KUCHING: The late Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s contribution especially in unifying the people of different races and religions will be remembered forever.
Kapitan for Tabuan Dusun and Tabuan Laru areas, Tan Yit Sheng said it cannot be denied that under the leadership of the former Chief Minister and Head of State, Taib had always stressed the importance of maintaining the racial unity.
“The late Tun Taib, who is a Melanau, despite that had taken care of all races equally in Sarawak.
“So, with his strong leadership since he became the Chief Minister, we can see all races lived in harmony. We are a multiracial society and live in a harmonious environment. This is among the greatest things Taib has done for Sarawak,” he told New Sarawak Tribune.
Tan further said one of the contributions Taib made was to prevent political parties from outside Sarawak from entering the state.
“What Taib did was important where he safeguarded Sarawak rights. He stopped outside political parties from entering Sarawak.
“As a result, until today, we can still see Sarawak being governed by the state’s local based parties,” he said, while adding that Taib also made sure that none of the political parties monopolised the political scenario in the state.
On Taib’s contribution to the development of Sarawak, Tan said the latter managed to attract foreign investors.
“He has attracted a lot of foreigners to invest in Sarawak and this has brought a lot of revenue to us,” he said.
Taib, 87, breathed his last at 4.40 am at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 21.
He was laid to rest in the family cemetery at his Demak Jaya residence after the state funeral which was held at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) on Feb 22.
He was buried next to his first wife, Puan Sri Laila Taib, who passed away in 2009.
