Counselling Online | 'Thank You' Dinner | Called to the Bar | Santa Clara University School of Law
On 17 March 2001, the Minister of State for Law & Home Affairs, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, officially launched Counselling Online Singapore ('COL'), a registered charity which runs Singapore's first ever e-counselling portal which is available free of charge to all users, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
COL offers free counselling via the internet to users including troubled teens and young adults within 48 hours of their queries being sent. The areas of counselling include issues concerning education, social work, mental health, substance abuse, family law, criminal law and general law. The counsellors are all volunteers who are professionals in their own respective fields. A number of lawyers have signed up as volunteers in this worthy project.
Said Mr R Palakrishnan, SC, President of COL, 'Young people today are filled with unexpressed angst. Ignorance and suppression is no answer. A recognition of this and a desire to be of service, however small, has given birth to this portal, which offers an alternative medium through which we can reach out to them. Privacy, speed and accessibility in this digital age are the obvious advantages.'
The project is a collaboration between COL and Central Singapore Community Development Council. It aims to be the internet equivalent of Samaritans of Singapore ('SOS') in the near future.
Lee Teck Leng
Tan Peng Chin & Partners
The Law Society hosted an informal 'Thank You' Dinner for the participants of this year's Games, on Friday, 18 May 2001 at the Law Society Building's Rooftop Patio. The President of the Law Society, Mr R Palakrishnan, SC, thanked all participants for helping to make the 2001 Games a truly historic event. (For details and results of the Games, please see the June 2001 issue of The Singapore Law Gazette.)
One noteworthy achievement for the Games was not related to any sporting event, although it took no less effort. The Law Society carried out a monumental fund-raising campaign, to cover the costs of taking care of a record 600 participants and supporters of the Games. Thanks in no small part to the ceaseless efforts of our President, the donations received for the Games totalled an amazing $60,000. In recognition of his support, a commemorative gift was presented by the Law Society's Sports Committee to Mr R Palakrishnan, SC, with the following inscription:
In appreciation of all your efforts and personal touch towards our hosting of this year's Malaysia-Singapore Bench & Bar and Quadrangular Games 2001.
Adeline Ang
Director, Public Relations and Membership Services
The Law Society of Singapore
This year's Mass Call was held on
Saturday, 2 June 2001 at 10am at the Supreme Court. A total of 173 petitioners
were called to the Bar that morning.
The Honourable Chief Justice Yong Pung How, in his address to the newly-called lawyers, issued two challenges to them:
o to constantly broaden their knowledge and develop their expertise through
Continuing Legal Education, in order to argue their clients' cases in an
effective and knowledgeable manner; and
o to equip themselves with sufficient knowledge of technology and the means to
exploit it, to achieve a more efficient, cost-effective and flexible recourse to
their clients' grievances.
After the formalities were over, the new Members of the Bar proceeded to a reception, hosted by the Law Society of Singapore. The President of the Law Society, Mr R Palakrishnan, SC, warmly welcomed them to the legal profession, and had these words of wisdom to impart:
Always remember, in the midst of all the talk of salaries, billings targets, billable hours and bonuses, that you were called to the Bar and required to take an oath. And in fulfilling the responsibilities which you swore to uphold, you will find your reward not only in monetary terms ... the professional ideal is not the pursuit of wealth, but of public service.... The challenge of our profession is to preserve and to defend the best of everything that is there in our rules ... honesty, fidelity, loyalty, diligence, competence and dispassion in the service of clients.
This year's Mass Call saw a number of 'second-generation lawyers' - among them are Ms Phang Sui Choon, daughter of Dr Phang Sin Kat (M/s Phang & Co) and Ms Isabel Ching Hwee Shan, daughter of Mr Ching Chiak Yong (M/s Ching & Co).
Proud Papa, Mr Chelva Rajah, SC,
had the pleasure of seeing his older daughter, Ms Vijeya Lalitha Rajah being
called to the Bar. When asked why he had not asked to move her Call, Mr Rajah,
SC, replied that he wanted to sit back and enjoy the moment instead: 'I feel
like any proud father. The law course is long and hard, and she has worked hard.
I am very glad for her ... but you know, that was the easy part!'
Ms Rajah intends to focus on practising criminal and family law - a realisation of the aspirations she had written about in her primary school essays on 'What I Want to be When I Grow Up'. She has only her father to 'blame' for having indoctrinated her, from a tender age, with the love of the law!
The Law Society congratulates all the newly-called advocates and solicitors, and bids them a warm welcome to the legal profession. In the words of our President, 'we look forward to working for you, and with you, for many more years to come.'
Adeline Ang
Director, Public Relations and Membership Services
The Law Society of Singapore
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Santa Clara University School of Law has for the past 17 years been bringing law students to Singapore for their Summer Internship Programme. The Programme focuses on the legal systems, cultures, and the legal aspects of international investment, development and trade of the countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations ('ASEAN'). The Programme comprises an academic component, with classes conducted by various lecturers at the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Law, and an Internship component, with students being attached to law firms in Singapore and other countries in the South-East Asian region. |
| Participants in the Summer Internship
Programme 2001, visiting the Supreme Court
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In the academic component, the students spend a month at the Faculty of Law, studying the Singapore Legal System, Comparative Contract Law, International Business Transactions, and Intellectual Property. They also attend a course on 'ASEAN: Organisation, Trade and Investment'. |
| Paying a visit to the Law Society |
The internship component consists of a one-month internship with a law firm. The internship provides the students with an opportunity to experience the practice of law in an Asian legal working environment. This year, the students will be doing their internships in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City.
Seventeen of the 36 students participating in this year's programme have chosen to intern in Singapore law firms, and their internships will last from 2 to 27 July 2001.
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A number of these students are on the 'High Tech Track' of the Summer Internship Programme. They attend extra classes in Information Technology ('IT') Law. These students are placed in Singapore law firms which have a well-established IT/IP practice. |
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Attending a briefing at the Attorney General's Chamber |
Santa Clara University School of Law offers a High Tech Law curriculum and Intellectual Property programme that is ranked one of the top ten among America's law schools. The University's unique geographic location in the heart of California's Silicon Valley enables it to appoint prominent Silicon Valley attorneys to serve on its High Tech Advisory Board as advisors to the Law School regarding its Intellectual Property curriculum. In 2000, the High Tech Law programme was ranked number five on US News & World Report's national ranking of Intellectual Property Law programmes.
As part of the students' orientation, on Friday, 15 June 2001, the Law Society arranged for the students to visit the Law Society, the Supreme Court and the Attorney General's Chambers.
At the Law Society, Chief Executive Officer Mr Naresh Mahtani gave the students a briefing on the role and functions of the Law Society of Singapore.
While at the courts, the students were given a tour of the Technology Court, as well as a demonstration on the Electronic Filing System and the use of electronic documents. They were also shown a presentation on the New Supreme Court Building. Lunch was hosted by Assistant Registrars of the Supreme Court, at the Academy of Law Restaurant.
The students then proceeded to the Attorney General's Chambers, where they were given a briefing on the history, role and functions of the Attorney General. They also heard presentations on the Civil, Criminal Justice, International, Legislation and Law Reform and Revision Divisions of the Attorney General's Chambers.
The day ended with a Banquet Dinner at the Singapore Cricket Club. The Banquet was hosted by the Co-Directors of the Summer Internship Programme - Professor Philip Jimenez and Professor Richard Berg of Santa Clara University School of Law's Institute of International and Comparative Law. The Banquet Dinner provided an opportunity for lecturers, interns and mentors to mingle and exchange views in an informal setting.
Adeline Ang
Director, Public Relations and Membership Services
The Law Society of Singapore