Sarawak Report
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''Sarawak Report'' is an opinion, commentary, and political activism blog focused on
environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
and corruption issues in
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. It has been largely self-published and operated from
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
since 2010 by Clare Rewcastle Brown. The blog had originally focused on the welfare of the indigenous people in
Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
but eventually published original exposés on corruption scandals in wider Malaysia. In 2017, it gained wide recognition for its original and early exposure of the
1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, often referred to as the 1MDB scandal or just 1MDB, describes a corruption, bribery and money laundering conspiracy in which the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) w ...
, which had led the Najib Razak-led Malaysian government to block the website. The blog is openly critical of the
Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...
-led state and federal governments of Sarawak and Malaysia, and supportive of the
Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...
opposition.


History


Founding

The sarawakreport.org domain name was registered on 12 February 2010. The website published its first post focusing on the rights of the indigenous people in the jungles of the Baram Region, Sarawak, Malaysia but eventually began to publish exposés on corruption scandals in Malaysia in general. On 15 June 2010, it published its first exposé on the Sarawak chief minister family's properties in Canada. The website was initially operated anonymously. It described itself as "a group of citizens and onlookers deeply concerned by the situation in Sarawak, East Malaysia." In November 2010, its sister organisation, a pirate radio operation named Radio Free Sarawak was formed. On 22 February 2011, Clare Rewcastle Brown decided to go public and to claim responsibility of the website after her American informant, Ross Boyert, was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room. Since then, Clare Rewcastle became the founder, the editor-in-chief, and the spokesperson for ''Sarawak Report''.


Purpose

According to the ''Sarawak Report'' website, it exists to provide a platform for those who denied access to the state-controlled media, and "to offer an alternative vision of justice, transparency and a fairer future."


Political stance

The blog is openly critical of the Barisan Nasional-led state and federal governments of Sarawak and Malaysia, and supportive of the Pakatan Harapan opposition.


Original exposés


Sarawak Environmental and Indigenous Causes

''Sarawak Report'' published a chain of exposés of alleged land grabs by the family of Sarawak's chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and their international property empire.


Taib Mahmud family overseas property

In June 2010, ''Sarawak Report'' began its first exposé by publishing an article detailing about Canadian properties owned by the daughter, Jamilah Taib, of Taib Mahmud. This was followed by subsequent exposés on his properties in United States and London. Taib Mahmud's former aide, Ross Boyert was the major source for Sarawak Report on the Taib family property empire in the United States. Exposés by Sarawak Report have led to investigations by Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Canada into Taib family alleged assets.


Bakun Dam construction methods

In April 2011, ''Sarawak Report'' claimed that its website was hacked after it reported that Chinese dam constructor
Sinohydro Sinohydro ( Chinese: 中国水电; long form: 中国水利水电建设集团公司) is a Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company. In the 2012 Engineering News-Record Top 225 Global Contractors, a ranking by annual rev ...
had used faulty construction methods when building the
Bakun Dam The Bakun Dam is an embankment dam located in Belaga District, Kapit Division, Sarawak, Malaysia, on the Balui River, a tributary or source of the Rajang River and some sixty kilometres east of Belaga. As part of the project, the second talle ...
, one of the largest dams in Asia. Sinohydro later acknowledged their flawed construction procedures in building the dam.


Musa Aman timber corruption

In April 2012, ''Sarawak Report'' published a series of leaked documents from
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission ( ms, Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia), abbreviated MACC or ''SPRM'', (formerly known as Anti-Corruption Agency, ACA or ''Badan Pencegah Rasuah'', ''BPR'') is a government agency in Malaysia that ...
(MACC), alleging the business relation between
Musa Aman Musa Bin Haji Aman ( Jawi: موسى بن حاج أمان; born 30 March 1951) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 14th Chief Minister, State Minister of Finance from March 2003 to May 2018, Member of the Sabah State Legislative Ass ...
, who is the Sabah Chief Minister, and Michael Chia, the middleman in managing kickbacks for timber companies' operations inside Sungai Pinangah Forest Reserve, Sabah. Michael Chia was caught trying to smuggle SGD 16 million out of Hong Kong in 2008.
Abdul Gani Patail Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Gani bin Patail (born 6 October 1955) is a Malaysian prosecutor. He was the Attorney General of Malaysia from 2002 to 2015, the first from Sabah to hold the position (hailing from Lahad Datu and was born in La ...
, the
Attorney General of Malaysia ) , member_of = , reports_to = Prime Minister , department = Attorney General's Chambers , residence = , seat = Putrajaya , nominator = , appoi ...
who is related to the Musa Aman family, was accused of trying to block the MACC investigation. Swiss authorities cooperated with their counterparts in Hong Kong in the investigation of the Musa Aman case. On 11 October 2012, in a written reply to the Parliament, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The title of the wife of Datuk is Datin. Origin The oldes ...
said Musa Aman has been cleared of the alleged RM40 million kickbacks for timber licences by the Attorney-General's Chambers as "the funds were contributions to the Sabah Umno liaison body and not for the personal use of the chief minister". The Malaysian Prime Minister,
Najib Tun Razak Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malays ...
, refused to disclose the source of the political donation but he insisted that the money was funded through legitimate channels. In response to the reply by Najib, ''Sarawak Report'' released another set of documents on 14 October which pointed the donors to
Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...
and
Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
timber tycoons. In April 2013,
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...
validated that the documents released by ''Sarawak Report'' as genuine. Two of the timber firms confirmed with Reuters that the money was transferred to secure the logging contracts. MACC officials also told Reuters that the documents are authentic and Musa Aman was the focus of the investigation.


Malaysian Corruption


FBC Media scandal

In August 2011, an investigation by ''Sarawak Report'' revealed that FBC Media, a media production company had been acting as a public relations firm for Malaysian politicians including Abdul Taib Mahmud and
Najib Tun Razak Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malays ...
. The exposé caused BBC and CNBC to sever their relationships with FBC Media, and resulted in FBC Media going into
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
on 24 October 2011. The BBC later issued a worldwide apology and revised its commissioning procedures after the revelation that it had been commissioning programming from FBC at token prices, which the company had then used as a PR platform for its business and political clients.


1Malaysia Development Berhad

In May 2014, ''Sarawak Report'' began to allege that
1Malaysia Development Berhad 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB; ) is an insolvent Malaysian strategic development company, wholly owned by the Minister of Finance (Incorporated). 1MDB was established to drive strategic initiatives for long-term economic development ...
(1MDB) was backing
Jho Low Low Taek Jho (, born 4 November 1981), often called Jho Low, is a Malaysian fugitive businessman, wanted by authorities internationally in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal (1MDB scandal). He has been named the mastermin ...
's company, Wynton Group, for a bid to purchase
Maybourne Hotel Group Maybourne Hotel Group is a Qatari-owned British luxury hotel operator, which owns and manages The Berkeley, Claridge's and The Connaught hotels in London. History and Background The Maybourne Hotel Group, formerly The Savoy Hotel Group has been ...
in London. In August 2014,
Red Granite Pictures Red Granite Pictures was an American film production and distribution company, co-founded by Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland in 2010. Its productions included ''The Wolf of Wall Street'' and ''Dumb and Dumber To''. It was dissolved in 2018 after be ...
admitted that its financial backer for film production was
Aabar Investments Mubadala Investment Company PJSC ( ar, شركة مبادلة للاستثمار), or simply Mubadala, is an Emirati state-owned holding company that acts as a sovereign wealth fund. The company was established in 2017 when then-named Mubadala Dev ...
where the latter had a strong investment ties with 1MDB. In March 2015, the website ran several reports about a strategic development fund supported by the Malaysian government and its business dealings. One such report was made about joint venture deal had been initiated by Jho Low on 8 September 2009 between 1MDB and PetroSaudi International, and how Jho Low allegedly siphoned off US$700 million from the deal into an account controlled by him. PetroSaudi has denied the reports, while 1MDB has denied any connections with Jho Low. ''Sarawak Report'' further alleges that the 1 billion loan paid by 1MDB to PetroSaudi has not been declared to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the Malaysian central bank. 1MDB was also accused of providing false documents to Malaysian central bank and other international banks. The website also alleged that US$1.16 billion from 1MDB went into a company account, Good Star Limited controlled by Jho Low, US$700 million into the private
AmBank AmBank Group comprises AMMB Holdings Berhad (AMBANK 1015) is one of the largest banking groups in Malaysia whose core businesses are retail banking, wholesale banking, Islamic banking, and life and general insurance. The Group trades under a ...
account of Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, and RM 2 million into prime minister's wife
Rosmah Mansor Rosmah binti Mansor ( Jawi: روسمه بنت منصور; born 10 December 1951) is the second wife of former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak. Like her husband, she became implicated in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal. On 1 Se ...
personal account. Jho Low was also accused of paying for Rosmah's jewellery purchases. Najib has since denied that he had taken 1MDB funds for personal gain while Rosmah denied that she has misappropriated the funds from 1MDB. On 4 August 2015,
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission ( ms, Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia), abbreviated MACC or ''SPRM'', (formerly known as Anti-Corruption Agency, ACA or ''Badan Pencegah Rasuah'', ''BPR'') is a government agency in Malaysia that ...
(MACC) announced that the US$700 million was a political donation for
United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...
(UMNO) held in trust by Najib Razak. On 15 August 2015, ''Sarawak Report'' alleged that after the 2013 Malaysian General Election, US$650 million out of US$700 million in Najib's account was transferred back to Tanore Finance Corporation (BVI) at Falcon bank in Singapore when his account was closed on 30 August 2013. Tanore Corporation was later closed down in April 2014. The website also alleged that UMNO Back Bencher Chairman
Shahrir Abdul Samad Shahrir bin Abdul Samad ( Jawi: شهریار بن عبدالصمد; born 22 November 1949) is a Malaysian politician who was the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (2008-2009), a Member of Parliament of Malaysia and the former c ...
, received RM1 million while the Deputy Finance Minister
Ahmad Maslan Datuk Seri Haji Ahmad bin Maslan ( Jawi: ; born 30 April 1966) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Deputy Minister of Finance I in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under Prime Minister and Minister Anwar Ibrahim since Decem ...
, received RM2 million from the Najib's private account. In July 2016, ''Sarawak Report'' released details of the classified Auditor General's Report on 1MDB and BNM letter to Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC), highlighting the inconsistencies of explanations and documents provided by 1MDB. On 6 August 2016, ''Sarawak Report'' alleged that
Malaysian Islamic Party The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...
(PAS) received RM 90 million from Najib. In April 2017, PAS president
Abdul Hadi Awang Abdul Hadi bin Awang ( Jawi: عبدالهادي بن اواڠ; born 20 October 1947) is a Malaysian politician and religious teacher who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Marang since October 1990, 7th President of the Malaysian ...
decided to file a defamation lawsuit against ''Sarawak Report''. In April 2018, ''Sarawak Report'' further alleged that PAS received RM 2.5 million from UMNO on 21 March 2018. PAS admitted that they have receive the RM 2.5 million but they refused to disclose the source of donation. In May 2018, Hadi Awang's lawyer claimed that he had won all five
interlocutory Interlocutory is a legal term which can refer to an order, sentence, decree, or judgment, given in an intermediate stage between the commencement and conclusion of a cause of action, used to provide a temporary or provisional decision on an iss ...
applications in libel suit against ''Sarawak Report'' and ''Sarawak Report'' had to pay £28,900 for Hadi's legal costs. However, ''Sarawak Report'' debunked the Hadi's lawyer statement that the payment was necessary for the costs accrued due to revision of defence and the full trial will be heard from 1 April 2019 to 10 April 2019 for total ten days. On 2 February 2019, PAS president
Abdul Hadi Awang Abdul Hadi bin Awang ( Jawi: عبدالهادي بن اواڠ; born 20 October 1947) is a Malaysian politician and religious teacher who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Marang since October 1990, 7th President of the Malaysian ...
agreed on an out-of-court settlement with ''Sarawak Report''. Riza Aziz and Red Granite Pictures In December 2013, ''Sarawak Report'' ran a series of exposés on
Riza Aziz Riza Shahriz bin Abdul Aziz, better known as Riza Aziz, is a Malaysian film producer and the co-founder of Red Granite Pictures, a Los Angeles-based film production company. Career Riza holds a BS degree in Government & Economics and an MS ...
, stepson of Prime Minister Najib Razak, and how he managed to get millions in funding for his film production company
Red Granite Pictures Red Granite Pictures was an American film production and distribution company, co-founded by Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland in 2010. Its productions included ''The Wolf of Wall Street'' and ''Dumb and Dumber To''. It was dissolved in 2018 after be ...
. The production company was involved with funding the
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
nominated movie, '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' to the tune of US$100 million. Also reported was Aziz's purchase of a US$33.5 million luxury condominium in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in November 2012. Red Granite Pictures has threatened legal action against ''Sarawak Report'', but no action has been taken so far. In January 2014, Riza Aziz was dropped from a list of nominees for Academy Award for Best Picture after he was nominated by
Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing establishment w ...
(PGA) for the movie ''Wolf of the Wall Street''.


Reception

''Sarawak Report'' has received both praise and criticism. In 2013, Bridget Welsh, a political science professor at Singapore Management University and an expert on Malaysian affairs, credited ''Sarawak Report'' for its "impact on the political debate" over deforestation in Sarawak. and the New York Times called Rewcastle Brown "one of the most effective voices calling attention to deforestation in Malaysia" The
Open Society Foundation Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a sta ...
acknowledged that websites like ''Sarawak Report'' have been able to "disseminate news on alleged state government corruption to rural areas that are hard to reach" but described the nature of Sarawak Report's reporting as "half-sensational, half-revelatory," making verification an issue.


Censorship in Malaysia

On 19 July 2015,
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (Abbreviation: MCMC; ms, Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia) is a regulatory body whose key role is the regulation of the communications and multimedia industry based on the po ...
(MCMC) decided to block access to ''Sarawak Report'' because the content of the website appears to be "unsubstantiated" and it may "undermined the stability" of the country. Sarawak Report continued to reach the Malaysian public through Medium.com, but that was also blocked in January 2016. On 15 May 2018, six days after the 2018 Malaysian general election where the ruling
Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...
was defeated and the
Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...
came to power, the 1MDB Auditor General's Report was declassified. Following this, MCMC decided to unblock ''Sarawak Report'' and Medium.com on 18 May 2018.


References


External links

* {{1MDB Investigative journalism Politics of Sarawak Borneo Forestry in Malaysia Deforestation British political websites Malaysian political websites Malaysian websites Malaysian political blogs Malaysian blogs Environmentalism in Malaysia