Contributed by Joane Sharmila, Editor, Bar Council, and photos by T Shan, Member, Perak Bar and Md Faizal Mahat, Senior Administrative Assistant, Bar Council
A brief summary of the Malaysian Bar’s 69th Annual General Meeting (“AGM”), held on 14 Mar 2015 at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, follows below.
The quorum of 500 Members was achieved at approximately 9:43 am, which was even before the AGM was scheduled to commence, at 10:00 am. The Chairman, Christopher Leong (President, Malaysian Bar) called the meeting to order at 10:35 am, when about 1,200 Members had signed in, and many Members were still streaming into the venue.
Twelve
motions had been proposed for consideration at the AGM.After eight hours of intense discussion and occasionally heated debate, four resolutions were adopted:
(1) "Resolution to increase Building Fund levy from RM100 to RM250 per annum for a period of 15 years";
(2) Resolution regarding the Sedition Act 1948;
(3) "Resolution for the Provision of Legal Aid and Assistance to Workers"; and
(4) "Resolution on royal pardon and the death penalty".
A total of 1,906 Members registered their attendance at the AGM. The AGM — the longest one in recent years — was adjourned at 6:34 pm.
In the first Bar Council meeting held immediately after the AGM, the following Office Bearers were elected for the 2015/2016 term:
President: Steven Thiru
Vice–President: George Varughese
Secretary: Karen Cheah Yee Lynn
Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor (Penang) was appointed as Treasurer.
The remaining 34 members of the incoming Bar Council are:
(1) Andrew Khoo Chin Hock
(2) Brendan Navin Siva
(3) Christopher Leong (Immediate Past President)
(4) Hendon Mohamed
(5) Honey Tan Lay Ean
(6) Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari
(7) Low Beng Choo
(8) Ravi Nekoo
(9) Richard Wee Thiam Seng
(10) Roger Chan Weng Keng
(11) Sulaiman Abdullah
(12) Syahredzan Johan
(13) R Jayabalan (Chairman, Johore Bar Committee)
(14) S Gunasegaran (State Bar Representative, Johore Bar Committee)
(15) Burhanudeen Abdul Wahid (Chairman, Kedah Bar Committee)
(16) Victor Paul Dorairaj (State Bar Representative, Kedah Bar Committee)
(17) Norazham Yahaya (Chairman, Kelantan Bar Committee)
(18) Mudzafar Shah Mohd (State Bar Representative, Kelantan Bar Committee)
(19) Ravinder Singh Dhalliwal (Chairman, Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee)
(20) Jeremiah R Gurusamy (State Bar Representative, Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee)
(21) Desmond Ho Chee Cheong (Chairman, Malacca Bar Committee)
(22) Joseph Mathews PM Mathews (Chairman, Negri Sembilan Bar Committee)
(23) Thavamani Subramaniam (State Bar Representative, Negri Sembilan Bar Committee)
(24) R Sarengapani Rajoo (Chairman, Pahang Bar Committee)
(25) Abdullah Johari Hamzah (State Bar Representative, Pahang Bar Committee)
(26) Shyama MM Narayanan Nair (Chairman, Penang Bar Committee)
(27) Kenny Lai Choe Ken (Chairman, Perak Bar Committee)
(28) Surindar Singh Chain Singh (State Bar Representative, Perak Bar Committee)
(29) Ahmad Zaini Samsudin (Chairman, Perlis Bar Committee)
(30) Siti Hajar Che Ahmad (State Bar Representative, Perlis Bar Committee)
(31) Salim Bashir Bhaskaran (Chairman, Selangor Bar Committee)
(32) Rajpal Singh Mukhtiar Singh (State Bar Representative, Selangor Bar Committee)
(33) Rosnah Zakaria (Chairman,Terengganu Bar Committee)
(34) Salwa Mansor (State Bar Representative, Terengganu Bar Committee)