LAWLINKThe Alumni Magazine of the National University of Singapore Law School

Vol. 2 No.1 January-June 2003

ISSN: 0219-6441

Our Man at the Region’s Helm -ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong ‘79

Contents

LAWLINK is a publication of:The Alumni Relations CommitteeNUS Law School13 Law Link, Kent RidgeSingapore 117590

Special thanks to:Marie Tang, Valerie Sam, Alfian Ahmad andthe Law Faculty Administrative Staff.

Cover page map courtesy of The WorldFactbook 2002.

To get on our mailing list, write with fullcontact details to lawlink@nus.edu.sg orLAWLINK , NUS Law School, 13 LawLink, Singapore 117590.

Welcome to the new year, and to LAWLINK ’sthird instalment!

As we begin a fresh semester of teaching andresearch, we would like to thank our alumni foryour continued support for our outreachprogrammes. This past year saw severalinitiatives being undertaken to promote strongeralumni relations, not least of which was thelaunch of LAWLINK itself. We have nowupdated our alumni database, and are confidentthat at least three quarters of all our alumnidating back to the Class of 1961 receive newsfrom us. For those of you whom we havesomehow lost contact with, do send yourupdated coordinates to lawlink@nus.edu.sg. Twoclasses have set up websites hosted by us, andwe would like to invite other classes to considerestablishing class websites.

More reunions are being planned for the variousgraduating classes. This past year, the Class of1962 celebrated the 40th anniversary of theirgraduation, and invited the pioneer Classes of1961, 1963 and 1964 to join them in an eveningof nostalgia hosted by the Law School. InFebruary 2003, the Class of 1993 celebrates its10th year of graduation, and the pioneerClasses’ reunion should give some food forthought to those of us 93’ers who think thatwe’ve come very far!

Amidst an uncertain political, economic andsecurity environment, Ong Keng Yong ’79assumes the role of Secretary-General of theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).In this issue, we bring you one of Keng Yong’sfirst public interviews since he commenced histenure as Secretary-General. We also feature twoalumni who went global even before thisbecame fashionable - Tan Loke Khoon ’87 andTan Heng Thye ’89 - as well as an alumnus whohas retired from the law and has gone on to qigong, sailing and writing - Joan Foo Mahony ’74.Back home, we talk to K Shanmugam SC ’84

Editorialabout the challenges facing legal education andpractice in Singapore.

The ClassAction segment at the end of eachissue continues to provide short news snippetson classmates. Infinite thanks to all those whohave written in, and especially to those whovolunteered to be class reporters. While mostalumni tell us that this is absolutely theirfavourite part of LAWLINK , we can’t possiblyconcoct stories here - we need as many of you aspossible to write in with your news, and not justto hope to read about others!

Finally, our gratitude goes out to the manyalumni and friends who have made gifts to theLaw School and who have supported us in somany ways. We look forward to establishingcloser links with you.

The LawLink team - Tracey Chan ’97,Alan Tan ’93 and Marie Tang.Absent: Burton Ong ’99.

Alan Tan Khee Jin ‘93Associate Professor and Editor, LAWLINK

LAWLINK can be accessed on-line athttp://law.nus.edu.sg/alumni

ClassAction

Future Alumni

ALAWMNUS Features

Law School Highlights

25

22

11

04

28

Letter from Abroad

Message fromDean Tan Cheng Han ‘87

03

Class Reunions

26

We are looking for an alumnus to fill a part-time alumni relations position at the LawSchool. Email lawlink@nus.edu.sg for details.

Law School DonorsJuly - December 2002

The Hon. the Chief Justice Yong Pung How& Mrs Yong, for the Yong Shook Lin

Professorship in Intellectual Property Law

$2,000,000

Allen & Gledhill, on the occasion of itscentennial celebrations

$250,000

Dean’s Circle

Gan Hiang Chye ’70 - $15,000Kenneth Tan Wee Kheng ’83 - $5,000

Goh Phai Cheng ‘68 - $5,000Dr Leong Joo Kee - $5,000

Wee Swee Teow & Co - $5,000Ho Peng Kee ’79 - $3,000

Mr Lum Kah Weng Victor - $2,400Mr Quek Chuwi Chu - $2,000

Ho-Chia Choy Ping ’78 - $2,000

Alumni Circle - Up to $1,000

Wong Foong Keng Carol ’77Lee Kim Shin ’85Arfat Selvam ’68

Mr Arumugam Raja SegaranMr Cheong Hock Loon Henry

Faculty Circle - Up to $500

Lim Joo Toon ’82Chong Siew Koon ’67

Ong Ban Chai ’68Rajan Menon ’71

Chang Cheng Mei Caroline ’86Leong Lai Fung ’86

Tan Leng Cheo Frankie ’92Pang Kin Woon ’95

Chiong-Lee Sock Sim ’96Anthony Wee ’96

Eusuff Ali N M B Mohd Kassim ’98Goh Min-Yaw Raymond ’00

Gaw Ying Charn Benjamin ’02Low Pei Sze Olivia ’06Tan Chee Meng ’86Chuah Ai Huah ’72Ng Peng Hong ’79

See Hsien Huei Melvin ’01Manjit & PartnersMr Abdullah Jaffar

Mr Chia JacobMs Goh Bee ChooMr Goh Chin Koon

Mdm Goh Swee YeongMr Kok Peng Foon

Ms Kong Wong BoeyMr Kwek Juan Tin Nolan

Mr Lee Seah WengMs Lim Siu WanMr Lim Yue KhimMr Tan Aik BoonMr Tan Keng HaiMr Tan Kin Kin

Mr Tan Kok YeangMdm Teo Peng Neo

Mr Teo Sin Hock DavidMr Yeo Yeok TheeMr Yip Hoi Wah

Mdm Yong Lew MeeMr Michael ScullyMs Seow Siew EngMdm Tang Yuet Lin

Mr Tay Boon Sim MichaelMr Adab Singh

Mdm Foo Geok Lin

03 LAWLINK

As we begin another year, I would like, on behalf ofmy colleagues, to take this opportunity to wish ouralumni a happy and successful year ahead. It hasbeen a challenging time for many and as we beginanother chapter in our lives, it is my sincere wishthat we will all be able to surmount the challengesthat may lie before us.

This is likely to be an eventful year for the Faculty. Inthe past year, we have been in discussions with severalleading law schools in Asia to establish the Asian LawInstitute (ASLI) in NUS. Much progress has been madeand we hope to establish ASLI this year together withat least 6 other leading Asian law schools. The visionbehind ASLI is that it will draw together legal scholarsfrom all over Asia to collaborate in teaching andresearch. Thus far, there has been very little dialoguebetween Asian legal scholars. As legal institutionsbecome more important in Asia, we believe that Asianlegal scholars will find it highly beneficial to engageeach other in mutual learning and collaborativeresearch. At the same time, Asian legal scholarsundoubtedly also have something valuable to add tothe international legal discourse. ASLI hopes tofacilitate such a dialogue amongst Asian legal scholarsand between such scholars and the rest of the world.

There are also other international initiatives. A numberof new student exchange programmes are beingdiscussed, which we hope will be signed in time forthe new academic year that begins in August 2003.The Faculty is also in discussion with a top US lawschool to establish a Global Partnership Programmethat will involve collaboration in teaching, research andpolicy forums. This is potentially a very exciting venture,which we believe will be mutually beneficial to bothlaw schools, as well as to other law schools that will beinvited to join the Programme. Another very interestingdevelopment relates to the invitations that the Facultyhas received separately from two top universities inChina to establish a major law teaching programmewithin their campuses. We intend to explore verycarefully the feasibility of expanding our teachingprogrammes to China, although we have to be verymindful of the many competing demands on ourlimited resources and the fact that our principal roleis to train lawyers for the demands of the legalprofession in Singapore. What is encouraging is thatthese and still other international initiatives attest tothe Faculty’s high standing in the international legalcommunity. In this, I pay tribute to my colleagues,many of whom have worked very hard with me over

the one and a half years that I have been Dean.

Another major area of activity has been our graduateprogrammes. I am delighted that the Faculty’s GraduateDivision under Vice-Dean Dora Neo and Deputy DirectorTeo Keang Sood has developed three new specialist Masterof Law (LLM) programmes. These are the LLM (Corporateand Financial Services Law), LLM (Intellectual Property andTechnology Law), and LLM (International and ComparativeLaw). These three areas have been chosen because theycorrespond to areas that are important to Singapore, andwhere the Faculty has considerable expertise. The area ofintellectual property, including the protection andexploitation of advances in knowledge, is likely to be animportant growth area in Singapore and Asia. Similarly,corporate governance, financial services, corporate finance,and the regulation of securities and futures markets will beimportant areas of legal practice as companies andregulators in different jurisdictions seek to re-positionthemselves. International law will also become moreimportant in an increasingly globalised world. We believethat lawyers with in-depth knowledge of these areas willbe well positioned to take advantage of the opportunitiesthat will be thrown up in these areas.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our manygenerous donors. As the global competition among theleading law schools of the world intensifies, a reasonableendowment will be crucial. In this regard, unfortunately, weare well behind many law schools, which beganfundraising many years ago. Nevertheless, our donors,particularly alumni and parents, have been wonderful inresponding to our call and I want to thank each and everyone of them sincerely. In particular, I would like to thankThe Honourable the Chief Justice Yong Pung How LLD ’01and Mrs Yong for their very generous donation of $2million to establish the Yong Shook Lin Professorship inIntellectual Property Law. I must also thank the Partners ofM/s Allen & Gledhill, particularly its Managing Partner,Lucien Wong ’78, for the donation of $250,000 on theoccasion of the Firm’s 100th Anniversary. This donationgoes to the Lee Sheridan Legal Education Fund. All thedonations that we have received to date are double tax-deductible and will be matched by the Government.

On this note, let me once again wish all of you a very goodyear ahead.

Message fromDean Tan ChengHan ’87

The Law School is pleased to establish a newProfessorship in Intellectual Property Law namedafter the late prominent lawyer, Yong Shook Lin.The Professorship has been made possible througha generous donation of $2 million by Mr YongShook Lin’s son, The Honourable the Chief JusticeYong Pung How LLD ’01 and Mrs Yong Pung How.The donation attracts a matching governmentgrant, bringing the total endowment to $4 million.The Yong Shook Lin Professorship will be used tobring in an eminent visiting academic in the field ofIntellectual Property Law to NUS each year. It willbe a significant boost to the Law School’s plans tohelp Singapore build up legal capacity in thiscritical area of the law.

Mr Yong Shook Lin was a prominent member ofthe legal profession, having been Chairman of theFederation of Malaya Bar Council and also a

Yong Shook Lin Professorshipin Intellectual Property Law

member of the Legislative and Executive Councils.He was also the Honorary Secretary-General of theMalayan Chinese Association from 1949 to 1952.

In expressing the Faculty’s appreciation to the ChiefJustice, Dean Tan Cheng Han ’87 said: “We areabsolutely delighted to have received this generousdonation from the Chief Justice and Mrs Yong. Thelate Mr Yong Shook Lin was a very distinguishedlawyer and politician. The firm that he founded,M/s Shook Lin & Bok, is one of the top law firms inSingapore and Malaysia today. This professorship inhis name will enable the NUS Faculty of Law toincrease the number of subjects offered in the fieldof Intellectual Property Law and on behalf of theFaculty, I would like to thank the Chief Justice andMrs Yong for this very generous gesture.”

Law School Highlights

The late Yong Shook Lin.Picture courtesy of The

Honourable the Chief Justiceand the Yong family.

05 LAWLINK

As part of its recent centennial celebrations, Allen& Gledhill donated a sum of $500,000 to variouscharitable organisations in Singapore. This amountincluded a $250,000 gift to the NUS Law School’sendowment fund.

Managing Partner, Lucien Wong ’78, said: “Incelebrating the firm’s 100th anniversary, we tooktime to count our blessings and decided that it wastimely and appropriate for us to contribute, insome way, to society. My partners and I are merelystewards of the firm and for our future generationof lawyers. In recognition of this, we decided tocontribute to the NUS Faculty of Law’s EndowmentFund to help further the cause of legal education inSingapore.”

“Globalisation has increased competition. It hasalso opened up greater opportunities for lawyers”,Lucien added. “With the sum donated, we hopethat it will help the Faculty develop newprogrammes and bring in top scholars fromoverseas to provide a truly global and wide-reaching education that will prepare the studentsfor a challenging career in law.” Recollecting hisyounger days in law school at the Bukit Timahcampus, Lucien mused how there were only four“L’s” in his life then - law, library, lectures andlunch. Today, it would be Law, Law, Law and clientLunches! Driven by his passion for work, Lucien’smain concern as managing partner is to set thefirm up for the younger generation of partners.

Lucien, who joined Allen & Gledhill in 1987, saidthat he did not expect to be leading the firm on its

centenary. He is grateful to the countless personswho have supported and guided him throughoutthe years. “There are just too many of them toname. Among them are my law lecturers whonever seem to age. They still look the same today,as they did when I was in law school some 30 yearsago. They are not only educators, but true rolemodels who deserve a tribute for their patience,dedication and concern.” At the firm’s galacentennial dinner and performance on 27September 2002, Lucien handed a cheque for$250,000 to Dean Tan Cheng Han ’87, who notedthat nearly three-quarters of Allen & Gledhill’spartners are alumni of our law school. The gift isone of the largest donations to the law school todate. Also present at the dinner were ProfessorsTan Sook Yee, Lye Lin Heng ’73 and RobertBeckman.

Allen & Gledhill’s$250,000 Gift tothe Law School

NUS President and Vice-Chancellor hostsLaw School Alumni

In October 2002, NUS President and Vice-Chancellor Shih Choon Fong hosted lunch forseveral law school alumni at University Hall. Thelunch formed part of a regular series of meetingswhich University Hall hosts to strengthen ties withalumni from the various faculties.

(L-R): Tracey Chan ’97, Dean Tan Cheng Han ’87, Benjamin Ang ’93,Joseph Ang ’77, Farid Abdul Hamid ’87, Gregory Vijayendran ’92,Foo Tuat Yien ’76, Prof Shih Choon Fong, R. Palakrishnan, SC ’72,Ong Ban Chai ’68, Chandra Mohan ’76, Koh Kok Wah ’84, GilbertLeong ’89, A/P Teo Choo Soo.

MASTER OF LAWS

ASUQUO KOFI ESSIEN ALLOTEYCAI CHENFENGCHIA KO WENDUMOTEIM OJUKA DENNISGOH CHIEN YENHELENA WHALEN-BRIDGEMAGDALENE HSIA PIH YOONGJASWANT SINGHKENSAKU FUKUIDAVID KHONG SIAK MENGEDWIN KOH BENG SIMLAU OON HUAYLEONG LAI FUNGLIM LEILO KIM SENGMICHAEL KLEMMMOSES JEYANDRANRONALD NGPEMA RINZINRATH SOPHOANREVATI SURESHROELOF CORNELIUS VAN DER MERWEMALCOM TAN CHUN CHUENTAN YAH SZEJANET TOH YOONG SANTRIANO ANDREAS RIDJABVICTOR MUTHUCAN ANTHONYSAMYYUFENDYCHANG LUH CHONG

Congratulations Class of 2002BACHELOR OF LAWS

ADAM ABDUR RAHIM S/O NAINA MOHAMEDANG WEE BENG, SAMUELANITA MISRA D/O TRIJUGI NARAINANITA SONIA PARKASHANTHONY ANDRE LINUSBAN SHIANG MEI, JOANNEBUAY KEE GUAN, COLINBUAY KEE YONG, CLARENCECHAN KOK WAHCHAN TAI-HUI, JASONCHAN TSU WAN, JOANNECHEAH YEW KUINCHEE YUEN LI, ANDREACHENG YEE PING, RONNIECHEONG SIAO HWEI, CHARMAINECHIA GIN GINCHIA HENG GUAN, AMBROSECHIA HOCK LEONGCHIA HWEE SZE, TRICIACHIA KAH WHYE, CHRISTOPHERCHIA KENG LENGCHIA LYN LYNNCHIA TIEN XIANG, JEREMYCHIA VOON JIETCHIN LI YOONCHOO YU JIN, JONATHANCHUA MEI YEN, CELINADAVINIA FILZA BTE ABDUL AZIZ

ELIANY BTE JAMILENG ZIXUAN, EDMUNDFOO HSIANG MINGFOO YEUNG CHERN, MERVYNGANGA D/O AVADIARGAW YING CHARN, BENJAMINGOH ENG CHERGOH GIM YEOWGOH GIN NEEGOH HIEN KANGGOH MEISHAN, GERALDINEGOH MUI KENG, CHRISTINAHARVEEN SINGH NARULLAHO CHEE HONHO CHING HUI, ELAINEHO WEI LING, SHARONHO YEE TIEN, DELPHINEHO YING MINGHOWE PIN YITHSU LI CHUANKABIR SINGH S/O BALDHIRAJ SINGHKHEW MEI YUNN, BELINDAKOH HUI LI, JORITAKOH KANG MING, SHAUNKOH KIA JENGKOH SEE KHIANGKWAN YIN LENG, CLARAKWEK YI LYNNLEE HUAY YEN, ADELINELEE YEOW WEE, DAVIDLEONG LU YUEH

Law School Highlights

07 LAWLINK

LEONG TSE WEY, SYLVIALEOW VINCENTLIEW AI LING, LAURA ANNLIM CHOON MUN, EUGENELIM HON YILIM KWANG SINGLIM WEE KIATLIM WEE KUAN, ERNESTLIM WEI TINGLO PETERLOH JEN WEILOH KIA MENGLOH WEI-YI, MANDYLOOI MING MINGLOW PEI JOOLUM ANGELMOEY WENG FONG, ESTHERMOK CUI LINGNG EE WERNNG HON-WAI, MARTINNG KIA WHYE, ADRIANNG LI-MAY, VANESSANG OON TIEN, JEREMYNG WEI WEI, HENRYONG PEI CHINONG SU AUN, JEFFREYPAIK SU WEI, SYLVIAPHAN SIANG LOONG, COLINPHUA WEH KWANG, EUGENEPNG YIN CHIAQUEK HWEE HIA, DAWN

SANTIAH D/O AYADORAISATHIASEELAN JAGATEESANSEAH CHING LINGSEAH YONG QUAN, TERENCESEET SIOK LIN, NOELLESIA EU, EUNICESIA SU MEI, CELIASIM SHER LING, SHARENSIM SU MEI, JOANSOH E-LING, MARIANNESOH HUI LING, IVYSOO YU-HAN, JESSICATAN CHING-LI, JACQUELINETAN EK JIN, DEBORAHTAN E-PINGTAN EU GENETAN JUN LIANG, ALOYSIUSTAN LAY YINGTAN MIN-LIANGTAN SIN CHENGTAN SIN LEITAN SU PINGTAN SU-MING, JANETAN VIM YEW, ERICTAN WEN HSIENTAN XEAUWEITAN YI LINTAN YIN TZETAN YING CHETANG LI-LI, SALLYTAY CHING CHING

TAY LIAM KHENGTAY SWEE KEONG, ALVINTAY XIN-YUN, ODESATEO BEE LOON, GRACETEO JIN-WEI, DARYLTEO LIN, JACQUELINETEO MENG CHYE, JEREMYTEO SHIH YEETEO YI JINGTEOH SU HUITHAM HSU HSIENTHAM WEI CHERNTIW HWEI-YI, JASMINETOH EAK SIEWTOH HAN PINVIGNESH VAERHNWONG CHERN WEI, JEFFREYWONG CHIN SOON, WILSONWONG HUR WENWONG LI FERN, CHELSIAWONG SHU LING, CHERYL CHARMAINEWONG TSUNGWEIWONG YEN CHIN, ANGELINEYEH SIANG HUIYEO ANN-LI, MICHELLEYEOH YU LI, KARENYIP YUNG KEONG, JUSTINYUEN DJIA CHIANG, JONATHANZOU WEN XI, DOMINIC

Geoffrey Morse with Judge of AppealChao Hick Tin, Mrs Jean Marshall andChristine Morse at the David MarshallProfessorship Lecture

Faculty Update

Prof Geoffrey Morse DeliversDavid Marshall ProfessorshipLecture

Prof Geoffrey Morse from the University ofNottingham spent the first semester of 2002/03with the NUS Law School as the David MarshallProfessor. In October 2002, Geoffrey delivered theDavid Marshall Professorship Public Lecture entitled“Partnerships for the 21st Century? LimitedLiability Partnerships and Partnership Law Reformin the UK”. The lecture was attended by nearly 100members of the legal fraternity, many of whomwere alumni specially invited to the occasion.Geoffrey spoke on the introduction of the limitedliability partnership (LLP) into UK law and how thishas taken place against the backdrop of twofundamental law reform projects - one oncompany law and the other on partnerships.

Foreign Trade Institute (all in Shanghai), ZhejiangUniversity in Hangzhou and Soochow University inSuzhou. Cheng Han also attended the 50thanniversary celebrations of the East ChinaUniversity of Politics and Law (ECUPL), with whichour Faculty has a staff exchange agreement.Follow-up action to the trip is now being pursued,and the Law School hopes to build on the valuablefriendly contacts made during the trip.

Stronger Links with PhilippineLaw Schools

Teo Keang Sood and Gary Bell visited the lawschools of the University of the Philippines and theAteneo de Manila University in November 2002 tostrengthen relations with our Philippinecounterparts. Keang Sood and Gary also took theopportunity to promote our graduate studiesprogrammes among Philippine law students. Whilein Manila, they were warmly hosted by Paul KohKok Hong ’87, Counsellor in the SingaporeEmbassy in the Philippines.

Appointments and Movements

In early 2003, Leong Wai Kum, who specialises infamily law, was appointed Professor in the LawSchool. Meanwhile, a warm welcome to KelvinLow Fatt Kin ’99, who joins the Faculty as AssistantProfessor, and best wishes to Mary Wong ’89,Helena Chan ’81, Soh Kee Bun ’83 and Dawn Tan’97, who have left the Law School.

Fellowships and ExternalAppointments

Prof Leong Wai Kum visited Cornell Law School inIthaca, New York in November 2002 as the firstVisiting Researcher of the Cornell Clarke Programin East Asian Law and Culture. While at Cornell,Wai Kum presented two talks on “LegalRecognition of the Assigned Sex of Post-operativeTranssexuals: The View from Singapore” and“Singapore: Pedagogy and the Status of

Dean Tan Cheng Han ’87 presenting gifts to the President and Vice President of the EastChina University of Politics and Law, Professors He Qinhua and Wang Limin

Cheng Han and Bob withProf Roberta Romano in thecourtyard of Yale Law School

Faculty UpdateDeanery Visit to U.S. Law Schools

Dean Tan Cheng Han ’87 and Vice-Dean BobBeckman visited four top law schools on the eastcoast of the United States in October 2002. Thepurpose of the visit was to broaden academic linksand collaboration. The trip took them to the lawschools of Yale, Columbia, Harvard and New YorkUniversity (NYU). In addition, Bob continued on toChicago to visit Northwestern University LawSchool. In New York, the Deans met up withalumni who are working with New York law firms,Samuel Huen ’98, his wife Elaine Chong ’98 andNicholas Song ’95, as well as Jon-Nathaniel ’04,currently on exchange at Columbia. Nicholas, whowas the first NUS alumnus to be a Hauser Scholarat NYU, assisted in organising the NYU visit.

The visit to Yale Law School was organised by ProfMichael Reisman, a member of our Faculty’sInternational Advisory Panel. Prof Lance Leibman, aformer dean at Columbia, assisted in organisingthe visits to Columbia and Harvard. Cheng Hanand Bob also met up with Alexander Loke ’90 andTan Seow Hon ’97, both on leave from the Facultyand pursuing their doctorates at Columbia andHarvard respectively. As a result of the trip, in-principle agreements have been reached forstudent exchange programmes with both NYU andNorthwestern, adding to the existing agreementwith Columbia. The trip was very successful, andseveral joint collaborations are currently beingdiscussed as a follow-up.

Dean’s Visit to Shanghai,Hangzhou and Suzhou

Dean Tan Cheng Han ’87 made a visit to severaltop law schools in China in November withcolleagues Li Meiqin and Helena Chan ’81. Thepurpose of the trip was to promote the NUS LawSchool’s graduate law programme to the studentsof leading law schools in Shanghai, Hangzhou andSuzhou. The law schools visited were ShanghaiJiaotong University, Fudan University, Shanghai

Law School Highlights

09 LAWLINK

Marriage”. Her first talk was a presentation of anunfavourable High Court of Singapore decision in1992 relating to a transsexual’s marriage, academiccritiques of the decision and a subsequent 1996amendment to the Women’s Charter allowing for apost-operative transsexual to marry in his or herchosen sex. Wai Kum’s visit was co-sponsored bythe Feminism & Legal Theory Project run byinternationally renowned family lawyer Prof MarthaFineman of Cornell Law School. Perhaps a measureof the success of Wai Kum’s visit to Cornell is thather hosts have invited her to return for a longerspell to offer any course of her design under theirprograms.

In November, Simon Tay ’86 was appointedChairman of the newly-formed NationalEnvironment Agency, a government statutory bodyunder the Ministry of the Environment. Simon wasalso awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship for 2002,which offers a specially designed programme tovisit the USA and exchange views with leadingAmerican officials, experts and academics.Meanwhile, Terry Kaan ’81 chaired the BioethicsAdvisory Committee’s Human GeneticsSubcommittee which recently released itsrecommendations on human tissue research,establishing for the first time a national-levelethical framework on the matter. Thio Li-annadvised a group of visiting Japanese Members ofParliament on aspects of Singapore constitutionallaw. Loy Wee Loon ’87 is currently on secondmentas Deputy Director of the newly-establishedIntellectual Property Academy. Also on secondmentis Lim Chin Leng, who is at the International AffairsDepartment of the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Visiting Professors and Scholars

The Law School welcomed Visiting ProfessorsWilliam Swadling from Oxford, Kent Roach fromthe University of Toronto and Geoffrey Morse fromthe University of Nottingham during the firstsemester of academic year 2002/03. Bill Swadlingtaught personal property law and delivered aseminar on “The Classification of Trusts” in theLaw School. He also spoke on “MistakenPayments: De Beers and IDA v. SingTel Re-examined” at the Singapore Academy of Law. Onhis part, Kent taught classes in ComparativeConstitutional Law and Administration of CriminalJustice, spoke to colleagues and students on“Comparative Anti-Terrorism Law and Policy” andflew to Jakarta to advise on anti-terrorismlegislation. Geoffrey Morse was the David MarshallProfessor and delivered a public lecture on limitedliability partnerships (see previous page).Meanwhile, three colleagues from the East ChinaUniversity of Politics and Law (ECUPL) joined us asvisiting scholars as part of a staff exchangeprogramme. Zheng Shao Hua, Xu Li and ZhengYunrui were in residence for three months whileAlexander Loke ’90 and Daniel Seng ’92 visitedECUPL to teach Securities Regulation andInformation Technology Law respectively. Daniel’s

stay in ECUPL in November coincided with theuniversity’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The NUSFaculty of Law was represented at the celebrationsby Dean Tan Cheng Han ’87.

For the second semester of this academic year, awarm welcome goes out to Visiting ProfessorsGerald Dworkin, Gerard McCormack fromManchester, Michael Milde from McGill, FrancisReynolds, Derek Davies and Adrian Briggs fromOxford and Hikmahanto Juwana from theUniversity of Indonesia. Gerard McCormack is thisyear’s C J Koh Professor, and is teaching PropertyLaw II (Equity and Trusts).

Student Exchange Agreementwith Peking University

The Law School recently signed a student exchangeagreement with the Law School of PekingUniversity (Beida) in Beijing, China. The agreementwas inked by Dean Tan Cheng Han ’87 andProfessor Zhang Shouwen, Vice Dean of PekingUniversity Law School on 16 July 2002. PekingUniversity is the second Asian law school (after theEast China University of Politics and Law) withwhich the Law School has signed an exchangeagreement. Peking University has one of the mostprestigious law schools in China, and the firstexchange of students is expected to take place inAugust 2003. The NUS Law School currently hasstudent exchange programmes with 17 institutionsin 8 countries, with more being negotiated withcontinental European schools.

Law School Journals

The July 2002 issue of the Singapore Journal ofLegal Studies (SJLS) marks the first themed issue ofthe journal. The issue featured a number of articlesfocusing on different issues related to anti-terrorism laws. Contributors hailed from a numberof different jurisdictions, ensuring a diversetreatment of an extremely topical theme: terrorism.On its part, the Singapore Journal of Internationaland Comparative Law (SJICL) presented a themedfeature issue on Comparative Constitutionalisms:The Re-Making of Constitutional Orders in SouthEast Asia. The feature critically examines the salientconstitutional developments in the region over thepast decade or so, with contributions coming fromwriters in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, EastTimor, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Anarticle by Lee Eng Beng ’92 in the SJLS, “TheAvoidance Provisions of the Bankruptcy Act 1995and their Application to Companies” [1995] SJLS597 was cited by Tan Lee Meng J ’72 in the HighCourt in the case of Show Theatres Pte Ltd (in liq) vShaw Theatres Pte Ltd [2002] 2 SLR 144.

The Alumni Seminar Series

The Seminar Series continued to grow in strength,with several alumni returning to the Kent Ridgecampus to speak to our students on their areas of

Goh Hui Hoon ’94, Douglas Walter, StephenLoke ’86 and Stephen Phua ’88 at the FairTrading Act public forum

interest. In April, volunteer worker at KarenniRefugee Camp 3 at the Thai-Burmese border, NgYuina ’92, spoke on “Living With the Karenni: APersonal Account”. The talk was preceded by aprimer on the international law on refugee andminority rights by Assoc Prof Thio Li-ann. InSeptember, a panel discussion on “Graduate LegalStudies in the United States: Programmes andProspects” was held, with the panel comprisingApril Phang ’98, Christopher Koh ’99, Burton Ong’99, Cheng Pei Feng ’98 and Alan Tan ’93 fieldingquestions from students on LLM studies in the US.

Centre for Commercial LawStudies (CCLS)

The CCLS jointly organised a public forum on theproposed Fair Trading Act with the ConsumersAssociation of Singapore (CASE) in September2002. Chaired by CCLS director Stephen Phua LyeHuat ’88, the forum engaged over 150 participantson the various options available to implement a fairtrading regime in Singapore. Stephen Loke Chi Teh’86 discussed the roles of trade and businessassociations and codes of practice in the fairtrading regime. Douglas Walter - past ExecutiveManager, Client Services for the Office of FairTrading and Business Affairs in Victoria, Australia -recounted the Australian experience with the FairTrading Act. Goh Hui Hoon ’94 then discussed howthe proposed fair trading legislation would affecttraders and the industry.

Upcoming CCLS events include a Banking SecrecySeminar on 3 February 2003 and a Seminar on theFair Trading Bill on 21 April 2003. Details areavailable on the CCLS website at http://law.nus.edu.sg/ccls. Arising out of the 9thSingapore Conference on International BusinessLaw (SCIBL) held in August 2001, a book entitled“Current Developments in Financial Regulation andCapital Markets” has been launched by CCLS.Edited by Stephen Phua ’88, the 445-pagepublication is published by LexisNexis, and retails atS$200. Messrs. Rajah & Tann kindly sponsored theprinting of the first 500 copies. As with the eightprevious volumes of the SCIBL series, orders maybe placed by emailing lawccls@nus.edu.sg.

From July 2003, the Law School will offer three newspecialist Master of Laws (LLM) programmes. Theseare the LLM (Corporate & Financial Services Law),the LLM (Intellectual Property & Technology Law)and the LLM (International & Comparative Law).

The three offerings are full-time one-year degreeprogrammes taught over two semesters, and will bein addition to the general LLM degree currentlyoffered by the Faculty. They will complement thegeneral LLM programme by enabling students fromSingapore and overseas to enhance their expertiseby focusing in-depth on the three selected areas.These will equip local lawyers for the increasingopportunities in offshore legal work in Singapore,the region and globally, as well as for the growingnumber of foreign law firms opening offices in theRepublic. The programmes will also be beneficial forlawyers taking up in-house counsel positions in localand foreign corporations.

The specialist LLMs will facilitate the acquisition ofknowledge relevant to a globalised world,particularly as many of the electives will be taughtfrom a comparative perspective and will not focusonly on Singapore law. It will also offer students the

Three Specialist Masters(LLM) Programmes Launched

opportunity to study alongside classmates from Asiaand other parts of the world. In this regard, the LawSchool has an extremely international studentprofile, with graduate students having come frommore than 30 countries over the years.

Commenting on the new programmes, Dean TanCheng Han ’87 said: “These specialisations will taketo a new level the legal expertise in vital areas inwhich Singapore has broad and deep traditionalstrengths, including financial services, corporategovernance and promoting the rule of law and co-operation in the international arena. They will alsosupport the new areas of development such asinformation technology, telecommunications andresearch in biomedical sciences. The Law School iscommitted to helping the legal sector upgrade itselfto meet the new challenges as well as theopportunities that will arise as legal practiceundergoes significant changes. Such upgrades areinevitable given the changing face of Singapore’sdomestic economy as well as the challenges posedby globalisation.”

The initiative is also in line with the recommendationof the Sub-Committee on Service Industries’

The LLM (Corporate & Financial Services Law) includes electives in banking(domestic and international), company law and corporate finance, financial servicesand securities, and taxation. This specialisation will enable students to acquire thetheoretical base and practical expertise in these subjects.

The LLM (Intellectual Property & Technology Law) focuses on the issues raised bythe rapid advance of science and technology. The courses offered include traditionalintellectual property law courses, including those on copyright, patents, designs,trademarks and confidential information; as well as others specifically focused on therelevant technologies such as biomedical law, telecommunications law and Internetlaw. The issues range from protecting the products of new technologies andpatenting new business methods to bioethics and preventing abuse of geneticinformation.

The LLM (International & Comparative Law) offers a mix of public and privateinternational law and comparative law subjects. There are courses that lean towardtrade, investment and commercial issues; as well as those covering subjects such aspublic international law, human rights and environmental protection which areimportant for diplomacy.

Working Group on Legal Services, set up under theSingapore government’s Economic ReviewCommittee (ERC). In its report released in September2002, the ERC panel stated the aim of establishingSingapore as a regional hub for legal training andresearch. They recommended that the Bachelor ofLaws (LLB Honours) course offered by the LawSchool be supplemented by Master of Lawsprogrammes in different areas of specialisation.

The specialist LLMs will be taught by existingacademic staff of the Law School, visiting professorswho are leading international academics in therelevant fields, and Singapore-based legalpractitioners. A programme director will constantlyreview and develop each specialisation, with inputfrom local and international advisors to ensure thatit remains relevant and attractive to potentialstudents.

Applications to the LLM programmes received by 28February 2003 will be considered.

More information can be found athttp://grad.law.nus.edu.sg.

Law School Highlights

11 LAWLINK

Career: The Road Less Trivial?

Looking back, I consider myself fortunate to haveknown very early on what I wanted to do, where Iwanted to be and with whom I wanted to work. Iprobably had an overabundance of energy and agreat dose of ambition, all dressed up (as it were)and looking for some place to go. I ended up inHong Kong and China practising intellectualproperty law as a result of what I happily considerto be a stroke of good fortune and a blessed mixof happenstance, wanderlust and opportunity.

As a child, I recall looking at some old familyphotographs of my maternal great grandmother, aDutch lady and my paternal grandfather, anarchetypal Chinese businessman from Fuzhou,China, and was moved by the fact that they werefar away from home and unsung pioneers in whatthey greatly achieved overseas. Could I live up tothis pioneering tradition, I mused?

I love writing and travelling. As a student, this ledme to participate in the Japan Air Lines SummerScholarship programme in Sophia University inTokyo. I found myself in Tokyo withundergraduates from all over the world, soakingup Japanese culture and learning and growing

together. The friendships forged through such anexperience were truly unique. All thirty of us wereleft with the desire to further explore the globalvillage.

Why China? Those of you who enjoy ‘Gu Long’ (afamous Chinese novelist) sword fighting andclassical novels, and movies like Water Margin,would appreciate the beauty of the Chineselanguage and the scenery of mystical China. Thisold world charm still rings true today if you were totrudge up the Great Wall in Beijing or stand on aprecipice in Guilin. Further, as a lawyer, I havealways been curious about the effect of law on theChinese people. When I watched Gong Li in TheStory of Qiu Ju, a movie about a commoner’sstruggle for justice, I finally recognised how theChinese legal system and bureaucracy could be soprofound, insurmountable and challenging.

My brush with intellectual property came early. Ihad always enjoyed the course as it waswonderfully taught by George Wei at the NUS LawSchool. Although it was considered unusual tospecialise early on in one’s legal career, I foundmyself laden with intellectual property files duringmy traineeship. I relished getting up to speed inthis favourite subject. The choice to stick with IP

was obvious after a while and I vied for a positionin the Intellectual Property Department ofDonaldson & Burkinshaw where I wanted to workwith two of Singapore’s IP gurus Jo-Ann See ’82and Tan Tee Jim ’79. When I was accepted, I knewthat my IP career had begun.

Events came together one afternoon at work whenI chanced upon a Baker & McKenzie advertisement.They were looking for an IP lawyer for their ChinaPractice, based in Hong Kong. I had then chalkedup two years of IP practice in the local firm, andthe position was exactly what I wanted for the nextstage of my career. Swept by the adrenaline rush, Isent in my resume. When I walked into theinterview room, I was greeted by a Baker &McKenzie partner Winston Zee, one of the bestChina practice lawyers I have ever known and mymentor to-date. As a result of that positiveinterview, the window of opportunity in HongKong and China opened. When I became a partnerin Bakers years later, I made it a point to be as niceand encouraging to my interviewees as Winstonhad been to me. That opportunity was given to mebecause someone took a gamble and believed, as Idid, in me.

Tan Loke Khoon ’87

Battling the Pirates ofthe Middle Kingdom

Tan Loke Khoon ’87 is one of the first of our alumni tohave ventured into legal practice in Hong Kong and China.An international partner with Baker & McKenzie in HongKong / Beijing, Loke Khoon specialises in intellectualproperty law. In this feature, Loke Khoon reflects on hiscareer choices and on what makes China special for him.

ALAWMNUS Feature

The working environment: A fish out of water?

Ever since arriving in Hong Kong and China, I havelearnt to do almost everything at breakneck speed.I walk, talk, read, write, jog and breathe at whatseems like an unnatural pace. There always seemsto be a constant frenzy at work with ringingphones, endless emails, lots of meetings andadministration and the bane of all lawyers - timesheets! Crazy as it sounds, I revel in this state ofactivity and flux.

Being trained in Singapore gave me a certainadvantage. We are bilingual, multi-cultural andsuccess-oriented. Together with my partners, I havehelped to recruit several resourceful Singaporelawyers for the firm over the years and theexperience has been fruitful. Since Singapore has afused legal profession, I felt comfortable being in acourtroom whereas this might not always be so fora Hong Kong solicitor who has to defer to abarrister for most court matters. Being trained inthe common law tradition made it easy to adapt tothe Hong Kong legal system, but posed a challengewhen dealing across the border.

The learning curve was steep. One country, twosystems? For a while, it seemed like one country,one thousand systems. Until you physically set footin China and work for a substantial period of timewithin the system, it is really difficult to portray thetrue picture to your clients. It was no longer a caseof knowing what the law says but what it meant in

actual practice. I found this frustrating initially butas I lived through victories and losses, it becameapparent that you cannot win all of your battles,but should certainly live to fight another day. OnceI reached that point of awareness, there was lessangst about the entire system and I knew thatthere would always be a solution for the client, insome form or other.

I love the buzz of Hong Kong and China. Pre-1997,there were the jittery bank runs and immigrationblues at the Singapore consulate. This was playedout against typhoon blistery weather the nightHong Kong returned to its motherland. Lookingout of my office window today, the Prince of WalesBuilding has been renamed as the People’sLiberation Army Building. I now witness morningmilitary drills by Chinese soldiers where Britishsoldiers once marched.

Intellectual Property Rights in China: A Stateof Play

There is only one word to describe IP infringement:endemic. Which does not mean it is uncontrollable.It is a case of setting realistic expectations, takingappropriate legal and commercial steps of actionand containing the piracy problem so that brandvalue is not severely diluted, the relevant businessoperations in the mainland continue to thrive andconsumers are not confused or, worse still, injured.No one disputes that China has a showcase of one

of the best IPR laws in the region, if not the world.Post- WTO, these laws are also TRIPs compliant,which means that they conform to internationalstandards.

The problem lies in the patchy enforcement ofthese IPR rights. The consensus is that China willhave to devote considerable resources and politicalwill to the matter before any significantimprovement is seen. To a common law trainedlawyer, the bifurcation of the administrative andjudicial court systems in a civil law jurisdiction likeChina has always been interesting and challenging.I was lucky enough to have entered the arena in1989, at a time when China IP was just taking off.While the world was still reeling from the events ofJune 4th in Tiananmen, it was clearly back tobusiness in China a few months later and therewas no lack of IPR work as any investor who hadforesight knew that China was too big anopportunity to miss out on. Foreign IPR ownerswere initially cautious in their approach to litigationin the Chinese People’s Courts as they feared abacklash against their businesses in China.However, China has since negotiated severalbilateral IPR agreements with the US, Europe andJapan. IPR litigation by foreigners against Chineseinfringers is no longer considered taboo. TheChinese enforcement officials also appear to beless xenophobic of foreign IPR owners who wish toprotect their interests legitimately.

The advice we give to clients is to recognise thenature of the problem in China, inject sufficient

Loke Khoon and Shirley with their children

13 LAWLINK

Repulse Bay seawater. If the weather is coolenough, I enjoy hiking in the mountains for charityor pure pleasure. These days, my sons Christopherand Alistair keep me fit as they love soccer andexpect me to play with them every wakingmoment. Hong Kong is a good launch pad formany tourist destinations and we try to fit in asmany holidays with the kids as we can. It isamazing how much a child learns through travel,and my wife, Shirley (Kwan ’88) and I consider ourholidays a worthwhile investment.

Ever since my days with the Singapore Law Review,I have always wanted to write a play involving thelaw. I am inspired by what is happening in the artsscene in Singapore and may eventually find time tocomplete my script. Meanwhile, I have co-written aChina Trademark book with a colleague, based onour experience in the firm. Another IP book is inthe works.

Law School Nostalgia

My memory of Law School is a montage of Rag &Flag, Law Club and Law Review meetings, hostelpranks, the Law Library and ‘the Paper Chase’.Being around my classmates and seniors wasinvigorating. Every face had a story, every personhad a dream and being in love with the law gaveus the vision to see beyond the written page. Therewere many lecturers that inspired me by their

devotion to the task and their gift for whatappeared to be storytelling of the law. I liked thefact that I had to reason throughout the day,through every tutorial, every lecture, everyconversation along the hallways.

I liked the sprawling campus grounds and the foodhunt from one canteen to the next. There was anair of excitement, a celebration of youth in theliveliness of the Kent Ridge campus. The onlynegative memory lies with the photocopyingmachines in the libraries and the quest to keepwithin the limits of the Copyright Law!

Epilogue

Without a doubt, there are many learningopportunities and challenges for Singapore lawyersin this part of the world. The competition is keenbut the career rewards make it worthwhile. SomeSingapore law firms have ventured into Chinaeither alone or in association with other foreignlaw firms. Kudos to them for daring to be differentand pursuing new dreams.

Being part of a global firm in a practice area I trulyenjoy, and living in a part of the world that makesmy heart beat faster every time I read the businessnews, could any aspiring pioneer ask for more?

safeguards by way of adequate registration andcontractual protection and to actively take steps toresolve the IPR issues through a variety of creativesolutions. It would be naïve to expect equivalentresults to those which can be achieved in othermore legally developed jurisdictions. The success ofthe IPR team that my partners and I have built upmay be traced to our commitment to China and toour resolve to work within the flexibility andconfines of the Chinese legal system.

Some of the difficulties of working in this area ofChinese law include the huge geography of thecountry, tricky investigations, difficult logistics andthe lack of sophistication of some enforcementofficials. Then there is the perennial problem ofwhat we call protectionist behaviour. In one of myfirst IP cases, I was told by officials of the WuxiAdministration for Industry and Commerce that theinfringer factory was a major employer of thepeople in that town. I would be foolish to expectthat they would take any action that affected thelivelihood of the local community. A decade later,the Chinese Public Security Bureau (the Chinesepolice) are now involved in IPR enforcement andthey would have no qualms in putting a majorinfringer-employer behind bars if there is sufficientevidence of criminal IPR activity. There is also theguanxi factor: you scratch my back and I massageyours. There has been a quantum leap in theChinese mindset, but the challenges persist and wehave a long way to go.

All work and no play?

I have always adopted the “work hard, play hard”policy and make optimum use of my spare time. Iam an avid water-skier and budding wake boarder/snowboarder and also try to schedule in as manyruns as I can. If the sea is as polluted as theenvironmentalists say, I am in deep trouble as Ihave had more than my fair share of gulps of

LAWLINK : How did you get into qi gong,and what prompted you to write on it?

Joan: I have been practising qi gong since 1992with my master and teacher in Hong Kong, MakChung Man. He is a man of extraordinary talentswhose compassion and commitment to thisancient art have helped me regain my health andstrength and inspired me to write this book. Thepath towards my study of qi gong and why I wrotethe book is simply this: about 10 years ago, I wastold by doctors in America that due to a hormonalaberration, my brain was telling my blood that Ihad no calcium (when in fact I did). As a result, nomatter how much calcium I ingested, the bloodcontinued to steal calcium from my bones. By1992, I had already lost 40% of my bone mass andwith the rapid deterioration, I was told that I wouldbe in a wheelchair soon and that my lifestyle wouldbe limited tremendously.

This was terrible news for me. I sailed, I skied, Ijogged. I danced and I worked like a maniac. I wasnot prepared to live the life of an invalid and atthat time, I was not even 50 years old!! I havealways believed in the ways of the East. So, I badefarewell to the western skeptics and flew to Chinaand Hong Kong where I found my master andpracticed qi gong diligently with him every day.‘Qi” is the internal energy within all of us and if weknow how to harness it, store it and redistribute it,we will “unblock” all the stagnant qi that causesillness. I did all this not only the traditional way butlearnt (with my busy lifestyle) to adapt it to thebusy person’s schedule. I went back to Americaand took another bone density test and surprisesurprise, I had stopped the bone loss. Best of all, Ihad reversed the bone loss and my hormonalsystem was now back to “normal”.

I wrote my book to tell my story and as a debt ofgratitude to my “si-fu” who showed me the way.My teacher was one of the first persons todemystify qi gong. He said it was not a big dealand that everyone can and should do it. I had tospread this liberating message. I had to tell peopleout there that they did not need to find an houreach day to do this. I felt I had a duty to show howqi gong can benefit the stressed-out and busyperson on the go with as little effort as possible.

The Indispensable Qi Gong does not aspire to be anexhaustive tome on this wonderful discipline. It doesnot deal with the origins of qi gong, nor does itattempt to explain the scientific theories surroundingit and how or why qi gong is a catalyst in the healingprocess. What it is, however, is an essential guide fornovice and veteran practitioners alike.

LAWLINK : Tell us more about your careerpath since you graduated from the Universityof Singapore.

Joan: My career path has taken me around theglobe and more! After graduating, I stayed on tosubmit my LLM thesis on Securities Law andobtained my LLM from NUS as well. I then returnedto Kuala Lumpur and was admitted to theMalaysian bar. I never had the opportunity topractise in Malaysia because shortly after that, Imoved to Japan with my first husband, a Germanwho was sent to Tokyo to head up the pesticidedivision of Bayer AG in Japan.

Japan was a wonderful experience. I was probablythe first NUS law graduate to work in a Japaneselaw firm! My first job there was in UNAFEI whichwas a United Nations organization funded by theJapanese government doing research on criminaljustice systems. It was an eye-opener for meespecially since criminal law was definitely not myforte and I learnt a lot about the criminal justicesystem in Japan and was one of the few rarewomen at that time to even see the inside of aJapanese prison! There were very few womenlawyers in Japan at that time (let alone theMalaysian or Singapore lawyer!).

I left Japan for Hong Kong in 1984 for personalreasons (I had by then divorced my first husband )as well as professional ones (I believed that Chinawhich was then opening up was the next bigfrontier and where better to be than in HongKong!) There, I remained in the area I loved -corporate financing. I helped syndicate the ZhuhaiSpecial Economic Zone and deepwater port. In

Joan Foo Mahony ’74Writer, Sailor, Qi Gong Exponent

Joan Mahony nee Foo Siew Bee ’74 recently released a bookentitled “Indispensable Qi Gong for People on the Go!”. Thebook is a handy guide which demystifies the manymovements of qi gong so that it can be used in everydaysituations by the busy individual. Now living in KualaLumpur, Joan is “retired” from the law and is indulging inher great passion - writing. Joan reflects on her law schooldays and tells LAWLINK how qi gong changed her life.

ALAWMNUS Feature

15 LAWLINK

1989, I moved to New York with my husband,Terence Mahony where Terry was then working forPaine Webber. In New York, I had the wonderfulexperience of being one of the foundingshareholders and directors of the first Women’sAsset Management Fund headed by MichaelaWalsh of Women’s World Banking and managedentirely by well known women fund managers!

We returned to Hong Kong in 1993, and five yearslater, after more than 24 years of the daily grind, Idecided to do something else with my life insteadof the law! I turned to writing and publishing andin the midst of all this, returned home to Malaysiain 2000. In my new incarnation, I have written thebook on qi gong and am writing another. I havealso purchased a publishing company which willsoon be launching some exciting new books on thescene.

LAWLINK : Give us busy souls a few simpleqi gong tips which we can practice every day.

Joan: Well, at the computer, for instance, stand upfrom your seat and clear a space. Then, imagineyou’re sitting on a chair with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees bent. With hand lightly onhips and upper body straight, rotate the body fromthe waist clockwise in a deep circular motion.Repeat seven times and then again anti-clockwiseseven times. This relaxes your neck and shouldermuscles and aids blood circulation. Duringmeetings, sit upright with feet shoulder-widthapart on the ground. Rest your arms on chairhandles or place your hands on the table, fingersspread, palms downwards. This increases mentalawareness and prevents fatigue - in fact, the

Chinese emperors of old sat on their thrones in thisposition to make them more alert to theirsurroundings and subjects. To lose weight, one ofthe stances you can assume is to stand with feetapart on slight tiptoe, keeping legs straight. Leanforward slightly from the hip, with arms raisedabove the head at an angle, keeping them straightand fingers spread. Hold the position for as long aspossible, rest and repeat. There, a few simple tips!

LAWLINK : Apart from qi gong, what keepsyou busy nowadays?

Joan: I sit on the boards of some privatecompanies and most importantly, involve myself ina number of charitable organizations such as theWushu Federation of Malaysia, to which I amHonorary Adviser. That’s an honour I am very proudof, having been a qi gong exponent for more than10 years now. Among my other interests, the one Ireckon to be the most enjoyable is the Raja MudaInternational Sailing Regatta. In fact, during thisyear’s Regatta, I sailed my own all-ladies team forthe first time in the Regatta’s 13 year history. Ourladies came from Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand,the Netherlands and the UK, and we had a 44-footsailing boat.

Born and raised a Catholic, I am now a staunchBuddhist and in 1995, I was privileged to be invitedon a memorable pilgrimage to India for 3 weeksfollowing the footsteps of the Buddha with myTibetan guru, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. And RichardGere was also on the same pilgrimage! I alsocollect modern art and together with my husband,we have a significant collection ranging from WuGuang Zhong to Bryan Brown and Ibrahim

Hussain. Together with some friends, we haveopened the first Pilates Studio in KL with all theequipment and trained instructors etc. It iswonderful to own your own studio because thismeans I get to do Pilates everyday!

LAWLINK : Do you miss legal practice?

Joan: It is now 5 years since I “retired”. Do I misspractice? Definitely not. However, being a lawyerduring the first part of my life has made me what Iam today and I would not have changed it for theworld. It was the law which taught me the joy ofwriting, discipline, rationalization and yes, evencompassion. I travelled the world while practisingand enjoyed every moment of it. Now, I am in mymid-fifties and it’s time to do something less hecticand frenetic with my life.

LAWLINK : What are your fondest memoriesof law school days at the Bukit Timahcampus?

Joan: I have so many wonderful memories - Iconsider myself very fortunate to have gone to the(then) University of Singapore. I have so manyfriends from those days and my friendship withthem never flagged or wavered. I am still in contactwith a lot of my SU friends. I was at the DunearnRoad Hostel and I remember dashing madly acrossBukit Timah Road (defying the onslaught of cars)to get to the lecture halls - late as usual. Iremember going to the sarabat stalls every nightafter swotting, the vociferous AGMs at DunearnRoad Hostel, the moot court preparations (I was inthe first Philip Jessup team) and all the camaraderieand fun in class!

Joan on a pilgrimage to India Qi Gong on the go

Joan with her sexy all-ladies sailing team

Cover of Joan’s book on Qi Gong

LAWLINK : What your plans are for ASEAN asyou begin your tenure as Secretary- General?

Keng Yong: Well, there’s going to be a lot to do.I’m not sure how to allocate my time and effort atthis moment because I’ve not yet formally assumedmy job. The general thrust will really be oneconomics, in three aspects. One, we need to buildon this momentum that we’ve seen in these lastfew months on ASEAN’s FTA efforts with bigcountries like China, Japan, the US and possiblyIndia. Much work has already started, and we wantto bring these negotiations to a favourableconclusion because then ASEAN will enjoy all thesefree trade benefits.

Second, how do we bring more investments toSoutheast Asia? We must try to foster a climateconducive for more foreign investments, not onlyfrom the western countries, but from emergingeconomies like China and India as well. The thirdthrust is to help generate more tourism flowbetween Singapore and our ASEAN neighboursand among the ten countries. ASEAN has 500million people and is actually quite a big market.Intra-ASEAN tourism can generate a lot of businessand we will not have to be so dependent onoutside impetus.

LAWLINK : In its 35 years of existence,ASEAN has been both lauded as well asmaligned. How would you respond to criticswho charge that ASEAN’s principles ofconsensus-building and non-interventionrender it ineffective?

Keng Yong: There are two sides to the coin. Youcan say that the ten diverse economies that nowcomprise ASEAN can never really work together.The diversity really makes things difficult for us. Ontop of that, the respective histories of the tencountries are different and we all have our owncultural and social practices. But if you look atASEAN, the ten economies, the ten countries, whatis it that really unites us? It’s that very diversity,along with the willingness to accept that in spite ofthe differences, you don’t have to be alwaysquarrelling.

I think the other perspective is that when you saythat the countries are different and that they’realways looking for consensus, we’re actuallyanalysing the development of ASEAN from aWestern perspective. We should look at our ownindigenous perspective, at how we have uniquelyevolved to cope with our environmental,geographical, social, religious and political

concerns. If you look at it in this way, you mightnot be too critical of the results that we’veachieved so far. Considering that we are tendifferent governments and societies, we’ve notgone to war since the Americans left Saigon in1975. For a similar patch of geography somewhereelse, in Africa, South America or Central America,the interstate relations are quite different. We’venot done too badly. Sometimes, it’s difficult tobring other slowly-developing ASEAN partners intothe way the more advanced economies think. Thebig countries like Indonesia, Myanmar, even thePhilippines, require different ways of governance,management styles and leadership. Who are we tojudge? At the end of the day, there’s no breakingup of states in Southeast Asia like in Yugoslavia, orwarring conditions like in different parts of Africa.So, I think that the devotion to finding consensushas a certain merit to it.

However, if after another ten years we’re still likethat and struggling with these problems, thenmaybe something is really wrong, because theremust be progress. But as of now, I’m quitepositive. I feel that some people are frustratedbecause of the time taken to move certaininitiatives, but these are the necessary rigours, ifyou like, of multilateral development, of bringing

Ong Keng Yong ’79ASEAN Secretary-General

From January 2003, Ong Keng Yong ’79 takes over the helmof the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as itseleventh Secretary-General. Keng Yong, who has heldnumerous diplomatic and public service appointments,including High Commissioner to India and Ambassador toNepal, Chief Executive Director of the People’s Association andPress Secretary to the Prime Minister, shares with LAWLINK

his vision for ASEAN and discusses the critical challengesfacing the regional organisation in these eventful times.

ALAWMNUS Feature

17 LAWLINK

people from different backgrounds to a commonplatform. So, I’m not pessimistic.

LAWLINK : Are you saying that there maycome a day when the principle of non-intervention may no longer be sacrosanct?

Keng Yong: Already, this principle has not beencompletely sacrosanct. In terms of trade, we’realready intruding into everybody’s parish, especiallyif you talk about FTAs. In terms of social andcultural development or in the drive to check HIV/AIDS, for instance, we’re already intruding intoothers’ territory and telling countries that they haveto do certain things. On the political front, ASEANhas a significant influence on the foreign policies ofits member states. This was demonstrated in therecent declaration made in Phnom Penh on the

South China Sea issue. It’s a very significantdevelopment. If you look at it strictly from apolitical point of view, then yes, non-intervention isbeing maintained. But if you look at it from abroader all-encompassing way, we’re alreadywitnessing a willingness to come together to solvecommon problems.

The most important thing I hope to convey to myASEAN friends is, yes, there must be principles, andwe cannot live without principles. But at the sametime, let’s look at the desired outcome and finddifferent palatable ways to reach the outcome. Ifwe stick very strictly to certain established legalisticrequirements, we might not be able to achieve thedesired outcomes. I’m not saying that legalisticprinciples are not important. It is important but atthis particular time, we need to get to the desired

outcome and there are many ways to do that. Tosay “you do this or we will not talk to you” is notdiplomacy. Diplomacy is finding a way aroundintractable problems.

LAWLINK : Do you think ASEAN is actuallyfinding a way around the problem? Or is itmore like ignoring the problem?

Keng Yong: To people outside, it is notunimaginable that there is such a perception. Butto the policy makers in the ASEAN governments,we’re actually handling some of these issues. Forexample, how do you get consensus on a trickyissue like dealing with terrorists? By agreeing todeal with them in a certain way, as agreed to by agroup of countries, is actually allowing the dilutionof the principle of non-intervention. So, I don’tthink ASEAN has deliberately and unconscionablyignored or neglected some of these importantissues. What we’re trying to do is to make surethat no one walks away from the table, because ifthat happens, you can’t do anything.

There have been certain other situations, forexample, where people have accused ASEAN ofnot doing something about a member state whichhas not carried out the results of an election. Butso far, there’s still a certain degree of stability, thereis communication and slowly we talk to each other.As I say, my objective is to make sure that no onewalks away from the table. I would agree, too, thatnot everything we want to do in ASEAN has beendone. No, we’re not there yet. But I think mypredecessors and the preceding ASEANgovernments have at least brought about a certainstability and climate that allow people to fly fromone place to another without having to worry ...until recently, of course, when the terrorists cameto town. But if we stop there and not do anythingmore, then we’re in trouble.

LAWLINK : How do you assess current effortsby ASEAN to eradicate the terrorism problem?Do you think the efforts are comprehensiveenough and is ASEAN’s implementation ofthese declarations adequate?

Keng Yong: No, it’s not enough, not adequate.But in the circumstances, I think it’s the bestarrangement we can come up with. As I say, if westop there, we have no progress. We have tocontinue to explain that this problem is not just aquestion of poverty. All these chaps are not reallypoverty-stricken. There are other considerations likemisinterpreting religion and using religion forpolitical ends. Terrorism can’t be controlled byarmies and hardware. The way to control it is towork on the minds of the ordinary people. I alwaysbelieve that the reason why suicide bombers cando what they’ve done in the Middle East is becausethe population remains passive. It’s not that theydo not know, but they feel that there’s so muchoppression and they are desperate. Actually,

Keng Yong being received by Pope John Paul II.Looking on is Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Keng Yong with the LawLink interview team -Sunita Netto ‘05, Faizal Abdul Kadi ‘05, AmrinAmin ‘03 and Alan Tan ‘93.

terrorism is not just perpetuated by the Muslims.Throughout history, terrorism has been resorted toby different groups. So why are Al-Qaeda andthese Muslims terrorists capturing the imaginationof people? It’s partly because of the way the mediaworks on it. What we need to do is to explain thatthis is not a Muslim problem but is actually acommon problem for everyone. Who are thevictims? We are all the victims.

I don’t think we can change the world’s mindsetabout Islam but ASEAN definitely can changepeople’s perception about ASEAN. I think my job isto contribute to changing the perception. I don’tthink I can go beyond that and say that I want tochange people’s perception about Islam. Thatwould be difficult. Perhaps at the schools anduniversities level, we can have more interactionsand exchanges and translate this notion of ASEANinto something more concrete for undergraduateslike you.

LAWLINK : As one of the better-endowedmembers of ASEAN, do you think Singaporecan contribute more to regional security andprosperity?

Keng Yong: What we do, admittedly, is not alwayswhat people want. Singapore believes in a long-term plan for human resource development. Whatmany people want is not what we will provide:cold, hard cash in relief, because this allows thepossibility of corruption and diversion of resources,which is something we do not desire. With regard

to opinions that suggest that such initiatives areself-serving, let me ask: which country is not self-serving? Of course, we’d be happy if the studentswe provide ASEAN scholarships to are connectedwith Singapore in some way, even if they’re notworking here. They can go back and spread thegood name of Singapore, and in some way,maintain business links with us.

LAWLINK : What are your fondest memoriesof law school?

Keng Yong: I really liked the fact that life as astudent was very straightforward. It was one-dimensional - study and do well for the exams.When one starts working, though, life becomesmulti-faceted and multi-dimensional, a lot morecomplex. Sometimes, I do wish my job could be assimple as my life as a student! I meet up with myprofessors when I go back to law school, and Iremember fondly Tan Sook Yee, Chin Tet Yung,Robert Beckman, S Jayakumar 63, Tan Lee Meng’72, my Contracts tutor, and Andrew Phang ’82, afellow student at that juncture. The camaraderiewas close, even between different graduatingclasses, thanks to events such as Orientation and theInter-Class Games. I also remember the guys, beingtwo years older due to National Servicecommitments, frequently teasing the girls for being“immature”. The girls, though, felt it was the otherway around! Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed my time asa student librarian, earning $1.50 an hour. The goodthing about that was being able to “chope” the lawbooks I wanted before anyone else got to them!

LAWLINK : In 5 years time, when your termends, what would you most like to beremembered by as Secretary-General ofASEAN?

Keng Yong: That’s a difficult question. From adevelopment angle, I’d like to be known to haveincreased private sector involvement with ASEAN,especially with respect to financial contributionstoward scholarships. I guess in concrete terms, I wantmore people to accept ASEAN as a credibleorganization and have a deep appreciation for it.After all, I believe there’s still a lack of appreciation forthe fact that ASEAN has increasingly reduced tariffsfor goods and we’re looking possibly at tariffs of 0-5% in the future.

Overall, the best analogy would be a statementwhich I had made when I was asked about my timein the People’s Association. I had felt that that my jobwas to “set off firecrackers to make people jump togreater heights”. I believe that the fire was alreadythere, that I just had to stoke it. Similarly, I hope to beseen as the catalyst for lighting up the ASEAN fire,and achieving its full potential. At the end of the day,after all those experiences, I have emerged with ageneral principle - we must not stick to preconceivednotions and push to “change the world”. We shouldmerge and move naturally without unduly imposingour will on others. We should head slowly butconsistently toward our goals.

Picture on left: Keng Yong with his brother and fellow law alumnus, acclaimed director Ong Keng Sen ‘88. Pictures on right: Keng Yong during his stint as High Commissioner to India and Ambassador to Nepal

19 LAWLINK

LAWLINK : The Legal Services WorkingGroup which you co-chaired has come up withseveral prescriptions for the legal professionto help transform Singapore into a serviceshub. Which of these are the most importantpriorities for the profession?

Shan: The recommendations cover a range ofareas - starting from legal education that our lawstudents receive (including the offering of dualdegree courses), and covering among other things,the infrastructure and focus of the NUS LawFaculty, how we can benefit from the growth ofChina, greater linkages with China as well as theregion, steps to help our law firms reach outregionally, measures to encourage foreign lawyersand in-house legal counsel to locate in Singaporeand to promote Singapore as an arbitrationalternate dispute resolution centre. I look at themas a whole - they will all help to transform and givea new impetus to the legal scene here.

LAWLINK : What would be the role of theNUS Law School in fulfilling the objectivesidentified by the Working Group?

Shan: NUS has a critical role. Ultimately, none ofthe measures will work if we do not have goodlawyers. The quality of lawyers graduating fromNUS and their world view are extremely important.Their training has to be first rate. The WorkingGroup has put forward a number of proposals inthis respect.

LAWLINK : What made you decide to enterpolitics, and what has been the most fulfillingaspect of being a Member of Parliament?

Shan: I entered politics, like many others, because Iwas asked to. Over the last 14 years, since I

K Shanmugam ’84K Shanmugam SC ’84 is a senior partner at Allen & Gledhilland a Member of Parliament for Sembawang GRC. Shanrecently co-chaired the Legal Services Working Group of theEconomic Review Sub-Committee on Service Industries. Shanis also a member of the Steering Committee which advisesthe NUS Law School on strategic policy directions. LAWLINK

talks to Shan about the challenges facing the legalprofession, his decision to enter politics and his memories oflaw school days.

became an MP, I have found many aspects of mywork as an MP satisfying and fulfilling. Perhaps themost fulfilling is the work on the ground. There aremany people who genuinely need help. Being ableto help is a very satisfying experience. One doesnot need to be an MP to give such help - but theposition imposes the responsibility and perhapsmakes available better access to find somesolutions.

LAWLINK : How have you balanced legalpractice, politics, community work and family?

Shan: I cannot say I have succeeded in striking aright balance. There is simply too much to do andtoo little time to do them in. It has not been easyto juggle the demands of an active litigationpractice, family with young children, and politics.Time spent with family has long been a casualty. Ihave, however, over the last couple of years, beentaking steps to redress that. But something else hasto give. At the end of the day, it is a question ofpriorities. We choose our priorities and have totake responsibility for the choices we make.

LAWLINK : What would you say to an NUSlaw student today who is contemplating awide range of career options?

Shan: Law students have a variety of choices.However, I would unhesitatingly recommend thatthey try out legal practice first, unless they arequite certain that they are not cut out for it or arenot interested. Practice is challenging, exciting,each problem is new, and each day will bring freshproblems. Those who can deal with that can govery far and find it a very satisfying career. A fewyears in practice is valuable training and often,after that, career options get even wider. You loselittle by trying out practice first. On the other hand,

if you move into some other area before trying outlegal practice, it is possible, but not very easy, tomake a successful switch to practice.

LAWLINK : What are your fondest memoriesof law school days at Kent Ridge?

Shan: I have very fond memories of my law schooldays. Kent Ridge was then a new campus. Perhapsit is nostalgia, but I remember them as halcyondays. We had excellent lecturers. There was a goodmix of foreign and local lecturers who hadgraduated from universities around the world. Thatexposed us to a wide variety of viewpoints. We hadlecturers who emphasised the importance of closelegal analysis and case law. We also had lecturerswho took a more expansive, philosophical view,challenging us to move beyond the case law to tryand understand the true rationale for any particularrule of law. We enjoyed and benefited from boththese approaches. It is difficult to mention anyspecific persons but I would perhaps point to TanSook Yee, Tan Lee Meng ’72, Philip Pillai ’71, IreneLye ‘73, Val Winslow, Ralph Tyler, Bob Beckman,Christine Chinkin, Larry Taman and Bill Ricquier asbeing among those who typified the differentapproaches to learning the law.

I also remember the law school cohort (the wholecohort and not just my class) as quite a carefreeand fun loving bunch. There were good peoplethere, and it made the whole experience quiteinteresting and enjoyable. We had an excellentlegal education. We were put on a very soundfooting to embark on our careers. I will alwaysremember NUS Law Faculty for that.

LAWLINK : Let’s first put one rumour torest: Are you living in Vietnam because yourwife is Vietnamese?

HT: As far as I am aware, she is Singaporean. Butnow that you mention it, I’d better check herpassport!

LAWLINK : So why did you decide to settlein Vietnam?

HT: Perhap “settling in Vietnam” is not the mostappropriate way to put it but in any case, it wasnot a momentous decision but something whichjust happened along the way. When I first gotthere, I thought I would be there for two years.Two years became three ... and three became four... and before I knew it, eight years had passed.The work was rewarding in many ways and it wasinteresting to work on different cases and meetpeople from such different nationalities andbackgrounds. I think we knew we were there forthe long haul when my wife stopped waiting forme to move back to Singapore and moved to HoChi Minh City to join me instead. So, from theSingapore context, would I be considered a“quitter” under these circumstances?

LAWLINK : Was Vietnam what you hadenvisaged when you first got there?

HT: I don’t think I had any pre-conceived notions ofwhat it was like before I went there but of coursemy main impression of Vietnam was the war.Before I moved to Vietnam, I thought theVietnamese people would be very serious becauseof their country’s history and what they had beenthrough. But I found most Vietnamese really justwant to get on with their lives and they do notdwell too much on their rather difficult past. Theyare a pragmatic people and want to live the goodlife just like you and me. So in terms of people,they are very much the same.

The infrastructure (which has improvedtremendously over the past few years and it iscertainly much more comfortable now than before)was also very basic and I was certainly unpreparedfor the traffic. Public transportation is veryinadequate, the roads are generally very small, thecity is densely built up and there are about twentygazillion motorcycles on the road. In the beginning,I just could not cross the roads as it was just toofrightening. In fact, traffic is still a problem todaybut I now manage to cross the roads by myself.

LAWLINK : Any lessons that you might nothave found in Singapore?

HT: Crossing the roads (see earlier), working as aforeigner in a country where the main language isnot English, coping with the frequent blackouts.The most important item on your shopping listwhen setting up an office is a UPS - UninterruptedPower Supply. This is the name of a battery -actually, it is a BIG battery - that will give youmaybe one to two hours of power when thepower supply goes. You plug your machines intothe UPS and you are still in business, at least forawhile.

The other thing I learnt quite early on was thedifficulty of speaking through an interpreter. Whensomeone speaks for ten minutes and then theinterpreter turns around and intones “Mr A saysthat he does not agree with you”, you somehowget the feeling that a lot is lost in the translation.This drives home the importance of clearcommunication and ensuring that all partiesunderstand clearly what is being said.

Tan Heng Thye ’89Vietnam Veteran

Tan Heng Thye ’89 moved to Vietnam in 1994 when he was asked by

his then employer, Helen Yeo & Partners, to help establish the firm’s

Hanoi office. It was what some had considered a hardship posting, but,

eight years down the track, Vietnam has now become home for Heng

Thye, his wife and their two young children. Heng Thye practises in

partnership with fellow alumnus Shanti Abdul Ghani ’91 under the

name of Chen Shan & Partners, and is the resident partner for the

firm’s Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi offices. He lives in Ho Chi Minh City

and specialises in foreign investment and banking.

LawLink’s guest contributor, Lim Ping Ping ’89 caught up with her

classmate in November when he was in Singapore.

ALAWMNUS Feature

21 LAWLINK

travelling between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Iusually take the 7 am flight which means gettingup at 5 am. Still, the farmers wake up earlier sowho am I to complain?

LAWLINK : What about marketing? Do youhave to do much entertaining?

HT: I am a member of some business groups inVietnam, but most of my clients come to methrough client referrals and word of mouth. I knowsome people think you must entertain your clients -dinners etc - in order to get work but I have notfound it to be necessary for my practice. Or maybethe clients dislike me and do not want to spendmore time with me than is necessary!

LAWLINK : Have you had lucky breaks whichhelped you get where you are?

HT: I guess my luckiest break is in having asupportive wife and Vietnamese colleagues whoare committed, capable and also nice people towork with. Also, when I first arrived in Vietnam, Ihad a couple of friends there - a friend fromuniversity who was posted to Vietnam by one ofthe Big Five - or is it the Big Three or Two -accounting firms and another friend fromsecondary school whom I had not seen for 15years. They showed me the short cuts to gettingstarted in Vietnam and helped me tremendously. Ihave also been fortunate to have good clients whohave been supportive.

LAWLINK : Where do you see yourself in 5years?

HT: Ideally, retired and filthy rich. But my wife saysit is more likely that in 5 years’ time, I will be at ahospital recovering from a heart attack. At least,she says “recovering”.

LAWLINK : Is your life stressful?

HT: Some people have remarked to me that lifemust be less stressful, living in Vietnam. I can’treally compare because I don’t work in Singaporebut I think I have the same worries and concernsthat lawyers in Singapore would have. I worryabout getting the work, and if I do get it, getting itdone properly and on time, getting paid, andwhere I am or should be going with the firm. Ithink the stress level is probably the same althoughit is difficult to compare.

LAWLINK : What attractions do you thinkVietnam has?

HT: Professionally, you get a good range ofinteresting work and you get to work within adifferent system of law and in a multiculturalenvironment. Also it is exciting to work in acountry that has opened up not too long ago andis developing very rapidly and you can see thechanges going on around you. At the risk ofsounding cliched, you feel like you are part ofhistory. The lifestyle is quite relaxed and both mysingle friends as well as the married couples seemto enjoy themselves here although a commoncomplaint is a lack of recreational facilities. From afamily point of view and on a topic of currentinterest in Singapore, good domestic help is easilyavailable and also so much more affordable than inSingapore and as I live near the office, I think Iactually get to spend more time with the familythan I would in Singapore.

LAWLINK : Does Law School seem very faraway now?

HT: Law School feels like a long time ago ... I canremember those rugby matches I played. I playedfor our class in the Inter-Year games and also forLaw School in the Inter-Faculty matches. We neverwon the championships - Engineering andMedicine were always too strong. But we beatEngineering once - when we were in the 2nd or3rd year - and Andrew Ong ‘89 scored the winningtry. It was a big deal!

I also remember Law School Orientation Camp. Ithink we camped in some primary or secondaryschool. We slept in classrooms and played a lot ofsilly games. But it was all fun and I enjoyed it. Ithink the best part was that the camp allowed usto meet and get to know our classmates early(before school started). I can actually remembertalking to our classmates, Wong Peck ’89, AlvinLim ’89 and Jeya Putra Pancharatnam ’89 at thecamp.

LAWLINK : Do you keep in touch with ourclassmates?

HT: Unfortunately, not really so. But I read LawLinkto keep track of them!

LAWLINK : Tell us more about your practicein Vietnam.

HT: We are a small practice but we are fortunate tohave a wide cross section of clients of manynationalities. Our clients are a wide mix with about30% Singaporean. We have about 10 staff in HoChi Minh City and 4 in Hanoi. One piece of workwhich I am particularly proud of is that we got thefirst ever registration of a foreign arbitral award inVietnam under the New York Convention when wesuccessfully registered in Hanoi last year anarbitration award rendered in Hong Kong against aVietnamese joint venture company. No one hadbeen successful in registering foreign arbitralawards until then. While we handle mainlycommercial work, in recent years, we have hadmore litigation cases (sign of the times) where wework closely with Vietnamese lawyers as we haveno right of appearance in court. Lately, we havestarted to advise on outward investments as well -Vietnamese looking to invest outside Vietnam.

My main office is in Ho Chi Minh City. I travel toHanoi once a month and travel to Singapore everyone to two months. Due to the nature of the work,I get to travel about the region to Malaysia,Cambodia and even Hong Kong once in while.

As with all small law firms in Singapore, our mainworry is always the future and how to grow thepractice. We would like to employ anotherSingapore-qualified lawyer for the Vietnampractice but my experience is that the younglawyers who have at least 2 years of experienceand who are good at what they do would ratherwork with a large law firm in Singapore. In fact,based on my discussions with clients, this problemis across the board and other industries have thesame problem - they can’t find good people whoare prepared to go to Vietnam.

LAWLINK : What would a typical day at theoffice be like?

HT: I start at 10.30 in the morning ... No, seriously,I start at 9 (okay, I try to start at 9). It is not hard tostart early (yes, 9 is early for me) because Vietnamis essentially an agricultural country - so everyonetends to start early. I make it a point to go homefor lunch whenever possible (my home is 5 minutesaway from the office) so I can spend time with mychildren. I usually leave for home at about 6.30pmand that’s not too bad. However, when I am

Cracked aimed to achieve the same charitablepurposes as with previous Law IV productions butminus the all-too-common Disneyesque happyendings. The story - faintly reminiscent of LaBoheme - explored the pains and pleasures of life,youth, friendship, love, and ultimately death. Evenbefore commencing our final year of study,committees had been formed and auditions held toput in place the cast and crew for the musical. Theproduction team was headed by Goh Aik Song,Navin Lobo and Susan Sim, with the directingbeing provided by Adrian Wee and Tan Shin Yi andsets construction by Kenneth Leong. Rehearsals forthe cast took place practically 7 days a week and itwas common to mistakenly address one another bytheir stage rather than real names. Jeremy (thestripper) even dreamt about the musical at nights.The cast and crew literally lived and breathedCracked.

The efforts culminated finally on gala night, 24thSeptember. The University Cultural Centre hadbeen home to the cast and crew for the whole

Cracked - the Law IV ConcertThe Class of 2003 recently carried on the proud Law Schooltradition of staging a graduating class concert. The production -Cracked - was staged in aid of the Assisi Home and Hospice andwas attended by the law school community and alumni, includingguest-of-honour, Mrs Goh Chok Tong nee Tan Choo Leng ’65.Melvin Lum ’03 who played one of the lead roles, reports:

weekend leading up to performance night. The chillbackstage did not help to ease nerves and onemember made everyone’s heart skip a beat whenshe dashed off to the toilet after the curtain wasraised! Nevertheless, her experience and talentreturned in time to enchant the audience with aflawless performance. Despite the heart-wrenchingstory-line and sombre ending, the performancereceived rapturous applause and was well-receivedby Mrs Goh Chok Tong, the guest-of honour forthe performance.

Cracked the musical represents to the Class aninvaluable experience in our passage through lawschool. New friendships were formed and existingties strengthened. The masses of talents, thededication and sacrifice and the desire to contributeto the needy ensured the success of the musical.The Class of 2003 is proud to have played its role inupholding a proud tradition of the Law School.

Future Alumni

23 LAWLINK

The Christmas Charity has traditionally beenspearheaded by the Law II’s, and this year was nodifferent. Members of the Class of 2005 hadbegun preparations as early as September. Duringthe Charity Drive held a few weeks before theevent itself, our fund-raising target was more thanexceeded due to the enthusiastic response ofstudents, our professors and the entire LawSchool community.

And so it was on 5th December, when 67 childrenfrom the D’Joy Children’s Centre and theMarymount Marian Centre were invited tocampus to ‘rescue’ Father Christmas from theclutches of a cartoon-villain, through an afternoonof fun, games and entertainment. At the forefrontof the action were Jeremy Cheong ’05, reprising

Christmas Charity 2002

The Christmas Charity has always had a special place in our hearts. Forthe students, in particular, it is a Law School tradition that goes beyondthe rigours of lectures and tutorials to touch the lives of the lessfortunate among us. Mark Tay ’05 reports:

his famous role as Santa, Dominic Chan ’05 as thecartoon-villain, and Sim Weina ’05, Clara Fang ’05and Seow Jiaxian ’06 as the heroines of the day.The children’s ecstatic response said it all! Noneamong the volunteers were left untouched - manyturned true caregivers to our young guests andwere drawn into the spirit of the moment,shedding inhibitions and taking to the activitieswith child-like delight!

Indeed it was wonderful how the initialawkwardness between the children and ourselvesmelted away through the dizzying afternoon.Dominic the arch-villain had ample bruises to showfor his treatment from the kids and quietadmiration from the rest of us for his dedication.Jeremy was Santa in and out of his suit, making

special effort to counsel with “Be good! Have aMerry Christmas!” Others among us were no lesssporting, graciously obliging to be the tease of thegames - from being crowned the most rotund tothe most handsome by the children.

Much thought and effort had gone into the day.There were those among us who designed theevent emblem, T-shirt and banners; scripted thetheme, skits and programme; practised andmuddled through line and action; shopped and puttogether the costumes; decorated with tinsel,string and ribbon; and tended to little details,unseen to the public eye. It was an experience toremember, and a Christmas meaningfully sharedwith our little friends.

Future Alumni

In July 1998, after five weeks of intense negotiations,the representatives of 160 countries reachedagreement on the Rome statute which forms thebasis for a permanent international criminal court. Apreparatory commission was set up to work towardsthe implementation of the Rome statute. On 20February 2002, during the Rome statute’s 9thpreparatory commission, its ratification list wasbrought past 70, and the world’s first permanentinternational criminal court was born.

During the 1998 Diplomatic Conference in Rome aswell as the subsequent preparatory commissions,NGOs coming under the auspices of the Coalition foran International Criminal Court (CICC) were grantedlegal observer status. I was fortunate to serve as alegal intern of the CICC at the 9th preparatorycommission of the ICC. The CICC sees its role as notonly garnering signatures and ratifications for the ICCbut shaping its actual development and ensuring itseventual implementation. This is done by bringing tothe attention of diplomats certain issues which mayotherwise have been neglected, for instance,children’s rights. The CICC also researches into legaltechnical details and provides suggestions andsolutions to states in order to overcome anystumbling blocks along the way. To facilitate suchexchange of ideas and cooperation, meetingsbetween regional NGO members and diplomats wereheld throughout the preparatory commission.

The ICC aspires to mete out justice that is trulyinternational. Asia is, however, far from beingrepresented on this map. At the time of my CICCstint, only Cambodia had ratified the Rome statute.Today, this list has expanded to include East Timorand South Korea. The list is still far from

representative of the world’s largest continent. Asiancountries hesitate to ratify the Rome statute for avariety of reasons. Many of the statute’s conceptsseem foreign against the backdrop of Asian politico-legal culture which ranges from paternalism andsocialism to regimes advocating strong statepresence. The Rome statute’s complementaryjurisdiction seems at first sight to erode stateauthority over its citizens and territory by allowingthe ICC, a non-state entity, to exercise prosecutorialand judicial powers. Such a fear is uncalled for.Complementary jurisdiction only allows the ICC toassert authority in instances where national courtsare unable or unwilling to do so. Properlyunderstood, the ICC in fact gives deference to statesovereignty.

Because the Rome statute is so revolutionary in intentand effect, many governments are prone to adopt anoverly cautious stance. The US, for instance, has beenbusy negotiating bilateral agreements withsignatories to avoid surrender of her nationals to thecourt. Such caution springs from the fear that theICC’s authority may be abused for political orinappropriate reasons.

During the 1998 conference, Singapore was part ofthe like-minded group of states, a coalition formed infavour of the ICC. In fact, the Rome statute’seventual limitation of the Security Council’s power isencapsulated in what is now known as the“Singapore” clause. Many delegations sawSingapore as the South East Asian region’s leader.However, Singapore subsequently ceased her activeparticipation in the preparatory commission sessionsand today, having not ratified the Rome statute, isnot a member of the Assembly of States.

Wui Ling with her colleagues atthe Coalition for an InternationalCriminal Court

Cheah Wui Ling ’03 spent last summer in New York as a legal intern with the Coalition for anInternational Criminal Court (CICC), a non-governmental organisation which advocates thecreation of an effective, just and independent International Criminal Court. Wui Ling shares withus her experiences at the CICC and her views on the Court’s current lack of universal acceptance.

The International Criminal CourtThe Quest for Universality

There seems to be no hurry for Singapore’sratification. After all, unlike countries such asRwanda and Cambodia whose recent history of warand strife make the ICC meaningful for them,Singapore’s history has been one of exemplaryharmony. The value of ratification and participationin the Rome statute does not, however, extend onlyto nations who have been victims of bloodshed.Engel Keane, in his book chronicling Rwanda’sgenocide, argues that such harm committedanywhere harms us all as “we belong to the samebrotherhood of man as the victims of seeminglyremote African countries.” Thus, “genocidal killingin Africa diminishes us all.”

To dispense truly international justice, the ICC shouldmirror and represent diverse cultures andgeographical regions. Limited state membership willresult in under-representation of certain cultures andgeographical areas. To ensure Asia a voice, thenations in this region must be active participants onthe inside. To do so from the outside is virtuallyimpossible. Instead of following the US lead whichwill result in isolationalism, the nations of Asiashould participate in the further development of thisrevolutionary instrument, if only to ensure that theirinterests are protected. Ultimately, the ICC’s successis largely dependent on garnering adequategeographical representation, not only in terms ofstate membership but also substantiverepresentation in its various organs - the judiciary,prosecution and registry. As a fairly developed nationwith a strong intellectual base, Singapore has muchto contribute in terms of leadership, expertise andinfluence. This is a responsibility that should not beavoided, and an opportunity not to be missed.

25 LAWLINK

By comparison, my classmates were, generallyspeaking, the “unthinking” products of a flawededucational system that emphasized rotememorization, not critical analysis. Nevertheless,they were eager for, and receptive to newapproaches to learning and communityinvolvement. It soon became abundantly clear thatI had a symbiotic relationship with them, inparticular, and with Singapore, in general. I was(and remain) in a most inviting environment thatencouraged me to share and develop my ideaswith enthusiastic, ambitious Singaporeans.

Paradoxically, my NUS experience introduced me tothe thrill of learning and inspired me to “thinkbig”. Whether in teaching a seminar in ProjectFinance at the NUS Law School, introducing“Speed Dating” to the Social Development Unit orconceiving and organizing Singapore’s first twofully-underwritten charitable benefits, mySingapore experience has been exceedinglygratifying.

To my fellow expatriates who complain of, andlanguish under, the malaise of “island fever”, Iurge you to embrace, and involve yourself inSingapore’s paradoxes: most notably, that resourcepoor, micromanaged Singapore is rich inopportunities and access, entrepot Singapore offersthe comforts of home, kiasu Singapore promotescollaboration and cooperation, and liplockedSingapore listens to loose lips.

accepting and bespectacled who (with sadly toofew exceptions) had not been taught to think, toquestion and/or to see. In particular, my NUSexperience was one of role reversal - with a better(more balanced) perspective of America, I foundmyself tempering (at times) the praise showered onthe United States by my classmates (who, throughno fault of their own, knew little about America),and despite a healthy cynicism for Singapore’spaternalistic approach towards policymaking, Ifound myself defending Singapore against thefacile accusations of those who shamefully knewlittle about their own country.

Rather than being disheartening, though, my NUSexperience was personally emboldening andtransforming. My new role forced me to confrontmy former self, the result being the embarrassingadmission that, as a consequence of my cavalierapproach to my own Ivy League education, I hadconfused a privilege for an entitlement and had, byand large, squandered opportunities to furtherhone my own analytical skills. Yet, I soondiscovered that I was better off than most of mypeers in Singapore in that I was more accustomedto rigorous thinking, just too lazy to do it.

Letter from Abroad

Cary Schmelzer LLM ’94

Cary (in white), picturedhere with friends in Paris.To his right is girlfriendSilvia Abularach, and tohis left, fellow NUSalumnus Geoffroy DedieuLLM ’95 and NathalieDedieu.

Armed with a scholarship from the RotaryFoundation, I arrived at the NUS Law School inAugust 1994, arrogantly believing that my yearabroad would yield, at best, a handful ofentertaining anecdotes and casual acquaintances,but little in the way of real “learning” or lastingfriendships. I was wrong, very very wrong, on bothcounts.

Paradoxically, this “Letter from Abroad” waspenned in Singapore, where I have lived for eightyears. Paradox, I have come to recognize, bestsums up my Singapore experience.

Due to the thinning of the ozone layer, the visionof those living at the equator is thought to be atrisk. Yet, paradoxically, living in Singapore hasdramatically improved my own vision, promptingme to discard (in part) the myopia-tinted lenses sopopular with Americans and further, to see thatwhich is missing in Singapore and elsewhere.

I attribute such improved “vision” to my year atNUS where I interacted with the educated,

The Classes of 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964 - ourpioneer graduates - had a reunion on 14 Decemberto celebrate the 40th year graduation anniversaryof the Class of 1962. Thrown together by the LawSchool with the help of Goh Joon Seng ’62 and SRajendran ’62, the nostalgic and fun-filled Saturdayafternoon was spent visiting the new NUSMuseums, where our pioneer alumni were pleasedto be reunited with some artefacts which had beenin the collection of the University of Malaya inSingapore and the University of Singapore - NUS’spredecessor institutions. A campus tour of KentRidge then followed, before the group arrived atthe Faculty and toured the new C J Koh Library. “Afar, far cry from the little room that was the LawLibrary in Bukit Timah”, quipped the alumni!

Pioneer Classes Reunion

The highlight of the evening was a dinner at theGuild House hosted by Dean Tan Cheng Han ’87.Amidst the laughter and reminiscences, storieswere told of wild, care-free campus days in pre-independence Singapore. Plans were hatched toconduct another reunion, this time possibly inMalaysia, where scores more alumni from thehalcyon days of the 1960’s now reside. Inattendance at the reunion were Armarjeet Singh’61, Goh Joon Seng ’62, S Rajendran ’62, HuangHsing Peng ’62, Tai Kuan Teck ’62 and Mabel Tai’66, Anamah Nagalingam ’63, Joseph Hoo ChunHee ’63, S Jayakumar ’63, KasinatherSaunthararajah ’63, Lee Boon Siong ’63, Lim HoInn ’63, Lye Sou Lan ’63, Jeanne Wu Eng Eng ’63,Rosalind Ratnam ’63, Simon Yuen ’63, Ng LianChian ’63, Anwarul Haque Munir Uddin ’64, ChuaChong Hong ’64 and Tan Lian Ker ’64.

Class Reunions

Class of 1972 holds30th Year Reunion

27 LAWLINK

In a glittering event held at the Mandarin HotelBallroom, the Class of 1972 pulled out all the stopsto stage a grand reunion, the biggest ever for agraduating class in Singapore’s history. The Classhad last met in 1997 during its 25th yearcelebration. The idea had then been broached for aClass of ’72 Visiting Professorship Fund, whichwould be used to endow a rotating Chair across allfaculties for a visiting stint by an eminent visitingacademic. As a result of the push provided by thisyear’s reunion, the Fund was injected with morethan $200,000 in pledges, bringing the currenttotal to nearly $365,000. A remarkableachievement indeed, considering the current stateof the economy! The efforts to attract morepledges for the Fund continues and the Class of1972 appeals to all alumni to give their generoussupport.

As part of the fund-raising effort, a group from theclass called “The Elderly Brothers” (spoofing theEverly Bros, and mischievously termed by some“The Elderly Bladders”!) released a CD compilationcalled “Songs Sungs Blue”, comprising old bawdycampus songs, copies of which were sold at thedinner for a minimum donation of $10. In addition,a documentary film called “Yesterday Once More”,which contained rare archival footages of the oldBukit Timah campus and an appearance by formerDeputy Prime Minister and then Vice-Chancellor,Dr Toh Chin Chye, was screened. The event alsomarked the first time Newater had been distributedat a class reunion!

There was also an award for eight OutstandingAlumni from the Class of 1972 who had madecontributions to the profession, business and orsociety. Four of the eight awards went to lawschool alumni, namely Justice Tan Lee Meng ’72,Justice Lai Siu Chiu ’72, Dato Sri Utama Dr RaisYatim ’72 and R Palakrishnan, SC ’72.

39 law alumni (some 60 per cent of the class)turned up at the event, including a fair numberfrom Malaysia and abroad. They include AbdulRashid, Ahmad Moosdeen, Chew Kar Meng,Chong Foo Seong, Gan Ee Peng, Hong Chew King,Joseph Durai, K Anantham, Manjit Singh, BachooMohan Singh, Prabakaran Nair, Chua Siak Kim,James Goon, Sim Yong Chan, Tan Chin Siong,Animah Gani, Cheong Kok Fu, Ho Kian Fatt, LeeTow Kiat, Susan Liang nee Pui Saw Kian, Ong JinHoe, Ruthirapathy Gunasilan, Theresa Yeoh,Lawrence Khoo, Lim Chin Joo, Lim Choo Eng,Jeanny Ng, S Thillainathan, Robert Yoong, Chin HinLam, Victor Anthonysamy, Fong Kwok Jen, JohnLee Chuen Chong, Peter Pang Giap Oon, Tan LeeMeng, Lai Siu Chiu, Tang King Kai, VisalakshiPalaniappa, William Wan Kok Tang and DavidWong.

The Class of 1972 held a grand 30th Year Reunion dinner on 23

November 2002 at the Mandarin Hotel. Nostalgically themed

“Yesterday Once More”, the event saw the coming together of more

than 600 alumni from the Law, Medicine, Arts, Business, Science,

Engineering, Accountancy and Dentistry schools of the University of

Singapore. R Palakrishnan SC ’72, Chairman of the event’s 19-strong

Organising Committee, reports:

Resident in London since 1978, Francis Yeoh ’63,one of the pioneer graduates, writes to say what aboon LawLink is for graduates worldwide. Francis isinvolved with the performing arts and is presentlyGeneral Manager of the London Studio Centrewhere he teaches ballet and notation. He is alsolecturing on copyright and performing rights andhad been involved in teaching Copyright of Danceto MA students at the University of Surrey. Francishas made many short trips home to see family andmaintain contacts with colleagues at the formerPublic Utilities Board, where he was a senior legalofficer from 1976 to 1978. He would love to hearfrom classmates and can be reached atfrancis.yeoh@london-studio-centre.co.uk or tel. 44-207520 2819.

From São Paulo comes a note from Lena Gan ’88,happily settled in Brazil with her husband, Harry,and children Harry Jr. and Christopher. Lena lovedthe first two issues of LawLink, and especiallyenjoyed reading on the progress of our mootteams, being a Jessup mooter herself. She foundthe ClassAction notes highly entertaining, even“more so than those in my husband’s alumnimagazine from Princeton!” Lena’s been in SãoPaulo for 7 years now, and is happily retired fromthe law. Her days revolve around taking the boys toSt Pauls, the British school, and to parties andplaydates. She says that a lot of her intellectualstimulation these days comes from answering thechildren’s questions and occasionally trying to

outwit them, but Lena also finds time to give Bibleclass to the six- and seven-year-olds at St Paul’sschool. For fun, she’s involved in various clubs,societies and charity events, and is currentlyPresident of the Asian Ladies Club (it has 3Singaporeans, out of a grand total of 4 knownSingaporeans in the city). She’s just finishedorganising a huge charity dinner in November withthe theme of Asian Weddings, writes thenewsletter for the Canadian Women’s InternationalSociety, and has just also finished a big FashionShow for charity. Lena says there’s also always timefor morning coffees, lunches and afternoon teaswith friends, and invites friends passing throughSão Paulo to contact her - she can be reached atlgchiang@yahoo.com.

Tan Cheng Kiong ’89 is now the Deputy ChiefCommissioner of the Singapore Scout Associationand is Chairman of the Asia Pacific RegionalStrategy Committee of the World Organisation ofthe Scout Movement. He also sits on the Board ofthe People’s Association. Chung Ting Fai ’89,Cheng Kiong’s partner in their firm of Chung Tan &Partners, received the PBM in 2001 and sits as aArbitrator cum Mediator in Shangtung Province,China whilst still practising in Singapore.

Tan Ting Ting ’91 is now in Shanghai with CliffordChance. Her devoted husband, Chua Eu Jin,formerly with Rajah & Tann, is also with Ting atClifford Chance. No longer is Eu Jin warming thenest (as alleged by LawLink’s first issue). ChewHuey Ching ’92 reports that she’s currently withthe Ministry of Home Affairs dealing with mattersconcerning civil defence and international affairs.

She has two boys, one in Primary One and theother in Nursery. From Dublin, Ireland, Ho Wei Sim’92 reports that she is a busy mother to Liadh andCiara, and that she and husband Donal are doingwell. Wei Sim’s even taken to writing, and recentlywrote “Alien Mission” - a 17' film in Irish whichpremiered at the Galway Film Festival and whichwon the TG4/Filmbase - Leasair Award. This is astory about childhood games; how one childdominates the other and the turning point whenthe tables are turned. The story goes somethinglike this - two kids, Ciara and Jack, aged 6, watch a70’s sci-fi movie. An alien chases a black man,captures him and kills him. The alien thentransmogrifies into the form of his victim. The kidsare impressed. Days later, Adebola arrives at thehouse as a guest. The kids are convinced that he isan alien from space ...

Meanwhile, class reporter Judy Chang ’92 reports:From drafting MAS circulars on Anti-Moneylaundering and Counter Terrorism measures, EricChan ’92 has gone beyond the call of duty byscuba diving in Sipadan, the favourite huntingground of the Abu Sayyaf. He recalls a nervousmoment when “diving” under the bed for coverseemed like a good idea when a motorboat washeard in the night. Eric has also started playinglousy golf. However, his enthusiasm is fast flaggingdue mainly to the fact that his large supply of freenew golf balls is running out and his skills (or lackthereof) necessitate a constant supply. Apart fromgolf, Eric has also been going to the gym in aneffort to get rid of the spare tyre accumulatedthrough the years of excess while in privatepractice. He is also now an Adjunct Fellow back inthe Law School, where he teaches Banking Lawand Credit and Security to various assortments ofstudents. David Khong ’92 has heeded the call ofthe wild and set up his own law firm, “DavidKhong & Associates” at 20, McCallum Street, #08-03, Asia Chambers. Another duo, Wong Taur-Jiun’92 and Chee Chun Woei ’92 have started theirown business, an Intellectual Propertymanagement consultancy called Intelleiegen PrivateLimited at 16 Raffles Quay, #42-07, Singapore048581. These entrepreneurs help businessesprotect and exploit the value of their ideas and

ClassAction

Shanghai knights Tan TingTing ’91 and Chua Eu Jin

Harry Jr. and Christopher, sonsof Lena Gan ’88 and HarryChiang

29 LAWLINK

have already acquired a presence in both Chinaand India and hence were global from the start!Check them out at www.intelleigen.com. Someother movements - Ivan Chua ’92 has moved intoa new assignment as Head Contract Law at MindefLegal Services, taking over from Kevin Ng ’92 whois now a District Judge in the Subordinate Courts.Elvin Wan ’92 has made the move back fromHong Kong with his wife, Mary and daughter,Megan after seven years in the city that neversleeps. He is re-adjusting to living spaces largerthan his last apartment of just under 300 squarefeet. Elvin is now working in Equant. Classmateswho have done our government proud by jugglingcareer with recent additions to the family broodinclude Emily Teo ’92, Koh Su Haw ’92, JanetteLee ’92, Monica Ho ’92, Alvin Chia ’92 andChee Chi Meng ’92. Emily has just had her firstchild, a daughter, while the others are all atnumber two. Anyone who has broken the numberthree barrier, please email the class reporter, wewish to salute you in the next issue of LawLink!Meanwhile, the class reporter has taken part inthree joint art exhibitions in various art galleries thisyear, but is still waiting to sell her first art piece inthese uncertain times. As such, she has resorted togiving away paintings to appreciative friends (i.e.those who only say nice things and promise todisplay the paintings in prominent spots).

Koh Su Chern ’93 left practice in mid-1999 andhas been a child care teacher since. She is presentlylooking around for premises to set up her ownchild care centre, so any classmates with propertyto sell or let, contact her! Plus, classmates withchildren between 18 months and 6 years arewelcome to enrol! Su Chern’s also offering“consultation” for child care enquiries. She has a2-year-old son, Chiaw Soong, who has just startedattending playgroup sessions. Su Chern’s beenapplying all her “lawyering” and “child caring”skills on the kid and he’s reported to be happy,active and talkative (and even bilingual). In thisregard, Toh Wee San ’93 says she can testify thatSu Chern’s little boy is one of the most well-behaved and polite little fellas she’s ever seen. Aringing endorsement for our child care lawyerclassmate! Willy Tay ’93 is now practicing in his

own firm - Ari, Goh & Partners - with three otherguys. Meanwhile, we heard from Leslina Toh ’93,who says she left Allen & Gledhill in 1997 to joinABN AMRO, and ended up in Sao Paolo, Brazil asderivatives counsel for Latin America. There, shemet her husband Joe, who hails from Wisconsin,the land of cheese and badgers. They were marriedin March 2001 and Leslina spent a few months inWashington D.C. “smelling the roses” andstudying for the New York bar exam. Home is nowin Manhattan, round the corner from a bunch ofIndian restaurants in an area some call “Curry Hill”.Leslina misses home terribly but after being refusedboarding and going through a verbal altercationwith Chicago airport police, she’s quite contentbeing far from the unfriendly skies. Oh, and Leslinasays they have “none of those pesky things” (seeprevious issue for what those are) though a puppymight be on the way. Michael Kraal ’93 sentaround an emergency note recently to see ifanyone taped an episode of the “Gilmore Girls” (!)Seems the wifey left town and left STRICTinstructions ... Ho Seng Chee ’93 and AudreyGoh ’93 had little Gabrielle in July: Congrats!Chris Chong ’93 notes that he’s happy to see theweekly gathering of the old soccer warriors stillhappening (and still resting on the laurels of beingformer Inter-Year champions of Law Fac ... adecade ago). 5.30 gatherings and 6 pm kickoffsassured, with goal posts and drinks provided - CarPark D, West Coast Recreation Park, go all the wayin near the beach. Cheng Kwong Wing ’93reports that he and his wife, Pam have twodaughters, Laura (aged 3) and Emma (16 months).Kwong Wing’s been working at Jaya Holdings Ltd,a local shipowning company, for 7 years now. Hesays he spends most of his time shuttling the familyaround to his in-laws’ for day-care and othererrands. His weekends are usually spent going forchurch, shopping and catching up on sleep. AlexEe ’93 and Regina Tay ’93 were in Santa Fe, NewMexico for a while, enjoying the 2 km-above-sea-level desert. They lugged the kids across 9 statesfrom Virginia, covering 3200 km. Apparently,Oklahoma is a wasteland and has nothing to offerbut everything else was interesting. After the stintwith some scientists from an institute called TheSanta Fe Institute (are you sure this isn’t some X-

Elderly woman, subject of“The Ground I Stand” bySherman Ong ‘95

Files thing?) and with a consulting firm called theBiosGroup, Alex and Regina are now back inSingapore and looking forward to catching up withthe good folks here. Benjamin Ang ’93 and JaneLau ’93 have been doing a great job with the Classwebsite (accessible at http://www.law.nus.edu.sg/alumni/websites.htm or http://alumni.nus.edu.sg/law93/). Ben recently “took matters into his ownhands” and posted several recent photogenicpictures of classmates! Our NUSLAW93 website(http://alumni.nus.edu.sg/law93/ ) now features a30 second video montage of Law IV Concert 93Behind The Scenes! Ben says that if you want thefull-screen hi-resolution version, it’s 10MB, so e-mail him your postal address, and he can send youa CD for the cost of materials and postage. A wordfrom Ed. Alan ’93 - our 10th Year Class Reunion isall planned for Saturday, 8th February 2003. Meetat 1.45 pm at the University Museums (across fromRaffles Hall) for a tour, followed by a Moot Courtcocktail session and a dinner not to be missed. Bethere! Spouses and partners warmly invited!

Doris Lai ’94, currently assistant general counsel atGIC, sends her regards and warm wishes to allfriends, teaching staff and classmates. Alumniwould have heard that Lyn Lee ’95 is running herchocolate cake shop called Awfully Chocolate inKatong. She supplied some to the Faculty recently,and it was slurpingly good! Good ol’ NicholasSong ’95 is back in town after spending the lastfew prosperous years in New York City. ShermanOng ’95 has good news to share - hisdocumentary “The Ground I Stand” recently wonthe Gold Award for Best Documentary at the 7th

Malaysian Video Awards. The documentary (24mins 40 sec, DV PAL, Singapore, 2002) was chosenby Sherman from among his five other workscommissioned by the Singapore Art Museum thisyear. It features a wise and even-tempered elderlyMalay-Muslim woman who lives by her tenacityand thrift and who relates her life, philosophy andinimitable anecdotes as she pours out herhomespun wisdom, confirmed by her spartan,disciplined life. Critics hailed the documentary as“one of the best shorts made about an elderlyMalay woman who was born in Malaysia butraised in Singapore and whose revelatoryconfessions give us an insight into the life of aminority in Singapore’s ‘heartland’”. Alex YewChong Huat ’96 and his wife, Ping, have returnedto Singapore after a stint in London. Alex is nowwith the Corporate Department of WongPartnership, while Ping has rejoined architecturalfirm, Arcstudio. Class reporter Lim Bee Hong ’97reports that since leaving law school, HarvonneYap ’97 has taken up diving and wakeboardingquite seriously whist working as a corporate lawyerin Drew & Napier. As a result, she is now many,many shades browner than she used to be.Meanwhile, Serene Tan ’97 left practice in early2001 to join Cap Gemini Ernst & Young as legalcounsel for the Asia Pacific. As part of emotionaltherapy greatly needed from frantic businesstravels, she indulges in pampering massages andwild shopping sprees (personal favourite - prettystrappy shoes ... lots of them!) to soothe her soul.With busy work schedules, the thought ofbecoming a “tai-tai” frequently creeps into hermind, though her Canadian banker husband wouldprobably, in his usual politically-correct manner, tellher to “dream on”! Nevertheless, Serene managesa just-as-busy-if-not-more-so social life, and isoften found enjoying a glass of teasingchampagne, heavenly ice-wine or rare fine winewith her close friends. Joel Wong ’97 & Wan Tengsend their greetings from Texas, where Joel ispursuing a doctorate in Counseling Psychology atthe University of Texas in Austin. They can becontacted at joelwong@mail.utexas.edu.Meanwhile, Jeffrey Lai ’97 has moved on fromlooking after the nation’s wealth (GIC) to lookingafter the wealth of private individuals (RGMInternational). Jeffrey’s free time is currently spenttraining his daughter to be the next Mia Hammand indulging his expectant wife’s whimsicalcravings in the middle of the night. He can also be

spotted at a monthly Legal Clinic organised by thelocal RC. Leow Theng Huat ’97 and his wifeCheng Ping send their greetings to all alumni.Theng Huat is hitting the books again, this time asa student at Trinity Theological College pursuing aMasters of Divinity. Instead of Denning and Devlin,he now struggles with Aquinas and Augustine. Hehopes to enter into full-time Christian ministry afterhis studies. Shamaine Lim ’97 reports that she isnow an unemployed mother looking after her one-year old son, Joshua Peter Loo, in Tokyo. Afterabout 3 years of practice, Chia Ko-Wen ’97 hassettled into the life of an in-house legal counsel. Hehas been working in a British insurance companyfor the past 2 years, and has also managed tosqueeze in time to complete his LLM at NUS. He iscontactable at chiakw2001@yahoo.com.sg. Muchthanks to Tracey Evans Chan ’97, now at the LawSchool, for gathering snippets on the last fewindividuals in the Class of 1997.

Trusty class reporter ChengPei Feng ’98 reports thatPaul Teo ’98 and JennyTsin ’98 have taken up thenew hobby of feeding and

diapering their new born baby boy, Ryan Teo WeiAn (born 7th September). Both parents are happy/elated/thrilled/ecstatic/pleased with the latestaddition to their family, although Ryan tends tokeep them in a perpetual state of exhaustion!Meanwhile, Paul keeps busy in the IP Departmentat Drew & Napier while Jenny is with WongPartnership’s Litigation Department. Having leftlegal practice in 2000, Gopi Mirchandani ’98 hasbeen grappling with financial sector regulationissues at the General Counsel’s Office of theMonetary Authority of Singapore for the last 3years. She like her job and has no regrets leavingthe crazy hours in practice. Gopi admits, though,that in her contentment, she has let fester and rotthe dream of forays to exotic destinations on ashoestring budget. Meanwhile, Wendy Ng ChyeGek ’98, yet another casualty of legal practice, leftshipping litigation in September 2001 to joinCharles Taylor Mutual Management, the managersof the Standard P&I Club. Wendy says that thoughthe work is essentially very much still the shippingindustry, it comes from a different perspective. Herwork scope is very wide and has taken her toLondon for short training stints and marketingtrips. Emily Teo ’98 and Paul Yuen ’98 are now

happy parents to little Christabel and are enjoyingevery moment of fun with her. Emily is with theLegislation Division of the Attorney-General’sChambers while Paul is serving his bond at theHousing and Development Board. JacquelineChan ’98 will be moving in the new year to jointhe Hong Kong practice of a Wall Street firm. Sheis looking forward to the experience and invitesanyone who may be visiting in Hong Kong to lookher up. Disa Sim ’98, who is with the Law School,reports that Gary Wan ’98 is well, and that thelatter’s wife has set up Little Dreamers - a store atSpecialists’ Shopping Centre offering natural andorganic bath and body care for women, mums andbabies as well as toys, sleek stylish diaper bags andclothes made from organic cotton for infants. Theirwebsite is at www.littledreamers.com.sg.Meanwhile, Calvin Ho ’98 is a Research Associatewith the Biomedical Research Council of theAgency for Science Technology and Research(A*STAR). Based in the Law School, Calvinresearches on ethical, legal and social issues arisingfrom research into human biology and behaviourand its applications. A substantial part of hisresearch supports the work of the BioethicsAdvisory Committee, of which Richard Magnus’68, Jeffrey Chan ’73 and Terry Kaan ’81 aremembers.

Wedding bells have been chiming for manymembers of the Class of 1999. Eusoff Hallsweethearts Shem Khoo ’99 and Catherine Lee’99 tied the knot on 30th November beforespending their honeymoon in Spain. AndrewQuah ’99 and Zetian Lim were married inNovember as well. Joshua Wong ’99 walkeddown the aisle with his childhood friendMagdalene Lim, a secondary school teacher, onDecember 6th (they’ve known each other sincethey were 4 and 3 respectively!). Kelvin Tang ’99,who has since joined Temasek Holdings as in-housecounsel, wed Geraldine Tan, an investmentconsultant with DBS, on 14th December. DanielTan ’99 (‘scoobs’) and Louise Loh ’99 (‘the bird’)got hitched on 21st December in PembrokeCollege’s chapel in wintry Oxford, where Danielstudied a year ago. Daniel and Louise are planningto hold their wedding banquet in Singapore later in2003. Other random bits of interesting news: classreporters inform us that Eleanor Ho ’99 has justreturned from Bangkok, having recently completeda jewellery design course conducted by the

RyanTeo,son ofPaul Teo’98 andJennyTsin ’98

ClassAction

Vincent de Grandpre EXC ’95 and Sandra Nishikawa EXC’96, with Vincent’s mother and Petit Lucas

Gemological Institute of America (Thailand branch).Christian Chin ’99 left for the US in September2002 with his wife Mimi to pursue a 2-year MBA atBabson College, while Lim Xuan ’99 and his wifeCorrine have taken a year off to travel acrossIndochina, China and Japan. Meanwhile,Adrianna Tan ’99 gets to rub shoulders with MTVcelebrities as part of her in-house counsel job atMTV-Asia. Tan Su-Lin ’99 is pursuing her Mastersof Law at King’s College in London.Congratulations also to former Law ClubManagement Committee president Sean FrancoisLaBrooy ’99, of M/s Rodyk & Davidson, who takesoffice as a member of the 2003 Law SocietyCouncil to represent the interests of the youngermembers of the profession. Recent departuresfrom the legal profession include Lauren Li JiaTsuey ’99, Daryl Liew ’99 and James Huan ’99.Lauren serves as a director of her own businessconsultancy firm specialising in the China market.The firm offers a variety of services to assist foreignentities that are interested in doing business inChina. More information is available at http://www.1st-link.com/ and Lauren is contactable atlauren@1st-link.com. Having returned from hisMBA studies in Manila, Daryl has joined Ascendur,a fee-based wealth consulting firm, as a wealthmanagement consultant in the same capacity asJames, who had joined the firm earlier. In carryingout their duties as financial planner and adviser,Daryl and James find satisfaction in helping clientsorganise their finances, manage their tax liabilities,and make informed investment decisions. For a no-obligation assessment of your financial health,contact darylliew@ascendurconsulting.com orjameshuan@ascendurconsulting.com.

A clutch of public-spirited members of the Class of2000 have also become colleagues at theAttorney-General’s Chambers: Derek Kang ’00,Paul Chia ’00, Jason Tan ’00, Jared Pereira ’00,Terence Tay ’00, Royston Ng ’00, Alan Ong ’00and Alvin Chen ’00 currently occupy themselveskeeping the wheels of the Legal Service in motion.Derek and Alvin are also regulars at the weeklyfootball games organised by members of the Classof 2001 on Sunday afternoons at the NUS SportsCentre. Interested players - drop Derek a line atderekkang@hotmail.com. Congrats to Roystonwho got hitched to Bernette Meyer ’00 on 7December. On secondment at Linklaters in Londonare Oh Hsiu-hau ’00 and Jean Wan ’00.

Congratulations to Anthony Lee ’01 and his wife,Margaret Chee, on becoming the proud parents oftheir newborn daughter, Danyelle. Anthony iscurrently a DPP with the Legal Service, along withclassmates Laura Liu ’01, Marjory Yeoh ’01,Magdalene Koh ’01, Cheok Yu Liang ’01, WongSook Ping ’01, Chng Hwee Chin ’01, Aaron Lee’01, Tan Wee Soon ’01 and Desmond Lee ’01. Thesignificant presence of this public-service-orientedClass of 2001 in the ranks of the legal service isfurther bolstered by Cheryl Chia ’01 (Civil Division),Sharinah Abdol Salam ’01 and RanjiniRamakrishnan ’01 (Legal Aid Bureau), Ngoh SiewYen ’01 (Magistrate, Subordinate Courts) and JoyceLow ’01, Woo Ka Wai ’01 and Amy Tung ’01(Justices’ Law Clerks). Adding to the band of formerlawyers who have ventured outside the profession areCaroline Ng ’01, Paul Cheong ’01, Jane Ban ’01and Paerin Choa ’01. Caroline currently teachesSpeech & Drama at Crestar Pte Ltd, while Paul andJane have joined the Ministry of Education as schoolteachers. Paerin’s entered the theatre world and wasrecently seen in the musical “Forbidden City” whichplayed at the Esplanade’s opening festival. Mid-waythrough their post-graduate courses of study in theUK are Charles Lim ’01 and Ian Teo Ke-Wei ’01.Charles is pursuing a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) atOxford University’s Worcester College, having chosento study a complement of international law specialistcourses. Ke-Wei is pursuing a Masters of Law atCambridge University’s St. Edmund’s College with afocus on commercial law subjects. Both Charles andKe-Wei report enjoying their respective courses (andall the social events in between) tremendously.

The Class of 2002 had its Commencementceremony on 14 September 2002. At year-end, themajority of the Class was (reportedly) franticallypreparing for the PLC exams. Pupillage for mostresumed (for a gruelling 5 months) thereafter.Some managed to take time out to get married(where are the priorities?!) Jane Tan ’02 wasmarried on 11 May to Rubert Wong, a doctor. Janeand Rubert have known each for 6 years prior tothe marriage. Harveen Singh ’02 married teacherJasmeet Kaur on 25 December. Both Harveen’s andJasmeet’s families have known each other for over50 years, although it’s the first marriage betweenthe families. Gerardine Goh ’02 was doing herMasters of Space Studies on a scholarship inStrasbourg, France. Her programme brings her tovarious cities for courses and conferences. She has

just completed the first stage of her Mastersprogramme at the International Space University inCalifornia. Following that, she was in Houston,Texas for the World Space Congress in Octoberwhere she presented her first legal paper at theColloquium on the Law of Outer Space. She is nowback in London where she’s pursuing her Mastersof Public International Law, doing a dissertation onthe militarisation of Outer Space.

Some news from our exchange alumni- JasperNeuteboom EXC ’01 from the Netherlands,reports that since leaving Singapore, his life hasbeen pushed in a different direction. He hasgraduated from his home university and has beenoffered a traineeship at Oiltanking, the companywhere he did an attachment while studying atNUS. He is currently based in Antwerp, Belgium,and is happy to have found a job which allows himto combine international, maritime, commercialand environmental law aspects, something whichhe has always wanted. He plans to return toSingapore next year, a place which he says,“thanks to NUS, has stolen my heart”. From NewYork, our Canadian exchange alumni from McGill,Sandra Nishikawa EXC ’96 and Vincent deGrandpre EXC ’95 proudly announce the birth ofLucas Ichiro on 4th October 2002 at thePresbyterian Hospital in New York. Petit Lucasweighed 7 pounds 13 ounces at birth andmeasured 20 inches.

31 LAWLINK

LAWLINKNUS Law School

13 Law Link, Kent RidgeSingapore 117590

lawlink@nus.edu.sghttp://law.nus.edu.sg/alumni

In this issue: Tan Loke Khoon ‘87 onIntellectual Property Practice in Hong Kong and China