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On 8 Mar 2011, just a few days before concluding his term as the President of the Malaysian Bar, Ragunath Kesavan launched a legal aid centre (“LAC”) at Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus.  The event was attended by YB Hannah Yeoh (member of the Selangor State Assembly), Professor Dato’ Dr Hassan Said (Vice-Chancellor of Taylor’s University), Dr Rajeswari Kanniah (Dean of Taylor’s Law School), Lim Chee Wee (Vice-President of the Malaysian Bar), Members of the Bar, and lecturers and students of Taylor’s University.

The event began with an opening speech by Professor Dato’ Dr Hassan Said, who expressed his appreciation to Bar Council for its collaboration in this initiative.  Explaining that the scheme is part of the tertiary education centre’s corporate social responsibility efforts, he shared his hopes that it would help instil social responsibility values in law students from the early stages of their undergraduate studies.

In his address, Ragunath Kesavan echoed Professor Dato’ Dr Hassan Said’s sentiments by stating that the LAC at Taylor’s University paves the way forward, for law students to be directly involved in providing legal aid to those in the community with insufficient means.  He also informed the audience of the formation of Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan (“YBGK”, also known as National Legal Aid Foundation), which had been launched by the Prime Minister, YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib b Tun Abdul Razak, on 25 Feb 2011.  He continued by highlighting that one of YBGK’s objectives is the expansion of legal aid service providers to include universities.  He envisaged that in the near future, all law departments in public and private universities would be independently involved with the provision of legal aid.


Ragunath Kesavan concluded his speech by commending Taylor’s University, particularly Dr Rajeswari Kanniah, for all the effort put into setting up the LAC.  He pointed out that the launch was also a significant step towards Bar Council’s objective of ensuring that justice remains accessible to all.  He added that the establishment of the LAC will not only cultivate a passion, amongst the university’s law students, to succeed as lawyers, but also help nurture their compassion for those who are marginalised.   

The event ended with Ragunath Kesavan and Professor Dato’ Dr Hassan Said signing a Memorandum of Understanding between Bar Council and Taylor’s University.  Guests were then given a tour of the LAC.  Located below the library at the Lakeside Campus, the LAC consists of a small reception area, interview room, meeting room and work area.