Motorists travelling along Jalan Demak in Kuching were stunned to see Sarawak governor Abdul Taib Mahmud flooring the pedal of his spanking new Bentley convertible.

According to one Facebook post, the motorists were awestruck that the 80-year-old former chief minister was still able to drive and that too at high speeds.

The Borneo Facebook page also featured a photograph of Taib cruising in his new car with the top down.

The photograph was originally posted on his wife Ragad Taib’s Instagram page, with the caption: “Driving his own new car... You deserve more.”

She had presented her husband with the RM1.5 million white Bentley Continental GT V8 S in conjunction with his birthday and the couple’s fifth wedding anniversary. 

The celebration was held at the state legislative assembly complex in Kuching last Saturday.

Ragad, 36, who hails from Syria, married Taib in 2010 after the death of his first wife Laila a year earlier due to cancer.

Taib and Laila, who were married in 1959, were blessed with four children, Jamilah, Mahmud Abu Bekir, Sulaiman Abdul Rahman and Hanifah as well as 15 grandchildren.

Also present were Deputy Chief Ministers Douglas Uggah Embas and Abang Johari Tun Openg, former deputy chief minister Alfred Jabu Numpang, cabinet ministers and family members.

Last May, whistleblower website Sarawak Report claimed that Taib was given a 2012 Rolls-Royce Phantom - which he can use whenever he is in Kuala Lumpur as his official car.

At the time of the report, it was stated that the car sold for £365,000 (RM2 million) in Britain.

Taib had relinquished his position as chief minister in 2014 after being in power for more than three decades and was succeeded by his former brother-in-law Adenan Satem.