KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — “I’ve been successful in keeping my sanity,” Christopher Leong says, clearly relieved that his maximum two-year term as Malaysian Bar president will end next Saturday.

Throughout his tenure, Leong has spoken up on various issues like the controversial Sedition Act 1948, the sodomy prosecution of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the government ban against Catholic paper The Herald from referring to God as “Allah”, a high-profile case in which the Federal Court later dismissed the Catholic Church’s application for leave to appeal.

Leong led some 1,000 lawyers in a historic march last October to call for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to fulfill his promise to repeal the Sedition Act, amid a slew of investigations and prosecutions under the colonial-era law.

The pace of his work over the past two years was “very punishing”, he says, pointing to multiple meetings, tasks and speaking engagements, as well as the three to eight press enquiries he gets on average almost every day, including weekends.

Even our interview is interrupted with several phone calls that he does not answer. “See, the media again,” he says.

Despite his busy schedule as Malaysian Bar president — a full-time job that prevents him from spending much time with his only daughter, aged 10, or taking on cases at his law firm — Leong feels honoured to have served a 68-year-old institution that is older than Malaysia itself.

He has also done work with the government on law reform, such as on domestic violence and advocacy for vulnerable crime victims like children, rape victims or foreign workers, as well as on reforms of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Here, Leong talks about what it was like leading the professional legal body of some 16,000 members in peninsular Malaysia.

In his own words:

• President is a fancy name for what is really the office of the chief slave of the Bar. The president is a servant of the Malaysian Bar and in the cause of justice.
• I have aged a decade in two years. But I’ve no regrets assuming the presidency of the Bar. It has been extremely challenging, stressful and interesting, but I will not put my family and colleagues in my law practice through it again. But I am grateful for the experience it has given me and in the manner it has shaped me. The Malaysian Bar is a wonderful entity and I am honoured to have served it as president and to be counted amongst its members.
• Whenever anybody attacks me, they’re not only attacking the Bar, they’re attacking a Bar that has been here much longer than they have been and that has gone through much more.
• I’ve felt alone many times. Ultimately decisions are made, have to be made by you. You carry the responsibility for the decisions and you’re answerable for the decisions. You’ll have many people who are able to assist, provide input and give advice, but ultimately, the responsibility for making a decision and carrying it through lies with the president, who alone will bear the consequences and brunt of that decision.
• I don’t have the luxury of dropping the ball. While with friends, you can misspeak once in a while, but as president of the Bar, you cannot misspeak. If you do, there’ll be a whole line of people waiting to jump on it.
• I found that the presidency is not about any one person for the time being. It’s not about that person’s wish list or projects. It’s about the continuity of the work of the Bar. So very often, a president starts a project and another president finishes it.
• The challenges of national harmony and the Sedition Act are related in that the latter has been used to perpetuate divisions and discrimination. There are those who prey on insecurities, exploit fears and profit from confusion by playing up the differences in race and religion, and threatening violence.
• We must stop pandering to threats of violence or encouraging people to be “sensitive”. We should instead emphasise education and promote discourse. The use of the Sedition Act reinforces discontent and militates against harmony and unity.
• This was early in my first term as president. My daughter came back from school one day. She said “Papa, papa, you’re famous”. She said some teacher saw my picture in the papers and read what I said. A few months later, she said she wished I wasn’t president of the Bar because I spent no time with her. She was then eight. I told her it’s only going to be for a limited time.
• Nobody takes on the presidency for appreciation. That’s never been on the mind of any president. On the contrary, it’s a privilege and honour for someone to serve as president of the Malaysian Bar. Having said that, there’s much self-satisfaction gained at the end of one’s term as president from knowing that you have done your utmost best.