The New Robin Hood Playground: Sarawak!
A Little Taffer’s Room
I have read many exposes of the corruption and mismanagement under the Taib Mahmud administration in Sarawak, that Sarawak Report has prominently spoke of. Someone called Taib as somewhat “immune” or in Malay “kebal” meaning that no one, not even the MACC nor even Najib is able to touch Taib Mahmud mainly because he amasses more money that could even match the amount of reserves available in Malaysia alone.
I find this state elections very interesting though it brings back memories of the 2008 election campaign though not as big as it is right now. It also allows to test the change effect that will happen with the main factor being the “Hate Taib” factor. After all, people have pointed Taib in many parallels to the deposed Hosni Mubarak, with two things in common: both men have been running the state for 30 years and have amassed a huge fortune that gets stashed in other places including the Swiss bank. The “Hate Pak Lah” factor was the main reason why PR won unprecedentedly that year, and denied Barisan Nasional 2/3rds.
It has become public knowledge that Taib used bomohs (read black magic) as a part of the play dirty way to win elections. Even one of his relatives, Salleh Jafaruddin have started to make noise the moment the blonde bomoh, which was brought in by Raziah Mahmud to her brother Taib makes the appearance last night. This too, not only does seen in Taib’s circle, but in Alfred Jabu’s. Whenever a PR ceramah that happens in Jabu’s territory, the police was hell bent on stopping ceramahs there. It gives a tell-tale sign that they were acting under Jabu’s directive – a baruah, shall I say.
No, that’s not the main point I would want to say. I came to notice, that as we’ve gone into the second day of campaigning in Sarawak, it has already started to become the playground that harks to the days of the legend of Robin Hood and Nottingham. In Sarawak, it is very similar to the legend, where the people of Sarawak must undertake the quest to free the country from the tyranny of despots. In this case, Taib Mahmud was very similar to King John himself. And as the story goes like John, Taib would robbed the natives land rights, people’s wealth, and give it to the rich barons allied to him and in the process, people were poor and the state never prospered where people would reap its rewards. Not at all.
A conventional main villain always has its number twos and Taib always has his deputies – George Chan, also one of his brother-in-laws, and Alfred Jabu whom is very similar in role, capacity like the Sheriff of Nottingham. Any child or those who remembered stories and tales would know that the Sheriff would do the dirty work, going out with crew under him to harass the poor people, rob the riches and whack people who do not conform to their definition of norms.
