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Contributed by the National Young Lawyers
Committee
 ‘Allow greater access to the Bar website by the public’
22-year old Sandesh has just finished his pupilage in a KL-based firm, and Sarah
Binti Kambali sought him out particularly to receive his views on the prominent
Bar website which has been running for some time now. Other pressing issues were
also discussed.
You just finished your pupilage. What area of law are you interested to
practice in and why?
Well, I’ve been chiefly exposed to civil litigation in the firm I chambered in.
I’ve been taught well, and must say that I’m getting the hang of practice.
However, I have always found industrial relations work fascinating. Hence if I
had a choice, I would like to explore this area of law thoroughly. Although it
has become very popular over the years, it still seems to be a niche area of
law. I hope to make it my specialisation.
The Malaysian Bar website has come a long way - from a ‘cyber-void’ to a
‘cyber-strength’ as even practitioners outside the country visit the site. How
would you rate the site - very well done, good, no good, not bothered?
It is good - informative and effective. I commend those involved in setting-up
and maintaining the site. It is fairly easy to use. One does not need to be too
technologically savvy to be able to access the information. The articles and
opinions are well written in the sense that they touch on issues that concern us
all. It is also very up-to-date on current issues.
If you were the Webmaster of the site, what would you do to improve or
change?
The site has a caveat that seems to be ‘Restricted to Malaysian Bar members
only’. This I would like to change because in my opinion the site should be
relaxed so that ordinary members of the public are also able to express their
opinions on issues deliberated on the site. Make it accessible to everyone.
Opening the forum in this manner would enable a cross fertilisation of ideas and
opinions between professionals of the legal fraternity and lay-persons who are,
after all, an important target audience. By making the site more accessible, it
gives an avenue to the lay-persons to voice their opinion and ideas. This
exchange of ideas would help reduce a common problem often faced by many
professionals where they are sometimes unable to see the woods for the trees. In
fact, accepting opinions expressed in our national language would have an even
greater impact.
Another thing that I would improve on the site is the updating of Bar events. If
the events were updated expediently, they would be more appealing to the younger
members of the law community.
The young lawyers have been hoping for years for a better remuneration
scheme. With the increase of petrol prices, utility bills and toll charges for
private highways; how do you view the salary structure for young lawyers in
Kuala Lumpur, taking into account these increased costs?
I personally feel that the remuneration scheme can be improved. However, we have
to understand that the professions are very much subject to the law of supply
and demand. This however does not prevent the implementation of a mechanism
whereby the salaries of young lawyers are subject to review periodically. Most
segments of society are represented by a union to present their grievances. For
example, the civil service has asked for an increase in salary and the
Government is considering it. It would be useful for a body like the Bar Council
to have a section or an individual which focuses efforts on presenting the
grievances of young lawyers to law firms at large.
A simple method for this would be to use any request by the civil service for a
salary review as a trigger mechanism to request all law firms to conduct a
salary review. The actual quantum of salary increase, if any, must be left to
individual firms. They would of course decide based on market forces. However,
the principle that a salary review must be conducted each time there is a civil
service salary review must be strictly adhered to.
It is a fact that the members of the Bar work for long hours. If you were a
partner of a medium or large firm, what would you do to improve the working
conditions of a young lawyer?
The working environment of most legal firms is a carry over from the pre-IT
days. Not all firms have taken to IT as a duck would take to water. With the
current enabling technology, a lot can be done to improve the working conditions
of a young lawyer. For example, have a combination of working from home and
office. This can be simplified by maximising the use of available technology,
for example, fax, internet, telephone, cell phones and video conferencing.
Also, the office environment could be redesigned so that it has an aura of home
living but still maintaining the office ambience and discipline. It is a known
fact that stress levels are lower when a person is in a home environment. This
can be achieved by providing a cabinet and private space for each person,
bathing facilities, dining facilities etc. A measured degree of change in dress
code may also help.
The traffic problem in KL is bad. The DBKL Mayor is trying to improve this.
What do you think of his suggestions?
The idea that has been proffered by the Mayor is for the introduction of a
congestion fee. The congestion fee, if implemented, should be egalitarian in
nature and there should be no exemption for VIPs. Although it appears to be a
good idea, I hope a thorough cost-benefit analysis has been carried out. The
costs of implementation including the technology involved may be so prohibitive
that it may be easier to channel the money into improving existing systems, for
example better bus services and bus lanes, safer motorcycle routes and the
introduction of bicycle lanes. Also, there should be an overall integration of
the various modes of public transport such as trains, busses, taxis so that they
complement each other. A single ticket purchased anywhere should be able to take
an individual to any location in the city irrespective of the mode of transport
he chooses.
The Housing Development Act (Act 118) was amended to inter alia
protect buyers and also cover all properties in the Act; in contrast to the
previous position where service apartments were outside the scope of the Act.
What are your comments on this?
The intention of the Housing Development Act was to protect a significant group
of the public from abuse. Hence, the promulgation of the Act should be lauded.
However, the fact that service apartments were initially outside the scope of
the Act may affect the credibility of the Act in its entirety. It gives the
impression that the Act itself was not thought through carefully in its initial
stages. However, it is better late than never that a wrong has been made right.
Johor was in parts flooded recently. There was some talk about compensation
for the victims.
To put it simply, the basis for the law of compensation is that there should be
a causal link between the alleged cause of the wrong and the damage suffered. In
the context of the floods in Johor, if the claimants can identify a specific
party whose negligence resulted in the floods, then they may have a cause of
action. However, if this party is found to be any public authority, then taking
the Highland Towers case, they will fail in their action. This is because public
policy does not allow public authorities to pay compensation. Further, they
would not get any compensation if eventually it is proven to be justified by
force majeure. It would be beneficial if the defendant are private
individuals or companies, for example housing developers.
Other YL Personalities:
Edelina Sophia
Binti Sophian Pulle
Mohd Busyairy Bin
Che Muda
Wong Fook Meng
Fadiah Nadwa
Fikri
Lee Chooi Peng
Angeline Cheah
Yin Leng
Mishant a/l
Thiruchelvam
Shahrizal Bin
Mohd Zin
Rezalman B.
Bahran
Gavin Tang Cheng
Loong
Noreen Ahmad
Ariff
Nadia Ashikin
binti Maduarin
David Dinesh
Mathew
Nizam Bashir
Bin Abdul Kariem Bashir
Amer Hamzah
Bin Arshad
Ernie
Suffiani Binti Salim
Ahmad Syukri
Bin Yusoff
Dipendra
Harshad Rai
Soo Wee Loon
Tracy Hah
Aminuddin bin
Abdullah
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Invitation to the Launching of the Bar Council Legal Aid Centre (Kuala Lumpur) Website 
