Taib is dead. Sarawak is changing. Allegations remain
The plutocratic family clings on to power despite shifts in state and national politics.
You’re reading a subscriber-only post of The Malaysianist, the newsletter on money and power by journalist Emmanuel Samarathisa. I publish every Wednesday and Saturday, and every other newsday, 8AM MYT.
Before I begin, I’d like to thank those who checked in on me after I published last Saturday’s email. I’m feeling better. Falling 3m to the ground in your late 30s feels different, even if the end result is a bruised and swollen left thigh and butt.
I’d like to apologise for not publishing a newsletter on Monday. I totally underestimated the injury. The ability to sit is something I took for granted and only leaning on one side can be frustrating.
Maybe being an ass all this time finally paid off. Jokes aside, I hope to not go through that experience again.
Tomorrow, the newsletter will be back to regular programming. It’s shaping up to be a spicy edition with some conflicts. If you want in, do subscribe.
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Former Sarawak governor Taib Mahmud died last Wednesday, ending a weeks-long drama over the condition of his health and his whereabouts.
The announcement of the 87-year-old politicians’ death drew polarised reactions. Public officials and mainstream media praised the former Sarawak leader while others threw brickbats.
But, as the family patriarch is no longer around, will the Taib clan continue to dominate interests at state and national levels? A few things have changed since the last white-haired (Pek Moh) Rajah was in the driving seat, and these shifts may prove disadvantageous to the family.
That said, while the Taibs may be making way for other elite families to dominate the state’s political and corporate spheres, they remain untouchable, for now.
A different “Malaya”
While Taib may have reigned Sarawak in his heyday, the man was essentially made in Malaya. Taib’s first taste of politics came in 1963 when he joined the Barisan Rakyat Jati Sarawak (Berjasa) in 1963. Berjasa was the precursor to Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PPBB). He would go on to hold a number of posts at the state level. The most notable one was his appointment as state development and forestry minister in 1966.