KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — Former minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz today urged Malaysians to respect Tan Sri Tommy Thomas' right to write his version of history as he sees it, saying no one should be dictated to in writing their memoirs.
Nicknamed the “Iron Lady” for her blunt manner of speaking when she was in office during the first Mahathir Cabinet, Rafidah pointed out that a memoir is written from the author’s personal understanding of events as they transpired.
“But if the writer is conveying the message from his or her personal perspective , then we should respect that.
“No one is allowed to ‘guide’ me as I write my memoirs,” she wrote on her Facebook page today in response to the large number of police complaints filed against Thomas who was the immediate past attorney-general in the second Mahathir administration.
Rafidah noted that there were also many calls for the government to ban his book My Story: Justice in the Wilderness since it was published on January 30.
However, she said no one should “shoot the messenger” just because he or she disagreed with the views, adding that there had been “untruths” written about her in the past and that she chose to “let it go” even though she could have taken legal action if she wanted to.
“In that context, I really question the rush to sue, make police reports and worst of all, to ban Tommy's book!”
Rafidah suggested that those who were upset with Thomas’ memoir likely had a guilty conscience and was feeling the “heat” from the exposure.
“Siapa makan cili dia rasa pedas. Is the chili too hot to take? Makan cili rasa pedas?” she asked.
She pointed out that such calls for action were alarming and could lead to a crackdown on personal freedoms of expression and oppression.
“Are we turning into a dictatorship?” she asked.
“It's a worrying trend, when there is no room for dissent, and diversity of views,” she added.
Rafidah said seditious acts and libelous actions should not be condoned, but stressed that banning memoirs were a drastic action and would only deepen the perception of double standards among the public.
“Tommy's memoirs can add to the collection of diverse views, on some events of the past.
“And facts cannot be denied,” Rafidah said.
At the time of writing, the police have received 134 reports lodged nationwide and opened three investigation papers into Thomas' book.
Its content covers his tenure as the AG from 2018 to 2020 during the Pakatan Harapan administration before it collapsed following Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation as prime minister in February last year.
Among those who have lodged reports are another former AG Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali who claimed Thomas had violated the Official Secrets Acts with the publication of the controversial memoir.
Former solicitor general III Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria was another who filed a complaint, accusing Thomas of tarnishing his image as a deputy public prosecutor for 33 years, based on an excerpt of the book.
