PETALING JAYA, July 12 — Under attack over his alleged poor command of the Malay language, a video of newly-appointed Attorney General Tommy Thomas giving a speech in Bahasa to a cheering crowd has surfaced online today.

The four-minute-odd video purportedly shows Thomas giving a speech at the Attorney General's chambers in Putrajaya.

Thomas is believed to be addressing personnel from the the Judicial and Legal Service Officers Association (Jalsoa), in what appeared to be part of Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.

Thomas is seen reading from a prepared speech, but that did not matter to the crowd, who were heard cheering loudly every time he paused in his address.

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In the speech, he elaborated on the function of the agency, which is to protect the welfare and needs of its members.

He also congratulated the agency for their work to this end, adding that he was personally committed to strengthening efforts for the welfare of its members and legal issues in the country.

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Thomas also wished the members 'Selamat Hari Raya', which was met with vigorous applause.

As of 4.15pm, the video, posted by user Shamsul Sulaiman, has been viewed 1,600 times and shared 65 times.

The comments on the video were positive, with some commenting 'Wow!' and 'Comel je Tommy(Tommy is cute)'

Others were impressed by his command of the language, posting: 'Boleh jer boss cakap Melayu. Tahniah Tuan'.

Thomas had been criticised by certain parties, including the Malaysian Islamic Organisation Consultative Council (Mapim) and PAS for his poor command of the national language.

 A petition was also launched on Change.org, calling for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V to remove Thomas, for his lack of proficiency in Malay.

Ironically, the petition itself was lambasted online for its poor quality of English.