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Sarawak Report has had numerous requests to investigate and display the wealth of the extended Taib family, who are widely known to be living extraordinary millionaire life-styles off the back of their uncle, the Chief Minister.  But why should we investigate when they show off their riches so blatantly on their own facebook sites?  Thousands of their pals are treated to pictures of their lavish lifestyle and we think it only fair that the rest of Sarawak should see them too.

This year they have indulged themselves in Monaco and partied in KL and Japan, but undoubtedly the event of the season has been the glittering wedding ceremony in June of niece Elia Geneid to the Swiss hotel manager, Matthias Sutter.  Elia is the oldest daughter of the current top-favourite sibling of Taib Mahmud, his sister Raziah, who has been benefiting from a quite extraordinary number of state contracts and land acquisitions in recent years.

Readers may gasp at the level of lavish opulence displayed at this VIP yacht wedding, which is estimated to have cost the Chief Minister’s sister RM 3 million.  However, in fact young Elia has become something of a veteran of expensive weddings. This was the third such ceremony that she has starred in in just two and a half years, with reportedly two cancelled engagements (which were doubtless both celebrated in style) in between .

Her first marriage in 2007 was staged across two eye-wateringly expensive parties, one in Kuching and the next in Japan (permitting Muslim guests to really let their hair down out of the sight of local kill-joys).  However, as the rest of the world knows, money does not bring happiness and poor little Elia was divorced from that husband within two and a half months. After all, marriage is hard work, which is clearly not something the younger Taibs are used to!

So, please view our slide show of pictures of wedding No 3 staged on the luxury super-yacht, the Asean Lady, this June.  It was of course attended by all Malaysia’s top VIPs, including PM Najib Razak and his charming wife Rosmah and indeed proud uncle, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.  Not present were any of Elia’s string of former boyfriends/fiances/husbands – particularly not the one who has just finished doing serious time in an Australian jail, after being caught attempting to import 5,000 Ecstasy tablets into Sydney.  He was reportedly on a visit to see her from Kuching, while she was labouring at her University studies.

Of course, such a colourful history will not cause her mother Raziah to bat an eyelid.  She has led the way in multiple and highly confused marital relationships.  Suffice it to say that a mother who is onto her own third marriage (to Lebanese Australian Robert Geneid) is hardly going to criticise a daughter for the odd relationship hiccup.

Thus, with all unfortunate incidents evidently behind her, the bride was charming and serene – dressed in flowing white!