Lawyers Still Have Space ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN WEEKEND TODAY ON 19 JULY 2008 The Law Society has long desired to see a change to a 22-year-old amendment that ended its powers to propose legislative reforms. Last week, it tried again when it responded to the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute’s report on Singapore. The institute had said that the Law Society’s ability to comment on law reform was Judge As Good Cop, Bad Cop ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN WEEKEND TODAY ON 12 JULY 2008 The stiff punishment that the Supreme Court Judge gave to a National Servicemen who fled his camp with a rifle and five bullets and the exceptional empathy he showed the youth have put the focus on a rarity in Singapore’s justice system: A judge who plays good cop, bad cop. Playing good cop, :Justice Tay Yong Kwang told Dave Teo Ming: “Dave, NTUC Income AGM: Let All Members Attend - Part 2 See Part 1 here. REPLY RECEIVED FROM BOARD OF DIRECTORS, NTUC INCOME INSURANCE COOPERATIVE LIMITED ON 28 MAY 2008 Thank you for your e-mail dated 27 May 2008 addressed to our Chairman. Your feedback has been noted. We appreciate the interest shown by our members to attend our 38th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 30 May 2008. Bearing this in mind, we have in fact changed the AGM venue from the NTUC Income AGM: Let All Members Attend LETTER SENT TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS, NTUC INCOME INSURANCE COOPERATIVE LIMITED ON 27 MAY 2008 A number of your members have expressed a desire to attend NTUC Income's Annual General Meeting on 30 May 2008 at 6pm at the Auditorium, 7th Floor, NTUC Income Centre, 75 Bras Basah Road, Singapore 189557. I understand from them that they are being turned away due to lack of capacity. Such a development The Silence of Low Thia Khiang ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN TODAY (SINGAPORE) ON 26 APRIL 2008 Those who have been following the media coverage of the Prime Minister's statement and his subsequent responses to MPs over the Mas Selamat affair would have come away with the impression that the two representatives of the Workers' Party were doing what Opposition politicians should be doing in Parliament. To borrow a phrase from Interview: Tourism in Singapore INTERVIEW WITH DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, FACULTY OF ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE ON 3 APRIL 2008 Why do you think the state has tried to promote Singapore as a tourist hub? I think the reasons are pragmatic and economic. Tourists are an important source of income for Singapore. As a result of our geographic location at the centre of Southeast Asia and along major sea Senior Counsel Scheme: 10 Years On ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN TODAY WEEKEND (SINGAPORE) ON 29 MARCH 2008 It has been about a decade since the first batch of Senior Counsel (SC) were appointed by previous Chief Justice Yong Pung How. If a recent series of articles on advocacy in the Singapore Academy of Law magazine, Inter Se, reflect the undercurrents of the legal fraternity, some serious reflection is taking place about the SC scheme If One Were Dr Choong May Ling DEDICATED TO CHOO ZHENG XI. PUBLISHED BY THE ONLINE CITIZEN ON 20 MARCH 2008. The past three weeks have been unprecedented for Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng. First, Minister Wong had to apologise for alleged terrorist leader Mas Selamat Kastari’s escape from detention. Then, Minister Wong had to restore the flailing record of his Home Team, who were criticised for their complacency Encourage Re-Use of Commuter Newspapers LETTER SENT TO THE STRAITS TIMES ON 18 MARCH 2008 In recent years, there has been an increase in the circulation of commuter newspapers in Singapore. What happens often at the end of a journey is that a person throws the newspaper in litter bins. Such bins are available easily at train stations or bus interchanges. This is unfortunate because it encourages irresponsible social behaviour. Celebrating David Marshall's Legacy SPEECH DELIVERED AT ‘DAVID MARSHALL – HIS LIFE AND LEGACY, A SYMPOSIUM IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 100TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY OF MR DAVID MARSHALL’ AT RAFFLES CITY CONVENTION CENTRE ON 12 MARCH 2008. INTRODUCTION When I first learnt that I was to speak after the son of our late President C V Devan Nair and before the wife of our late Chief Minister David Marshall, you can only imagine how nervous I Forgiving Others DEDICATED TO KAVEE TRIVIVIT; THANKS FOR ENCOURAGING ME TO UPDATE MY BLOG MORE OFTEN! One of the things that gets to me is when a person lies to me. Naturally, I get angrier when the person lies to me again. When I do get angry, I tend to lose control of my usual happy self. I say some cruel or hurtful things that may leave the person - who lied to me - as annoyed with me, if not more. I may Go For Values Someone asked me yesterday what attracted me to another: a. beauty / good looks; or b. intelligence. I believe such attraction to another is short-lived and superficial. What really draws me to another person is his or her values, that is things which are really important to the person and how positive the person is. Such values define the person at the core and are essentially the lifeblood Plans & Surprises The past week has been full of surprises for me. It was thus very timely, towards the week’s end, that I watched a film that taught or reminded me of a very powerful lesson – “plan to be surprised”! We spend a good part of our lives living the plans that we plan for ourselves or others – such as the state or our employers – plan for us. But, in living these planned lives, we forget that Letting Go & Bringing Back DEDICATED TO LI-EN, PUJA V & SEE JONG; THANKS FOR ENCOURAGING ME TO UPDATE MY BLOG MORE REGULARLY! In the course of our lives, many people come and go. I have often believed that these people do not come to us by chance; they all come to us for a reason. We should try to keep them as far as reasonably possible, at least until you know your duty to that person or the reason for that person Let Judges Decide PUBLISHED IN TODAY WEEKEND (SINGAPORE) ON 5-6 JANUARY 2008 En bloc sales were the buzzwords of 2007 and if the economic indicators are right, the story will continue to dominate the headlines this year. The en bloc craze of the past year has meant a lot more work for the Strata Titles Boards (STB). Since 1999, the board has shouldered the additional role of approving collective sales of Wear pink for prayer & expression on October 22 On Monday, 22 October 2007, Nominated Member of Parliament and corporate counsel Siew Kum Hong will take an important prayer to Singapore's most sacred law-making body, Parliament. Scheduled to be heard and debated at some point between 1.30pm and 4.30pm, it is a prayer for thousands of people young and old, male and female. The prayer is humanity's cry for fair treatment and non-discrimination Keep377A.com Website Stained & Shamed When Repeal377A.com was launched, it made me very happy. To me, it represented people who were willing to stand up, make their views known and be counted. I was also encouraged by the level of transparency shown in the petition signing process, right down to identifying the regions where people lived in Singapore. When the Keep377A.com website came out, the civil activism made me even more glad. Readers Question - From Facebook In August and July 2007, I was asked several questions on Facebook. Here are some of those questions and my answers. Virtual Recruitment: Is this the next big thing for recruiters? In my last job, I was recruited virtually. Everything was conducted and concluded by e-mail! What role would you play in an adventuring band? I'd be the non-musician turned adventurer! Best place you have ever More Time For Public Response The Ministry of Trade & Industry, Singapore, has responded to my letter concerning the short period of consultation for the proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act through The Straits Times. It has extended the period of consultation. Its response is below. Happiness, Dharmendra Yadav ****** (Source: The Straits Times Forum, 5 October 2007) Public consultation Dealing with errant library members LETTER SENT TO THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE), THE NEW PAPER(SINGAPORE) AND TODAY (SINGAPORE) ON 1 OCTOBER 2007 The National Library Board (NLB) in Singapore has implemented a programme to recover more than $5 million in overdue fines from some 800,000 library members. This has prompted varied reactions from such errants users. In some cases, the overdue fines relate to books borrowed several Why so little time for consumer protection public consultation? LETTER SENT TO THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE) AND THE BUSINESS TIMES (SINGAPORE) ON 30 SEPTEMBER 2007 A public consultation was launched for proposed amendments to consumer protection legislation last Friday. If the amendments eventually make it into legislation, the changes will affect millions of consumers in Singapore. One can reasonably argue that it will be a step forward for human rights Book Review: From Leonard To Leona Over the years, women I have encountered in the course of my life have told me that child-bearing is the most intense experience that a woman will ever have - it inflicts extreme pain and its fruit is immensely satisfying. For the transsexual, that same experience is the journey from manhood from womanhood (or vice versa). Indeed, most of us know a lot about motherhood but very little about the Doing The Impossible Walt Disney once said, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible." To those who have been wondering why this blog has been at a standstill for a few weeks now, that's exactly what I have been up to! I am now back in school (since mid-August). I am pursuing a mandatory postgraduate diploma at a Singapore university. This is a course for legally-trained persons desiring Singapore court access rights Support Yellow Ribbon My community legal clinics from time to time bring me face to face with persons, who have just been released from our prisons. These persons are often eager to start their lives on a new page, and to make a difference for themselves and their families. In pursuing this, they are willing to look into the many opportunities that are available to them. Quite often, these opportunities are limited How To Sustain Relationships Some weeks ago, a friend sent me an instant message on the mobile phone. He asked, "How do you sustain a marriage?" At first, I was taken aback by this question. What would I, an unmarried wildly single individual, know about sustaining a marriage? But, since I am not the type to turn down the challenge of addressing difficult issues, I decided to help him find an answer. As I prepare to mark Lawyers Outside Legal Practice: A Historical Ramble Some years ago, an architect kept me engaged for almost an hour. He was shocked by the number of people that were leaving legal practice to pursue careers in business or the arts. He could not comprehend the reasons that could drive one to abandon a professional path. This trend is not changing in recent years. As more people join the legal profession, more are also leaving. But is this trend Sexual Orientation in International Law: The Case of Asia Many years ago, a founding father of Singapore, Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, drafted the Singapore Pledge, where Singaporeans pledge to "build a society, based on justice and equality". In pursuit of the ideals we find in this pledge and to mark Singapore's independence, one group of Singaporeans - the non-heterosexual community - uniquely organise an annual festival called Indignation. The festival Section 377A Repeal Means Less Two Lives In the last three years, my work in a cooperative and in the community have often brought me opportunities to engage with different school students in Singapore. Through these opportunities, I have met at least three students who not only have done extremely well in school but have been also been very active in non-academic activities. They have now left or are about to leave school but they ILAS-SCCA Liability Insurance Seminar Two associations where I am active - Insurance Law Association (Singapore) and Singapore Corporate Counsel Association - are organising a liability insurance seminar. Date: Wednesday, 01 August 2007 Time: 1.30pm - 5.30pm Venue: National Library, Level 5, Possibility Room This seminar is for you: a. if you have an office or a business space where third parties and members of the public access; Monopoly, Moratorium, Minorities In about 2 weeks, I will begin a process, which will last about 2 years and will eventually see me being called to the Singapore Bar. After that, I will be able to represent another person in the Singapore courts. As part of that process, I need apply one year in advance for pupillage in a law firm. This usually involves shadowing a senior lawyer, who helps you achieve certain learning outcomes