Taib: Never let racial, religious politics take root in Sarawak

MIRI: Outgoing Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has reiterated his plea to all politicians from every divide never to allow racial and religious discrimination taking root in Sarawak.

Speaking to more than 2,000 leaders from various Chinese associations during a post-Chinese New Year gathering here on Saturday night, Taib said that this would be his parting message as chief minister.

“This marks my last official visit to Miri as chief minister and there is something that I must say before I leave office.

“Over the past few years, there have been an escalation of such problems in other parts of the country, but we in Sarawak have remained immune to it — it must stay that way. I appeal to all Sarawakians, including the politicians, to make sure that Sarawak remains free from racial and religious politics.

“Our system of governance has developed in such a way that there is no one race or religion that dominates others. This is our special feature. I am sure the next chief minister and his administration will continue to make sure that Sarawak continues to be free from such problems,” he said.

Taib also called on the Chinese in Sarawak to unite again under one party, believing that there was a need for Chinese political players to exercise more goodwill.

“Sometimes in politics, we have to take one step backwards before we can go two steps forward. I hope the Chinese would reflect on this.”

Also at the event was Chinese Consul General for Sarawak Liu Quan, who lauded Taib’s administration for having enhanced the good social and economic ties between the state and China.

Yesterday at the ground-breaking of a water theme park project near here, Taib was confident that the state Barisan Nasional would continue to do well under his successor Tan Sri Adenan Satem.

“PBB has done so well in the state because our leaders make decisions based on mutual agreement. I hope other component parties would follow the example of PBB so that Barisan would remain strong and cohesive,” he said.