Jaws have dropped in both Sarawak and wider Malaysia with the news that the stunningly wealthy elder son of Governor Taib Mahmud has been forced to step down from the Board of his own family company Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMSB) owing to allegations of ‘conflict of interest’ supposedly supplied by a ‘whistleblower’. CMBS is quoted on the KL stock exchange but for years shareholdings have been dominated by the one family No one is of course gasping at the allegations of conflict of interest. After all, the company itself is a vast manifestation of conflict of interest in that it was formed out of assets muscled out of state control in the first place by Abu Bekir’s father, the former chief minister and current governor, back in the 80s and has continued to build its dominant advantages ever since thanks to his powerful interventions on behalf of his own family company.