August 4, 2021
SHARE
COMMONS
REAL ESTATE #8 – The Last White Rajah
The destruction of Borneo’s rainforests has been called the greatest environmental crime of our time. But journalists and NGOs have long alleged that one man, Abdul Taib Mahmud, has benefitted from that destruction to the tune of billions of dollars.
Arshy Mann
Host & Producer
Jordan Cornish
Producer
Damilola Onime
Producer, Wag the Doug
Kevin Sexton
Producer

Support us at commonspodcast.com

The destruction of Borneo’s rainforests has been called the greatest environmental crime of our time. But journalists and NGOs have long alleged that one man, Abdul Taib Mahmud, has benefitted from that destruction to the tune of billions of dollars. If that’s true, it’s one of the worst acts of corruption in the modern era.

And for over a decade, those same campaigners have argued that Taib’s empire isn’t limited to Malaysia. They claim that its tendrils extend deep into Canada. 

 

Featured in this episode: Mutang Urud, Clare Rewcastle Brown (The Sarawak Report)

 

To learn more:

Money Logging: On the Trail of the Malaysian Timber Mafia by Lukas Straumann 

A Time to Swim by Ashley Duong

“Political interference may have helped scuttle investigation of Canadian corporation” by Timothy Wilson in Ricochet

“How Canada’s Wealthy Couple Splash Sarawak’s Cash” by The Sarawak Report

The Facts Matter

 

Additional music from Audio Network

This episode is sponsored by Dispatch Coffee, Sandy and Nora

More from this series
This is the story of Canada’s first-ever video game union. And the lengths that the industry went to try to stop it in its tracks
July 3, 2024
The huge rise in international students in Canada — most of them from Punjab, India — has become one of the biggest stories in the country.
June 26, 2024
She expected to face opposition from tech companies and governments that are hostile to workers. But what she didn’t anticipate was that one of the biggest obstacles in her path would be a labour union. 
June 19, 2024
Mandalena Lewis is one of far too many flight attendants who have been harassed or assaulted on the job. And her story is just one example of a culture of sexism and abuse that she alleges pervades the airline industry.
June 12, 2024
In 2006, Zakaria Amara was arrested and imprisoned for planning what could have been one of the deadliest terror attacks in Canadian history. A ringleader of the so-called “Toronto 18,” he’s one of the most infamous Canadian convicts of the last few decades. 
June 5, 2024
♩♪ But Spotify, it’s nearly killed us Ticketmaster’s ground us to dust The companies got too large Now monopolies are in charge ♩♪
May 29, 2024
Not only do Canadian prisoners work for for-profit businesses, but they’re sometimes doing the most dangerous and nauseating work around
May 22, 2024
If we want to truly understand our criminal justice system and Canadian labour, we need to examine how prisoners work.
May 15, 2024
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
COMMONS