Thursday, January 24, 2008

One for the Royal Commission and Justice

Commission rules holiday evidence relevant

The royal commission on the Lingam tape today (24-01-2008) rejected an application by lawyer VK Lingam to expunge evidence in regards to his holiday together with the former chief justice Eusoff Chin in December 1994.

The commission said it was allowing evidence to be adduced on the personal relationship between the two to be included in the inquiry.Following this ruling, Bar Council representative Robert Lazar is now continuing with his questioning of Lingam on his relationship with Eusoff.

The Commission has ruled that the relationship between Tun Yusof Chin and Lingam is of substance to the whole issue whether the appointment of the Chief Justice was arranged. This is an important step forward as it determines whether the Commission's scope of enquiry was limited to ascertain whether the person in the tape was Lingam and who was at the other end of the conversation. The Royal Commission must be given a free hand to ensure that the conversation was fully probed as to whether it contains other evidence that judicial has been "hijacked" and "manipulated" by the politicians and lawyer and business tycoons.

The sad thing about the whole thing is most of the public still do not bother about the Lingam case and feel that this is "normal" under the BN administration. Many might feel that "so what?" or "what can we do?" or "I can't even handle my own problem, why should i bother?". Of course, even many lawyers are "indifference" towards the whole thing as they are only concerned about their own welfare.

David Wong
24-01-2008

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not me. I hope that decent lawyers will find every evidence possible to find out the truth of the matter. I hope that righteous people of the law will rise to the occasion. May be there are many out there who could not be bothered with all the soap opera. But it has its' significance. If someone can choose someone for an important post not because he is qualified but because he is a strategic person, then the same thing will happen to all the posts in the government service. People given posts and awards not because they deserve it but because they can give something else in return to those who exalt them. This is not the meaning of integrity and transparency which I know.

Anonymous said...

More so when it is the judiciary that has been tampered with. If Malaysian can't even trust the judicial system, who else can they trust? What else is there to protect the rights of Malaysians? What democracy are we talking about as it is one of the three branches of the government without which democracy would have been buried alive.

"wake up to the rot or be buried under it!" words for thought of the day if you may allow.

Irene Chang said...

David, I think a lot of lawyers do care and follow the inquiry religiously. But it might be quite fair to say that most of us, though hopeful that the inquiry would, at the end of the day, bear fruits,are not raising our hopes in order not to feel too disappointed. Bear in mind that Royal Commissions have been said to be of little more than a way to end public criticism of government inaction without actually doing anything. But one good thing is coming out from all this - the judiciary has been forced to wash their dirty linens in public - and it is not at all sweet smelling.

David Wong's blog said...

Today, i-fm (previously known as radio 5) had a session for the discussion of the Lingam case. We must give credit to the radio station for bringing this on the air to let Malaysian the chance to view their opinions. I am pleased with the respond from the general public as they show their concern and disgust that ex-chief Justice Yusof Chin and Lingam having holidays in NZ as they said "even the blinds can see through the whole thing".

I remember in particular, a gentlemen who said that "if judicial appointment can be fixed, that is the end of judiciary in Malaysia."

He is right as Malaysian can not be guaranteed "everyone is equal in the eye of the law".

David Wong

Anonymous said...

Oh ON they "bump into each other" while in nz. you believe it???? tell it to my 2 year old grandson.

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