©The Edge (Used
by permission)
By Jacqueline Toyad
Many jokes are made about lawyers. Ever heard the one that goes, “what do you
call 10,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?” The punch line is, “A good
start.” What makes such a serious profession the butt of many cruel jokes?
Perhaps the public seems to associate all inconveniences — having to read and
sign stacks of contracts, divorces, lawsuits and so on, and then having to pay a
certain amount of fees to do it — with lawyers. As the old saying goes, “It’s a
dirty job but someone’s got to do it.”
But when you speak to Edmund Bon, all preconceived notions or lawyer–type stereotypes fly out the window. When speaking to this young advocate and solicitor, you envision a different picture of the profession — a picture of passion, vocation and nobility.
Meeting him for the first time at his place of work can throw anyone off. Instead of donning typical lawyer–wear he comes in to work in a cotton shirt, loose denim jeans and sneakers. He carries his ensemble very non–apologetically. “I dress up on days I go to court,” he shrugs. That’s it. No explanation. But then later on, you find out that the earliest he ever leaves the office is 9pm everyday, and you decide that said explanation is unnecessary.
Bon, 31, has been working with the same firm since his call
to the Malaysian Bar. It is a mid–sized law firm that was established in
December 1962 with nine partners and between 15 and 20 lawyers operating out of
offices in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The unit that Bon belongs to comes under
their litigation and alternative dispute resolution services. It deals with
criminal defence, human rights and public interest, and was established six to
seven years ago.
“We take up cases which people don’t want to take up,” quips Bon, who goes on to
say that it’s not so much that other lawyers are unwilling to deal with those
issues but because these cases are the more difficult ones. “Human rights
protection in Malaysia is still extremely… [pauses] to be able to litigate it is
always an uphill battle.”
The young lawyer is currently one of the recipients of the British Chevening
Scholarships offered by the British High Commission. Even though he has only
been working for eight years now, he feels the need for a “refresher course” of
sorts and saw the scholarship as an opportunity.
“You need to rejuvenate yourself once in a while,” he says, “I’ve been working since 1997 and my knowledge base has plateaued. You don’t get much mileage anymore. It’s more of doing administrative stuff. I just needed an opportunity to go back and study, develop further and increase my knowledge base. And in a lot of ways, invigorate myself by meeting new people who share the same aspirations I do.”
His dedication to human rights protection set root in 1997 when Bon had just returned from his studies in England. The law profession found itself in a difficult situation following the sacking and arrest of former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim — it was assisting the “reformists” in protecting their rights during their assemblies and protests. It was then that he found his calling in public interest and civil liberties.
His job description today includes advocating issues, creating awareness, and training students, academicians, government officials and NGOs on the legal aspects of human rights, as well as delivering papers locally and internationally. Sounds like a lot for someone to have on his plate.
“Everyone thinks that human rights work is about going to court and fighting it, but it’s not. It’s a lot of background advocacy work and non–legal work which improves discussions and improves lobbying of government and NGOs and sitting down with the human rights commission [Suhakam] and mapping out strategies,” he says.
When Bon describes his current legal pursuits, many think it is just a side gig. Friends, family and perfect strangers constantly approach him with questions on how he has the time or strength to pursue such cases, and why he would want to. His answer to this is, “It’s just a part of my profile. It’s a part of practice — part of being a lawyer actually.”
A few years ago, Bon rounded up a few lawyers with similar ideals and established an ad hoc human rights legal team. The team is a group of eight from different law firms who take up cases when they are called upon, and regularly have discussions. The group is not a formal establishment and remains to this day an unregistered society. The reason being that the work the eight lawyers do will most certainly fall prey to scrutiny and backlash. By existing as an informal society, they lessen their chances of being attacked as a whole. They prefer to devote whatever time and energy they have to tackling issues they feel important rather than spend it defending themselves and the principles they stand for.
Initially, the team was divided based on its interests on specific issues such as religious issues, refugee issues, legal profession issues and freedom of thought and belief. Bon himself focused on preventive detention laws (Internal Security Act).
“Unfortunately because there is so much work — it carries on almost everyday, and almost everyday women would come in, refugees would come in, a lot of people would come into the office — we can’t divide the cases like that anymore and we have to basically do everything. I started documenting and advocating the rights of ISA detainees through the NGOs like Suaram [Suara Rakyat Malaysia]. We’ve moved on to refugee work. We’ve moved on to religious freedom.
“We are trying to get this type of work to be seen as part of the mainstream legal practice, trying to get more lawyers into it. We’ve seen some success over the past few years. We’ve seen more lawyers becoming energetic and interested, but we want more of them to do it and see it as part of being a lawyer and not just sitting down and doing your bread and butter and getting your salary. I think being a lawyer includes a lot of activism,” Bon says.
He feels that many lawyers who do not show interest in these public interest issues may see human rights as a more political issue rather than one related to their areas of practice such as dealing with companies and corporations. He says another reason could be that they are not conscious of how it affects them, or that their area of practice does not give them the required rights or discourse to get involved.
Bon is not an angry young idealist. In fact, he is a dedicated patriot who is upset that the rights of his fellow Malaysians may be abused or ignored. He admits that it was his parents’ idea to do law when he was making the “big” decision in what career to pursue, and as he explored the different realms of the noble profession while studying at the University College London, he found himself inspired. He stakes his belief in his choice of profession in the 1976 Legal Profession Act. It states the aims and purposes of the Malaysian Bar. “To uphold justice without fear or favour, assist the poor, marginalised and disadvantaged,” he quotes from the Act. He adds, “I think in Malaysia, the whole idea about being a lawyer has been glamourised. What I think we should do instead is look at bigger issues.”
Work is difficult but Bon is far from being a dull boy. While he is driven “very much by ideals”, he finds time to unwind with his friends. Like any young urban professional, he looks forward to having a game of football or tennis, or having drinks and “talking nonsense”. He is quite aware that being wrapped up in his work might have him at wits’ end, and that keeping his wits about him is one of the best ways to maintain his fervour.
Bon is not in denial of what he calls “practical realities”. He remains “strongly idealistic but within reason” and calls himself “a perpetual optimist because you have to be”. He says that he realises that over the years, many lawyers have caused the public to have distrust towards the institution.
“After years of experience, you come to realise that you have to learn to accept the truth, and that you can’t change things overnight. However, it is that very same idealism, tempered or not, that will keep us going for a long time. As long as there are like–minded people, people who think the way you do and enjoy each other’s company, that will help us get back on our feet when we get knocked down. A lot of us believe in human rights protection and promotion. Plus the international convention supports a lot of our work, and its support reaffirms our belief that what we’re doing is right.”