KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud graduated from the University of Adelaide in Southern Australia and has donated large sums of money to his alma mater but its current students are up in arms that a plaza in campus will bear his name.
The Australian newspaper reported today that the students are upset with the university’s decision to honour a man they see as responsible for the destruction of one of the world’s oldest rainforests that have
robbed many Sarawak natives, especially the jungle-dwelling Penans, of their home.
A protest will be held in campus tomorrow, backed by the student representative council and outside groups, to ask its vice-chancellor, Warren Bebbington to rescind the decision, the daily reported.
“Regardless of how much money he’s given, naming the court after him honours a man whose family companies are responsible for the displacement of the indigenous Penan people in Sarawak.
“We know what his name stands for and we don’t want to be part of that in any way,” protest organiser Lizzie Taylor was quoted saying.
She told the daily the students do not want to be associated with the controversial politician that has been linked to the destruction of hundreds of thousands of hectares of rainforest, among a laundry list of allegations.
In the face of the protest, Australia’s third-oldest university defended its decision to name the plaza on its north terrace “Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister of Sarawak Court”, saying it was part of the agreement with the Malaysian who had given millions of ringgit to hs alma mater.
“The university accepted gifts from Mr Taib in good faith many years ago. No gifts have been accepted from him for more than seven years.
“The scholarships and facility named following Mr Taib’s gifts involve permanent trust obligations and agreements with which the university is bound to comply,” an unnamed spokesman from the University of Adelaide
was quoted saying.
Abdul Taib, who has been in office as Sarawak chief minister for over 32 years, was cast into the international spotlight earlier this year after London-based environmental activist group, Global Witness, released a covert video documentary linking the state Barisan Nasional chief’s family to receiving millions of ringgit in kickbacks over land deals that have denuded Malaysia’s largest state.
The wealth of the Taib family has been under the close scrutiny of graftbusters and whistleblowers.
But the 77-year-old has remained defiant at government attempts to investigate the graft allegatiopns, even saying in April that he would not co-operate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission as as he believes it to be “naughty” and “dishonest”.
