A Senile Dictator, Black Magic And The Tasmanian Timber Industry

The 76 year old 'chief minister' or ruling despot of Sarawak, Abdul Taib Mahmud has relied on a personal witchdoctor or 'Bomoh' for his entire time in office to make important decisions and even to win elections. A Bomoh is a Malay shaman or witchdoctor that claims to have gained supernatural powers from demons or 'djins' in the spirit world. A 'Rasputin like' Pakistani Bomoh named Ustaz (right) held Taib (bottom left) enthralled for over 30 years. Taib relied heavily on his Bomoh who travelled in Taib's personal jet and had a room in his palace. Eventually there was a falling out leading to a frantic search of Indonesia for a more powerful black magician. Taib appears to have moved on to three female Bomohs as a replacement before settling on the incredibly named 'Blond Bomoh' Stella.

Top left is the famous '3 Bomohs' photo showing the Blond Bomoh Stella. They are seen holding bags of shamanistic objects.  She is also in the photo on the far right. Her real name is Kharleen Tashman. Kharleen is of Lebanese or Syrian extraction from Sydney. She was supplied to Taib by his sister Raziah and her Syrian husband Robert Geneid. This is reportedly how the Geneids are able to control the near-senile billionaire dictator.  Bomoh Stella, although earning an incredible salary as chief witchdoctor didn't last. She got offside with the dictator and was replaced by an even more powerful Lebanese woman. This is Taib's new 30 year old wife Ragat Waleed who just happens to be Robert Geneid's niece. This marriage cemented the hold Raziah and Robert Geneid have over Taib and his money. Taib and his wife are bottom left. The gold coloured object lower middle is a magical amulet or 'azimat' given to election candidates to make people like them. It's used with another Taib magic trick - bribes to help win elections. This is a peek into the strange world of shamanism within the Taib Cartel. There is more, like the black eagle that wonders through Taib's palace. His cartel has it's tentacles firmly wrapped around Tasmanian politics and commerce thanks to Taib's cousin Hamed Sepawi and one of his logging companies called Ta Ann. Sepawi's electricity company SEB also uses Hydro Tasmania to build dams. Everything in Sarawak is controlled by Taib's favoured relatives. Isn't it interesting that this black magic dictatorship can control the Tasmanian Government, at least one of Tasmania's newspapers and even the Wilderness Society? Maybe there is something in those magic bags of tricks?