Contributed by Syahredzan Johan
After three intense and gruelling days, the International Malaysia Law Conference (“IMLC”) 2012 drew to a close with a glamourous and lively Celebration Dinner. Held at the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, the dinner began with pre-conference cocktails where guests mingled and exchanged anecdotes on their experience.
Guests of honour included the Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Arifin b Zakaria; the President of the Court of Appeal, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Md Raus b Sharif; and the Chief Judge of Malaya, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Zulkefli bin Ahmad Makinudin. Scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm, the dinner only commenced at 8:30 pm as several guests were caught in the horrendous Friday evening traffic congestion.
The festivities began when the masters of ceremonies for the night, HR Dipendra and Janet Chai, welcomed everyone to the Celebration Dinner. Dipendra and Janet then invited Raphael Tay, the Chairperson of the IMLC 2012 Organising Committee, to give his speech. Raphael took to the podium and gave an impassioned account of the work involved in organising the three-day conference. He praised the men and women of the committee and the Bar Council secretariat, who had worked tirelessly day and night for the event. The speakers may have been the stars of the conference, he said, but the real heroes were those who had toiled behind the scenes to ensure the success of the conference.
To honour their contributions, the President of the Malaysian Bar, Lim Chee Wee, presented tokens of appreciation to Raphael and to the Chief Executive Officer of the Bar Council Secretariat, Rajen Devaraj. A look of total surprise was clearly visible on Raphael’s face when he received the large framed poster with his image and a publicity blurb on it, done in similar fashion as the stylish publicity posters that had been designed for speakers of the conference’s inspirational sessions.
The first course for the night was then served, accompanied by the sounds of Africa, as part of the food presentation ceremony. The Chinese menu for the night included steamed Mandarin fish with sliced ginger, grilled prawns with shallots, and variety of braised mushrooms with greens. But far more sumptuous than the menu was the wonderful company on the night. Guests were entertained by Thin Izzy, a band of lawyer-musicians, and Dom Marina, a Portugese cultural band.
The dinner ended at around midnight, when the last of the guests left Renaissance Hotel, thus closing the 2012 chapter of the IMLC.