PUTRAJAYA (July 1): In her last day in office, Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said that the six-month extension of her tenure, which was not granted to her, is not as “significant” as her six-year tenure, where she was “able to restore public confidence in the judiciary”. 

Speaking to the media before clocking out as the country’s first-ever female Chief Justice, Tengku Maimun said she would leave the office with no regrets, adding that it was a privilege serving as the 16th Chief Justice of Malaysia, and hoped that her successor would uphold her legacy. 

“No regrets, because of the fact that I have completed my term as a Chief Justice. So, the fact that I have not been extended for another six months — that's no issue. No issue at all. Six months is not significant compared to the six years,” she said. 

“Going by the public, or rather the responses that I have received from the public these last few months especially, and this morning from the speeches that the lawyers made in the open court at my last sitting, I think to an extent I have been able to restore [the] public’s confidence in the judiciary,” she said. 

“It has been a great privilege and honour to serve the Malaysian Judiciary, to serve as the 16th Chief Justice of the Malaysian Judiciary. And Alhamdulillah, I think Allah has graced my affairs,” she added. 

Tengku Maimun shared with the media that the top judicial post was never her dream, and added that it was not up to her to say whether she had achieved anything great or not. 

“I think being a Chief Justice was never my dream. So, [if] it's not your dream to be whatever, and you are in that position for six years, and I have completed that term, whether I have achieved anything great or not, as I was saying, it isn't up to me to say,” she said. 

“But, all I can say is that I have served six years... from 2nd May 2019... until 1st July 2025. [I served] in good health, and I think that is itself a blessing,” she added. 

Tengku Maimun shared that her most important judgments over her tenure are the ones that have attracted public comments or criticisms. 

“To me, that would be important judgments,” she said. 

As her time at the Palace of Justice came to a close, about 100 court staff lined up along the main lobby to bid Tengku Maimun farewell and pose for pictures with her. Some gave her bouquets of flowers. About two dozen members of the media covered the event.

Stopping to talk to the media, Tengku Maimun said she hoped that her successor would carry on her legacy, especially the current judges in Malaysia. 

“My hope and my prayer is that [my] legacy would be continued by whoever succeeds me, particularly and of course by all judges who remain in office generally,” she said. 

Tengku Maimun then thanked the Malaysian Bar and lawyers for their strong support of her.

“I want to take this opportunity to say thank you very much to the Bar, especially the Bar Council of Malaysia, and of course generally all the lawyers, including the lawyers in Sabah and Sarawak, for giving me strong support, because I think they understand that the strength of the Judiciary depends very much on the strength of the Bar,” she said.