I have to thank Facebook for their “See Your Memories” tag. Without the reminder, I would not have remembered an event I was involved in seven years ago, on March 4, 2011.
I would probably have forgotten about the Kuching event, but I have certainly not forgotten my former chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, and the allegations of blatant and legendary abuse of power in his 33 years as Sarawak chief minister.
That day, I led a Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) delegation to the MACC office in Kuching to submit a two-inch thick report to the anti-corruption agency.
The report compiled articles on Taib’s alleged wrongdoings, and we demanded that MACC discloses the progress of its investigations into more than 10 reports lodged against the then chief minister.
My press statement issued on that day read:
“On behalf of MoCS and as a citizen of Sarawak, I submit to the MACC today all the reports of the corrupt practices and blatant abuse of power allegedly committed by Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.
“The said allegations and accusations have been widely reported in the media, notably in many news portals and blogs, both locally and overseas.
“Today, I am putting on record MoCS’s demand that MACC conducts an immediate investigation on the allegations against Taib.
“This demand is endorsed by four Pakatan Rakyat parties in Sarawak, namely DAP, PKR, Snap and PAS. Several NGO groups also concur with this formal demand. Their representatives are with me here today.
“We also demand that MACC updates the public on the status of the reports and complaints lodged by various parties in the past against the chief minister. We wish to know whether MACC had taken any action so far despite the overwhelming evidence put forth by Sarawak Report, Bruno Manser Fonds and a number of other whistleblowers.
“It must be noted that most of the allegations of corruption against the chief minister have documentary proof. MACC owes it to Sarawakians and Malaysians to reveal what it intends to do regarding these serious allegations of corruption and power abuse against Taib.”
It has been seven long years since, and I wish to ask MACC today what happened to the file it opened on Taib...