KLSE Bhd, the holding company of the demutualised local stock exchange, has appointed Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah as its chairperson with effect from March 1. I must congratulate the former chief justice on his appointment to this regulatory body - I believe such a position is definitely more suitable for a former chief justice or judge to take up after retirement.

In my opinion it is definitely not right for a judge, and more so a chief justice, to join a law firm soon after he/she retires as it most definitely affects public perception on judicial independence, inviting all kinds of unnecessary speculations.

Mohamed Dzaiddin, I am sure, did not abuse his power when he was occupying his position as chief justice or use his influence on the judges after he retired in favour of the law firm that he subsequently joined as consultant after his retirement.

But, as I mentioned before, it is not only the independence of the judiciary that is important, but so too is the public perception of this independence. Justice must not only be done but also seen to be done, and likewise the Malaysian judiciary must not only be independent but must also be perceived to be independent.

I reiterate the position made by the Bar Council, in that there must be a reasonable "cooling-off" period from the date of retirement of judges and the date they get back into practice, join legal firms, or join any private company or corporation.

Considering judges' salaries and allowances and considering the pensions they receive when they retire, I have discovered that there is a big drop in the pension amount. While in office, judges receive a lot of benefits and allowances - most of which disappear upon retirement.

It is something that needs to be reviewed seriously. I believe that the amount they receive on retirement should remain the same or at most drop to 20 percent so that a judge is able to enjoy and maintain lifestyles similar to when they were sitting judges.

Judges sacrifice a lot when they accept the office. To ensure judicial independence and also the public perception of this independence is maintained, there must be serious review not only of a judge's pension, but also their present salaries which is really not that high.

Likewise the judicial and legal services must be separated. Higher remunerations should be given to sessions court judges, magistrates, registrars and also industrial court judges.