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The Chief Justice of Singapore, Datuk Chan Sek Keong presents the
Judges' Cup to the head of the Malaysian contingent, Justice Datuk Arifin bin
Zakaria
Please click here to view the Dinner pictures and here to view the Picture Galleries of the Annual Malaysia/Singapore
Bench and Bar Games 2007
SINGAPORE, Mon: Malaysia triumphs! After a
keenly-contested Malaysia-Singapore Bench & Bar Games 2007, played in the spirit
of friendship and goodwill, the Malaysian contingent was crowned the winners and
awarded the Judges' Cup, while the Singapore team took the Lawyers' Mug, not
without beating us in the Boat Race - the finale of the Games held here during
the Dinner this evening at the Marina Mandarin.
The Games, which were last held here in May 2005 saw Malaysia trailing by 2 points: Malaysia 4 - Singapore 6 after the competitive
events over the last 2 days. 3 crucial swing points hung in balance for the
competitive sports of golf, cricket, and hockey. The chips were stacked against
Malaysia, and we needed to win all 3 events in order to clinch overall victory.
Golf took flight early in the morning at 7am, with the sun still obscured behind
gloomy clouds at the Marina Bay Golf Course. Our golfers put in a commanding
performance, winning 15-9, and we grabbed a valuable point to close the gap.
Malaysia 5 – Singapore 6!
Cricket was up next at 10am, in the grounds of the Singapore Indian Association.
The game stretched on far into the afternoon, where the scorching sun was now
beating down on the ground. Could we now tie up the series? Our cricketers did
not disappoint, and Malaysia won by 24 runs, 129-105 against Singapore! We were
now level on points, and everything now came down to our hockey players.
So it now boiled down to the crucial decider match of hockey at 5pm, again
played on the Singapore Indian Association grounds. Would the cricket team’s
victory rub off on the hockey team? The hockey match ended 2-1…..in favour of
Malaysia! We had done it! Despite being on foreign soil and being 2 points
behind, Malaysia fought back and clinched the series 7-6 against Singapore. The
Judges' Cup remained firmly on our side of the causeway for another year, while
Singapore would have to make do with the Lawyers' Mug.
We could now look forward to the closing dinner hosted by the Law Society of
Singapore in Marina Mandarin. The Malaysian contingent could proudly hold
their heads up high and celebrate a well-deserved victory even though a senior counsel for the Singapore team, Chelva Rajah pleaded at the dinner that it was because today is a working day.
Law Society and Bar Council reps meet
Prior to the dinner, a meeting was held between representatives of the Law
Society of Singapore and the Bar Council of Malaysia. As acknowledged by the
opening message of our Madam President, Ambiga Sreenevasan, this meeting was
staged thanks to the initiative of the National Young Lawyer Committee of
Malaysia (NYLC). In fact, it was an unprecedented move to allow Malaysian young
lawyer representatives to be present at this meeting between the two law
societies.
 The Bar Council was also represented by Vice-President,
Ragunath Kesavan, Secretary, Lim Chee Wee, Treasurer and Chairman of the Sports
Committee, George Varughese, Chairman of the Conveyancing Practice Committee and
the 14th Malaysian Law Conference Organising Chairman, Roger Tan, Chairman of
GATS Committee, Christopher Leong, Chairman of the Human Rights Committee and
the National Young Lawyers' Committee, Edmund Bon and NYLC members, Richard Wee
and Lee Shih.
Kicking off the discussion, Richard Wee highlighted the staging of the Malaysian
Law Conference at the end of October, and extended an invitation to delegates
from Singapore to attend the conference. The third day of the Conference would
be exclusively devoted to a Young Lawyers Convention, where it is hoped that a
South East Asian Young Lawyer Alliance could be formed. Invitations to young
lawyers in Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines had
already been sent out. The Law Society of Singapore similarly extended an
invitation for Malaysians to attend the International Bar Association Conference
hosted by Singapore in mid-October.
Next on the agenda was a discussion on the possibility of an exchange of
Continuing Professional Development speakers. This proposal was warmly welcomed
by the President of the Law Society, Philip Jeyaratnam S.C. Similarly, on the
issue of an exchange programme involving the CEO of the Malaysian Bar
Secretariat going down to Singapore to learn from the Law Society Secretariat,
this was recognised as an excellent idea to pursue.
The discussion then moved on to the topic of conveyancing practice and scale
fees enforcement based on the Singapore perspective. Singapore had abolished
scale fees and the no-discount rule. It was acknowledged that even in Singapore,
with its relatively smaller size, Singapore had encountered in the past the
problem of enforcement of scale fees.
Chee Wee then brought up the topic of the inevitable liberalisation of the
Malaysian legal market, and the introduction of the joint law venture framework.
With Singapore having adopted a similar joint law venture/formal law alliance
mechanism several years ago, the Bar Council would welcome feedback from
Singapore on the implementation of the joint law venture structure. It was
recognised that Singapore law firms would be interested in tying up with
Malaysian firms in order to provide a seamless legal service for clients.
Ambiga then highlighted the Bank Negara initiative to make Malaysia an Islamic
Banking hub. Malaysia was keen to bring in foreign experts on Islamic Banking to
assist in this endeavour. The Singapore position was that Islamic Banking was
still relatively new, but there was a push from the Singapore state to
specialise in this area.
Next, Lee Shih, from the NYLC, brought up two issues. Firstly, as a follow up
from the POLA Conference
POLA Conference
last August, that the Young Lawyers Committees from Malaysia and Singapore were
working together to establish an exchange programme for Malaysian young lawyers
to do attachments in Singapore law firms. Second, that the NYLC would be
publishing the results and analysis from the Working Conditions Survey in a
months’ time. The Singapore Young Lawyer Committee would be carrying out a
similar survey on working conditions of young lawyers, and information from both
the Malaysian and Singaporean survey would be readily available.
Edmund, representing the Human Rights Committee, proposed that the Bar Council
and Law Society should work together in ensuring the protection of human rights.
Philip agreed that both bodies should work together. Although the Law Society
did not have a human rights committee, the Law Society raises issues as a
Council together, and engages in direct dialogue with the Minister of Law, and
Minister of Home Affairs.
The Bar Council also informed the Law Society that we had issued a
public statement
expressing its concern on the removal of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, and
the Law Society would consider issuing a similar public statement.
Finally, both the Bar Council and Law Society would respectively highlight the
Solomon Islands earthquake and tsunami tragedy to their members, and encourage
their members to contribute generously.
One for the album
Singapore team wins the boat race
The meeting then drew to a close, and we then proceeded to enjoy the closing
gala dinner. We were honoured to have in attendance, several members of the
Malaysian and Singapore judiciary, in particular the Honourable Chief Justice of
Singapore, Chan Sek Keong, and the Honourable Federal Court Judge of Malaysia,
Datuk Arifin bin Zakaria. 
Kicking off the festivities for the night was the final event of the Games, the
Boat Race. Having already lost the Games, the Singapore team looked determined
to at least secure bragging rights by winning the Boat Race. With each team
fielding 4 men and a woman, the Boat Race started with a bang. Singapore very
quickly took the lead with a fantastic performance by their lady starter.
However, Malaysia very quickly caught up with our 3rd and 4th drinkers, and we
enjoyed a slight lead coming to our final drinker. Singapore could boast of a
strong anchorman who then clinched victory in the Boat Race!
Having enjoyed a sumptuous meal, we then bore witness to a battle of bands of
sorts. Singapore entertained the crowd with their all-lawyer band, but it was
pretty clear that the all-lawyer band from Malaysia outshone their performance,
judging from the catcalls and cheers from the floor.
It has been a fantastic 3 days of competition and fun, and I in particular had
an amazing experience in my maiden outing at the Bench & Bar Games.
A massive thank you to the Law Society of Singapore for
organising a spectacular tournament, and we look forward to hosting the Games
next year.
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Circular No 106/2012: Accountant’s Report 2011
Well done, guys (gender neutral language)!
How I wish I was younger and more energetic. I would have gone south of the border!
Anyway, well done. Enjoy your youth. It goes in a wink of the eye.