Bung Moktar Radin


Bung Moktar bin Radin was a Malaysian politician who served as Member of Parliament for Kinabatangan from 1999 until his death in December 2025. A member and former State Chief of UMNO Sabah, he was the Deputy Chief Minister I of Sabah from 2020 to 2023, and represented Lamag in Sabah State Legislative Assembly from 2020 until his death.
Born in Kinabatangan, Sabah, Bung graduated from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and later worked as civil servant before joining politics. An influential figure in Sabah politics, he was the chairman of Barisan Nasional and the United Malays National Organisation in Sabah from 2018 to 2025, and the deputy chairman of the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club from 2008 to 2018.

Early life and education

Bung Moktar was born in Sukau, Kinabatangan. He attended Kampung Bilit National Primary School, Sandakan National Secondary School, and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He held a Master of Philosophy in Policy Analysis and Security from the latter insitution.

Career

Civil service

Before becoming a Member of Parliament, Bung Moktar served with the Sandakan Special Affairs Department branch office from 1987 to 1990, and later worked for the Majlis Amanah Rakyat from 1990 to 1992.

Politics

Bung Moktar was initially a member of the United Sabah National Organisation, serving as the youth chief of its Kinabatangan division from 1979 to 1990. He retained this role when the party became the Sabahan branch of the peninsular-based UMNO, and later became Sabah UMNO's youth information chief. From 1994 to 1999, he served as Political Secretary to the Sabah Minister of Finance. In 1996, he became the division chief of Kinabatangan.
He first stood as a candidate in the 1994 Sabah state election for Kuamut, an opposition stronghold at that time, and lost. He stood in the 1999 general election and became the member of parliament for Kinabatangan. He retained the seat in the 2004, 2008, 2013, 2018, and 2022 general elections.
Over the course of his political career, Bung Moktar earned a reputation for controversy. His gaffes have been popularly referred to as "bung-le"s.
In 2008, he referred to opposition politician Karpal Singh as a "big monkey" after Singh referred to him as "Bigfoot" in response to Bung Moktar interrupting him. He also called on Karpal, who was a paraplegic, to "Stand up if dare!".
In 2007, while debating the leak in the ceiling of the parliament building, he and fellow member of parliament Mohammad Said Yusof sexually degraded Fong Po Kuan, a member of parliament for Batu Gajah. They claimed she "leaked" every month.
The pair offered an apology for their statements but were rejected by Fong, who considered them insincere.
In 2014, Bung Moktar tweeted "Long live Hitler" following Germany's 7–1 win over Brazil in the 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-finals. The tweet attracted international news coverage and was declared "unacceptable" by Holger Michael, a German ambassador to Malaysia.
In 2018, when opposition member Willie Mongin alleged that he had visited a casino, Bung Moktar responded:
The incident became an internet meme focusing on the combination of Malay language and Bung Moktar's broken English.
Previously just a parliamentary backbencher at the federal level, Bung Moktar entered state politics following Barisan Nasional and UMNO's defeat in the 2018 general election, whereupon the party suffered from crippling high-level defections. He took over and restructured the party in Sabah, and was credited with saving the party. He led the party through the 2020 Sabah state election, taking part in the formation of the subsequent government. He simultaneously served as one of three deputy chief ministers as well as minister of works.
After falling out with chief minister Hajiji Noor, Bung Moktar attempted to engineer a change of government by pulling UMNO's support in the state legislative assembly, resulting in the 2023 Sabah political crisis. The crisis concluded when five UMNO assemblymen defected to Hajiji's coalition, allowing Hajiji to remain in power. Bung Moktar and UMNO shifted to opposition.
He led the party into the 2025 Sabah state election, where it won five seats. It was included in the state government formed by Hajiji. He retained his state seat of Lamag with a majority of 153 votes.

Personal life

Bung Moktar was in a polygamous marriage to Nor Asidah Alimudin and Zizie Ezette Abdul Samad, and had seven children.
His marriage to his second wife was done without the consent of a marriage registrar, for which he was sentenced to a month's imprisonment. He avoided jail time by paying the fine in lieu.

Illness and death

Bung Moktar reportedly fell ill after filing his nomination papers on 15 November 2025. He was hospitalised but released a few days later. Despite being advised to rest, he returned to campaigning for the Sabah state election scheduled for 29 November.
Media outlets reported that Bung Moktar had been hospitalised again on 4 December as a result of a lung infection. He was later revealed to be in critical condition as a result of kidney failure and a lung infection, and died the next day at Kota Kinabalu Gleneagles Hospital. He was 66.

Election results

Honours

Honours of Malaysia