For your information, Justice Shaik Daud Md Ismail has not retired as reported and is still in legal service as a Court of Appeal Judge as he is on an extension after his official retirement in January this year ([#1] M'sian judiciary: retired judge says he was embarrassed to be a member [/#], March 23).

He has fought for the independence of the judiciary in his own little style which I may add has caused an unnecessary distraction to his career path.

He is one of Malaysia's most respected judges and should have been appointed the Chief Justice long ago, according to many.

He could not even make it to the Federal Court because he stuck his neck out, did not play office politics and believed in the true principles of justice. This is one man who was born to be a man of the law and his success is one that will be measured by the principles and ethics he stood for and believed in. His own career was secondary to him.

Ask any senior lawyer around about Justice Shaik Daud and he or she will have nothing to say but only praises, pride and respect for the man that is second to none. I can vouch for this as well.

I, like many others, just hope Justice Shaik Daud will be able to continue contributing his services after retirement and directly serve the Malaysian judiciary the way he has been doing, without caring about being popular but more so about being right. Very few hold this virtue at the expense of one's career.

I wish him all the best and hope that we see more lawyers born with the same aspirations as this great one. This note is from the bottom of my heart to a man whom I have personally known throughout my life.

Editor's note

: With regard to Justice Shaik Daud's extended service, we ran a correction on March 28, which was also inserted in the abovementioned report.