The Chief Justice of Singapore, The Rt. Hon. Datuk Chan Sek
Keong presents the Judges' Cup to the Malaysian Chief Justice, YAA Datuk
Seri Abdul Hamid bin Haji Mohamad.
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MALACCA, Sun: The Singapore Bench and Bar were routed, or perhaps to put it more mildly, they were thrashed at the annual Bench and Bar Games between our two nations held here from May 1 to 3.
The overall scorecard showed that the Malaysian team has won in hockey, badminton, tennis, swimming, table tennis, golf, netball and bowling whilst the Singapore men managed to save some pride for their contingent by winning the veterans and premier football. Both countries, however, drew in the ladies football and cricket. The Singapore team further ameliorated their loss by winning the finale of the Games – the Boat Race at the Dinner held here at Holiday Inn last night.
At the Dinner, the Chief Justice of Malaysia YAA Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid bin Haji Mohamad proudly received the Judges' Cup from his Singapore counterpart, the Right Honourable Datuk Chan Sek Keong who had to contend with the Lawyers' Mug.
Earlier, in his speech, the Singapore Law Society President, Senior Counsel Michael Hwang said the games have always been competitive over the years and suggested that the only way to unite our two nations is to find and fight a common enemy. In this, Hwang said it is perhaps time for the Malaysian and Singapore Bench and Bar to come together to meet either their Thai or Indonesian counterparts in a series of friendly games.
Whilst reminding our Singapore guests that the surrounding islands around Malacca indeed belong to Malaysia, the President of the Malaysian Bar, Dato' Ambiga Sreenevasan also entertained everyone with her set of jokes without making fun, of course, of the great escape by Mas Selamat.
Dinner attendees were also entertained by a Portuguese dance performance by charming school children and our Malaysian band of musical lawyers, comprising Kuala Lumpur based practitioners Gregory Ling, Mark Ho, Mohd Izral Khairy, Clarence Chua and Elaine Tan. A presentation was also given by Singaporean lawyer, Kit Ow, who gave a rendition of Teresa Teng's tian mi mi and yue liang dai biao wo de xin. During her second song, Ow was accompanied by an impromptu backup dancing by Kuala Lumpur based lawyer Ranjit Singh who had the audience reeling in laughter.
All said, it cannot be denied that these annual games have further strengthened and cemented the close friendship and ties between the Bench and Bar of our two nations.
This year's Games held in this historic city of Malacca has also been a huge success and the organising committee and the Malacca Bar Committee must be commended. The torch was then passed on to Singapore to organise next year’s games.
Also present at the Dinner were Malaysian Court of Appeal Judge, YA Dato' Abdull Hamid bin Embong, Malacca High Court Judge, YA Datuk Wira Mokhtaruddin bin Baki, Singapore High Court Judge, Justice Choo Han Teck, Singapore Law Society Treasurer, Gary Pryke, Singapore Law Society Council members, Michael S Chia, Anand Nalachandran and Laura Liew, Malaysian Bar Secretary, Lim Chee Wee, Treasurer George Varughese, Malaysian Bar Council members, Roger Tan, Christopher Leong, K. Mohan, Malacca Bar Committee Chairman, Ng Kong Peng and its State Bar Representative, R. Chelvarajah.
SCORECARD
Games | Malaysia (Score) | Singapore (Score) | Winner |
Hockey | 3 | 0 | Malaysia |
Badminton | 4 | 1 | Malaysia |
Tennis | 4 | 3 | Malaysia |
Ladies Football | 0 | 0 | Draw |
Swimming | 33 | 30 | Malaysia |
Table tennis | 3 | 2 | Malaysia |
Cricket | 195/6 | 195/6 | Tie |
Veterans Football | 0 | 1 | Singapore |
Premier Football | 0 | 1 | Singapore |
Golf | 18 | 7 | Malaysia |
Netball | 50 | 8 | Malaysia |
Bowling | 13 | 0 | Malaysia |
Volleyball (NC) | 3 | 1 | Malaysia |
9 ball pool (NC) | 2 | 3 | Singapore |
Cross Country (NC) | 85 | 19 | Malaysia |
Boat Race (NC) | Singapore | ||
OVERALL | MALAYSIA |