D RAMASAMY

The late Mr D Ramasamy, who passed away recently, could be called an 'accidental' lawyer. If it wasn't for a twist of fate during the Second World War, Mr Ramasamy would have practised medicine instead of law.

Born in 1921 in Negri Sembilan, Malaysia, he had moved to Singapore during the Japanese Occupation and had been awarded a scholarship by the Japanese administration to study medicine in Malacca. Unfortunately, his studies were disrupted by the war, and the end of the Japanese Occupation also ended his desire to pursue medicine.

After a short stint as a stenographer with the British Armed Forces, he joined the Inland Revenue Department ('IRD') in the 1950s. But his heart was set on achieving a professional degree.

He thus quit his job as Assessment Officer in the IRD and took off to London to read law at Middle Temple where he was called to the Bar in 1964. Armed with a law degree, Mr Ramasamy returned to Singapore to do his pupilage at Donaldson & Burkinshaw. He subsequently set up his own practice under the name of 'D Ramasamy & Co'.

A firm believer in education, he was instrumental in the construction of a high school in a village in India where his forefathers had lived and donated generously to the Singapore Indian Education Trust as well as other charitable organisations.

The late Mr Ramasamy, who retired in 1988, will not only be missed by his family and friends but also by all those in the legal field who knew him.