Were members of Abdul Taib Mahmud’s delegation in cloud cuckoo land? Or were the protesters outside the Said Business School in Oxford hallucinating?

 

It seems that some of the newspaper articles about Taib’s visit hit a raw nerve. If Taib and his associates are not pleased, neither are most people.

 

NONE The delegates claim Taib was “received….and treated like a king” and that he was not smuggled in, contrary to popular reports. On the other hand, the demonstrators were adamant their protest succeeded and denied receiving any DVDs about the Penan.

 

Taib’s second address to the Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum was in Session Six, around 4pm. A few of his delegates were seen drinking with the remaining demonstrators at the local pub. So unless they sneaked out early, these delegates can substantiate that the demonstrators did not disperse after 30 minutes as claimed by his group.

 

The Sarawak Chief Minister’s visit to London was sensationalised by selected Malaysian media. Before Taib’s ill-fated visit to Oxford, Bernama reported that Taib had “addressed the House of Lords” on July 23. Apart from the Star , a mainstream newspaper, almost all the alternative media wrote about the protests at Oxford. Surprisingly, the Malaysian Insider did not cover the demonstration.

 

Taib’s vast public relations machinery has been promoting his trip. “Friends of the Chief Minister” uploaded a short clip to YouTube: “Chief Minister of Sarawak in the House of Lords”.

 

protest against taib mahmud in oxford university london The video showed cherry-picked bits of Taib’s so-called address to the House of Lords, when promoting the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).

 

It is interesting viewing, made more startling by omissions, rather than what was included.

 

The first anti-climax was that Taib’s audience was a group of around 20 people in a small ante-chamber, albeit in the Palace of Westminster.

 

Then, the film credits are wrong. The first lady speaker was not Lady Fiona Hodgson, but Baroness Sarah Ludford, the Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for London. The second lady speaker, with a pearl necklace, was Lady Fiona Hodgson. These two ladies, who are members of different political parties, would not appreciate being credited wrongly.

Taib already has a dubious reputation in Malaysia but his association with Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham would not improve his standing. Lord Ahmed was sending and receiving text messages when he hit and killed a man on the M1 motorway in England. He admitted driving dangerously, was jailed for 12 weeks, disqualified from driving for 12 months and subsequently expelled from the Labour party. Is this the same Lord Ahmed? Maybe it is Lord Ahmed’s reputation which will be further tarnished by associating with Taib?

 

Talk deemed a ‘private meeting’

The text of Taib’s talk is not available on the House of Lords website as it was deemed a “private meeting”. Had the video clip been shown in its entirety, then we might get a clearer understanding.

 

Nonetheless, a Bernama report confirmed that Taib told his British hosts, “The development of SCORE will ensure the potential of resources can be optimally harnessed in ways and means through a truly green and sustainable reforestration practice.”

 

azlan Taib’s discussion of coal and gas underlines his ignorance. These two energy sources are non- renewable and are not “green”. As for hydropower, he failed to mention his 12 mega-dam dream, and how the Bakun dam has destroyed the livelihood of many people and the landscape.

If Taib wanted to impress, he only achieved the opposite. The sceptical look on Baroness Ludford’s face said it all.

 

Promotion of bio-fuels means that land will be used to grow crops for biofuels, instead of food. The end result is also a loss of habitat for various animals and plants.

 

The concept of bio-fuel and the ideals of SCORE, for food production, are conflicting. Baroness Ludford’s frank statement that the EU was having a rethink on policy of biofuels and the impact of deforestation and illegal logging must have caused consternation for Taib.

 

If the rest of the crowd looks like it is feigning interest in Taib, he has at least one enthusiastic supporter. She is seen nodding vigorously whenever he says something. It seems a few members of Taib’s extended family were part of his entourage.

 

When Lady Fiona Hodgson addressed the group, she looked too eager to please, displaying appropriate body language and saying all the right words to her guests. And she stressed what many Malaysians already knew - Taib’s generosity (with taxpayers’ money).

 

She said, “I absolutely understand why visitors are always coming to see you in your country, because I have been to mainland Malaysia and Sarawak, and I have to say, any opportunity, and I shall be there again.” Loud applause then followed this empty, fatuous statement which was full of suggestive hints.

 

Misleading claim about 1Malaysia

Taib mentioned that the prime minister claimed that the 1Malaysia policy was “pioneered by Sarawak” and that he wanted to “make it very popular in peninsular Malaysia”.

 

protest against taib mahmud in oxford university london West Malaysians strongly agree that there is a great deal of interaction and spontaneity between the various peoples of Sarawak, but to say that Sarawak pioneered the 1Malaysia concept is misleading. Peninsular Malaysians were once united, until Mahathir destroyed our oneness by playing on racial and religious sentiments.

 

Taib’s hosts must be made aware that he systematically plundered Sarawak’s natural resources for his own use, ignored the suffering of his own people, rejected Native Customary Rights land and failed to resolve the rape of the Penan girls.

 

Malaysians, especially Sarawakians, are critical of Taib. Even members of BN consider him a liability and relegated him to the background during the Sibu by-elections.

 

Taib believed he could make a big splash in England but his humiliation at Oxford just showed that his reputation is as bad abroad as it is at home.

 

The “expenses scandal” of the British MPs and peers angered many people. If the peers are trying to improve their tarnished reputations, why did they invite Taib to the “House of Lords”?

 

Taib is one of Asia’s most self-serving and corrupt politicians. Is the “House of Lords” condoning corruption? Maybe both the peers and Taib, wish he had stayed at home.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.