian politics for many years after independence in 1957, maintained energy on the nationwide degree.
Taib’s affect delivered 25 seats within the 2013 elections, making certain then Prime Minister Najib Razak, who’s now behind bars for corruption, saved his job. Najib and his spouse Rosmah Mansor have additionally been tied to the homicide of the Mongolian mannequin Altantuya Shaariibuu.
These political connections enabled Taib to determine a enterprise attain through 400 firms throughout Sarawak and world wide with pursuits starting from 9 inventory market listings and properties in the US, Britain, Hong Kong, and Australia.
He was investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Fee (MACC), opposition politicians, the Tokyo Regional Tax Bureau, the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), World Witness, and the Sarawak Report amongst others. He escaped prosecution.
Some 55 non-governmental organizations took up a petition saying it will be a “nationwide catastrophe” if Taib was made governor, or Yang Di-Pertua, of Sarawak following his 2014 retirement as chief minister. He was appointed governor and held that place till a month earlier than his loss of life.
However even in loss of life his accounts are unlikely to be settled, at the very least not within the quick time period, amid reports that a household squabble is brewing with Taib’s youngsters contesting Raghad for his or her father’s firm shares by way of the courts.
The BMF says it desires these property frozen and one other probe launched into Taib’s financial institution accounts and different property earlier than they are often appropriated by his household.
“We name on the MACC to reopen its investigation into Taib property, which was closed in 2016 for political causes,” BMF Government Director Lukas Straumann stated in a press release.
“Throughout Taib’s tenure, Sarawak misplaced most of its main rainforests. Within the Nineteen Sixties, 90 p.c of Sarawak was nonetheless coated with main forests whereas at the moment lower than 10 p.c stay intact,” he stated.
Industrial logging was met with fierce resistance by indigenous communities and Straumann added that Taib acquired “huge wealth,” regardless of constitutional prohibitions which can be supposed to stop the Sarawak chief minister and governor from changing into concerned in business enterprises.
Given MACC’s success in prosecuting Najib – regardless of the recent reduction in his sentence – such a suggestion is greater than worthy of consideration and the lawsuits prone to emerge from Taib’s offspring ought to provide further insights into how the household of a Malaysian bureaucrat obtained a lot cash.
