The last few months have seen unprecedented media interest in our profession. The media focused on how we charged our clients, what we did, our integrity, our morale and debated about the future of our profession. Media statements were released by the Society to explain our position on important issues concerning the profession, and we met the media at three press conferences from January to March.

Reaching out to the public to explain our role or position on a matter as a profession is imperative. This communication with the public is as important as reaching out to you, to inform you of what we are doing as a Society and Council. Any information about the profession that is inaccurate about what we do and how we do things hurts us all.

At the Workplan meeting of the then Council elect of 2003, we discussed if there was a need for the Society to engage the services of a professional public relations company to advise and guide Council on matters of media relations, communications and to work on our public image.

Council agreed there was a real need for the Society to work in a focused manner on media relations, to enhance our communication skills and build our public image.

On 1 April 2003, we engaged consultants, Blackie McDonald, as our public relations consultants for a period of six months.

‘The art of communication is the language of leadership’ – James Hume. Thus, the first task assigned to our consultants will be to undertake a communications audit with 36 members who are a representative cross section of the Bar. This audit will be an important exercise, as it will help the Society understand where we are as regards your expectations, enable us to evaluate the effectiveness of how we serve you and how we can improve our methods of communication.

The communications audit will help us understand your current opinions and views in a critical time of change. It would shape how we develop key new programmes for the Society. The reasons for this audit, its benefits and costs were carefully considered before we embarked on it for a sum of $8,000.

We will work with our public relations consultants in the next few months to help us make fundamental changes to how we plan programmes and communicate with you.

Our consultants have, since April, worked with us to improve our media interaction. The Society had never engaged the media and it is essential we do so to ensure balanced stories and commentaries are reported and written about our profession. It is certainly important that the public, in matters touching on the practice of law, is not only merely told of our profession’s position but is also given explanations.

We needed professional advisers that can guide, plan and develop this specialised area of communication.

The Society is in transition, just like the profession. It is in times of transition that all of us must take stock, be prepared to look at new solutions to old problems, tackle new challenges, accept change and move forward.

In such times too, there will be varied opinions on how best as a profession we can deal with all the new and, sometimes frankly, difficult issues before us. But it is clear to the Council that whilst we plan for the future as a profession we must be united and hold close our core values as a profession. Our integrity, honesty, fairplay, duty to the Court, our clients and respect for the Rule of Law are constants. Changing opinions, unchanging principles must surely be our clarion call.

Arfat Selvam
President
Law Society of Singapore