[Money Logging] [By: Straumann, Lukas] [November, 2014]

The book's research and data was well presented and easy to understand. I was engaged from the get go and devastated that I had grown up in the region not realising one bit of this. This book is very much a product of its time - ie revelations en masse to a wider group made possible because of far more effective means of communication. Particularly for South East Asians who have grown up believing (mostly) what those in power say, this book does really highlights the importance of accountability and responsibility. This has parallels for any country where those in power are permitted to remain in power virtually unchecked.

A most shocking revelation of the wanton destruction of the rainforests in Borneo in just over 30 years!!! Absolutely gobsmacked by the greed, corruption and shenanigans of the perpetrators happening not just in Sarawak but all over the world where there are rainforests for them to pillage and plunder. The governments must stand up against these atrocities and protect the biodiversity of the rainforests, local communities, their lifestyles and customs.

This book is a truly compelling read. It drags you in, taking you all around the world in the pursuit of stolen wealth and hidden companies. As I read this page-turner I was shocked that such a spectacularly awful series of events could have gone so unnoticed by the world at large. I couldn’t believe the callousness with which foreign governments treated requests for legal action against Abdul Taib Mahmud.When I reached the end of the book, I had to know more. But during further reading, I understood why the international community hasn’t taken action: much of the book is fantasy. The people, the places are all real, but the claims that make the book so compelling aren’t. For a bit of clarity, I read malaysiaforensics.com, whose author doesn’t seem to have much love for Taib either. What emerges is that Taib may be right or wrong in pushing for hydroelectricity, and he does seem to be a proud and difficult man, but it destroys the main allegations of the book. Reading some of the articles takes the wind right out of this book’s sails. As I read more about Sarawak and the Taib family however, I became thoroughly bored. I have little interest in a run-of-the mill successful family in a small Asian state.There are moving elements in the book, such as the disappearance of the Swiss activist Bruno Manser and the drastic changes due to development that have occurred in Borneo over the past half century. But the tragic environmental statistics, the crime, the Mafia as government, palms being greased with palm oil, in effect everything which makes the book enjoyable, just aren’t true. And that, sadly, makes this very readable book far less valuable (indeed, worthless) as a work of non-fiction.

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This investigative look at the Malaysian logging firms and palm oil plantations on Borneo, shows that greed, corruption and humanitarian nightmares are not confined to the usual suspects in Africa.A ruling family, by selling timber licences and permits to exploit, became billionaires. They were backed by global banking organisations on the basis that the island's economy should benefit. However the hardwood timbers have been sold to the timber trade, oil palm plantations are filing the land, sterile monocrops by comparison, and the native people have been shunted aside. The soil is eroding away and with no volcanoes, the island loses more earth in every monsoon season. Landslides are common with no major tree roots.Oil palm trees are hugely productive of berries full of edible oil, but again the local people are not profiting from the sales. Rainforests in general are not places that are pleasant to live. They are hugely biodiverse, but in Borneo the lack of replacement minerals means that plants have evolved to be poisonous or thorny, creatures are venomous, and the large pitcher plants show that plants find fertiliser in interesting ways. The largest earthworm in the world lives here preyed upon by the largest leech in the world. We would not call this Eden, especially during monsoon. However the plants have evolved to survive here and many species of plant and animal are found nowhere else. When this island's rainforest is gone, it's gone.For years I've been reading food labels and refusing to buy anything containing palm oil or palm fat. It's a small start. Books like Money Logging expose the true heart of the matter. This can be a challenging read, but we need to know.

Good Read - Good Research !Well that's what I'm saying... There's no reply as yet from Mr Wu in the review below. But I can see no problem with the facts and reportage in this formidably compelling book.If you sometimes find yourself gagging on the sheer idiocy which passes for news in the mainstream media (even though it's been 20 odd years since 'On The Hour', 'The Day Today' and 'Brass Eye') - then you'll need to get some real news. Properly digested and analysed. Rendered in lucid, well structured prose... well - here it is!This book will help inform you of what is really going on, and has been for some time now. And I'm afraid it is deeply horrible, all pervading and with Hell To Pay. It is nonetheless essential reading, but for sentient adults only.Don't go showing it to the kids, they'll only start to turn bitter and vituperative. And then will begin the awkward questions about justice and sanity.And then you'll start to feel truly ashamed. Pretend - like another reviewer here - that it's all a bad dream and will just quietly go away.