Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club

KUALA LUMPUR, Fri: Last night, more than RM20,000 was amassed by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Young Lawyers Committee (‘YLC’) at the Charity Nite 2006. The event, the 2nd one, after the fairly successful one last year, was a project undertaken by the Welfare and Social sub-committee of the YLC.

This year’s Charity Nite was organised to collect donations for the Taman Megah Handicapped and Disabled Children Home at Petaling Jaya. They will certainly be happy to know that the lawyers and well wishers have come together and donated a sum, almost double of last years amount collected.

Held at CoChine Restaurant at Asian Heritage Row, off Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, the highlight of the night was undoubtedly the KL Bar Idol. Four finalists belted out their preferred songs. The handsome Brendon, the brilliant D.W. Choo and the melodic Falah put on their best show, but it was the bubbly and lovely Kaushalya who won the hearts of many, to become the first KL Bar Idol. The winner was decided by a unique voting system. Every Idolist was allocated a Donation Box, and the finalist who garners the highest amount of donation is the winner. All monies collected, goes to the said Home. Almost RM6,000 was collected from the Idol contest alone.

The Idol finalists were backed up the All-Lawyers Band led by Izral and Mark Ho. The other members were Chua at the drums, Chee Hoe, Greg Ling and the guest singer, Melody. The Band themselves was as popular as the Idol finalists. Performing some songs in between breaks and after the Idol finalists completed their 2 songs performance, the Band received loud cheers at the end of each performance.

These talented lawyers showcase the Legal Profession is filled with musically inclined lawyers. Perhaps when the Malaysian Idol comes along again, a lawyer may one day compete and win.

The lawyers themselves came in droves. By 8.30p.m. the 200 goody bags donated by Southern Bank Berhad and Bukit Ikhlas Development Sdn Bhd were snapped up by the early birds. The final turnout - 428 lawyers! This is a far bigger turnout than the 300 odd lawyers at last year’s Charity Nite. It was evident that the crowd enjoyed themselves. The gourmet was apparently well received, and everyone enjoyed the 2 free drinks which came with the RM30 ticket. The more thirsty ones continued buying drinks at Special Happy Hour Rates provided by CoChine.

Seen supporting the events were the KL based Ambiga, and Ragunath Kesavan, Vice President and Secretary of the Bar Council respectively, Lim Chee Wee and Ravindra Kumar, Chairman and Hon. Secretary of KL Bar respectively, and also a few current and former Bar Councillor, notably Jerald Gomez and Christopher Leong. Even Dato’ Shafee was present, surely to support his Legal Assistant, Kaushalya at the Idol competition.

Many Legal firms also made pledges and donations for the Home. These pledges and the contributions of the lawyers during the Charity Nite, eventually totalled more than RM20,000.

The YLC applauds the Idol finalists and the All-lawyer Band for the much appreciated entertainment, and wish to thank all lawyers who made the effort to attend the Charity Nite. Clearly this year’s Charity Nite, based on the larger amount of donation collected and the bigger turnout of lawyers is more successful that last years version. The Charity Nite seems to have attain the status of a must-have event, (but with a tinge of sadness, the YLC is currently considering turning the event into a biennial one, as the event takes its toll on the organisers and the time needed to ensure the success of this event places a heavy burden on the YLC members, many of whom are Legal Assistants who are subjected to the typical heavy load of work, normally associated with the younger lawyers.)

More YLC projects will continue to take place, with a Sports Carnival planned for later in the year, and the workshops to meet under-graduates of local Universities’ law faculties, to expose these students of the realities of practice. The Human Rights Committee has also invited a Minister to give a Lecture on an important legal point whose identity will be revealed in due course.

But for now, the YLC is delighted with the turnout at the Charity Nite, and overwhelmed by the amount of money collected. We will continue to serve not only the members of the Bar, but also to assist the less fortunate members of the Society.

Comments (6)

Subscribe to this comment's feed