List of Chief Ministers of Sarawak
| # | Chief Minister | Took Office | Left Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Datuk Stephen Kalong Ningkan | 1963 | 1966 |
| 2. | Datuk Penghulu Tawi Sli | 1966 | 1970 |
| 3. | Tun Abdul Rahman Ya'kub | 1970 | 1981 |
| 4. | Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud | 1981 | present |
Haji Abdul Taib bin Mahmud (born 21 May 1936 in Miri, Malaysia) is a Malaysian politician and the current Chief Minister of Sarawak. He is of ethnic Melanau descent. He is also President of the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), which is part of the Barisan Nasional coalition.
Taib is informally known as Pak Uban, which translates into "white-haired uncle". Among Chinese speaking communities he is known as Bai Mao (白毛) which means "white hair". Another informal name for him, in reference to the British Brooke family that ruled Sarawak as White Rajahs in the 19th and early 20th century, is "last white rajah" or "white-haired rajah". [1] Holding the post of the Chief Minister of Sarawak since 1981, he is the longest serving Chief Minister in Malaysia.
Alleged Corruption
Accusations of deep corruption and nepotism have surrounded Taib on several occasions and the dominance of Sarawak's political elite including Taib's family in the logging industry is well documented. In 2007, it was reported that nine Japanese shipping companies, which transported timber from Sarawak, had allegedly failed to report some 1.1 billion yen in income over a period of up to seven years. The report claimed the money was paid as kickbacks to Sarawak officials via a Hong Kong agent linked to Taib's family.
The results of the logging industry under Taib is that less than 10% of Sarawak's primary forests remain, logging many of the ancestral lands of many of Sarawak's indigenous communities, despite their continued petitions and road blockades, where forceful dismantling has led to several deaths and regular violent coercion by the Malaysian army, police and logging industry enforcers.
In the 2008 general election, Taib's son Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib won a seat in the Malaysian parliament and became Deputy Tourism Minister in the new cabinet. Prior to this, he did not have any political experience.
Taib's sister Roziah is one of the most powerful businesswomen in Sarawak with extensive holdings in property and timber business.
Taib's brother-in-law, Aziz Hussain, was appointed state secretary by Mahmud and when he retired, Mahmud appointed him executive director of Sarawak Energy and other companies.
Once, I was asked by a young man who from the Sarawak PKR would be qualified to be a clean Chief Minister for the state of Sarawak?
The question is pertinent, because generally Sarawakians have been exposed to so much corruption in public life that it is hard for them to believe that politicians can be incorruptible.
My answer to that young man was simple: Baru Bian would qualify to be such an incorruptible Sarawak CM, though I expressed some reservation whether he could survive politically in the crocodile pit that is Sarawak politics.
Baru Bian comes from the small indigenous community called Lum Bawangs, who dwell mostly in the mountainous region in Northern Sarawak. They are a very small minority but still Baru is a Dayak, and that should appease those former PBDS members clamouring for Dayak leadership in PKR.
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