Tommy’s lampooning of ‘kiasuland’ judiciary making waves in Singapore

In the speech he gave in 2009 in the wake of the Perak constitutional crisis, the new AG says the Malaysian judiciary is a 'hundred times' better than the city-state's.

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Tommy Thomas says despite weaknesses in the Malaysian judiciary, it is far better than Singapore’s. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: A nine-year-old speech by Tommy Thomas criticising Singapore’s legal system is being shared by social media users across the Causeway, hours after the senior lawyer was confirmed as Malaysia’s new attorney-general.

In the speech, made months after the Perak constitutional crisis which saw the downfall of the year-old Pakatan Rakyat state government, Tommy said Malaysia was fortunate to be among Commonwealth countries as it could refer any constitutional disputes with member countries who share similar legal systems whose “intellectual home” is Britain.

He then cited several countries where he said had “constitutional courts of respect”, adding that the then opposition would have won its case if their legal challenge was heard in India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.

“Here I must say… the one place that Malaysian constitution lawyers never looked to is Singapore. Singapore doesn’t have a constitution, does not have a constitution court, does not have judges, does not have lawyers,” he told the audience at the public forum “Whither the Constitution” held on Dec 9, 2009, in Petaling Jaya.

“I cannot read this speech in Singapore. So whenever we criticise Malaysia, we must say we are hundred times better than Kiasuland,” said Tommy, referring to a derogatory label common among Malaysians to describe the city-state.

Tommy, 66, was confirmed as AG by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong yesterday, after a short impasse that led to speculations that his appointment failed to get royal consent.

The Perak crisis was triggered in 2009 by the defections of two PKR and one DAP assemblymen. A request by then menteri besar Nizar Jamaluddin to dissolve the state assembly for elections was rejected by then Perak ruler, the late Sultan Azlan Shah, who subsequently asked BN’s Zambry Abdul Kadir to form a state government.

Subsequent attempts by Nizar to challenge the sultan’s decision failed, with the Federal Court reaffirming it in February 2010.

Several Singaporeans went on social media to comment on Tommy’s appraisal of their country’s judiciary.

One of them is activist Jolovan Wham, who was charged with contempt of court after he said that Malaysia’s judges were “more independent than Singapore’s for cases with political implications”.

“Singapore’s AGC should initiate proceedings against Malaysia’s new AG for scandalising our judiciary, if it wants to prosecute me for criticising our judges,” Wham said on Twitter.

Another Singaporean, Sukhdev Singh Gill, said Tommy was justified in his criticism.

“Many proud, loyal and patriotic Singaporeans would never be able to stomach such hard words against our beloved nation,” he wrote on Facebook.

“The speaker, Mr Tommy Thomas should not be blamed as he made such a comparison of Singapore (even Zimbabwe) with England, India, Canada, Australia (even NZ), EC @ Strausbourg and South Africa, because frankly we cannot be compared to those countries mentioned.”

Redwire Times, a website dedicated to Singapore current affairs commented: “Perhaps, 9 years on, Thomas has had a change of heart. Or not.” -FMT