Taib Mahmud: How to be Malaysia’s richest like me

By FMT

Poor Sarawak! Despite its immense natural resources, it is going to take some time before it can join the ranks of Malaysia’s richest states, according to Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. The fault, he seemed to imply, lies in Sarawakians themselves; they apparently lack discipline and focus.

In his Merdeka Day message, he spoke of “national discipline and focus” and said Sarawak could become Malaysia’s richest state by 2030 if the people were to acquire these two qualities.

“We can be the richest state in Malaysia if we keep the stability in the country and unite the people to focus on building our future and train ourselves to be equal with Americans and Europeans,” he said.

Cynics sneered at the statement, seeing in it an appeal to voters to give him another 20 years of power.

Taib has been at the helm of Sarawak’s BN administration for more than two decades, and some 60 percent of Sarawakians still live in poverty.

A state election is impending and Taib’s regime faces a slew of allegations of wrongdoing, ranging from corruption and cronyism to racial discrimination and land grabbing. Taib himself has been accused of amassing huge fortunes in the form of real estate in Canada, the United States and Britain.

In his Independece Day speech, Taib said Sarawak aspired to become a high-income economy and that the path towards that status would be paved by the private sector.

“The government’s role must not be too big or it will be a slow government in a market-driven economy,” he said.

“As such this new transformation of machinery and people must focus on what they (the private sector) can do and not what the government can do.”

He said Sarawak drew in RM30 billion worth of investments last year and his government was busy trying to attract even more investors from around the world.

Borneo Post today quoted him as saying that he was meeting every month with “potential investors interested in aluminium, manganese, poly silicon, paper and pulp”.

‘What has Taib been doing past 30 years?’

Sarawak DAP has expressed shock that Chief Minister Taib Mahmud does not know what the Chinese community wants even after 30 years at the helm.

“We are shocked when we read from the papers last week that the chief minister indicated that he does not know what the Chinese community wants,” Chong Chieng Jen, DAP secretary, said in a letter to the chief minister.

“After 30 years as chief minister, it is simply absurd that Taib does not know what the Chinese community in Sarawak wants.

“What has the chief minister been doing in the past 30 years?

“What have the chief minister’s counterparts in Sarawak United People which claims to represent the Chinese community in the government been doing in the past 30 years?” he asked.

Copies of the letter were distributed to the Press today. A copy was sent to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Chong said that a statement like this by the chief minister simply meant that Taib “has failed as the chief minister for all Sarawakians”.

“Let me, as a member of the opposition and also as a Sarawakian, inform the chief minister what the Chinese community in Sarawak wants. Many of the things they want are also what a common Sarawakian, a non-Chinese, wants of a state government,” he said.

The list includes:

• Amendment to the Sarawak Land Code to provide for (an) automatic free renewal of land leases for another 99 years upon expiry of the terms of leases, and (b) Section 47 notification shall lapse and cease to be of any effect on the expiry of two years after the date of its publication in the gazette if the government does not acquire the land within the said two-year period.

• A fair and transparent land policy whereby the alienation of state land for commercial purposes ought to be done through an open tender system. At present, large parcels of state land are alienated to companies belonging to family members of the chief minister.

• All state government procurement contracts be awarded through open tender whereby all suppliers and contractors can tender and compete on an equal footing. Currently, companies related to Taib’s family members almost enjoy a monopoly over state government contracts involving millions of ringgit.

• Annual allocation of funds from the state budgets for the development and maintenance of Chinese middle schools, Chinese primary schools and missionary schools.

• Timber concession licences to be awarded for small areas (1,000 to 2,000 acres per licence) and through open tender system so that all those who are involved in sawmill or wood industry will have a chance to obtain the raw material (timber logs) first-hand.

• Cheaper electricity for domestic, commercial and industrial uses. This is especially so given that the Bakun Dam will be in operation soon and that hydro-electricity is cheap. Furthermore, it is unfair to that Syarikat SESCO, a unkit of Sarawak Energy Bhd, is selling electricity to Press Metal Bhd at a cheap price of about 10 sen per KwH, while local consumers, businessmen and industrialists have to pay about 30 sen per KwH for electricity.

• Local councils be given sufficient funds to provide proper maintenance of basic infrastructure like street lightings, drains and roads.

• There shall not be any control or restriction on the production of cement in Sarawak and the import of cement from Peninsular Malaysia to Sarawak.

• Fairer treatment and better representation of the Chinese in the civil service. Of late, not only the Chinese are unfairly treated, but also the locals as well. State government agencies, especially SESCO, are paying foreigners higher salaries than locals holding comparable posts. For example, the Norwegian CEO of SESCO earns US$1.2 million annually.

Cancel the 10% sales tax imposed on 4-D tickets as there is no such tax on the sale of 4-D tickets in the peninsula.

Chong, who is Bandar Kuching MP, said: “I can confidently say that all the items listed are what the Chinese in Sarawak want, which the state government has the power to implement immediately.

“Basically, they call for equal and fair distribution and enjoyment of the state’s wealth and resources. Even the non-Chinese will welcome this.

“There are others issues like good governance, justice, security, medical welfare, flood mitigation projects and education, which are of concern to the Chinese community… ” he said.

Chong also urged Taib to make a full and frank disclosure of the properties that he and his family members have amassed within and outside Malaysia.