YOURSAY | ‘Always let your conscience guide you. I wish you all the very best in your new role.’

Awesome responsibility, says Tommy Thomas on new role

Dr Suresh Kumar: Congratulations, Mr Tommy Thomas. My only request as a law-abiding citizen is for you to carry out your duty sincerely, transparently and religiously, without fear or favour.

The rakyat have given you their unending support to be their new attorney-general (AG) with the hope that you will put their interest and that of our beloved country first and will never ever bow to politicians in whatever circumstances.

Always let your conscience guide you. I wish you all the very best in your new role.

Sunshine: Felicitations, Thomas. Yes, do well for the nation. Review suspicions, allegations, police reports and especially the many ‘no action’ on notorious issues associated with abuse of power and corruption in high places.

Above all, follow the rule of law and establish an unblemished record for integrity.

The nation needs to regain its prestige and respect for law after the reputed negligence of the last AG on crimes linked to the 1MDB sovereign fund.

Vintage9: For too long, lawyers have complained about the quality of our judges. The country can only run by the rule of law if this branch of the judiciary is held by persons of superior intellect.

This is severely lacking at this moment.

It's a hot seat, Thomas – reminder from Apandi

Chipmunk: Former AG Mohamed Apandi Ali, who are you to advise Thomas? You misused your responsibility as an AG and you covered up for Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) from the day you were appointed.

Yes, it's going be a hot seat, not for Thomas but you. Soon you could be charged for abetting in the covering up of the SRC and 1MDB scandals.

Let’s see how you are going to wiggle out from this.

Anonymous 616: An upright person, Thomas has no worries about the temperature of the seat. He will walk tall and the rakyat will be with him.

Congratulations and many happy returns of the day, Thomas, and God bless!

Anonymous 1802761448130592: Yes, it's a hot seat, but it can be cool if the AG acts professionally, impartially and with integrity.

Anonymous 2389191448860311: If an AG wants to do the bidding of his boss, then, it's not only a hot seat but a seat on fire. However, if he does his duties as expected of an AG, then it's a cool seat.

Apandi, you better start reflecting on your past actions and behaviour.

Umno tells Putrajaya to stop the witch hunt of BN supporters

Anonymous_201a3ce9: The Umno communications unit either doesn't know the difference between voting for and campaigning for, or it is being deliberately mischievous.

Civil servants who didn't campaign while on the job should keep their jobs. Period. Those who did, during work hours, on taxpayer money, using taxpayer resources, should be fired.

Change for the Better: The new Pakatan Harapan government did not say that civil servants are not allowed to support or vote for the political party of their choice.

What they said was that those who abused or used their civil service jobs or positions for the services of a political party, rather than ensuring that the civil service is apolitical, have gone against their service standard operating procedure.

These people should be investigated, and rightly so.

Anonymous_4b0f0375: Lest you forget, there are lots of righteous civil servants who were victimised, marginalised, threatened and cowered into submission by such tyrannical civil servants with offices and positions who did not hesitate to demonstrate their allegiance to politicians, party, et cetera.

There is no room for such types in the civil service. Your allegiance should be to the government and rakyat, not to political parties.

Anonymous_81793caa: When Harapan supporters were persecuted for standing up for their rights while BN was in power, it was called "upholding the law".

When BN supporters are now being rightfully investigated for their constant transgressions against the rakyat, it's called a "witch hunt".

BN folks have one set of standards for themselves and one set for everyone else. You guys ought to be grateful that you are still more or less innocent until proven guilty, unlike your constant persecution of Harapan supporters, where they are always guilty until proven innocent.

Quigonbond: The word for this is "hypocrisy", coming from a political species with expertise that includes witch-hunting Malaysians who criticise the BN government.

Right now, I wouldn't even begin to term what's happening as a witch hunt. It's firstly enforcement of the law, and secondly, it's resetting the independence of the civil service.

Rupert16: First and foremost, civil servants should be seen and act as neutral, whatever their political affiliation may be.

Hence those top or senior civil servants who have acted openly in supporting a political party, prior to and during the general election, should be hauled up for questioning if there is clear evidence against them.

If found to be true, they should be sacked or demoted, depending on the seriousness of the case.

Hopeful123: Indeed, there is nothing wrong in following the rule of the law. If you had abused your position in the civil service for anything, including canvassing or using government money and logistics for any political party, then you have to face the music.

Panorama123: This is not a witch hunt but adherence to the rule of law.

One must be punished for abusing power or acting outside a person’s job scope and terms of employment. The same rules apply in the private sector, too.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.