KUCHING: Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar regards the late Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud as the ‘pillar of harmony,’ underscoring his role in shaping a harmonious Sarawak that the people enjoy today.
He conveyed his heartfelt condolences on the passing of the former Sarawak governor, who passed on at 4.28am earlier yesterday morning.
“It is an undeniable fact that the late Tun Taib scarified his entire 63 out of 87 years of his life to serve Sarawak and helped transformed a backwater Sarawak to what it is today.
“Being the chief minister for all Sarawakians, he fiercely guarded Sarawak’s immigration rights, kept all negative elements off Sarawak’s shores and built a paradise, ‘Land of the Hornbill’, which celebrates religious freedom and racial diversity,” he said in a statement.
He said it was the late Taib who had sowed the spirit of peace and harmony among the people of all races and religions, a legacy that persists today.
“He is indeed the ‘pillar of harmony’ of Sarawak while he was the Chief Minister, and later as the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri who again was the Governor for all.
“The fruit of his hard and laborious work to ensure that no race will be left out in all the policies while he was the Chief Minister of Sarawak for over three decades has continued to be fostered until today,” he added.
He extended his condolences to the family of the late Taib, particularly to his wife, Toh Puan Ragad Kurdi Taib, and their children.
