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| Old school robber barons Najib Razak & Taib Mahmud |
My heartfelt gratitude and utmost admiration goes to Clare Rewcastle Brown (
Sarawak Report), Peter John Jaban (
Radio Free Sarawak), Lukas Straumann and the
Bruno Manser Fonds for their unrelenting efforts towards tracking down Taib Mahmud's vampiric financial empire spread across many continents.
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| Head of a Vampire Dynasty |
As chief minister of Sarawak since 1981, Taib Mahmud has had ample time to rape, pillage and plunder the 130 million year old Borneo rainforest - and, in the process, threaten with extinction the last remaining indigenous nomadic tribe of Sarawak, the Penan.
The politics of corruption in Malaysia as practised by Barisan Nasional makes Taib Mahmud immune to all allegations against him and his family mafia, no matter how strong the evidence. Environmental and human rights activists attempting to stop the carnage are quickly targeted by Taib's secret police - and invariably turned back on arrival at the airport - or (if they are Sarawakians) forced into exile to avoid imprisonment, and perhaps even untimely death.
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Bruno Manser, 11 years after his
disappearance in Sarawak, remains
a thorn in Taib Mahmud's side |
The Bruno Manser Fonds was named in honor of a
courageous Swiss artist who spent many years living with the Penan and became an honorary member of the tribe. He was a huge thorn in the side of Taib Mahmud's avaricious schemes, and when he abruptly disappeared sometime in May 2000, the rumor mill was rife with reports that a lucrative bounty had been put on his head by logging companies backed by the chief minister.
Bruno Manser: Tribute to an Ecowarrior
Update on the Penan blockade in Ulu Baram
EU delegation visits Penan blockade area without meeting the Penan
If I were Albert de Monaco I would be shameful to show some friends like that ...
ReplyDeleteHang Paulson
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4hVZYHW2So
A registered letter, which we sent in December 2011 and was signed by 15 NGOs from eight countries calling on Malaysia’s authorities to arrest Taib and 13 family members, has been left unanswered. Has the PM got any trace of moral, dignity and sense of shame left? Watching from NZ, rated top for democracy, and transparency, this is despicable, this is a disgrace to the whole Country Malaysia. Why are Sarawakians & Malaysian tolerating this rot & stench?
ReplyDeletePolitical leaders should never think and behave like they own the country. They were only elected to serve the electorates! The likes of Mubarak, Gaddafi & Ashad weren’t even elected. UMNO, BN, PBB & their cronies’ Pillaging, plundering and preying on the people with gerrymandering, vote-rigging, controlled deceptive media and multi-billion thefts are crime and evil of the highest degree, because these destroy the livelihood of many, or millions. These criminals must be severely punished.
Am writing from NZ, rated among the world most democratic, uncorrupt countries:
ReplyDeleteSarawak’s biggest criminal & his cronies have stolen directly or indirectly, billions of $ from the people. He was elected to serve his people, instead he made himself a King and continued self-aggrandization for 31 years to this day, without the slightest trace of humility or remorse. He still stands & speaks proudly. Gosh! How can you tolerate this another day! Sit-ins, stop-work, blockages, protests, marches, should have started 30 years ago by NZ’s standard. Has no one in Sarawak got any guts? The PM obviously supports deception, cheating & multi-billion thefts on a grand scale. Where is his sense of shame? And his legitimacy to remain in office?
RM800million a day! Malaysia Chronicle: “For the first decade... Malaysia has lost a staggering RM1.08 trillion (US$338 billion) (RM800million a day) in illicit outflows which is the fourth highest in the developing world……The Global Financial Integrity (GFI) reported in January that RM930 billion flowed out of Malaysia from 2000 to 2008...The report elaborated further by stating that the increase was “at a scaled seen in few Asian countries” .Economists Sarah Freitas and Dev Kar, who is a former senior economist at the International Monetary Fund, stressed that these illicit outflows are basically illicit transfers of the proceeds of bribery, theft, kickbacks and tax evasion." In other words, it refers to corruption money or black money that is obtained illegally…… ENOUGH OF TAIB, ENOUGH OF UMNO, NOT ANOTHER DAY!
ReplyDelete@Alan - I completely empathize with how exasperated you feel about the situation, especially in Sarawak. For 20 years I have lived amongst an Orang Asli tribe in the Malayan Peninsula. I have seen firsthand how easily cowed or bribed they are by smooth-talking bureaucrats bearing gifts or ready cash. The Orang Ulu of Sarawak are in much the same the predicament. Their traditional culture teaches them to be meek and non-confrontational; so when a champion appeared in their midst like Bruno Manser, the Penan people took heart and began to resist. That's why Taib Mahmud wanted Manser alive or dead - preferably dead. Manser showed the Penan the power of non-violent resistance and the moral statement it makes. It was then the indigenous folk realized the rich towkays and arrogant politicians were vulnerable to negative publicity. The fact that Taib Mahmud remains the chief minister is simply because the educated middle class urban voters of Sarawak are either afraid or beholden to the existing power structure - since nobody can do business in Sarawak unless they're on friendly terms with the regime. We have had to wait for their children to reach voting age and acquire a social conscience - and I believe that time has come at long last.
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