‘Tommy Thomas principled, trustworthy man’

KUALA LUMPUR: Tommy Thomas is a principled, a clean and most trustworthy person, a former legal intern of the renowned lawyer Ashikin Rahim said.

Ashikin, in her Facebook posting yesterday morning since news broke that Thomas will be appointed the new AttorneyGeneral, had also described her former boss as a person who is very well versed in the Federal Constituition.

“So 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, he’ll never cheat in court and outside court, he will cite cases even if it’s not favourable to our own case because that’s the law.

“So it’s understandable why PH (the new Pakatan Harapan government) chose him,” she said in her Facebook posting that has gone viral.

Earlier yesterday, Yang di- Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V gave his consent to Thomas’ appointment as the new Attorney- General to replace Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.

“TT ( Tommy Thomas as he is known) knows the Federal Constitution inside out. He has read every single print of the Malayan Law Journal and All England Reports, and he writes his notes for the important cases in his small note books.

“No one else I know does that. So there is really no way of cheating him in court, he knows the law too well. Both Malaysian and English law,” she said.

She added that the prominent lawyer also gives heavy attention to public interest litigation ( PIL) cases including fighting for the rights of residents’ associations, poor people who were aggrieved by decisions by the previous ( Barisan Nasional) government and the poor who did bad investments and got cheated.

“And he and his firm will do the service pro bono (free of charge).

“TT said someone has to fight for this lot, although from the beginning, we were almost certain how it would end (read: not favourable). Still, the firm absorbed all the costs for the litigation,” she said.

Ashikin, who worked with Thomas from 2009 until April 2013 before leaving to take care of her first baby, also described the senior lawyer as the most strict person, adding that he is very punctual, and a man that will not tolerate disregard of discipline.

She recalled feeling panic every time she reached the court after 8.30 am as Thomas himself will normally arrived by 8am or 8.15am.

“He let me conduct cases at the High Court, Court of Appeal and even Federal Court levels (the highest court). I remembered feeling nervous as hell, more than what I felt before giving birth, but I took the challenge.

“And guess what, I felt like I became a better litigator everyday, I learnt to speak English more fluently as I had to push myself everyday to keep up with the entire firm. He taught me the hard way but the best way,” she said.

Speaking highly of the new Attorney General, Ashikin said he was also the best employer that she had worked with and that he and his partners had taken really good care of the staff. — Bernama