News

Although the Law Society’s Annual Dinner & Dance is a one-night affair, it takes months of preparation and much co-ordination to bring the event to fruition. Thanks to the efforts and hard work of the members of the Social & Welfare Committee, this year’s event was a resounding success in terms of ambience, food, entertainment and the gathering of the Bench and Bar.

The Dinner & Dance was held at the Regent Intercontinental Ballroom on 19 October 2002. The occasion was graced by the Honourable Chief Justice Yong Pung How, the Honourable Attorney-General, Solicitor General and Judge of Appeal, judges and judicial commissioners of the Supreme Court and distinguished guests: Mr Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, Vice Chairman of the Bar Council of Malaysia, and Ms Alice Imelda Chin, Treasurer of the Sabah Law Association.

The Dinner & Dance was proudly supported by UBS Private Banking, which gave each guest an attractive and interesting gift, the purpose of which was described by its Head, Country Team in Singapore, Mr Wilfried Kofmehl, at the Dinner. The eight-course scrumptious Chinese dinner was punctuated with several highlights such as: (a) the presentation of the Legal Eagle Award to Mr Bastian Jerald Lean, who received the award from last year’s winner, Mr Subhas Anandan; (b) lucky draws for nine lucky winners; and (c) Plaques of Appreciation and Friends of the Law Society awards. The recipients of the Plaques of Appreciation this year were: Mr George Tan, Mrs Jacinta Mahtani, Mr N Sreenivasan, Mr Sant Singh, Mr Rajan Chettiar, Mr Stanley Jeremiah, Associate Professor Debbie Ong, Mr Christopher Woo and Mdm Yang Bisuen. The Friends of the Law Society award went to Mr Irvin Leishman and Ms K Sarogenei from Alexander Forbes who have both been involved in the Law Society’s Mandatory Professional Indemnity Scheme.

The Young Lawyers Committee also awarded its inaugural Young Lawyer Award to Mr Chen Chee Yen, who was voted for the award by fellow members of the Bar. Mr Chen Chee Yen, an avid sportsman, had represented Singapore as a National tennis player from 1985–1999.

The Social & Welfare Committee took the opportunity to raise funds for the Society Welfare Fund, and may I add that the members of the Bench and Bar responded in a most generous manner by donating a minimum sum of S$10 each towards the Fund. In return, donors stood a chance to win a S$2,000 travel voucher sponsored by UBS Private Banking. The Committee raised a total of S$2,705 in those few hours.

With tummies satiated, the audience was treated to the night’s entertainment by well-known stand-up comedian and entertainer, Mr Harith Iskandar from Malaysia, who kept the audience in stitches. His jokes transcended both the Malaysian and Singaporean way of life and even the antics of Bollywood movies were not spared.

After the dinner officially ended at 11pm, many members stayed on to make merry till the wee hours of the morning.

The Chief Justice the Honourable Yong Pung How at the dinner with senior members of the Bar	Elections 101 - start them young
Winners of this year's Plaque of Appreciation (from left): Mr Rajan Chettiar, Mr George Lim, Mr Sant Singh, Mrs Jacinta Mahtani, Assoc Prof Debbie Ong, Mdm Yang Bisuen, Mr N Sreenivasan and Mr Christopher Woo (not in picture: Mr Stanley Jeremiah)	Vote casting in full swing
Chen Chee Yen, proudly holding his Young Lawyer Award	The last voter of the day (at precisely 1815 hrs), Ms Rashidah K Saheer
Soaring to new heights, 2002's winner of the Legal Eagle Award, Mr BJ Lean	The two newly elected Council members for the Junior Category (from left): Mr Sean Francois La' Brooy and Mr Michael Chia Soo

Piala Pala 2002

	The winning team, Top Dogs, posing with Mr Palakrishnan, SC (from left to right): David Khong, Malcom Tan, Tan Sok Ling, Doris Siew and Al Hussein
	The first runner up team, XXX2, with Mr Palakrishnan, SC (from left to right): Yeow Joo Yun, Paul Ng, Dorothy Tay, Alvin Chang and Tan Yeow Hiang

The Law Society’s Annual Bowling Tournament, ‘Piala Pala’, was held on 10 November. This year’s tournament attracted 22 teams from different law firms as well as the Attorney-General’s Chambers (‘AGC’).

The tournament literally got off to an explosive start as the original venue for the tournament, Marina South Superbowl, had to be closed due to an explosion in the hawker centre located in the same building the week before. Thankfully, a new venue was found at the eleventh hour and the tournament was eventually held at Victor’s Superbowl. The change of venue definitely did not dampen the spirits of the participants as many were seen practising at the new venue in the days following the announcement of the change.

The tournament commenced with an opening speech by the CEO of the Law Society of Singapore, Ms Yasho Dhoraisingam, who was herself a participant in the tournament. To cheers and applause, Ms Dhoraisingam rolled off the first ball to mark the start of the competition.

This year’s tournament saw the closest of competitions amongst the participating teams. Prior to the beginning of the fourth game (last round), there were at least eight teams contending for the champion’s title. The faces of the participants clearly showed the concentration and focus they were putting into their game. As every pinfall may decide on who will emerge victorious, nothing less was expected from the participants.

This year’s tournament produced a new team champion for the first time in three years. After an intense last round of competition, the defending champion for the past three years, William Lai & Alan Wong, was edged out to third place by a narrow margin. It was indeed a close win for the team from Tan SL & Partners as the defending champion came charging strongly in the last round to challenge the eventual champion and nearly succeeded. The eventual champion also warded off stiff competition from teams like Khattar Wong & Partners, Straits Law Practice LLC, Hoh & Partners, Allen & Gledhill, Drew & Napier LLC, the AGC and Chris Chong & CT Ho.

Mr Matthias Oberholzer from UBS Private Banking, the kind sponsor of many of the Society’s events, and the Chairman of the Law Society’s Sports Committee, Mr Godwin Campos, presented souvenirs to all participants in appreciation of their participation.

The tournament came to a close when the Guest of Honour and Patron of the bowling tournament, Mr Palakrishnan, SC, gave a thank you and closing speech and presented the prizes to the winners. The Law Society of Singapore would like to register its appreciation to Mr Palakrishnan, SC, for his kind sponsorship of the tournament prizes as well as his continuous patronage of the annual bowling tournament. ‘Piala Pala’ in the Malay language means ‘Pala’s Challenge Trophy’, which was kindly sponsored by Mr Palakrishnan, SC.

Inter-professional Games 2002

The Inter-professional Games for 2002 were organised by the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers, and teams from the following organisations took part:

The Games were held in the months of September, October and November 2002 and the games played included badminton, basketball, billiards, bowling, chess, golf, netball, soccer, squash, tennis, table tennis and street soccer.

The Law Society’s chess team came in first, while our table tennis and squash teams came in second.

The Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers emerged the overall champion this year. The prizes for the winners and the challenge trophy for the games were presented at a prize presentation ceremony cum buffet dinner on Saturday, 9 November 2002, at the Singapore Polytechnic.

The Singapore Institute of Architects will be organising next year’s Inter-professional Games.

The Law Society would like to thank all members who participated in their respective games and hope that they will continue for years to come.

Law Fraternity Games

Law Inc and the Law and Management Division, Temasek School of Business, Temasek Polytechnic, hosted the Third Annual Law Fraternity Games at the Polytechnic’s premises on 21 September 2002. The Games are an annual event jointly organised by the Law Society of Singapore, the Judicial and Legal Officers Association, the Board of Legal Education and Temasek Polytechnic. This was the first time that Temasek Polytechnic hosted the event. The objectives of the Games are to foster greater camaraderie, encourage deeper interaction and networking between the lawyers, judicial officers and potential employers and students from the various educational and training institutions.

The bowling competition segment of the Law Fraternity Games was held earlier, on 8 September 2002, at the Kallang Leisure Bowl.

The turnout for the Games on 21 September 2002 was encouraging, with 80 people showing their support (including lecturers and practitioners). The programme for the day began at 1.30pm with a welcome speech by the Guest of Honour, Mr Wong Loke-Jack, the Director of the School of Business, Temasek Polytechnic. Also present at the event was the President of the Law Society, Mr Palakrishnan, SC.

The participants from the various organisations competed in a variety of games such as street soccer, basketball, badminton and captain’s ball. The joint team from the Law Society and the Attorney-General’s Chambers won the Challenge Trophy by scoring the highest points for all events, including bowling. The event ended at about 7pm and Mrs Srila Kurup, Course Manager for the Law and Management Division, gave the prizes away. The hectic but enjoyable day closed with a tea reception for everyone.