Foreword

Summary

I feel greatly honoured to write a Foreword for this very long awaited book on the life of the very famous son of Malaysia, the late Tun Dr Ismail bin Dato’ Haji Abdul Rahman Yassin.

Undoubtedly this volume will become good source material for students of the modern history of Malaysia. I do not wish to repeat what is already written about the late Tun in this book — about his education, his well-known character as a man of integrity, his common sense approach to problems be they big or small, easy or difficult, and above all, his sacrifice, especially of his health for the country. All these are set out in details that leave no one with any doubt that the late Tun was not only a pragmatic and wise person but also one who was very meticulous, especially when it came to questions of law and politics.

I had the privilege of coming into contact with him when I joined the Attorney General's Chamber in Kuala Lumpur in 1963. I must have gradually won his confidence because he later constantly consulted me whenever law and politics came into conflict. He would want to know what the law was on any given problem that he had to deal with. The Attorney General then, the late Tan Sri Abdul Kadir bin Yusof, being a political Attorney General with membership in the Cabinet, was a very busy person. That was why the job of advising the late Tun fell on me as the Solicitor General for the country. Through constant interactions between me, him and Tan Sri Abdul Kadir, I came to enjoy the confidence of these two wonderful persons.

Subsequent to the May 13 riots, the late Tun Abdul Razak, the then Deputy Prime Minister, called me and my colleague the late Tan Sri Hashim Yeop Sani, to the Prime Minister's Office, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra's residence at Jalan Dato’ Onn. There were a few senior Ministers present. I need not repeat who they were, because these are mentioned in this book. The Ministers were discussing how to deal with the riots. From the top of Jalan Dato’ Onn, we could hear gun shots being fired and we could see smoke bellowing from selected spots in the city and nearby suburban areas.