He was born on 15 September 1959 in Kampung Bilit, Sukau, Kinabatangan. He is descended from the tribe of the Orang Sungai. Bung Moktar was born into a political family when his grandparents and his parents were a strong support from the United Sabah National Organisation since it was founded by the late Tun Datu Haji Mustapa Harun in the early 1960s. His parents are Rashidah Jikrun and Radin Yatim. His wives are Datin Sri Nor Asidah Alimudin and former artist :ms:Zizie Ezette|Zizie Ezette.
The first time was as Barisan Nasional candidate in the 1994 Sabah state election for the Kuamut seat, an opposition stronghold at that time, Bung Mokhtar lost. He first won the 1999 general election after defeating Parti Bersatu Sabah candidate Ali Latip Taha for the Kinabatangan parliamentary seat. He managed to retain the seat in 2004, 2008, 2013 and 2018 general elections. Since joining politics in 1978, he has been a representative of USNO or UMNO of BN candidates five times for Kinabatangan parliamentary seats.
Controversy and criticism
Over five terms in Parliament, Bung Moktar has earned a reputation for controversial remarks and inflammatory behaviour.
Swearing in the parliament chamber
Bung Moktar gained attention when he used a 4-letter abusive words when he was debating with Bukit Mertajam MP Chong Eng at the 2001 parliamentary sitting. His most recent incident came on 7 August 2018, when he caused a stir with Willie Mongin in the Dewan Rakyat as the latter alleged that the Bung Moktar Radin had visited a casino, and he pointed his finger at Willie and accused him of being rude, demanding the statement be retracted. After the incident, the Speaker of Dewan Rakyat warned the members to behave or they will receive punishments.
"Bocor" remark
He and Jasin MP Mohammad Said bin Yusof stirred controversy for making sexist comments or obscene comments to DAP's Batu Gajah MP, Fong Po Kuan in Parliament during a Parliamentary session in 2007. He followed Mohammad Said by saying that Fong "leaked" every month, while they were debating about the leaks in the Parliament building. At first they refused to apologize, but after receiving pressure from the whole country, they eventually apologized to all women after meeting Sharizat binti Abdul Jalil. But their apology was rejected by Fong because they were considered insincere.
In the first sitting of Parliament after the 2008 elections, he called opposition politician Karpal Singh a "big monkey" after Singh called him the "Bigfoot from Kinabatangan". During the 12th Malaysian Parliament session in May, Bung Moktar was once again involved with the controversy involving the mockery of disabled person. He and Ibrahim Ali asked Karpal Singh, who was wheelchair-bound after the accident to stand up and show respect to the Dewan Speaker.
Lewd gesture
Bung Moktar was once again involved with the controversy when he was said to have used his hand to make lewd gesture at the Parliament sitting on July 8, 2008. The act was witnessed by every Malaysian who watched the conference broadcast on television. However, he denied that it was a lewd gesture and only a dirty minded person who regarded it as such.
Polygamy with Zizie Ezette without consent
On December 18, 2009, rumors that he was married to the famous actress Zizie Ezette, certified by his best friend, Datuk Mohamad Aziz, said they both were married. Even so, it was denied by Zizie's mother, Khaty Fauziah who stated that everything was untrue and as a mother she was busy at that time to organize her wedding ceremony. Nevertheless, he had a relationship with the artist and she was just informed by Zizie that Bung Moktar had applied for his wife but that was between them. On December 31, 2009, Utusan Malaysia reported that he is now said to be honeymooning in Europe with his wife, Zizie Izette, and is expected to return home on 8 January 2010. On 20 April 2010, Bung pleaded guilty to committing polygamy by taking a second wife, Malaysian actress Zizie Ezette, without the consent of a marriage registrar. He was sentenced to one month imprisonment, but was ultimately released on bail.
Urged Shahrizat to step down of NFC issues
On December 3, 2011, during the UMNO General Assembly 2011, he again urged Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil to resign as a liability to the BN and UMNO governments. The controversial issue of cattle breeding project of the National Feedlot Centre in Gemas with an easy loan of RM250 million was linked to her husband and her children. Opposition reveals NFC operations suffered losses but NFC bought two luxury condominiums in Bangsar, financed Shahrizat's family holiday overseas, and umrah packages. Most recently, the NFC was exposed to buying a Mercedes car worth RM534,622 and two parcels of land worth RM3,363,507 in Putrajaya. However, Shahrizat denied that he was involved but challenged Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to resign for her offense. Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar claimed that there was no element ofbreach of trust or fraud in the use of funds for NFC.
He made international news for tweeting "Long Live Hitler" after Germany's 7–1 win over Brazil in the semi-final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. His tweet stirred controversy with the German ambassador even calling it as "unacceptable".
On 3 May 2019 Bung Moktar was charged by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission with three counts of corruption amounting to total of RM2.8 million in June 2015 when he was director of FELCRA Berhad then. His wife, Zizie Ezette was also charged with abetting her husband in the offences.
