Contributed by Mureli Navaratnam,
Member of the BarLet me at the outset say, Cecil is
not your garden–variety type of lawyer.
He describes himself as “a lawyer by
profession and a poet by compulsion” but he wears many other masks:
Cook, footballer, Manchester United supporter, environmentalist,
tantrik, human rights activist, barfly, etc.
He was born in Penang over seven
decades ago and spent the best part of his childhood in the
then–fishing village of Tanjong Tokong.
A village, he says, that has been
destroyed by so–called “development”.
Fifty years ago he recorded the
impending destruction of the village in a poem entitled “The Hills and
The Sea”. In 2017, it inspired a gut–wrenching documentary (with
the same title) on the plight of displaced fishermen, by award–winning
cinematographer Andrew Ng.
Perhaps the roots of Cecil’s instinctive empathy with the less fortunate and privileged can be traced back to that little village of Tanjong Tokong.
Unfortunately, he received his primary and secondary education in St
Xavier’s Institution (the second–best school in Penang?) before going
on to read law at the University of Malaya in Singapore.
Asked why he chose to do law, he says that as the eldest son in a traditional Indian family, he was given only three options: to be a lawyer, doctor or civil servant! He chose the softest option. As a reluctant law student, Cecil spent most of his university days on the playing field rather than in the library.
Asked why he chose to do law, he says that as the eldest son in a traditional Indian family, he was given only three options: to be a lawyer, doctor or civil servant! He chose the softest option. As a reluctant law student, Cecil spent most of his university days on the playing field rather than in the library.
Please click here to view the full citation as it appeared in the Commemorative Booklet for the Malaysian Bar’s Annual Dinner & Dance 2019.
The Animal and Insect Act
by Cecil Rajendra, “Refugees & Other Despairs”, 1980
Finally, in order to ensure absolute national security
they passed the Animal & Insect Emergency Control & Discipline Act.
Under this new Act, buffaloes cows and goats were prohibited
from grazing in herds of more than three.
Neither could birds flock, nor bees swarm …
This constituted unlawful assembly.
As they had not obtained prior planning permission,
mud–wasps and swallows were issued with summary Notices to Quit.
Their homes were declared subversive extensions to private property.
Monkeys and mynahs were warned to stop relaying their noisy morning orisons
until an official Broadcasting Licence was issued by the appropriate Ministry.
Unmonitored publications and broadcasts posed the gravest threats
in times of a National Emergency.
Similarly, woodpeckers had to stop tapping their morse–code messages
from coconut tree–top to chempaka tree.
All messages were subject to a thorough pre–scrutiny by the relevant authorities.
Java sparrows were arrested in droves for rumour–mongering.
Cats (suspected of conspiracy) had to be indoors by 9 o’clock.
Cicadas and crickets received notification to turn their amplifiers down.
Ducks could not quack nor turkeys gobble during restricted hours.
Need I say, all dogs — alsatians, dachshunds, terriers,
pointers and even little chihuahuas — were muzzled.
In the interests of security penguins and zebras
were ordered to discard their non–regulation uniforms.
The deer had to surrender their dangerous antlers.
Tigers and all carnivores with retracted claws
were sent directly to prison for concealing lethal weapons.
And by virtue of Article Four, paragraph 2(b) sub–Subsection sixteen,
under no circumstances were elephants allowed to break wind
between the hours of six and six.
Their farts could easily be interpreted as gunshot. Might spark off a riot …
A month after the Act was properly gazetted
the birds and insects started migrating south, the animals went north
and an eerie silence handcuffed the forests.
There was now Total Security.
outgoing President of the Malaysian Bar
Malaysian Bar Lifetime Achievement Award
The Bar Council instituted the Malaysian Bar Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 as a form of recognition of and appreciation for outstanding Members of the Malaysian Bar who have demonstrated particular dedication and exemplary lifetime service, and made invaluable and outstanding contributions, to the Bar.
The Award was first conferred (posthumously) on Raja Aziz Addruse, at the Malaysian Bar's Annual Dinner & Dance on 10 Mar 2012. Since then, the recipients have been Peter Mooney, Mahadev Shankar, Dr Radhakrishna Ramani (posthumously), Karpal Singh s/o Ram Singh (posthumously), V C George and Param Cumaraswamy.
Please click:
(1) here to view a video on Cecil Rajendra;
(2) here to view the acceptance speech by Cecil Rajendra; and
(3) here for a glimpse of the highlights of the Malaysian Bar’s Annual Dinner and Dance 2019, held at the Majestic Ballroom of the Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur, on 16 Mar 2019.