[UPDATED] Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud dies

KUALA LUMPUR – Former Sarawak governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud died at around 4.40am today after falling ill since last year. He was 87.

His passing was announced by his daughter and Deputy Economy Minister Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib’s private secretary. 

According to the announcement that was posted on Hanifah’s Facebook account, his body will be sent to the National Mosque here before being taken back to his home state of Sarawak today.

As of 8am, his body is said to be at the KL Cardiac Vascular Sentral (CVS) here. Taib had been receiving medical treatment at the hospital.

Taib’s funeral rites are expected to be carried out at the National Mosque in the morning before being taken to Subang Airport and flown back to Sarawak via a military plane.

He will lie in state at the Sarawak state assembly building in Kuching until tomorrow. His final funeral rites will take place at the Demak Jaya Mosque prior to his burial and prayers will take place in Demak Muslim cemetery, near Taib’s official residence.

His condition had been the subject of speculation and drama over the last few months, with police reports being made against his wife, Toh Puan Raghad Kurdi Taib, accusing her of absconding her husband from Sarawak.

Just yesterday, Raghad said Taib was recuperating in the hospital after a photo of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim visiting an individual in the hospital, claimed to be Taib, went viral.

In a post on her Instagram Stories, she said the photo was not of Taib, who was still warded in a hospital here.

It was later clarified that the photo was of Anwar visiting blogger Hussein Abdul Hamid before the latter’s death on February 15 due to stroke complications.

Last week, Raghad said she lodged a police report over claims that she had “absconded” her husband out of a private hospital in Sarawak against doctors’ advice. 

This came after a staff member in the hospital filed a report on February 4, alleging that Raghad had removed her husband “despite being advised to have the patient stay in the hospital for proper and adequate treatment”.

Responding to the claims, she said the accusations were “demonstrably false and deeply concerning”, adding that the doctor in charge had cleared Taib’s discharge on February 3 after being informed of his scheduled appointment at the CVS KL.

Earlier this month, the Syrian-born Raghad had also called for a stop to speculation and accusations against her, stating that her only concern was to care for her husband, who was replaced as Sarawak governor on January 26, about a month before the end of his term.

As of press time, neither the Astana Negeri Sarawak nor the Sarawak Premier’s Office have issued any official statements regarding Taib’s passing.

Born on May 21, 1936, Taib helmed the state as chief minister for 33 years.

He was appointed as the seventh Yang di-pertua Negeri of Sarawak, replacing Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng, on March 1, 2014.

After almost 10 years in the position, Taib was replaced by Tun Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who was sworn in on January 29.

Kenderaan jenazah Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia tiba di Unit Kecemasan CVSKL untuk urusan jenazah bekas Yang Dipertua Negeri Sarawak, Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud yang dilaporkan meninggal dunia awal pagi ini. pic.twitter.com/XQC2uQpavm

— Scoop (@Scoopdotmy) February 21, 2024

Early life and rise in politics

Taib was born in Miri on May 21, 1936, to carpenter Mahmud Abang Yahya and Hamidah Yakub, reported The Borneo Post.

He started his schooling at St Joseph’s primary school in Miri before proceeding to St Joseph’s secondary school in Kuching.

He excelled in his Senior Cambridge examination and furthered his studies under a Colombo Plan Scholarship at University of Adelaide in South Australia, where he read law.

There, he met and later married Polish-born Lejla Chaleck – who later adopted the name Laila Taib – in 1959. Laila passed away at age 68 in 2009.

Taib returned to Sarawak to enter politics in 1963 and, at the age of 27, was one of Sarawak’s first six cabinet ministers, led by then chief minister Tan Sri Stephen Kalong Ningkan, holding portfolios such as communication and works minister, and development and forestry minister.

His federal career took off when he became Samarahan MP in 1969, and he went on to hold several portfolios, including works, post and communication deputy minister; deputy minister in the prime minister’s department; primary industries minister; and defence minister.

The turning point in Sarawak’s history came in March of 1981, when Taib was sworn in as the fourth chief minister, taking over from his uncle Tun Abdul Rahmah Yakub.

His “politics of development” policy paved the way for the state to go from being an economic backwater to the powerhouse that it is today, delivering development and prosperity to the people. 

He retired as chief minister on February 28, 2014.

Taib and Laila’s marriage saw the couple blessed with four children – Jamilah, Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir, Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman, and Datuk Hanifah Hajar – and 15 grandchildren.

Following Laila’s death, Taib remarried on December 18, 2010, to Raghad and welcomed her two children into the family.

Taib’s contribution to Sarawak was best summed up by his successor as chief minister, the late Tan Sri Adenan Satem, who once described him as a “one in a million” leader. – February 21, 2024