The Malaysian Bar - YL Personality: Sandesh Kabir Singh

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YL Personality: Sandesh Kabir Singh

Thursday, 31 May 2007 09:23am

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.