Sarawak minister pays tribute to father figure and mentor, Taib Mahmud

 

Sarawak tourism, arts and culture minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah says the late Abdul Taib Mahmud (in wheelchair) was ‘like a father to me’.

PETALING JAYA: Sarawak tourism, arts and culture minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah paid a heartfelt tribute today to the late Abdul Taib Mahmud, who passed away earlier this morning.

Expressing his sadness, Karim said Taib was “like a father to me”.

“Much of the peace, racial harmony, political stability and growth that we see in Sarawak can be attributed to him. He was a visionary and great strategist,” Karim told FMT.

He said Taib also brought change and unity to Sarawak with his “politics of development”, an approach to governance which focused on economic growth and modernisation.

Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah (left) looks on as Abdul Taib Mahmud welcomes Anwar Ibrahim, during the prime minister’s courtesy visit to Sarawak.

Taib, Sarawak’s longest serving chief minister, died at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur at 4.40am. He was 87.

Karim served as Taib’s political secretary, and later chief political secretary, from 2000 to 2011.

“I look up to him as a father and mentor, and even inherited my present (state) constituency of Asajaya from him when he decided to move to Balingian from Asajaya in central Sarawak in 2001,” he said.

“He will be very much missed. My deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to his wife and family members.”

Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah (left) was present when Abdul Taib Mahmud sent off haj pilgrims from Sarawak at the Kuching International Airport several years ago.

Taib was Malaysia’s longest serving head of a state government, holding the post of Sarawak chief minister for 33 years from 1981 to 2014.

He was the country’s second-longest serving MP, representing Kota Samarahan for 38 years between 1970 and 2008.

He served as Sarawak governor from 2014 until late last month. - FMT