Walk The Talk

If someone has passed a comment on your particular behavior, the comment made may either be true or it may not be true or it may be the combination of both. The truthfulness of that particular comment depends very much on that person’s perception and opinion of you. There are of course many other factors, which contributed to the formation of that opinion and comment. In view of the factors and personal preferences, the comment made may have the tendency to be more skewed towards the combination of both, i.e. some true and some not so true elements associated with the statement.

Extending this further to include what has been written, be it a direct translation of what people said or what has been interpreted by some journalists. The same principle shall apply. However, in every situation there is always exception to the general rule. One of the exceptions to the general rule would be the credibility of the person making the statement. Credibility of a person, I believe is closely linked with his position, his background, his educational qualifications, his wealth, his past track records, his family history, and strings of other factors etc.

Zaid Ibrahim was made the Law Minister of Malaysia in March 2008 when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Prime Minister of Malaysia reshuffled his cabinet after the just concluded 2008 General Election (GE). As the Law Minister, his main task is to oversee legal affairs and judicial reform. With the judicial system been riddled with scandals, especially following the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip, which allegedly revealed fixing of judicial decisions and graft in the judiciary system of Malaysia.

Born in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Zaid started his law studies in University Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam by taking his LL.B (Hons.) External Programme which was conducted by the University of London. Upon graduating from UiTM, he went to London and was accepted as a Barrister-at-Law, Inner Temple. In 1987 he founded Zaid Ibrahim & Co., which as of 2008 is one of the largest law firm in Malaysia.

In 2000, he joined UMNO, becoming Kota Bharu, UMNO division chief a year later. He was later suspended but became Kelantan Umno deputy liaison chief two years later. Zaid contested and won the Parliamentary seat of Kota Bharu in the 2004 GE. However, UMNO dropped him as a candidate in the 2008 GE. It suffered heavy losses, including the 2/3 majority necessary in the Dewan Rakyat to pass amendments to the Constitution of Malaysia.

Zaid is well known for his criticism of the government's handling of legal issues such as the judiciary, human rights and Islamic Law. Within days of his appointment as Minister, Zaid stated that the government had to openly apologize for its handling of the 1988 Judicial Crisis, which saw the sacking of the then Lord President of the Supreme Court, Tun Salleh Abas, from his seat. Zaid called it one of his three main goals: "In the eyes of the world, the judicial crisis has weakened our judiciary system." However, he rejected the idea of reviewing the decision: "I am not suggesting that we re-open the case. I am saying that it’s clear to everyone, to the world, that serious transgressions had been committed by the previous administration. And I believe that the PM is big enough and man enough to say that we had done wrong to these people and we are sorry."

So, with the comments made thus far by this vocal and outspoken Law Minister, which saw a slide improvement in the judiciary system. Recently Zaid has again made a comment and has expressed his disagreement with last Friday's Internal Security Act (ISA) dragnet where DAP parliamentarian and Selangor senior exco Teresa Kok, controversial blogger king Raja Petra Kamaruddin and Sin Chew Daily reporter Ms Tan Hoon Cheng were held for allegedly being a threat to national security. Following his statement, he has even tendered his resignation over the government’s use of the ISA on civilians. Zaid further said, "We have a government that commits to laws and reforms, we can't be using old-style politics or resort to creating fear. We have laws and they (the detainees) should be charged in court."

Think About It!!!

If such a person who is so closely linked to the Prime Minister office and has been entrusted to the reform of judiciary system of Malaysia with such a fantastic background, experience, educational qualifications, good track records, etc has come out to criticize the inconsistency application of ISA, even to the extent of giving up this important Law Minister portfolio – This warrants some ATTENTION and CREDIBILITY on the comments of this person from the people.

You be the judge. And you should as it is your BASIC CITIZEN RIGHTS to demand JUSTICE and ACCOUNTABILITY!