Tommy Thomas, in his article Judicial credibility in the public eye eulogises the period before 1988 when the judiciary, under the likes of Suffian Hashim, Raja Azlan Shah and Eusoff Abdoolcader, was full of integrity and respect.

Maybe so. But to give credit for those times to the good judgments of the individuals concerned alone would not be credit I would give much currency to. Thomas said: ' ... because they were invariably making right, correct or proper decisions, according to the evidence and the law'.

He then assigns the fall of the Malaysian judiciary to the events of 1988 when Salleh Abbas and other judges were removed from their positions.

Just as Thomas has taken the liberty to suggest 1988 to be the dawn of the fall of our judiciary, I would like to take similar liberty to suggest that the gates for the fall were opened well before that.

These gates were unlocked by some of the very same luminaries Thomas refers to besides politicians who began to have prominence then. That includes Anwar Ibrahim of course who has paid dearly for it.

I am referring specifically to the day when recourse to the Privy Council in United Kingdom was discontinued early in Dr Mahathir Mohamad's administration (Privy Council is the highest appellate court for Commonwealth nations). I would like to suggest that if it was possible that the luminaries Thomas says made 'right, correct and proper decisions', it was because they knew they did not have the last word.

During the Anwar trials, S Augustine Paul and Ariffin Jaka would have been on far better behaviour had the Privy Council stood over their heads.

I remember the debate then when Mahathir wanted to rid access to the Privy Council and Anwar championed as Umno Youth chief. (Well, he can thank his last six years for some of that.) I also remember telling a friend then, Privy Council appeal abolishment was like leaving care of a banana plantation to monkeys!

I will still say that the Malaysian judiciary can only ever redeem itself if we once again have recourse to the Privy Council. Anwar would attest that ultimately there is not a soul you can trust your life and reputation with in Malaysia because just about everyone can be bought with a holiday !