News

In its short history of three years, this annual bowling tournament has seen a new champion emerging each year. Such is the keenness of the competition.

This year, the title of Champion for the Law Society’s 3rd Bowling Masters (8 Games Series) goes to Mr Quah Choo Kiong of ACIES Law Corporation with a total of 1471 pinfall and a 183 average.

‘Luck had a lot to do with it. And the lanes were kind,’ said the deserving but modest Mr Quah.

This year’s tournament was held on 30 August 2003 at Planet Bowl, Civil Service Club on Tessensohn Road. It was unprecedented in many ways. First, there was a record number of bowlers taking part this year — 37 in all; about one third more than the previous year. Second, there were high scores and averages achieved by the participants which were never seen before in the tournaments of the past. Well done!

Here are the results of the top eight finishers who have earned a share of the prize money for the tournament:

Position	Name	Firm	Total Pinfall	Average
1	Quah Choo Kiong	ACIES Law Corporation	1471	183
2	Mohd Endra Bin Aziz	Lee & Lee	1418	177
3	Raymond Quek	Drew & Napier LLC	1412	176
4	Hussien Bin Latiff	AL Hussien & Co	1401	175
5	Razali Mohd	Drew & Napier LLC	1374	171
6	Alvin Cheng	Chris Chong & CT Ho Partnership	1372	171
7	Amin Lyeit	Drew & Napier LLC	1333	166
8	Lawrence Tan	Allen & Gledhill	1332	166

The top three bowlers were also awarded trophies for their achievements. The Men’s High Game Score trophy went to Mr Lawrence Tan who bowled a high 246 game. Ms Elise Ho of Harry Elias Partnership won the trophy for the Ladies’ High Game Score with a high 186 game. My heartiest congratulations to all.

This year’s event has evidently set the standard for future tournaments to come. I suspect that come next year, the title for Masters Champion 2004 will be just as hotly contested. So, for all you avid bowlers out there (including those who missed the opportunity to compete for the title this year) are you game enough to take up the challenge? I certainly hope so.

Our 6th Charity Golf Tournament was held on Sunday 12 October 2003 at Raffles Country Club, Lake course. Once again, we were very honoured to have as our Guest-of-Honour, the Honourable Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs, Professor S Jayakumar.

The objective of our annual golf tournament is to raise funds for our public project, the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme. The Scheme, which has been operating for about 18 years now, continues to help poor persons charged with certain criminal offences and are unable to afford the services of a lawyer. Lawyers assigned to help such persons render their services on a pro bono basis.

With the slow economic climate this year, it was indeed more difficult to find participants, donors and sponsors. The Honourable Minister, was most instrumental and ‘hands-on’, and single-handedly secured no less than 10 flights for us.

There were about 120 participants. The weather was very kind to us and all players managed to complete their 18-holes. All par-3s were a challenge, since every player had to play ‘regulation on’. For those who did not manage to do so, they had to donate, be it $2, $5 or $10. All the players were very generous with their donations and for that challenge alone we raised about $730. All players, of course, tried their best for the Hole-in-One prize (one set of Katana irons, woods and a bag) sponsored by Pan West Pte Ltd. This year, we raised about $80,000.

	Men’s ‘A’	Men’s ‘B’	Men’s ‘C’	Ladies
Winner	Foo Kok Swee	B T Pang	Lawrence Pang	Pauline Tan
1st Runner-up	Chuan Campbell	Frankie Chow	Steven Johnson	Josephine Ee
2nd Runner-up	Derek Toh	Yam Weng Keong	Mahen Nathan	Juliana Lee

The two players with the best gross scores won for themselves a slot each to play at the Pro-Am of the Asian Senior Masters in November 2003, sponsored and organised by Excel Golf Pte Ltd.

This is the 6th consecutive year that the Honourable Minister has helped us raise funds through our charity golf tournament, which would go a long way in operating the Scheme. Our heartfelt thanks to the Honourable Minister for his untiring efforts.

We also thank the Honourable Chief Justice Yong Pung How, Judges of the Supreme Court and Subordinate Courts, organisations, law firms, members of the legal profession, all participants, donors and sponsors for once again helping us to make the event a success. Many thanks also to Singapore Pools Pte Ltd for their generous sponsorship and support and also to Raffles Country Club.

The funds raised will certainly be put to good use in helping persons granted aid under our Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.

Law Society Launches a Practical Guide for Lawyers and Entrepreneurs on Chinese Business Law

A book to help lawyers and entrepreneurs venturing into China for the first time was written by a group of Singaporean academics and lawyers. Entitled China Business Law: A Guide for Lawyers and Entrepreneurs, the book is jointly published by the Law Society, International Enterprise Singapore (‘IE Singapore’) and Sweet & Maxwell Asia.

The initiative to write such a book came from IE Singapore and the challenge was taken up by the Law Society which sourced for writers for the book.

The Law Society must acknowledge the excellent work of all the authors of the book. Associate Professor Tan Lay Hong who was also overall editor, Assistant Professors Samtani Anil and Fu Rong, all of Nanyang Technological University and practitioner members Chew Boon Kheng, Terence Lim, Tan Chong Huat and Yang Ing Loong.

The collaboration between Nanyang Business School (‘NBS’) academics and practising lawyers to write the book was also a first for the Division of Business Law, NBS. This demonstrates the strong links that academics from NBS have established with practitioners.

The official launch event held on 18 September 2003 was supported by the Law Society, IE Singapore and Sweet & Maxwell Asia. The occasion was graced by the Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee on 18 September 2003.

The launch opened with an exhilarating acrobatic performance by a group of local Wushu exponents. The launch was graced by the presence of many distinguished guests, His Excellency Mr Zhang Jiu Huan, the Chinese ambassador to Singapore, the Minister Counselor, Mr Zhou Hong Li and Minister-Counselor Secretary, Mr He Xiao Ming.

The official launch was followed by a seminar on doing business in China which took place at the Raffles City Convention Centre. The one and half hour seminar on Mergers & Acquisitions in China — the current hotspot in the Chinese investment landscape, was well attended with about 70 participants. There was a good mix of participants from the Bar, entrepreneurs as well as offshore law practices.

Our Guest of Honour for the event, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, in his speech underscored the importance of China to Singapore. In 1999, 67.02% of Singapore’s outward FDI went to China totalling US$264.2m. In 2002, Singapore invested US$278,548m in China representing 930 projects. Singapore is China’s fifth largest FDI investor. Professor Ho said that ‘Singapore is well poised to become the middleman in helping China reach out to the West, notably the US and Europe. He said that ‘... we must be prepared to be part of this exciting development in China — with effort, and we can have a share of this pie. But first and foremost, our businessmen and lawyers must attain a basic understanding of China’s legal and business environment. They must acquaint themselves with a working knowledge of the Chinese legal system, its legal culture and its laws, not to mention its extremely complex business environment’.

The Law Society hopes this practical book would go some way to help Singaporean lawyers and entrepreneurs as they venture into the China market.

The book currently retails at many local bookstores at $88 or may be purchased directly from the Law Society’s shop Jus Curio and from the publishers, Sweet & Maxwell Asia.

Associate Professor Tan Lay Hong.

Participants at the launch cum seminar
on Chinese Business Law.

Local Sri Lankans have an exceptional way of greeting visitors to their country — ‘Welcome to Paradise’. Having spent five days with fellow members of the Bar in Sri Lanka from 22 to 26 September 2003, I am certain that each and every delegate of the recent Legal Mission to Sri Lanka would agree that the greeting is fitting.

Thirteen members of our fraternity participated in the first ever Legal Mission to Sri Lanka, the delegation being led by Council member, Mr Suresh Damodara. Expectations of the delegates were tempered by the civil war and unrest that have plagued this island lying off the south-eastern shores of India for the past 20 years. A policy of conciliation that was introduced by the current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe precipitated a formal ceasefire declared close to 20 months ago with the rebel faction. The sentiment of everyone we met on this trip was that peace was there to stay — and that it should. The potential of investment and commerce in what was once (and I believe will be again) known as the Pearl of the Orient, is tremendous.

The delegation arrived in the wee hours of the morning on 22 September. We were then ferried by coach from the International Airport to the Colombo Plaza (once known as the Oberoi).

Although the legislative and judicial capital of Sri Lanka is now situated at Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo remains the financial and commercial capital. The Colombo Plaza is situated in the heart of the business and commercial district of Colombo and is set a few hundred metres away from the shores of the Indian Ocean. Once the delegation arrived at this distinguished and luxurious hotel, all of us retired to our respective rooms for a few hours of sleep before the day’s events.

That very morning we were treated to a sumptuous buffet breakfast with an array of local and continental cuisine. The choice and the quality would have been a culinary pundit’s delight — a very pleasant way to start the day.

After breakfast we were met by our counterparts from the Sri Lankan Bar Association (‘SLBA’) who had kindly volunteered to serve as our guides and companions for all of the official visits that were scheduled.

The first event on our itinerary was a visit to the Law College of Sri Lanka. The Law College is situated at Hulftsdorp Street in one of the 15 precincts of Colombo and is housed in a very quaint and historical building. Walking down the corridors of the College one cannot help but feel the history and culture of this academic institution. The portraits of eminent practitioners, judges and individuals that contributed to Sri Lanka’s legal history that line most of the college walls, lend to this atmosphere.

At the college, we were received by its Principal, Dr H J F Silva and the Secretary to the SLBA (who also serves as a Senior Consultant to the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs), Mr Kalinga Indatissa. Dr Silva addressed the delegation and led a talk touching on Sri Lanka’s legal history, which was very enlightening.

Owing to its geographical location, Sri Lanka has had many visitors and colonising foreigners, ranging from the Portuguese, to the Dutch, Greeks, Persians and finally the English, land on its shores over the centuries. With these visitors and colonisers came varied cultural influences including trade and the influence of foreign jurisprudence. In this regard, it is no wonder that Sri Lanka’s laws have their roots in a highly complex mixed platform of English common law, Roman-Dutch law, Muslim law, Singhalese and customary laws.

Singapore delegates at the
Law College of Sri Lanka

The delegates were briefed on the entry requirements into the legal profession and the Law College. There are two avenues for admission to the Law College — firstly candidates who obtained relevant passes at the Sri Lanka General Certificate of Education Examinations or credit passes in English and either Sinhala or Tamil at the GCE ‘O’ Level Examinations, would be eligible to sit for an entrance examination set by the Law College.

The second avenue caters for candidates who have obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Colombo or the Open University of Sri Lanka or a foreign university recognised by the Council of Legal Education. These candidates would be exempt from the entrance examination of the Law College.

The entrance examination to the Law College is a highly competitive examination and has seen, especially in recent years, well over 9,000 candidates a year vying for slightly more than 200 places. Dr Silva pointed out that the competition only serves to enhance the quality of their candidates for the legal profession.

The Law College has structured a three-year academic course coupled with a practical training course and an eventual apprenticeship (the equivalent of chambering/pupillage in Singapore).

During the talk, Dr Silva and Mr Kalinga touched on the workings of the legislative, executive and the judicial branches of the Sri Lankan system. One very interesting aspect that was highlighted was a unique mechanism whereby every Sri Lankan citizen is given the opportunity to comment on and/or challenge proposed legislation by way of a motion to the Supreme Court — pre-enactment Judicial Review. We were informed that the SLBA is active in its commentary on proposed legislation. The Q&A session at the Law College proved to be a lively one during which Dr Silva and Mr Kalinga answered many questions and inquiries by members of our delegation.

After the talk, the delegates were treated to a lunch at the Hotel Galadari hosted by a prominent law firm in Colombo, Messrs Murugesu & Neelakandan. Mr Kandiah Neelakandan, a senior partner with the firm, and his colleagues were at hand to make us feel at home. The lunch was also graced by the President of the Bar Association, Mr Anand Wijesekera. Besides the wonderful local cuisine, we were graced by the warm and welcoming speeches of our hosts who expressed their happiness at having fellow members of the legal profession from Singapore visit them. They further expressed their interest in building and securing strong ties with the Law Society of Singapore. The possibility of exchange programmes with lawyers and law students from our respective countries doing reciprocal stints in law firms and government organisations were discussed with great enthusiasm. On our part, Mr Damodara expressed gratitude, reinforced our commitment to building strong ties, not just between the respective Bar Associations but also between our countries, and assured continued dialogue on the exchange programmes.

After lunch, the delegates were taken to the Sri Lankan Arbitration Centre (‘Arbitration Centre’). Leading the talks here were Mr Govind and Mr Damodara. The representatives of the Arbitration Centre were led by Mr H E P Cooray. The discussion covered the possibilities of securing better ties and co-operation in promoting both Sri Lanka and Singapore as arbitration centres in the region and internationally. Mr Cooray mentioned the fact that he had met the Chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (‘SIAC’), Mr Warren Khoo, on many occasions and was impressed with the infrastructure and workings of the SIAC.

Mr Govind, in anticipation of this visit, had arranged for brochures from the SIAC and the same were despatched to the members of the Arbitration Centre as well as members of the SLBA. There was a good reception by both the Arbitration Centre and the SLBA about future international arbitrations to be conducted in Singapore. Members were excited over the prospect of using the Model Clause in future commercial documents. We expect this dialogue to continue.

The visit to the Arbitration Centre ended the official events for the day. Later that evening the SLBA hosted a cocktail and dinner party at the Hotel Galadari. In addition to the President, Vice-President and Secretary of the SLBA, the event was graced with other members of the Sri Lankan Bar. This was an excellent opportunity for the delegates to mingle and interact with our hosts and to learn from our mutual experiences. At this event, our hosts were presented with token gifts and plaques from the Law Society of Singapore.

On our second day in Sri Lanka (and after yet another hearty local breakfast!) our gracious hosts from the SLBA, despite their hectic work schedules, escorted us on a tour of the Sri Lanka courts.

The morning started with the delegates sitting in during an open court session of the Court of Appeal. We were ushered into a spacious, red-carpeted courtroom that looked almost regal. The Court of Appeal was presided over by the first ever woman President, her Ladyship Honourable Justice Shiranee Tilakawardena. Justice Tilakawardena was also the first woman State Counsel, High Court Judge and Court of Appeal Judge before her appointment in February this year as the President of the Court of Appeal.

The delegation had the pleasure of sitting in audience whilst she presided on that day. It was quite clear that her Ladyship was deserving of the many accolades that had been showered on her since her appointment as President. The hearings that were scheduled before her were despatched with efficiency and ease. Soon after, we were ushered into the Supreme Court presided over by the Honourable Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva. The courtroom was full on the day and the delegation took turns to sit in for the hearings. English is the chosen language for the hearings in the superior courts such as the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Thereafter we took a tour of the Commercial High Court and some of the criminal courts. In these courts, litigants and counsel have the choice of using English, Sinhala or Tamil during the hearings. Most of us took the opportunity to sit in for some of these hearings.

After lunch, the next event on our schedule was a visit to the BOI in Sri Lanka. The BOI is located on the 27th floor of Sri Lanka’s World Trade Centre. At this meeting we were graced with the presence of one Mr Lin Hsin Hui, the General Manager of one of Sri Lanka’s largest investors — Prima Ceylon Limited (‘Prima’). Prima has been doing business in Sri Lanka for well over two decades and Mr Lin himself has been stationed in Sri Lanka since 1977. Mr Lin consented to being present at the meeting to answer questions put forward by the delegates in respect of Mr Lin’s first hand experience as an investor in Sri Lanka.

The meeting at the BOI was presided over by the Deputy Director General of the BOI, Mr Santhusht Jayasuriya. The delegates were given a power point presentation that effectively depicted the trends of economic growth over the years and the current and future investment opportunities in the country. Expansion, diversification and upgrading of industries seemed to be the cornerstone of the current Sri Lankan government’s industrialisation strategy. The focus must be right. Considering its recent history, the estimated economic growth in Sri Lanka was 3.2% for the year 2002.

Recently, the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement has increased the possibility of further growth. With this Agreement, Sri Lanka has preferential market access to India resulting from tariff concessions and the growing demand of Indian businesses sourcing their intermediate goods from Sri Lanka rather than from other countries. The fact that Sri Lanka is blessed with one of the largest natural harbours in the world is no doubt going to be instrumental in placing the country as an international shipping centre.

The aforesaid is coupled with a blueprint making investment in Sri Lanka attractive. The BOI has put in place various incentive schemes for potential investors. These include tax-free holidays for certain businesses, total foreign ownership of business and real estate and the absence of restrictions on repatriation of earnings (in any currency). Literacy rate in Sri Lanka is estimated to be 92%. This is the end product of the country’s investment in education. In Sri Lanka, education and health facilities are free for its citizens (an essential policy opined by the Sri Lankan literati for a nation which intends to make its impact on the international stage).

A day of safari

After the talk at the BOI, the delegation, in true Singapore fashion, headed for the shopping centres. The next few days saw the delegates travelling across the country. Some delegates visited the beaches of Wadduwa and Bentota, whilst others went up north to Kandalama where they were put up at an award winning resort built into the lush rainforest of Sri Lanka. An idyllic get-a-way for any holiday. The landscape, no matter where we were, was breathtaking. The beaches, its friendly people and the cuisine served only to make this a true isle of paradise.

The common sentiment expressed by all delegates en route home was that we had witnessed a nation making a comeback to its past reputation as the Pearl of the Orient.