• Home
  • Politics
  • Health
  • World
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • More
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
What's Hot

Short and Funny Sayings for a Happy Summer with Friends

May 9, 2025

Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

May 8, 2025

100 Funny Father’s Day Quotes for Hilariously Relatable Humor (and Plenty of Love Too)

May 8, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Friday, May 9
Patriot Now NewsPatriot Now News
  • Home
  • Politics

    Security video shows brazen sexual assault of California woman by homeless man

    October 24, 2023

    Woman makes disturbing discovery after her boyfriend chases away home intruder who stabbed him

    October 24, 2023

    Poll finds Americans overwhelmingly support Israel’s war on Hamas, but younger Americans defend Hamas

    October 24, 2023

    Off-duty pilot charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after allegedly trying to shut off engines midflight on Alaska Airlines

    October 23, 2023

    Leaked audio of Shelia Jackson Lee abusively cursing staffer

    October 22, 2023
  • Health

    Disparities In Cataract Care Are A Sorry Sight

    October 16, 2023

    Vaccine Stocks—Including Pfizer, Moderna, BioNTech And Novavax—Slide Amid Plummeting Demand

    October 16, 2023

    Long-term steroid use should be a last resort

    October 16, 2023

    Rite Aid Files For Bankruptcy With More ‘Underperforming Stores’ To Close

    October 16, 2023

    Who’s Still Dying From Complications Related To Covid-19?

    October 16, 2023
  • World

    New York Democrat Dan Goldman Accuses ‘Conservatives in the South’ of Holding Rallies with ‘Swastikas’

    October 13, 2023

    IDF Ret. Major General Describes Rushing to Save Son, Granddaughter During Hamas Invasion

    October 13, 2023

    Black Lives Matter Group Deletes Tweet Showing Support for Hamas 

    October 13, 2023

    AOC Denounces NYC Rally Cheering Hamas Terrorism: ‘Unacceptable’

    October 13, 2023

    L.A. Prosecutors Call Out Soros-Backed Gascón for Silence on Israel

    October 13, 2023
  • Business

    Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

    May 8, 2025

    Electric Vehicle Sales Nosedive As GOP Takes Buzzsaw To Biden’s Mandate

    May 7, 2025

    Tyson Foods Announces It Will Bend The Knee To Trump Admin’s New Rules

    May 7, 2025

    Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates Steady Despite Pressure From Trump

    May 7, 2025

    ‘Wait Them Out’: John Kennedy Tells Larry Kudlow One Lie He Suspects China’s Telling US

    May 7, 2025
  • Finance

    Ending China’s De Minimis Exception Brings 3 Benefits for Americans

    April 17, 2025

    The Trump Tariff Shock Should Push Indonesia to Reform Its Economy

    April 17, 2025

    Tariff Talks an Opportunity to Reinvigorate the Japan-US Alliance

    April 17, 2025

    How China’s Companies Are Responding to the US Trade War

    April 16, 2025

    The US Flip-flop Over H20 Chip Restrictions 

    April 16, 2025
  • Tech

    Cruz Confronts Zuckerberg on Pointless Warning for Child Porn Searches

    February 2, 2024

    FTX Abandons Plans to Relaunch Crypto Exchange, Commits to Full Repayment of Customers and Creditors

    February 2, 2024

    Elon Musk Proposes Tesla Reincorporates in Texas After Delaware Judge Voids Pay Package

    February 2, 2024

    Tesla’s Elon Musk Tops Disney’s Bob Iger as Most Overrated Chief Executive

    February 2, 2024

    Mark Zuckerberg’s Wealth Grew $84 Billion in 2023 as Pedophiles Target Children on Facebook, Instagram

    February 2, 2024
  • More
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
Patriot Now NewsPatriot Now News
Home»Finance»Controversial Billionaire and Malaysian State Leader Is Laid to Rest
Finance

Controversial Billionaire and Malaysian State Leader Is Laid to Rest

February 26, 2024No Comments4 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Controversial Billionaire and Malaysian State Leader Is Laid to Rest
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Abdul Taib Mahmud, who ruled the East Malaysian state of Sarawak as a personal fiefdom for 33 years, delivered fantastic wealth to his family and a close-knit community of sycophants, has been laid to rest at a state funeral in Kuching following his death at the age of 87.

Known as Pak Uban or the “white haired uncle,” Taib announced his retirement as chief minister in March 2014, after amassing a fortune worth about $20 billion which at that time ranked his kin as the world’s fifth richest family, after the Walton family of Walmart fame.

As expected, hagiographers emerged from his home state following his February 21 death.

The Borneo Post carried the headline, “Remembering Sarawak’s Greatest Statesman,” and then quoted him as saying that the “politics of development is a holistic approach in balancing the whole spectrum of socioeconomic development.”

Hardly. Sarawak’s absolute poverty rates are among the worst in the country.

The Star quoted his last wife, 44-year-old Syrian-born socialite Raghad Kurdi, as saying: “No words can describe how much Taib meant to me,” after she took to social media to refute manic online claims that her husband had been abducted from a hospital.

But overall, Malaysian media outlets were unusually reserved in announcing his death. The official Bernama news agency noted national cabinet ministers had sent their condolences and Malaysiakini published an article under the headline, “Taib Mahmud, looking back at a senior leader’s checkered past.”

That was a veiled reference to the allegations – sometimes backed by overwhelming evidence – of gross corruption centered around illegal logging and dam construction in Sarawak, a state that was already blessed with substantial offshore oil and gas reserves.

See also  ‘On Their Own’: GOP Rep On Ground In Israel Says Stranded Americans Are ‘Getting Nowhere’ With Biden State Dept

Throughout his tenure Taib maintained a tight grip over the Christian-majority state within Muslim-majority Malaysia through malapportionment and gerrymandering, winning him a political fan club among the ruling elites in Kuala Lumpur.

His politicking ensured the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, which had dominated Malaysian politics for decades after independence in 1957, maintained power at the national level.

Taib’s influence delivered 25 seats in the 2013 elections, ensuring then Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is now behind bars for corruption, kept his job. Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor have also been tied to the murder of the Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Those political connections enabled Taib to establish a business reach via 400 companies across Sarawak and around the world with interests ranging from nine stock market listings and properties in the United States, Britain, Hong Kong, and Australia.

He was investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), opposition politicians, the Tokyo Regional Tax Bureau, the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), Global Witness, and the Sarawak Report among others. He escaped prosecution.

Some 55 non-governmental organizations took up a petition saying it would be a “national disaster” 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 position until a month before his death.

But even in death his accounts are unlikely to be settled, at least not in the short term, amid reports that a family squabble is brewing with Taib’s children contesting Raghad for their father’s company shares through the courts.

The BMF says it wants those assets frozen and another probe launched into Taib’s bank accounts and other assets before they can be appropriated by his family.

See also  Northwestern State Cancels Football Season After Player's Tragic Death

“We call on the MACC to reopen its investigation into Taib assets, which was closed in 2016 for political reasons,” BMF Executive Director Lukas Straumann said in a statement.

“During Taib’s tenure, Sarawak lost most of its primary rainforests. In the 1960s, 90 percent of Sarawak was still covered with primary forests while today less than 10 percent remain intact,” he said.

Industrial logging was met with fierce resistance by indigenous communities and Straumann added that Taib acquired “enormous wealth,” despite constitutional prohibitions that are supposed to prevent the Sarawak chief minister and governor from becoming involved in commercial enterprises.

Given MACC’s success in prosecuting Najib – despite the recent reduction in his sentence – such a suggestion is more than worthy of consideration and the lawsuits likely to emerge from Taib’s offspring should offer additional insights into how the family of a Malaysian bureaucrat obtained so much money.

Billionaire Controversial Laid Leader Malaysian Rest State
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Ending China’s De Minimis Exception Brings 3 Benefits for Americans

April 17, 2025

The Trump Tariff Shock Should Push Indonesia to Reform Its Economy

April 17, 2025

Tariff Talks an Opportunity to Reinvigorate the Japan-US Alliance

April 17, 2025

How China’s Companies Are Responding to the US Trade War

April 16, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Top Posts

UAW votes overwhelmingly to authorize strike at Detroit Three automakers

August 26, 2023

REPORT: Danny Masterson’s Wife Files For Divorce After Rape Case Sentencing

September 20, 2023

VIDEO: UFC Champ Sean Strickland Blasts Canadian Reporter for LGBT Gotcha Question: ‘Weak F*ck*ng Man’

January 18, 2024

Cigna Sued Over Algorithm Allegedly Used To Deny Coverage To Patients

July 25, 2023
Don't Miss

Short and Funny Sayings for a Happy Summer with Friends

Lifestyle May 9, 2025

I love the beach. Just looking at the calming sea to relax. Having fun in…

Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

May 8, 2025

100 Funny Father’s Day Quotes for Hilariously Relatable Humor (and Plenty of Love Too)

May 8, 2025

Top 10 Benefits Of Acupuncture

May 8, 2025
About
About

This is your World, Tech, Health, Entertainment and Sports website. We provide the latest breaking news straight from the News industry.

We're social. Connect with us:

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
Categories
  • Business (4,110)
  • Entertainment (4,220)
  • Finance (3,202)
  • Health (1,938)
  • Lifestyle (1,627)
  • Politics (3,084)
  • Sports (4,036)
  • Tech (2,006)
  • Uncategorized (4)
  • World (3,944)
Our Picks

Oil up 1% on signs of slow US output, posts first weekly loss in 8 weeks

August 18, 2023

Analysis: Debt restructuring no panacea for Chinese developers as challenges loom

May 18, 2023

Liberal readers melt down over the Prospect article on Tucker Carlson leaving Fox News: ‘Disgraceful and stupid’

April 27, 2023
Popular Posts

Short and Funny Sayings for a Happy Summer with Friends

May 9, 2025

Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

May 8, 2025

100 Funny Father’s Day Quotes for Hilariously Relatable Humor (and Plenty of Love Too)

May 8, 2025
© 2025 Patriotnownews.com - All rights reserved.
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.