Tun Mohamed Suffian's An Introduction To The Constitution Of Malaysia

(Third Edition)

Author: Tun Mohamed Suffian

Edited By: Tunku Sofiah Jewa, Salleh Buang, Yaacob Hussain Merican

Binding: Softcover, 476 pages (2007)
Publisher: Pacifica Publications

ISBN: 9839910051

Price: RM69.00

Synopsis

The first edition of this classic work by the late Tun Suffian was published 35 years ago, whilst its second edition followed soon in 1976. By then, the author was already holding the highest judicial post in the country, the office of Lord President. Since then dramatic changes had greatly affected the constitutional and legal fabric of the nation, thereby rendering the original version of the book virtually out of date, compounding the problem of the book itself being out of print.

The three editors of this book thought it was fitting that the book be updated and revised, be given anew lease of life, and thereby rendering it as the most fitting legacy of this great towering personality to the country that he has served so admirably in his life-time.
The editors, contemporaries during student days in the Inns of Court in the late 1960s, know the late Tun Suffian personally and this revised edition signifies their IQ late author.
 

Excerpts from the Book
"The appearance of this third edition is... timely, as it becomes yet again a source of reference on our nation's Constitution for the general public ... My personal sentiment is that as Malaysia matures through the ages and takes its place alongside other countries in the community of civilised nations, it is very important that Malaysians learn and understand as much as they can our country's constitution....."
(Excerpt from Foreword to the Third Edition of the book by Datuk Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim, Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Malaysia)

"The citizen should know something about the constitution and I think that this modest volume will help him. It is hopeless for him to read the text of the constitution which is in legalese. Even a lawyer finds the original text difficult to understand, unless he happens to be a constitutional lawyer, of which the number is small, because quite naturally lawyers tend to concentrate on bread and butter branches of the law. I have written this book in fairly simple
(Excerpt from Preface to the First Edition of the book by Tun Mohamed Suffian)
 

"The enthusiastic reception accorded to this book has been most gratifying, M confirms that there is need for a book on the constitution written in a simple land straightforward way in plain language understood by the man in the street..."
(Excerpt from Preface to the Second Edition Of The book by Tun Mohamed Suffian)
 

About The Author
Tun Suffian had had a long association with the Malaysian constitution, first with drafting and then with its operation as a member of the Malayan Legal Department, and finally with its interpretation from 1961 when he was elevated to the Bench.

He had written this book in plain language for the ordinary man. Its great success shows that there is a crying need for a popular book written in language understood by the non-lawyer.

The author was born n in 1917 in Kota Lama Kiri, a small village on the bank of the Perak River near Kuala Kangsar and went to the Malay School, Lenggong, and the Clifford School, Kuala Kangsar, before going to England on a Queen's Scholarship in 1936.

A barrister from Middle Temple, he had two law degrees from Cambridge, an honorary LL.D. from the University of Singapore and an honorary D. Litt from the University of Malaya, of which he was Pro-Chancellor from 1964 until 1986.

During the war, unable to return home from England because of the Japanese occupation he worked as a news broadcaster and commentator with All-India Radio, New Delhi, and later with the B.B.C. in London where he acquired an interest in current affairs and in lucid writing. In 1975 his  outstanding record as a public servant won him international recognition in Manila, the Philippines, where he received a Magsaysay Award, regarded as the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

He died a widower at the Kampung Tunku home of Tunku Sofiah Jewa, one of the book's editors. He was then almost 83 years old.
 

Tunku Sofiah Jewa was called to the Bar at Lincoln's inn together with the other two editors of this book in 1970. She was a member of the Law Faculty at the University of Malaya for some years before leaving for private practice. An external examiner at the University of Malaya and an external assessor at both Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the International Islamic University, Tunku Sofiah has contributed articles in legal periodicals and has participated in lectures, both private and public, in Malaysia and abroad. Her two major works to date are Public International Law - a Malaysian Perspective (approx. 1700 pages in two volumes) and Malaysian Election Laws (approx. 3000 pages in four volumes).

Salleh Buang formerly served as a Federal Counsel at the Attorney-General's Chambers Kuala Lumpur under Dato' (now Tun) Mohd Salleh Abas (1970-1975), before he left for private practice and then the academia. A prolific author, he now writes for his weekly column in a local newspaper, apart from regularly conducting seminars, courses and workshops for the corporate sector and members of the Islamic Judiciary. In his spare time, he teaches postgraduate students of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
 

Yaacob Hussain Merican has practised law ever since his call to the Malaysian Bar in 1971. During his early years of practice he was a part-time lecturer in Constitutional Law and Legal System at the Institute of Technology MARA (now the Universiti Teknologi MARA) and occasionally lectured at the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College on aspects of Public International Law. For a number of years, Yaacob served on the editorial board of both "Insaf, a periodical of the Malaysian Bar and "The Writ, the journal of the Sabah Law Association. He has also served as an external examiner of the Faculty of Law at the University of Malaya.
 

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