Adelaide University to examine request to rename Taib Mahmud Court

Adelaide University distances itself from Sarawak Governor Taib Mahmud – Estates Committee will examine request to rename the Taib Mahmud Court on the Adelaide campus

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, Jan 23, 2015: The University of Adelaide’s Estates Committee will examine a request by civil society groups for the University to rename the Taib Mahmud Court on its campus.

This was announced today by the University’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Warren Bebbington, in a letter to the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF).

Professor Bebbington disclosed that the University of Adelaide “has not received any donation from Taib Mahmud for nearly ten years. Since then we have had no dealings with him and indeed, late last year, refused his request to visit and attend our 140th Anniversary Gala Dinner.”

The Vice-Chancellor said he had read the book ‘Money Logging’ by BMF director Lukas Straumann “with interest and considerable alarm”

Adelaide University had faced harsh criticism for its acceptance of large donations from its former student, the long-term Chief Minister and current Governor of Sarawak, Taib Mahmud.

The University has repeatedly refused to disclose the amount of funds received from the Malaysian politician.

Taib read law in Adelaide in the late 1950s as beneficiary of a Colombo plan scholarship. Soon after his return to Sarawak, he was appointed a cabinet minister by Sarawak’s last British Governor in 1963.

Taib remained a cabinet minister for over fifty years with various portfolios at the state and federal level. In February 2014, he was appointed Governor of Sarawak.

Under Taib Mahmud, corruption in Sarawak has become rampant. Despite Taib's humble origins, he and his closest family members are today among Malaysia’s richest.

In 2011, Malaysia's Anti Corruption Commission opened an investigation against Taib, which is still ongoing.

The Bruno Manser Fund commends the announcement by Adelaide University’s Vice-Chancellor and President and is hoping that the University’s Estates Committee will indeed rename the Taib Mahmud court.

Its name has become an increasing embarrassment and a disgrace not only to the University but also to its many Malaysian students.