In any Law Society magazine, a page is set aside for the President to ‘speak’ to members. Some Presidents use their column to describe the business of the governing Council. Others take the opportunity to address members personally on issues of concern of the day. Then there are those who simply set out personal thoughts and views.

The last six months I have not written about the everyday business of Council. Much of what we do is described in the column of this magazine called the ‘Council Bulletin’ or in the Society’s weekly e-newsletter to you, E Jus News.

I have, instead, in my messages addressed issues of concern and at times set out my personal thoughts and views.

This month, I would like to ‘speak’ to you about balance — the balance we all strive to achieve between our professional and personal lives.

Stress in our professional lives and workplace is something we all face. There are not enough hours in a day to deal with work pressures from clients or meeting billing pressures from our employers, partners or fellow directors. The 21st century workplace is very different from that of the last century. There are new (some may say demanding) expectations from clients, administrators of the justice system and even our fellow colleagues.

The impact of technology on our work life — the mobile phone, email, voice mail and the Internet make us accessible 24/7. There is simply no place to get away from work pressures. Some may hazard a guess that the changing workplace may have been the root cause of a higher rate of dissatisfaction among lawyers who, coupled with the expanding options in an increasing global world, became increasingly mobile professionals. If you are between the age group of 28 to 35 years the opportunities outside the traditional fields of law seem boundless.

Many of us have for our own reasons decided to stay or have decided that the traditional fields of the practice of law are where we ought to be. We stay and prepare to face new and challenging structural changes to our profession.

Meeting the challenge of change has meant we sacrifice some of our home life — less quality time with our family, friends and loved ones. Meeting the challenge of change has also meant we may be a little short tempered with clients; handle our fellow lawyers with irritation or office colleagues with a little less patience.

As professionals, but most of all as individuals, we must not allow our scales to tilt one way too far. We have to find a balance that we are comfortable and hopeful with for the future of our personal and professional lives. The cliché, ‘Life is all a balancing act’ is in fact a truism.

As a professional body the Society’s challenge is to study and implement through policies and programmes, ways to help you find that balance in life.

July to December is the social season of the Society. Let us take some time to enjoy ourselves.

It’s our annual Golf Tournament in July, in August we are planning our first ever Family Day, in September it is the annual Bench & Bar Games. In October we will have our premier social event, a night for us to dress up and let our hair down, at our annual dinner and dance, where for the first time we will allow spouses and companions to attend. In November/December hopefully we will all enjoy an end of the year bash.

We are hopeful that our initiatives to de-link practising certificates, impart useful skills that will make you a better business professional, our e-learning portal that gives you the option to learn from the comfort of home or office and our organisation of varied social and sporting events, some of which you can participate with family and friends, will go a long way to either help you choose a lifestyle that suits your needs, allow you to have more time on your hands or simply have fun.

Remember, family and close friends are constants in your life. Always place them first on your balance scale, and then move on to your workplace and your larger ‘family’ at the Bar. The balancing act we call life can be perfected.

Arfat Selvam
President
Law Society of Singapore