PENANG: The enthusiasm from fellow participants was unabated albeit the
first session started a few minutes late.
Questions after questions flowed from the floor to the panel
of esteemed speakers comprising Nahendran Navaratnam, Teh Yoke Hooi, Lee Shih
and Syamsuriatina Ishak.
The mood of the convention was set in the right course when
fellow delegates were unabashed to voice their opinion and many had even
respectfully disagreed with the views of speakers, some being senior members of
the Bar.
It was one of healthy engagement, many thanks to Dipendra’s
moderation which admittedly could be a trying effort when lawyers are on their
feet at the heat of their arguments.
Syamsuriatina in her usual candid self unabashedly confessed that she first
thought the term of Gen-X and Gen-Y refers to some Hong Kong movies on cops.
Many of those attended, including the writer thought that they could cleverly
conceal their ignorance by simply laughing it off. Many did.
The platform in which the talk took off was to first identify the group of
people termed as Generation-Y. This term was coined as a general description of
those born in the late 70s to the mid 90s. Whilst the panellists are of one
voice that generalising and demarcating individuals into groups based on year of
birth would be an overly sweeping generalisation. Rather, one speaker would
rather look at this group of individuals as the younger generation with certain
values, expectations and grouses. The birth of Generation-Y is a result of
greater opportunities afforded to the younger generation, hence their set of
values, desires and expectations differ from their predecessors.
Nahendran and Yoke Hooi were agreeable that the change in environment is the
main factor that led to the boom of individuals with these sets of qualities
and/or expectations. In the past, many issues that were never a concern have
become pressing issues. Nahendran spoke of a personal account from one of the
top students in a local university who posed a question during a career
convention, ‘How long does it take for one to be a partner in a big firm?’ The
speaker was of the opinion that the real issue in hand is not the time period
taken to achieve that status, it is the long and arduous journey in the legal
profession that should be the milestone of success.
In simpler words, there is an expectation gap between the employers and the
young employees. Long hours and hard work are generally expected from the young
lawyers whilst, on the other hand these young lawyers wished to have a good
work-life balance and a certain expectation of the reward that they could reap
from the profession. These expectations are sometimes unrealistic and do not
adequately reflect in the amount of effort invested by the individual to achieve
it.
Lee Shih addressed the point that the longer part of the equation is that these
young lawyers are actually seeking better opportunities by exploring the
possible rewards that the profession could provide. The change of environment
today led to changes in perspective and expectation. The younger generation is
blessed and littered with opportunities which the older generation did not
enjoy. Parents do tend to be generous with these opportunities that they have
missed.
At this juncture, Nahendran was quick to point out that the
distinction ought to be made between what is needed and what is wanted. If too
much is given, it creates false expectation which carries on into a young
lawyer’s legal career. It is a demanding profession and in order to achieve a
work-life balance, a young lawyer must first work hard to achieve it.
Other delegates were not short of opinions. One lady spoke of how she would
appreciate good and sound guidance from a senior practitioner not because it is
an easy way out, but it would improve the quality of the learning process. An
outspoken member of the floor related his personal experience during his
chambering period where MLJs and CLJs are thrown and harsh words are often used.
In the end of the day, it matters not the type of approach adopted by certain
individuals, rather the knowledge that is imparted to the younger lawyers.
Syamsuriatina commented that the approach is changing today. Firms are now more
concerned about the welfare of their workers in order to achieve a good
work-life balance, hence good effort is placed to organise social events from
time to time.
The session ended past its scheduled time and generally
everyone had a healthy and engaging session for the first day of the convention
despite the temptations and distractions of good food and entertainment in the
Pearl of the Orient.
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Talk on Summary Judgement (25 May 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, this talk will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). The talk will be conducted by Ramesh Supramanian. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on Tax Issues in Financial Transactions (25 May 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar, featuring S Saravana Kumar, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Dialogue with Criminal Law Practitioners (26 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council, this dialogue will take place at 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 26 May 2012 (Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
Conference on Competition Law (31 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council with the support of LexisNexis, this conference will take place at 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, on 31 May 2012 (Thursday). For more details or to register, please contact Vilashini Vijayan (03-2050 2095; vila@malaysianbar.org.my). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on What Clients Want (7 June 2012) Organised by the KL Bar Practitioners' Affairs Committee, the talk, presented by Ong Eu Jin, will take place at 5:00 pm, at the KL Bar Auditorium, on 7 June 2012 (Thursday). Click on the link above for more details.
4th LAWASIA Family Law Conference, Penang (13 and 14 July 2012) Supported by Penang Bar Committee and the Malaysian Bar, this conference, themed “The New Global Family: Emerging Trends and Challenges to Family Practice”, will take place at Traders Hotel, Penang, on 13 and 14 July 2012 (Friday and Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
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