Tommy Thomas is set to release an autobiography chronicling his upbringing, rise as a lawyer and contentious 20-month tenure as the attorney-general of Malaysia.
The prologue of “My Story - Justice in the Wilderness” opens with a meeting he had with then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on June 5, 2018, one day after his appointment as the Pakatan Harapan government’s legal advisor.
According to Thomas, Mahathir asked him to resign immediately after telling him the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had assented to his appointment.
“The rug was immediately pulled from under my feet. Tun (Mahathir) dropped a bombshell.
“Despite the Agong’s decision, Tun wanted me to resign because of the scale and magnitude of the Malay opposition to my appointment.
“I was utterly astonished. Tun wanted my resignation the next day. The professional opportunity of a lifetime had slipped out of my fingers before I could even take a breath,” it read.
Mahathir’s request was despite his own decision to nominate just one name - Thomas’ - as the attorney-general.
While admitting he was “dumbfounded” and dejected by the resignation request, Thomas said he was prepared to comply.
Despite the episode, he went on to serve as attorney-general right up until Harapan’s collapse in February 2020.
This excerpt from Thomas’ upcoming memoir was released by its publisher Gerakbudaya on its Facebook page yesterday.
Available from Jan 30 onwards, the book includes chapters discussing the 1MDB scandal, former premier Najib Abdul Razak’s SRC trial, late firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, defunct militant group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and racism. - Mkini
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