After the death of Abdul Taib Mahmud, an influential Malaysian billionaire and politician, his widow and children are squabbling over a fortune.
This public spectacle has revealed the true source of the money. According to Veg Out Mag, Taib made deals with businessmen who did the dirty work for a cut of the earnings. Meanwhile, he and his family grew ever richer. The Taib family amassed over $20 billion after destroying Borneo's rainforest and controls more than 400 companies that, at the time of writing, remain operational.
All this wealth came with a price. These businesses displaced millions of indigenous people who relied on the rainforest as a crucial resource. The Penan are one such group. Mormonus, a Penan leader, said in 2018: "Forest means everything. Forest provides water … When we lost the forest, we lost everything." He was arrested for organizing protests.
This mass destruction has ripple effects worldwide. According to the World Wildlife Fund, tropical rainforests are the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, where 80% of the world's documented species can be found.
The trees also release water into the atmosphere, creating clouds that travel around the world and cause rain to fall on different continents, according to Rainforest Concern. As tropical rainforests are cleared and sold for timber, the world is at a greater risk of drought and severe weather. Asia, for example, just had one of its hottest years on record.
Unfortunately, these delicate ecosystems are being continuously depleted. Only 8% of high-integrity forest habitat remains. While experts are working hard to preserve Borneo's unique habitat — one conservationist is encouraging palm oil farmers to plant native trees for endangered Bornean elephants alongside crops — the Taib family's businesses are still going strong.
"This is horrifying," one commenter on Veg Out Mag writer Justin Brown's Instagram said.
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