By Nuralissa Norrazak

As I write this, I had already read numerous tributes to my late grandfather Tun Mohamed Salleh Abas in the hope of deriving some inspiration to finally put pen to paper. I realise that these tributes were from towering figures of Malaysia and senior legal practitioners, revolving mostly around my late grandfather’s legacy as a legal luminary.

This is my tribute to the former Lord President (a post now renamed Chief Justice), my role model and my grandfather.

Tokki, the Tun

I was born a few years after the Malaysian Constitutional Crisis of 1988. Throughout my childhood, to my knowledge, my grandfather had only one name – “Tokki”. During Hari Raya, when my cousins and I were little, we would call on my grandparents’ house in Bukit Payung, Terengganu. People from all walks of life visited us. I was puzzled because these visitors or strangers would address “Tokki” as “Tun”. Bewildered, I concluded that they had mispronounced “Tokki”. Oh, little did I know.

I was an inquisitive child back then and asked my mother why “Tokki” was well known and generous to strangers. My mother told me to read the book May Day for Justice to understand better (Google was not at the tip of our fingers back then).

After numerous explanations from my mother, I discovered that Tokki was a “judge who was removed for the wrong reason”. I did not take much cognizance of it then.

Come my college years, eager to pursue my dream of being an automotive engineer in Formula 1, I met one of my roommates in my A-Level boarding school who was on a scholarship to read law. I had asked her about the Constitutional Crisis, hoping to get a layman’s answer from someone of my age.

Making grandfather proud

To my surprise, she explained the intricate topic with burning passion. I realised my passion for engineering was slowly dimming, obviously not because arithmetic is my weakest subject, but because, well, and I say with brutal honesty, I wanted to make my grandfather proud.

Finally, having had the opportunity of reading his book, I understood the Constitutional Crisis from my grandfather’s perspective and decided to read law and never looked back. After my long exhausting journey of getting a law degree and the Certificate of Legal Practice, I was one step closer to becoming a full-fledged lawyer!

I struggled to grasp the law of evidence and constantly sought his advice. Without a doubt, as a loving and caring grandfather, he would ask in his Terengganu accent “Bakpe mu dok suka evidence? Evidence is the easiest subject!” whilst maintaining his firm and strict demeanour with me.

I always laughed to myself because most of the leading judgments were his (Read International Times & Ors v Leong Ho Yuen [1980] 2 MLJ 86 or Abdullah Zawawi v PP [1985] 2 MLJ 16).

I could sense some hidden excitement in Tokki because I am the only person in his bloodline who has read law. Discussing the law with Tokki made me realise that even at his age, he still had a very sharp mind and brilliant memory. He constantly reminded me to be a fighter and protector of justice as he had been.

Big shoes to fill

The struggles Tokki experienced post-1988 were neither reported nor recorded. I was only made aware of the sacrifices and struggles he faced recently when the closest to him informed me.

He sought solace by studying more about Islam in his home state, Terengganu, surrounded by the variety of fruit trees he had planted. Tokki enjoyed sharing the fruits of his labour with his neighbours and/or strangers.

I have pretty big shoes to fill but I strive to be a legal practitioner of at least a fraction of what he was.

I prayed long and hard for my grandfather to move my admission as an advocate & solicitor of the High Court of Malaya, not because he was a former Lord President but because he is my grandfather. My prayers were answered on 25 October 2019.

I had the honour of having my grandfather, my own grandfather, robe me. Although he had never expressed it to me, I hope I made my grandfather proud by following in his footsteps.

-- BERNAMA

Nuralissa Norrazak is a lawyer and a granddaughter of the late Lord President, Tun Mohamed Salleh Abas.