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Are all the lawyer/s in that firm "nice looking"?

Noor Nirman Hizwar Bin Hussein

Dear all,

I would like to give my two sens' worth (actually worth quite a lot according to our government).

First of all, good-looking is pretty subjective as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Well, my benchmark is the normal Malaysian man on a Puduraya bus. I must say that one who is sweet young and single has the edge over people like me, who is pushing forty and married. The first impression counts. New firms in such a competitive field needs that extra edge if they do not have a strong and solid clientele base.

I have seen firms with very good-looking office managers that are doing extremely well. They bring in the business. That is but a sad truth.

Nicole Tan Lee Koon

Our firm has been advertising for litigation lawyers since time immemorial (oh so it seems...) and we did not even put any criteria pertaining to the candidate looks yet there was nary a candidate. We thought our firm is the only one facing this sort of "dry season" but when I checked with friends of other firms (all in Klang Valley, mind you, heck ours in Klang itself) they echo the same sentiment. So where are all the candidates, "nice looking" or otherwise and to all those candidates, come on have pride, apply to firms that don't curtailed you by the way god made you!

Gan Siew Guat

I'm thinking may be it was a case of wrong choice of words... probably by the "HR" of that firm, not necessarily a lawyer.

Hope they meant, "Pleasant personality" or something on those lines.

Justin Johari Azman

Perhaps “well-groomed” is what was intended.

If the phrase was so objectionable, why allow the advertisement in the first place?

In any event, I have to disagree with Mr Roger Tan that being nice looking is irrelevant, as opposed to the candidate’s professional qualifications. Let’s ‘face’ it (pun intended!), people generally respond more positively to someone who is nice-looking so it will be an asset for a candidate to be better looking than the next one, in my books anyway.

And why pick on the firm’s search for a nice-looking lawyer? They not only need the lawyer to be nice-looking but the good looking lady or gent needs to be “pleasant and friendly”. Is that discriminatory or what? So being pleasant and friendly is not extraneous or irrelevant but being nice-looking is?

Anyways Nicole, pushing forty and married doesn’t lose you the edge over a pretty young thing so long as you’re nice-looking, pleasant and friendly...!!!

Andrew Teh Leng Guan

Dear Andrew,

I agree "pleasant looking" would have been more acceptable, because it is within the applicant's ability to make himself/herself pleasant looking. Similarly, being friendly is an attribute which one can change. Hmm... "nice-looking" implies being pretty or handsome and this has got to do with nature which is something one can't change it. That's why we were against Kelantan's MB Nik Aziz's statement some years back that the Kelantan civil service should only employ ugly women because the pretty ones had no difficulty of getting married! Also, if this is a relevant consideration, I think many of us might not have been able to get a job in the first place! LOL

You are correct that we should not have allowed such advertisement in the first place. But sometimes things like this do slip through, and anyway members ought to get the hint that there were many other occasions when more ridiculous conditions were imposed but thankfully they were not published.

Roger Tan

Come on Roger!! Don’t you think that the National Young Lawyers Committee should be looking into something more serious than this.

If it’s the firm’s criteria that they want someone nice looking than who are we to stop them. As said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they might find someone who you think is not nice as nice and suitable.

Moreover, how are you going to decide what is a fair and unfair condition? What is fair to you may seem unfair to others.

You should be looking into more serious issues related to the welfare of the young lawyers and not waste time taking up such petty objections.

And you wonder why the young lawyers in Penang didn’t want a young lawyers committee? Look at the issues you are voicing!!

Frankly, waste of time.

Mohamed Reza Bin Abdul Rahim

Dear Reza,

Today is my second day as the NYLC Chairman. I decided to say something about this as soon as I noticed it. Are you saying that not so "nice-looking" young lawyers who are not able to get a job is not an important issue? Let me say this, so long as I am the NYLC Chair, I'll try my best to safeguard the interests of young lawyers, whether nice-looking or not.

Coming to Penang Bar Committee not wanting to have a Young Lawyers Committee, this is one issue which I will definitely look into after the first NYLC meeting which will be held in a few weeks' time.

Roger Tan

Whilst I too at first thought Roger Tan was being a little too sensitive with this statement, perhaps we should view this scenario from the perspective of the fresh practitioner looking for a job. Will he not be put off from applying, and perhaps from the profession, if looking like Quasimodo he feels there is no hope for him in the wonderful world of legal practice? Agreed there are a myriad array of other very important things facing the NYLC, not least making itself relevant to those who still do not see the need for it. I do not think it is wrong to highlight these practices - in fact, the number of responses commenting that there is not much wrong with the advert suggests that perhaps it was a good idea to highlight the advert after all!

And Reza .. not everyone as good looking as you lah

Shanmuga Kanesalingam

There is no right or wrong answer on how a firm should be allowed to advertise. At the same, and notwithstanding that it may have been an error, preference for hiring should be based on merit rather than looks. I, for one, would feel slighted considering that I pride myself to be a capable lawyer but not necessarily a good (or nice) looking one.

I recall some months back, a lot of lawyers took the Kelantan MB to task for making disparaging remarks about beautiful women and the civil service. Were we wrong then? I quite doubt it. If some lawyers took the Kelantan MB to task, why not this law firm.

The point I wish to make it that no matter how trivial the issue may seem, we should not rubbish it. We may disagree on where to draw the line but we cannot disagree to champion such issues, especially if the Bar wishes to be in the forefront in ensuring fairness to all.

Anyway moving on, I have to say something about Penang not having a YLC. I think there is little co-relation between this issue and Penang not having a YLC. Penang not having a YLC, I feel, is perhaps due to, a lack of effective communication which I hope the incoming NYLC will address. At the same time, I hope that the NYLC will continue to push for the creation of a YLC in Penang and Negeri Sembilan.

Many thanks
Dipendra A/L Harshad Rai

Mr Roger Tan,

Were the bar website job advertisement rules breached by the firm which placed the advertisement?

If "yes", why was the advertisement allowed to be published?

If "not", why then all the unnecessary negative comments 'posed' by your good-self?

Please enlighten me on the above.

Thank you.

Tan Peek Guat