Abdul Taib Mahmud
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Abdul Taib bin Mahmud (Jawi: عبدالطيب بن محمود; 21 May 1936 – 21 February 2024) was a Malaysian politician who served as the seventh Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak from 2014 to 2024. A member of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, he was the fourth Chief Minister of Sarawak from 1981 to 2014 and represented Balingian in Sarawak State Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2014. He is commonly known as the Father of Modern Sarawak (Bapa Pemodenan Sarawak). Born into a noble Melanau-Malay family in Miri during the Raj of Sarawak, Taib graduated from University of Adelaide in 1960 with a first degree in law. There, he met Laila (née Lejla Chaleck), a Polish woman of Lipka Tatar descent who embraced the Muslim faith. They married the previous year and had four children, including Sulaiman and Hanifah. Upon graduation, they returned to Sarawak, and Taib began his career as a prosecutor at the Crown Council Law Office. His foray into politics began in 1963 when he was appointed the state's Minister of Communications and Public Works by Chief Minister Stephen Kalong Ningkan. His political works deepened in 1964 when he assumed the role of vice chairman of Barisan Rakyat Jati Sarawak (BERJASA) party. He then served as state Minister of Development and Forestry under Tawi Sli in 1967. Taib then transitioned to federal politics, securing a seat as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kota Samarahan in 1970. Over the course of his parliamentary career spanning from 1968 to 1981, Taib held multiple ministerial portfolios under Prime Ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman, Abdul Razak Hussein, Hussein Onn and Mahathir Mohamad. In 1981, Taib returned to Sarawak and became its chief minister, succeeding his uncle Abdul Rahman Ya'kub. Throughout his leadership, accusations of corruption and allegations of personal gain from Sarawak's abundant natural resources marred his reputation. However, Taib's administration was also credited with significantly reducing the state's poverty rate from 70 percent to single-digit figures. He was informally known as Pak Uban, which translates to 'White-haired Uncle.' Among Chinese-speaking communities, he was referred to as Pek Moh, meaning 'white hair.' Another informal appellation for him, stemming from the British Brooke family's rule over Sarawak as White Rajahs in the 19th and early 20th centuries, was the 'last white rajah' or 'white-haired rajah.' In 2008, after nearly four decades in Parliament, Taib relinquished his role as an MP, making him the second longest-serving parliamentarian in Malaysia. The following year, Laila died following a prolonged battle with heart cancer. Taib then married a Syrian-born woman, Ragad Waleed Alkurdi. Subsequently, in 2014, he stepped down as Chief Minister and was succeeded by Adenan Satem. His tenure, spanning an unprecedented 33 years, earned him the distinction of being the longest-serving head of government in a Malaysian state. Taib was then appointed the seventh Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak, from 2014 until 2024. Shortly afterwards, he died just over 3 weeks after leaving office.