An reinvigorated Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud called on the ruling coalition to wage an "all-out battle" against the opposition in a fiery speech at the Sarawak BN convention in Kuching today.

In his opening speech for the convention, that is being held to rally the troops ahead of state polls expected next month, Taib said BN should not be too defensive in rebutting the many allegations from the opposition.

sarawak BN convention taib and wife He boasted that the BN state government had brought impressive development and great prosperity to Sarawak, one of the poorest states in Malaysia.

"Who dare to say BN has done nothing to the country? Why should we be defensive? Why should we be scared to speak out? Why shouldn't we fight an all-out battle against the liars and the cowards?"

The 74-year-old chief minister, who is marking his 30th year in power this month, recounted BN's achievements, including boosting Sarawakians’ per capita income by more than 40-fold since independence.

The state government is aiming to further increase the current RM23,796 per capita income of Sarawakians five times - to RM100,000 in 2030, he vowed.

BN sarawak convention Taib described the competition between BN and the opposition as a battle of "politics of reality versus politics of perception".

He said the politics of reality, that is practised by BN, is to bring development to the people, but the politics of perception by the opposition is to spread propaganda and play with the people's sentiment.

The veteran politician lashed out at the opposition for diverting the attention of the people from the state’s development agenda to the politics of propaganda.

"Perception can manipulate reality and mislead the people," Taib warned.

‘Don’t let BN ship sink’

The combative chief minister described BN as a big ship and said the opposition was sniping at it with bullets from a small boat.

"They said the big ship cannot now be used because of the bullet holes. Do you want to sink the big ship and swim to the small boat?"

"If so, you will swim forever... That (small boat) is the alternative of BN - a change for the worse."

According to Taib, the "small bullet holes" are BN's weaknesses, which are being rectified through the National Key Results Areas (NKRA) launched by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

He maintained that these “weaknesses” are small compare to the “huge success” that Sarawak has achieved over the past 50 years.

During the hour-long speech, Taib appeared to be in high spirits. Apart from his shock of white hair, he showed little sign of an aging man.

BN sarawak convention As he addressed the 5,000-strong multi-racial crowd of Sarawak BN component parties, he made full use of his oratory skills, complemented by his rich body language, and at times thumping the rostrum for emphasis.

Taib spoke in a clear and orderly manner, without the aid of any written text. He kicked off his speech with a brief history of the BN, the coalition’s development agenda, building the crescendo to his final battle cry.

The PBB chairperson quoted US president Abraham Lincoln's "government of the people, by the people, for the people" to describe the democracy practised by BN.

"Some people talk about freedom. They talk about many things but they do not talk about 'for the people'."

"Who can practise democracy better? The people who shout slogans or us? You answer that," he said.

Young wife steals show

Taib rolls royce Taib arrived this morning at the Borneo Convention Centre, venue for  the state BN meeting, in a gleeming silver Rolls Royce.

He was accompanied by his 28-year-old wife Raghad Waleeda Al-Kurdi, who was dressed in an elegant green baju kurung .

Ragad, a Syrian who married Taib three months ago, was seen happily shaking the hands of BN faithful while walking behind her husband into the convention hall.

She appeared to be more popular than the chief minister himself, with many delegates queuing up to take photographs with her during the break.

5,300 delegates from all Sarawak BN component parties - Parti Pesaka  Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) - attended the convention.

It opened with the welcoming speech by organising committee chairperson Alfred Jabu Numpang, who is also deputy chief minister, and followed by Taib's speech.

The leaders of the component parties - George Chan of SUPP, James Jemut Masing of PRS and William Mawan Ikom of SPDP as well as PBB deputy chief Abdul Rahman Zohari Abang Openg - then took turns to respond to Taib's speech.

However, this portion of the convention was a closed-door event, and journalists were asked to leave the hall.

S’wak natives will sue if state fails to correct anomaly