Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah today officially retired as the ninth chief justice, saying that he was happy to have restored public confidence in the country's judiciary over the past two years and three months.

"If I am at all to be remembered, I would like to believe that this is my intangible achievement as Chief Justice. There are sceptics, I know...but I don't mind because I think I have achieved that," he said in an interview with reporters at his office.

He recalled that his main concern when assuming office o­n Dec 20, 2000 was to turn around a judiciary which had lost some ground.

Among subsequent changes he pushed for to improve public confidence in the judiciary were the introduction of the Fast Track systems in Kuala Lumpur high court's civil division and computerisation of recording system to free judges from taking notes in court, he added.

He said letters and feedbacks from his friends and colleagues, both local and overseas, convinced him that he had done a good job.

He said it will be "an overkill if I were to parade all the programmes that I have initiated and brought to fruition".

Not mere lip service

The 66-year-old former federal court judge said he was aware of the "bread and butter" concerns of judges but it was important for judicial independence to manifest in judges' practice and not merely given lip service.

He said despite his wish and will to have done more throughout his tenure, an old friend told him that God works in mysterious ways and therefore people cannot always determine their own destiny.

"It is my hope that you will understand that some things cannot be done overnight. As they say, Rome cannot be built in a day.

"If there are shortcomings in the policy that I have implemented, it is because of variables that somehow impede our plans," he said.

Asked how did he view criticisms during his tenure, he said, "It's simple. I take it as hazard of the profession they come and go. Of course I must admit that it is very stressful when you see all sorts of things coming out o­n the Internet."

Dzaiddin took over as Chief Justice from Eusoff Chin amid an erosion of public trust in the judiciary.

Anwar's case

The judiciary crisis resulted from a controversial overseas trip of Eusoff and a lawyer whose case was heard by the former, as well as the irregularities in the corruption trial of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

In April 1999, Anwar was sentenced to six years' imprisonment for corruption charges and subsequently sentenced to another nine for sodomy charges.

Last year, his appeal against his corruption conviction was quashed by a Federal Court panel led by Dzaiddin, sparking off criticisms from opposition parties and non-governmental organisations that the Chief Justice had failed to effect judicial reforms by rectifying the irregularities in Anwar's trials.

To a question regarding his retirement plan, Dzaiddin said he will spend more time playing golf and may do consultation, write a book or deliver public lectures.

Looking back, he said his "20 years, five months and 15 days" as a judge, first in the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 1982, was very much shaped by his years as a journalist and a police inspector.

"Those year helped a lot...you can see how lucid my judgments have been. I follow my mentor the late Tun Suffian (Hashim) he asked me not to write judgements for judges and academics but more for lay people. The experience as a police officer developed self-discipline in me," he said.

Simple man

He became a reporter with the Malay Mail from 1956 to September 1957 when he joined the police force as an inspector with the Special Branch. He left in 1962 to read law in London.

He also thanked the government, the chief registrar's office, judges and his family for their support.

"I am a very simple person when I am at home. I am not a judge. Those who know me know that I am down to earth, maybe because I came from a humble beginning. I am liked by many, you know," he said.

Dzaiddin was succeeded by Court of Appeal president Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, 62, (left) who will receive his letter of appointment o­n Monday.