Contributed by Wong Fook Meng and Desmond Ho
The Bar Council held their meeting in Malacca from
June 15 to 17. During the meet the members dinner session on June 16, Wong Fook
Meng and Desmond Ho managed to interview the Chairman of the Bar Council, Ambiga Sreenevasan.
1. How has life been for you since you took over the helm of the Bar Council in
March 2007?
Nothing can prepare you for the position of President. It takes over your life.
However, I am not complaining as this is an exciting and challenging position.
There are so many issues that arise on the job. Each issue is different from the
other. So I have to learn very quickly. It has been an amazing learning
experience thus far.
2. How is a typical day like for you?
Well, I am on call every day! And, I still run a practice. So, I have to spilt
my time between office work and Bar Council work. I am at the Bar Council
Secretariat 3 to 4 times a week but I am in telephone communication with the
Secretariat on a daily basis. I have to do a lot of Bar Council work in my own
office. One of the more demanding tasks is preparing and giving press
statements. The press can be very persistent in getting a statement from you. It
is a positive development that the media wants to hear what the Bar has to say
and that our opinion is valued. We have a responsibility to speak up whenever
there is an issue which concerns the law or public interest. Also, I spend time
preparing my own speeches for seminars and conferences. All this is very time
consuming but I have learnt the art of doing it quickly.
3. Do you have people helping you to prepare press statements and speeches?
Yes, there are some very good people at the secretariat who help me to do
research. However, I still have to spend time thinking the issues through and at
times doing my own research before releasing a press statement or making a
speech. For example, before releasing the press statement on the Lina Joy case,
I had to read both the judgments and research the law.
4. What are some of your main agendas for this term?
The Council is looking at revamping the Professional Development strategy. Also,
we may push for mandatory Continuing Legal Education again. We also want to make
the Secretariat more efficient for the members and improve on our delivery
system. We are also stepping up our Human Rights agenda and the Human Rights
Committee is drawing up a Human Rights blueprint. We will also look into crucial
issues such as the Independent Judicial Commission, IPCMC, reviewing the 1988
Judicial Crisis and revamping the local government. I must commend the Malacca
Bar Committee for holding the recent forum on local government. This is
excellent. So, as you can see, there are many constructive things that we are
focusing on for this term.
5. What do you think is the main challenge facing the Malaysian Bar today?
The number of lawyers has grown over the years. The number of issues has also
grown. The Government is now taking a more consultative approach and is getting
the Bar’s views on the drafting of new legislation. This is a positive
development but it also means that there is a lot more work to be done! The Bar
is becoming more important and we have to change to keep up with the times.
6. What would you like to say to the members of the Malacca Bar?
The Bar Council is trying to be responsive to members. We have heard comments
that the Bar Council is sitting in an ivory tower and that we have lost touch
with members. This is the reason why we are doing this ‘Bar Council walkabout’
by going to as many states as we can to meet members at our own expense. We also
just concluded a brainstorming session today to see how we can improve things
for the members of the Bar and to promote and protect public interests at the
same time. We hope that members will work together with us.
7. Some members have indicated that they are shying away from Bar volunteerism
due to the intense politicking at the Bar. What is your comment on this?
Yes, there are harsh critics at the Bar and even the Bar Council itself is
subject to criticisms. It comes with the turf and you have to expect to get
criticisms. I do agree that intense politicking puts people off from
volunteering. However, we hope that things will get friendlier and that there
will be a more constructive atmosphere at the Bar. I hope members will remember
that we are volunteers and we are working as best as we can for the members. I
am reminded by what Theodore Roosevelt once said. He said :–
“... the man who really counts in the world is the doer, not the mere critic –
the man who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, not the man
who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done (1891).