Remembering Sarawak’s greatest statesman
KUCHING: Sarawak lost its greatest statesman yesterday with the passing of Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Dubbed ‘The Father of Modern Sarawak,’ Abdul Taib Mahmud brought Sarawak out of the backwaters and laid the foundation for her progress.
Born on May 21, 1936, the Adelaide-trained lawyer has been in Sarawak’s political scene since the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
He was appointed as the Minister of Communications and Works in the state’s first Cabinet under chief minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Kalong Ningkan.
Subsequently, Taib was called by Malaysia’s founding prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman to be part of the federal Cabinet.
He was entrusted with several portfolios, including Minister of General Planning and SocioEconomic Research, Minister of Primary Industries, Minister of Defence, and finally as Minister of Federal Territories.
Then on March 26, 1981, he was appointed as the fourth chief minister of Sarawak.
This was not long after Tun Datuk Patinggi Abdul Rahman Yakub resigned as chief minister to become the fourth Yang diPertua Negeri.
As chief minister and minister of resource planning, Taib was able to implement major projects that brought maximum development to Sarawak through his ‘Politics of Development’ policy, which also formed the basis for COME – change, opportunity, mobility, and equality for all Sarawakians.
He once said: “Politics of Development is a holistic approach in balancing the whole spectrum of socioeconomic development that involved the whole strata of society regardless of race and religion.” His immense contribution to Sarawak was indeed unsurpassable.
Among his countless achievements are the setting up of Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) in order to harness Sarawak’s rich oil and gas resources; the setting up of new administrative divisions – Mukah, Betong, and Samarahan; the elevation of Kuching and Miri as cities; the setting up of Laila Taib College in Sibu; the setting up of various universities such as University Technology Sarawak (UTS) in Sibu, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus in Kuching, and Curtin University Malaysia in Miri.
He was also instrumental in ensuring that Sarawak should have its first public university with the setting up of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in Kota Samarahan.
There are numerous other training institutes and colleges which he also helped to set up to train Sarawakians in various fields, not only to help develop the state but also to uplift the standard of living of the people.
The social aspect of the people was also well taken off when he implemented civic centres in major towns to cater to the growing needs of the people.
He believed the successful implementation of the Politics of Development would bring about positive changes, create ample employment and business opportunities that would require the people to be mobile.
“In those days, without the dewan suarah (civic centre), it would be very challenging to gather the masses for major events as there was lack of such facilities,” he recalled.
Taib also established many industrial parks such as the Samajaya Industrial Park, Demak Jaya Industrial Park, Samalaju Industrial Park, and Tanjung Manis Industrial Park, which created job opportunities for locals, especially those from rural areas.
Besides developing the oil and gas industry, Taib also transformed primary resources such as timber, oil palm and forest plantations, that have been able to provide ample employment to Sarawakians over the years.
His development holistic development projects covered land development, timber and palm oil industries, conservation of environment, education from preschool to tertiary education, urban and rural development, reinvigorating and re-energising the civil service not only to upgrade the quality of service but also to bring the services to the people.
Taib also created a number of statutory bodies such as the Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA), Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), Sacofa and enlarged the roles and functions of established ones such as the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra).
Sarawak’s economy was also transformed under his watch from agriculture-based to industrialisation to move the people’s income from a mediumto high-income economy in tandem with the national agenda to become a developed economy by the year 2030.
He believed with the success to develop good network infrastructure connectivity and more than 1 million hectares of oil palm estates, the state has laid a strong foundation for industrial development.
When he took over the helm of the state government on March 26, 1981, Sarawak was one of the three least developed regions in the country.
Then, the poverty rate was about 70 per cent and the state was still facing threats from the remnants of armed communist terrorists in pockets of areas under the Rajang Area Security Command (Rascom).
Infrastructural connectivity at the time was confined only to urban areas such as Kuching, Sibu, and Miri, with the rest of the state being largely unconnected.
Taib also introduced the concept of ‘The Confluence of Rivers’ to crystallise the politics of development, which initially was quite vague to the people.
This concept sought to educate the people on the needs to respect each other in a multireligious and multiracial Sarawak.
“These are some of the challenges that we faced in the initial formation of Malaysia,” he pointed out.
The Politics of Development as a philosophy reflected Taib’s desire to bring the people together and move in tandem with the pace of development that he had to accelerate to push Sarawak to become an active developing state.
Kota Samarahan as an educational hub
Due to the vital need of trained human resources to further develop the state, Kota Samarahan was earmarked to become an education hub wherein Sarawak’s first public university, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) was established.
This was followed by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sarawak campus, and the Tun Abdul Razak Teacher Training Institute.
Due to its status as an education hub, it was natural that other forms of development also took place in the area such as housing, Sarawak General Hospital Heart Centre and Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute (Tropi).
Kota Samarahan has also benefited tremendously with the rapid physical transformation of Kuching as a city and due to the need to expand further in order to accommodate the growing population.
Recoda – catalyst for renewable energy
Under Taib, the Regional Corridor Development Authority (Recoda) was established to harness Sarawak’s huge hydroelectric power (HEP) potential.
Through Recoda, the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) was also established to implement HEP projects throughout the state.
HEP dams such as Batang Ai, Bakun, and Murum were built.
Currently, the Baleh HEP dam is under construction and is expected to be completed by 2027.
Through power harnessed from the HEP dams, Sarawak has been able to attract billions of ringgit in foreign direct investment (FDI) as it is able to offer competitive tariffs.
The state has since been able to export power to Kalimantan.
As a visionary leader, Taib also planned both the coastal road and the Pan-Borneo Highway, which is now almost reaching completion.
PBB – backbone of Sarawak’s political stability
“The Politics of Development that we envisioned has been able to transform Sarawak to what it is today because Sarawak has been politically stable with Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) as the backbone of the Sarawak state government.
“Through PBB, we have been able to form a very stable government with other component parties such as Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP),” said Taib, who helmed PBB for 33 years.
Sarawak Regatta – a symbol of harmony
To cement further the already harmonious society, Taib reintroduced the Sarawak Regatta, which was initially introduced by Rajah James Brooke to encourage social interaction among the warring factions.
Today, thousands of people from all walks of life converge on the Kuching Waterfront to witness the spectacular show.
The Sarawak Regatta has thus proven itself to be a symbol of peace and harmony among Sarawakians of all races and religions.
“As such, the current peace and harmony must be continuously encouraged and preserved as we have achieved them through much sweat and blood in the course of our history such as through the Confrontation and communist threats,” Taib said.
During his tenure as the seventh governor of Sarawak, Taib continued to emphasise to Sarawakians the need to observe peace and harmony to enable Sarawak to achieve developed status by 2030.
He also called on the younger generation to appreciate the political stability that Sarawakians have been enjoying, which must not be taken for granted.
Recognitions and awards For his vast contributions to the development of both the state and nation, Taib was bestowed Sarawak’s highest award, the Satria Bintang Sarawak (SBS), which carries the title Pehin Sri and the nation’s highest award, the Darjah Kebesaran Seri Maharaja Mangku Negara (SSM), which carries the title Tun.
He also received special awards from Australia, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Brunei.