Abdul Taib Mahmud
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Pehin Sri Dr. Haji Abdul Taib bin Mahmud (born 21 May 1936 in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia) is the current Chief Minister of Sarawak of Melanau descent.
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[edit] Personal life and education
He undertook his early schooling at the St. Joseph's Schools in Miri and Kuching, before receiving a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide in South Australia in 1960.
Returning to Sarawak, he worked in the judiciary until 1963 when he joined the State Legislative Council of Sarawak, where he held various ministries in Sarawak and the Malaysian Parliament, before succeeding his uncle, Abdul Rahman Ya'kub, as the Chief Minister of Sarawak.
He is the father of Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib. He is better known as "Bai Mao"(白毛)in Chinese which means "White Hair". Among Malay speaking communities, he is known as "Pak Uban", which translates as "Old Man with White Hair". Being the Chief Minister of Sarawak for almost 27 years, he has successfully and securely made Sarawak as a kingdom of corruption.
[edit] Corruption and Sarawak's logging industry
Charges of deep corruption have surrounded Taib Mahmud on numerous occasions and the dominance of Sarawak's political elite including Taib Mahmud's family in the logging industry is well documented [1]. Most recently a foreign wire agency reported on March 29 that Taib has been implicated in a 1.1 billion yen (RM32 million) timber export kickbacks.[2] It said nine Japanese shipping companies, which transported timber from Sarawak, had allegedly failed to report some 1.1 billion yen in income over a period of up to seven years.The report claimed the money was paid as kickbacks to Sarawak officials via a Hong Kong agent linked to Taib and his family.
The results of the logging industry under Taib Mahmud is that less than 10% of Sarawak's primary forests remain, logging many of the ancestral lands of many of Sarawak's indigenous communities, despite their continued petitions and road blockades [3] where forceful dismantling has led to several deaths and regular violent coersion by the Malaysian army, police and logging company enforcers [4].
Ever since good Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s exciting anti-corruption programme saw the arrest of Eric Chia and Kasitah Gaddam, “Why only hunt ikan bilis in KL and Sabah? Why not also audit some bigger fish in Sarawak?” For example, many know that the Chief Minister (CM) of Sarawak since 1981, Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s family, has a rags to riches story. Abdul Taib Mahmud insists his family made their money via hard work in business. But many observers remain sceptical and wonder how his siblings and children came into all that wealth, both locally and overseas.
Born into impoverished circumstances in 1936, Abdul Taib Mahmud is an ethnic Muslim-Melanau who traces an aristocratic link to the Royal Court of Brunei. But since becoming CM, Taib has been previously described, at various times, by the international media in the following terms: He is “flamboyant with expensive tastes” and is said to have “purchased the piano of the late American showman Liberace for close to US$2 million”. He “lives in a well-guarded palatial home in Kuching and rides in a cream-coloured Rolls Royce. A dapper dresser, he is partial to double-breasted suits and sports a ring with a walnut-sized red gem surrounded by small diamonds”. Presently, he lives in a palatial private estate outside Kuching along Jalan Bako in a choice location called Demak Laut fronting the Sarawak river.
In the late-1980s, clients loyal to Taib collectively were estimated to control 1.6 million hectares of timber concessions. By 2000, Mahmud family members had major investments not only in Sarawak and Malaysia but also in other parts of the world. Taib Mahmud’s sons, Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib and Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, are the two key directors of Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS), a multi-million ringgit financial and infrastructure conglomerate listed on the KLSE that thrives because it receives lots of patronage projects from the Sarawak government via PPES Works, a CMS subsidiary company jointly owned with the State government. CMS also owns Bank Utama that engineered a reverse takeover of RHB Bank in 2003. And CMS continues to eye the Bakun mega-project.
Abdul Taib Mahmud’s spouse, Laila Taib, and his children are the majority shareholders of Sitehost Pty. Ltd., Australia, a company which owns the Adelaide Hilton Hotel. Company records dated December 2000 show them holding 95 percent of the company or 9.5 million fully paid up shares of Sitehost. Onn Mahmud (Taib Mahmud’s brother), Taib’s daughter Jamilah Hamidah Taib and her husband Sean Murray, are listed as director-shareholders of SAKTO Corporation, a major real estate operator of non-residential buildings in Ottawa, owning and managing over half a million square feet of prime office space with affiliate offices in the US, Asia, the UK and Australia. As well, they own SAKTO Development Corporation, a multi-million dollar development and construction company in Ottawa, while Jamilah is the sole director of SAKTO Investment Corporation.
Now, it may well be that the Mahmud family is one of the best and most astute business families in Malaysia. And more power to them on that account. But much of their known wealth has arisen during the tenure of Abdul Taib Mahmud as Sarawak CM. Is there then any wonder why there exists so much public scepticism about the sources of Abdul Taib Mahmud’s family wealth? Would not a transparent audit do well to quash such obviously unscrupulous rumours once and for all?
[edit] Corruption and Nepotism
In 2008, Mahmud gave his son Sulaiman a seat in the Malaysian parliament. After the son was elected, he was made a deputy federal minister despite not having any political experience. It is almost certain that the son would not even have a political career if the father was not the chief minister.
Mahmud's sister Roziah is one of the most powerful businesswoman in Sarawak with extensive holdings in property and timber business.
Mahmud's brother in law, Tan Sri Aziz Hussain, was appointed state secretary by Mahmud and when he retires, Mahmud appointed him executive director of Sarawak Energy and other companies.
Lot 1 Muara Tuang L.D (980ha), Lot 887 Samarahan LD (670HA), Lot 1230 Sedilu Gedong LD (5010HA) AND lot 1509 Bukar Sadong LD (3720ha) was alienated to a company called Lambang Sinar Emas (a company owned by Roziah Mahmud) on 26.05.2004. In 26.01.2005 the ownership of the company changed hand. Roziah stand to gain tens of millions of ringgit from this transaction.
| Preceded by Abdul Rahman Ya'kub |
Chief Minister of Sarawak 1981 – present |
Incumbent |
