Lawbuzz | ‘Thank You’ Lunch for CLAS Volunteers and Supporters

Lawbuzz

The Idea 1998 was the year the 3rd Law Awareness Exhibition was held. Although it was a success, the Law Awareness Committee realised that it was time for a change, foreseeing that exhibition-style outreach projects would one day lose their appeal. A sub-committee was formed in 1999 to look into and come up with fresh ideas. Lawbuzz was thus created. The original idea was to have the entire exhibition in a ‘bendy’ bus that would take the exhibition to the people. Next, the sub-committee decided that the target audience would be students studying in junior colleges and polytechnics. The ‘bendy’ bus idea was innovative but the sub-committee soon discovered that the cost of turning Lawbuzz into reality was prohibitive. Since 1998, all law awareness projects have been self-funded and are dependent on donations, as the Law Awareness Committee (‘the Committee’) receives no funding from the Law Society. Funding As with all self-funded projects, the sub-committee encountered great difficulty finding sponsors willing to fork out large sums of money to finance Lawbuzz. Despite that, the President of the Law Society, Mr Palakrishnan, SC, managed to persuade Singapore Pools (Pte) Ltd to contribute a sum of S$13,000 towards Lawbuzz. Contributions were also received from members of the Law Society and others.
	1. Mr N Sreenivasan talks to JC students on the Singapore legal system 2. Nanyang Junior College students are abuzz with questions 3. Bringing Lawbuzz to Raffles Junior College

Reworking the Idea
Due to the limited funds, the Committee had to tailor Lawbuzz accordingly. The first to go was the idea of the bus. The Committee decided to retain the name Lawbuzz but with a different meaning. ‘Buzz’ no longer referred to a ‘bus’ but was a reference to an ‘atmosphere of excitement and activity’.

A meeting was arranged with the Ministry of Education to garner support for Lawbuzz. The Ministry was helpful and encouraging. It suggested that the Committee approach the junior colleges directly and ask whether they wished to participate. Out of a total of 15 junior colleges, 11 agreed to participate in Lawbuzz.

The Planning
Lawbuzz was finally taking flight. However, the road ahead was tough. Mr Christopher Woo was put in charge of Lawbuzz and his commitment and dedication ensured that Lawbuzz was not just a dream. In recognition of his contribution, the Law Society will be presenting him with a plaque of appreciation at the 2002 Annual Dinner & Dance.

The Committee decided that Lawbuzz would take the form of talks relevant and interesting to students. These included topics such as crime and punishment, family law, the legal system and constitutional law. A website (www.lawbuzz.org.sg) was also set up. The idea was to give the students access to materials that were covered at the talks. Many volunteers had contributed by writing the materials for Lawbuzz.

The students were also given an opportunity to take part in an online quiz where they could win vouchers from Borders bookshop. The vouchers were kindly sponsored by Harry Elias Partnership.

Posters and flyers were printed and given to the participating junior colleges to publicise Lawbuzz.

Lawbuzz Takes Off
Lawbuzz kicked off at Temasek Junior College on 20 February 2002 with a talk on ‘Cybercrime’. The talk was held at the Auditorium and was attended by all second year students. During the question and answer session, the students asked intelligent (and sometimes, rather difficult) questions on the law and showed a distinct interest in the topics discussed.

Lawbuzz caught the attention of Streats. Mr Sonny Phua, a reporter from the paper, attended a talk at Nanyang Junior College and wrote an article entitled, ‘She was warned by police for studying the stars. Now she knows her rights, thanks to Law Society’, which was published on 1 April 2002. Mr Phua interviewed some students and reported that the students found the talk useful and informative as it raised their level of awareness of the law. As a result, the Committee felt that Lawbuzz was achieving its objective.

The response from the teachers was equally encouraging. Here is some feedback the Committee received:

• On behalf of RJC, I would like to thank you and your colleagues for coming to our college to enlighten our students on the various aspects of the law. These were very useful sessions and I would personally say that your project was a good way of educating an important section of the population on Singapore laws. [ Raffles Junior College]
• Thanks once again to the Law Society for arranging such sessions for the students. Nothing like getting info firsthand and having questions answered by the people who are in the profession. I hope that similar sessions are arranged for students in future. [Anderson Junior College]
  
• We felt that the talk could have been pitched at a higher level where more complex and controversial issues such as the ISA and violation of human rights could have been discussed. We hope that our feedback will be useful and we look forward to future talks by the Law Awareness Committee. [Anglo-Chinese Junior College]
  

A Word of Thanks

Lawbuzz was the product of the hard work of many volunteers, by those in the Committee and those who volunteered to speak at the various junior colleges. In particular, Mr Christopher Woo deserves special mention for the effort he put in to drive Lawbuzz over the course of the year. The support given by Ms Adeline Ang,

Ms Sarinah Ibrahim and Mr Gokul Haridas from the Secretariat should also not go unnoticed. To all of them, I express my sincere gratitude and appreciation.

I also wish to thank the Council of the Law Society for supporting the Committee in its decision to carry out Lawbuzz. I hope that their faith in the Committee has not been misplaced.

Foo Say Tun
Chairperson
Law Awareness Committee

‘Thank You’ Lunch for CLAS Volunteers and Supporters

The Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (‘CLAS’) held a luncheon to thank its volunteer lawyers and supporters at the newly refurbished Peninsula Excelsior Hotel on 7 September 2002 at noon. This function served two purposes. First, to mark the 17th anniversary of the founding of CLAS and second, for the conduct of a simple award ceremony to record the contribution of volunteer lawyers who have completed four or more cases since the previous award. Due to budget constraints, CLAS is only able to hold this function once every two years.

Fine food and conversation

Every volunteer lawyer in the pool of volunteers, and a group of supporters including psychiatrists, psychologists and interpreters from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand were invited. CLAS wishes to thank the 150 volunteers who took the trouble to come for the lunch.

The President of the Law Society of Singapore, Mr Palakrishnan, SC, graciously consented to give away 47 certificates of appreciation to volunteer lawyers who had completed four or more assigned cases. The recipients were:

1. Mr Abdul Rohim Bin Sarip
2. Mr Alfred Tan Yew Seng
3. Mr Ang Sin Teck
4. Mr Arivanantham s/o Krishnan
5. Mr Aw Wee Chong Nicholas
6. Mr Aziz Tayabali Samiwalla
7. Mr B Uthayachanran
8. Mr Chiang Wee Sean
9. Mr Goh Aik Leng Mark
10. Mr Goh E Pei
11. Mr Gordon Oh Chun Wei
12. Mr Henry Hoe Leong Seng
13. Mr Jason Lim Chen Thor
14. Mr Jason Peter Dendroff
15. Mr John Abraham
16. Mr John Tan Kim Chiang
17. Mr K Gopalan
18. Mr KR Manickavasagam
19. Mr Loo Ngan Chor
20. Mr Paul
21. Mr Pascal Baylon Netto
22. Mr Peter Keith Fernando
23. Mr Peter Ong Lip Cheng
24. Mr Philip Lam Hoe Wai
25. Mr Rabi Ahmad
26. Mr S Balamurugan
27. Mr SK Kumar
28. Mr Sadari Bin Musari
29. Ms Sobana Swami
30. Mr Teo Swee Eng Michael
31. Mr Yahya Syed
32. Mr Zaminder Singh Gill
33. Mr Zero Geraldo Mario Nalpon
34. Mr Daljit Singh Sidhu
35. Mr Daniel John
36. Mr David Lee Kay Tuan
37. Mr Goh Lam Chuan
38. Mr Koh Boon Hai
39. Mr Lawrence Khoo Kah Han
40. Mr Leslie Yeo Choon Hsien
41. Mr Loy Wee Sun
42. Mr Shankar Alan Kulkarni
43. Mr Soh Gim Chuan
44. Mr Stuart Andrew Palmer
45. Mr Tan Choon Kiat
46. Ms Winnifred Gomez
47. Mr Yong Kwet Leong

Last year, in a project initiated by the previous Director, Dr Lincoln Wee, CLAS embarked on a pilot attachment programme with the University of Southampton by inviting Singapore law students in the University to be attached to CLAS during their summer vacation. Mr Vincent Wong, a second year law student, was the first student to participate in this programme. To record his contribution, CLAS awarded him a commemorative plaque for volunteering his time longer than the duration originally agreed upon.

In the President’s speech, he suggested that CLAS should mirror the American Bar Association’s approach in recognising outstanding performance by volunteers who have made a difference in society by awarding them with a special award similar to the American Gavel Award and having a judge or a retired judge of the Supreme Court present the award. The recipient is then invited to give an account of his experience, which can hopefully, be an inspiration to all. He tasked the CLAS Committee to look into its feasibility.

The light-hearted atmosphere in the ballroom fostered a sense of togetherness. The camaraderie suggested a feeling of satisfaction for a job well done. All present had a smile on their faces, which, no doubt, could be attributed to the few bottles of fine champagne and brandy that were ‘spirited’ in by members who were aware of the budget constraints CLAS was working under.

Limited resources prevent CLAS from representing everyone who qualifies on financial merits alone. Hence, the tedious sieving process cannot become a reality without the help of each and every single volunteer. This luncheon and awards are only a small token of the heartfelt appreciation by CLAS and all others who have benefited, and will benefit, from the Scheme.

We hope to see more volunteers from the Combined Attachment Programme when this programme matures. I am certain what was started 17 years ago is now an endeavour worth being associated with.

Wee Pan Lee
Chairman
Criminal Legal Aid Scheme