A lawyer's personal opinion on Tommy Thomas' controversial book
REVIEW - *"My Story: Justice in the Wilderness" by Tommy Thomas*
SPOILERS (Then again, it's a memoir, so does that really count? But you've been warned).
Well I'll cut to the chase. I loved the book. But I think a huge part of why I loved it is because I also happen to be a lawyer, a litigator, and a keen follower of Malaysian politics. It doesn't hurt either that Tommy Thomas' values for the most part, align with mine.
It's an honest book, in the sense that he really doesn't bother mincing his words or sparing anyone's feelings (that should be apparent by now, given the number of people who have lodged complaints, filed police reports, and threatened to sue him over the book). Reading it gives you the impression that Tommy Thomas really doesn't care (or if you're French, DGAF).
And that for me, was the most compelling reason why I stayed up 2 nights in a row to finish this book (at 500+ pages, it's pretty damn long). Why would a lawyer of such experience and standing, embark on a course of action that is highly unusual, and definitely controversial, to say the least (i.e. nakedly reveal his personal unvarnished thoughts about everyone as well as open up the mystery of what goes on in Government, which your guess is as good as mine as to whether this is a breach of the law or professional ethics).
Now, for those who just want to read about the stuff that took place while he was Attorney General (admittedly what drew me to buy the book in the first place), that starts only about midway through the book, yet I was not minded to skip the earlier parts of the book, which literally starts from his ancestry as a Malayali of the Syrian Christian community, how his parents met, his days in Victoria Institute, going to law school in Manchester, starting out in practice at Skrine and even (for a brief 2 years), hightailing to Canada to escape the authoritarianism of the 1980's under Darth M.
Perhaps the eeriest part for me was in the dedication of the book, where he writes about missing his eldest daughter, Rebecca, who left them too soon. I never knew he had lost a child. When he finally reaches the part (interspersed between stories of high politics and gross corruption), where he talks about her death (she committed suicide from depression while working in Australia as a lawyer at the age of 26), I felt a genuine pain for the man that I did not know possible. I can't really describe how I felt in that instant - it was a mixture of vulnerability and humanity that somehow made it all the more apparent to me how precious living truly is.
So yes, here is a book that will reveal everything that you ever wanted to know about the judiciary, the Attorney General's Chambers, our civil service, the PH Cabinet (boy did he piss off a lot of people), and more. It's a good read, and you will definitely learn things that you would not have known otherwise (though I suspect in the days to come, more and more will be reported in the news because frankly, the revelations are extensive).
But to me, it was also a deeply personal story of a man who having reached the height of his professional career, has decided to risk it all by basically making an enemy of the State and a whole host of other powerful people in writing.
Remember how I said that the most compelling part of this book was in trying to figure out why on Earth he would write this book? I have a theory and the theory is this: entrenched racism in Malaysia. It is a theme that is suffused throughout the entire narrative, from his almost dispassionate observation of how his parents were sidelined in the public service due to the colour of their skin (His mother, by the way, is ridiculously qualified and exceptional in so many ways), his observations about how PH unraveled, and finally, his view of how he was repeatedly criticised and condemned on account of his race, and to a lesser extent, his religion, throughout his tenure as AG.
The 4th from the last chapter in the book is simply titled "Racism" and it was here, that I finally felt I had come to understand why he has done what he did. The frustration and anger at the sheer injustice of racism in Malaysia practically rolls off the pages in palpable waves. And it is a painful story, for all of us. Because make no mistake, none of us escape the cruel consequences of racism unscathed. And in Malaysia, where race is the defining feature par excellence by which our society governs itself, you better believe that those scars run deep.
So there you have it. My review of the latest book by our former AG, Tommy Thomas. If you have any interest in the law or politics, read it. If you enjoy reading memoirs, read it. If you're the sibuk type who enjoys seeing all the leading lights of Malaysia (plenty of whom are still alive) shat upon in writing, read it. And if you want to understand what the consequences of 60 years of racial discrimination does to the psyche of a man, read it too.
Well, read it while you still can anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if this book is going to get banned in less time than it takes to exclaim (or proclaim) "Darurat".
Written by Too Jing Xi via his Facebook posting on 5 February 2021
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