COMMENT | English snobbery? Modified23 Feb 2021, 2:49 am A COMMENT | There’s a quote I found quite memorable in former attorney-general Tommy Thomas’ hotly-debated new book, “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, where the author defended himself against accusations that he spoke poor Malay by describing what he believed to be a key feature of the advanced complexity of common law: “It is largely a result of the greatness of the English language, the language of Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens and Austen. Hence, it was not so much that one is reluctant to use Malay for legal purposes; it was rather a commentary on the greater benefits of English.”