Malaysia’s latest attorney-general Tommy Thomas has gained much traction on social media following his nomination by Prime Minister Tun Mahathir. Sadly, Tommy was unfairly judged by certain netizens due to his religion and race, rather than his work-related experience and legal knowledge.
So, a former employee named Ashikin Rahim who used to work in Tommy’s firm took to Facebook recently to shed light on how wonderful the current AG actually is in person.
Source: Facebook
Here’s what she wrote.
“I joined the firm in 2009, initially not knowing who he was. All the while I thought he was a Chinese. So, you can imagine how shocked I was when I stepped into that meeting room.
“I applied not because I knew about the firm before, but because almost all senior lawyers I’ve met told me that he’s the best litigator in the country. So, since I’m passionate about litigation, I should apply to join TT (yes, that’s what we call him in the firm).
“He is the strictest person I’ve ever known. He’s a very principled man, he will never tolerate disregard of discipline. He’s very punctual, I remember feeling panic everytime I reach court after 8.30am (cases usually start at 9am) because I knew he’d always be there by 8am or 8.15am.
“He never let the phones in the firm ring more than 3 times and he’ll always promptly update clients before and after the case schedule. So clients are always happy because he keeps them updated.”
Source: Yahoo News
Out of the five attachments she’s been with, Tommy is easily one of the best bosses, because the employees are taken good care of by the management. Free meals at expensive restaurants, holiday trips and fat cheques as bonus are some of the perks the employees enjoy.
Ashikin also highlighted that Tommy would pay special interest to cases involving public interest. In fact, the firm actually absorbs all the legal fees and would fight for the rakyat’s interest free of charge! They’re the real MVP!
She continued,
“Tommy knows the federal constitution inside out. He reads every single print of the Malayan Law Journal and All England Reports (there are like hundreds of them, if not more), and he writes notes for the important cases in his small note books. No one else who I know of does that. So there is really no way of cheating him in court, he knows the law too well – both Malaysian and English law.
“His library in his house is like a small state library. Seriously, he’s an avid reader, hence why his writing is so good. It really shows in your writing when you are a reader.
“If you ask me whether he’s a good lawyer, he’s the best I’ve known.
“Is he a ‘clean’ one? He’s the most trustworthy guy (I’ve ever known), he’ll never cheat in court or outside of court. He will cite cases even if they’re not favourable to our own case because that’s the law.”
Source: Din Merican
Netizens who are concerned about Tommy’s familiarity with Islamic Law need not worry, because there’s a special unit devoted to the Syariah law in the AG Chambers, and that the AG does not control the Islamic law of the country, according to Ashikin.
Her inspiring post went viral overnight with over 11,000 shares at the time of writing. Netizens applauded her effort of crafting the long write up, which had cleared the air for many who were not familiar with the legal system in Malaysia.
Hopefully this Facebook post is able to educate those salty netizens who judged him based on his race and put this issue to rest.
Also read: 6 Things You Should Know About Tommy Thomas, Malaysia’s Potential New AG
