Time to bid ‘billionaire’ Taib farewell
The newly wed grandfather tells Sarawakians that he intends to stay at the helm for some years to put in place a smooth transition. Is this excuse not lame enough or is Taib taking the people of Sarawak for granted, yet again?
Take Taib Mahmud, Sarawak’s longest-serving chief minister. Having had control over Sarawak for 30 years, Taib, aged 75, is showing no signs of calling it a day. In fact, he has gone on to say that his departure as chief minister is imminent, but perhaps in a couple of years to come. Taib, however, did not define “a couple of years”.
“When I step down later, in a few years, I want to see your generation support those who will assume power and build Sarawak so it will become truly developed and truly luxurious in the future,” Taib told 2,000 supporters at a 1Malaysia concert held recently in Sarawak.
Ironically, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is in consensus with Taib’s decision to stick around for several more years, under the pretext of finding the right candidate to assume leadership of the state.
It seems that Malaysia is among the countries where the politicians, instead of serving the people, take a detour to serve their own interests. In Taib’s case, his massive wealth and lavish properties have never bothered the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to warrant an investigation.
Now, this newly wed grandfather tells Sarawakians the reason he intends to stay put for some years to come is to apparently put in place a smooth transition. Is this excuse not lame enough or is Taib taking the people of Sarawak for granted, yet again?
The people of Sarawak are crying for the basic necessities of life, be it decent roads to travel about, tap water, electricity, health care, education for their children and safety of their daughters and wives. But Taib, however, appears to be too busy minting as much money as he can to pay any heed to the people’s repeated pleas.
Now that Taib, who is also Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) chief, has made it clear he has no plans to leave Sarawak alone nor allow the winds of change to blow, it is up to the people of this state to carefully decide what is best for them.
Politicians must serve, not be served
Each election brings with it an opportunity for a change to take place. And Sarawak’s state election on April 16 is the much needed catalyst for voters to make an informed choice, to make sure they choose the right leader who will be responsible and look after their needs.
In this regard, Taib’s time has long passed, irrespective of the excuses he makes to stake claim to his ability to lead Sarawak. But then Taib is only doing what many other politicians do best – pounce upon any opening to prevent their exit from politics.
In his three decades of being Sarawak’s chief minister, Taib went on to become a billionaire, cruising around in his luxurious Rolls Royce and calling his Demak Jaya mansion overlooking the Sarawak River as “home sweet home”.
To put it boldly, while the people of Sarawak suffer due to the lack of basic amenities, Taib is growing richer by the day. And not just Taib, his entire family has joined the billionaires’ club. Money was and never will be an issue with the Taib family. What, however, bothers Taib is how best to hoodwink the people of Sarawak into believing that he is the right person to lead Sarawak.
Now, the onus is on the voters of Sarawak to make the crucial decision which will determine their best interest is not thrown out of the window. Looking at the record of Taib and his cronies, it is evident the people of Sarawak know what best to do. The anticipation that April 16 brings will decide whether the voters end up choosing a representative that has their best interest at heart or someone whom they end up serving.
It’s all about the money for Taib
More evidence has cropped up concerning the ill-gotten wealth amassed by Taib. FMT on April 12 reported that a pro-Pakatan blogger has accused Taib and family of owning 357,980 hectares of land in Sarawak or nearly 3.5% of the total land in the state.
In his latest posting, the Kelantan-based blog named Perisik Rakyat (People’s Spy) alleged that Taib has accumulated the landbank in the state which has over 12.4 million hectares of land.
The blogger under anonymity claimed that Taib’s son Abu Bekir is the biggest “landlord” in Sarawak with ownership of 142, 550ha in almost every part of the state.
The blogger claims that Taib “hijacked” a total of 74,000ha of the native customary rights (NCR) land all over Sarawak. Apparently, Samling Global’s subsidiary Merawa Sdn Bhd had a hand in making it easy for Taib to usurp the NCR land.
Expressing shock over the claim, a real estate agent in Kuala Lumpur familiar with the property and land markets in Sarawak was 
“If we charge RM5 per sq feet for the total land, it will amount to RM193 billion, which will make Taib and his family the third richest family in the world.”
Borneo Resources Institute executive director Mark Bujang told FMT he has evidence that Taib’s family owned the Borsamulu Resorts in the Mulu National Park, with Taib being one of the shareholders.
“He grabbed NCR land from the people in the name of development,” Bujang said.
How is it that a leader chosen to represent the people to improve the quality of their lives has instead ended up improving his financial status by leaps and bounds, if not through corrupt means?
With claims of Taib stealing NCR land to fill his own pockets, what more proof does the MACC need to awake from its slumber and investigate Taib?
Only change is constant
Taib and Najib can quote numerous reasons why the people of Sarawak must give none other than Taib yet another chance to “serve” them. Yet, the final say remains with the people; if they have come to the realisation of just how much of their well-being has been compromised by Taib throughout his 30 years in power, the people of Sarawak will waste not a minute more in deciding what is best for them.
As for Taib and Najib, enough of taking the people for granted. Promising progress only during times of elections has revealed the BN government’s insecurity and desperation in wanting to edge out any form of challenge. What BN is forgetting is that the people have long learnt their lesson and are no longer afraid to embrace the winds of change.
Taib certainly has overstayed his welcome as chief minister. Yet, seduced time and again by the greed for more money and other richness, the newly-wed Taib will do anything possible to cling on to his position as possessively as he can.
Resorting to trickery such as putting the blame on the opposition for pressuring him to quit is not going to sustain Taib’s stay if the people of Sarawak decide they have had enough of Taib, a “wolf in a sheep’s clothing”.
Perhaps Taib feels assured for he has the blessings of fellow politician Najib when it comes to adding the zeroes behind his billions. And all this while Sarawak has been home to many people living under severe hardships.
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