Law Matters June 2020 - NUS Law Alumni

June 2020

Message from the Dean
So the Circuit Breaker has ended and non-essential court proceedings have resumed, but life in Singapore is still very far from normal. At NUS Law, our staff and students demonstrated tremendous flexibility and resilience over the past few months: teaching and taking exams remotely, conducting webinars and mooting via Zoom. We completely reimagined our admissions procedures for the next cohort of students, while their seniors in the cast and crew of the Law IV musical upheld the old tradition that the show must go on — even if that means going online. We know, of course, that our alumni have also been affected by COVID-19, but if you are in a position to help the current generation of law students please do consider making a donation to the NUS Law Student Support Fund. And enjoy this issue of Law Matters!

Professor Simon Chesterman
Dean, NUS Law

Alumni Features

In these challenging times, community is more important than ever. In this issue, we speak to three of our alumni to find out what the NUS Law community means to them, and how they contribute towards building it.

Despite his active disputes practice in construction and civil engineering at a Big Four firm, Ian de Vaz ’95 serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at NUS Law, and has taught Construction Law since 2004.

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Former mooter and current Foreign Service Officer at MFA, Parveen Kaur ’16 pays it forward as a moot coach and also helped with NUS Law's first-ever e-Open Day for prospective students.

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As a past recipient of financial aid, incoming Sheridan Fellow Allen Sng Kiat Peng ’18 firmly believes in passing on the kindness he has received through pro bono volunteer work.

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Faculty Highlights

NUS Law named the Moot Court in honour of Singapore's First Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin on Feb 7.

Ho Hock Lai appointed inaugural Coomaraswamy Professor of the Law of Evidence.

Michael Bridge appointed Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor.

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Alumni Events

14 Dec 19: Class of 1979 Reunion 10 Mar 20: President's Dialogue Lunch

Update on Alumni Events

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Student Highlights

One of the valuable educational experiences an NUS Law student can have is to represent the university in mooting competitions. Here are some of our students’ achievements in competitions from January to April 2020.

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For A Good Cause!

Law IV 2020 – Undue Influence

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Support NUS Law Students

Support NUS Law Students during this Crisis

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Alumni Features

In these challenging times, community is more important than ever before. In this issue, we speak to three of our alumni to find out what the NUS Law community means to them, and how they contribute towards building it.

What are some of your best memories of law school?
The honest folk among us will readily agree with me that the best memories of law school probably all took place outside of lectures, seminars and tutorials! The law school foyer was indubitably the epicentre of the Faculty, being a hive of incessant activity – which mostly had nothing to do with intellectual pursuits. It would be an understatement to say it was hardly conducive to studying, not that anyone who took his or her studies seriously even tried to read a textbook or prepare for a tutorial there.

Interspersed over the academic year, there would be the Mardi Gras festivities, fairs, concerts, moots and of course, the Law Camp. Being one of the smaller faculties on campus – there were less than 800 students in total – we were a rather close-knit bunch, and it was not uncommon for even first year law students to have struck up friendships with and be seen fraternising with seniors in their third or fourth years.

What does being part of the NUS Law community mean to you?
Naturally, I am very honoured and privileged to be part of the NUS Law community – being the preeminent law school that rightfully lays claim to having shaped and moulded some of the finest legal luminaries in Singapore's history, all of whom played a pioneering role in the "Singapore Story". In a sense, I have chosen to reciprocate this debt of gratitude by giving of my time and energy to future generations and hopefully, playing a small part in keeping NUS Law vibrant and relevant.

You’ve been teaching at NUS Law for the past 12 years and even received a long service award in 2018! What made you decide to take on this additional role and to continue teaching until today?
When I received an emai l from the Law Faculty in July 2018 informing me that I had been conferred the Long Service Award, I was so surprised that I actually dived into the archives to find out when I started teaching Construction Law at NUS, whereupon my memory was refreshed: I was a tutor in 2004 and admitted as an adjunct staff in 2008. More accurately, in fact, my foray into teaching began just over 20 years ago, when I was a tutor at the Law Faculty for trial advocacy classes (1999 - 2002).

As my firm, WongPartnership LLP, had a standing arrangement with the Law Faculty to offer Construction Law as an elective module, four or five of us in the firm's construction practice volunteered to teach on a rotational basis. Gradually, it made sense to have a more 'permanent' teaching faculty and so I decided to stay on and teach. At that time, I think we were one of the first law firms in Singapore to pilot such an initiative and we've never looked back since. The course continues to be fully subscribed every year and I suppose the fact that I needed to check how long I've been teaching is the clearest indication that I still enjoy it!

What do you enjoy most about teaching?
What I find fascinating about teaching is that even though the subject matter (Construction Law) remains the same, the "audience" changes each academic year and this makes all the difference. Over the years, I have had the benefit of being able to recognize the academic evolution of each cohort and see how even seemingly entrenched and trite concepts may be perceived and understood in new and progressive ways by our students. To an extent, this is only to be expected, but it is edifying for the teacher because it stretches you intellectually and challenges you to approach teaching from novel and creative angles. So this may be a good example of how inquisitive and engaging students can shape and even "school" the teacher!

How are you coping with the Circuit Breaker – can you share any tips on WFH that have worked well for you?
The Circuit Breaker is the great leveller in our era – surely, none of us have ever experienced a time of enforced restraint like this, touching on so many facets of our lives that we had hitherto taken for granted. We might take comfort in knowing that we are all groping in uncharted territory and everyone has to develop his or her own coping mechanism. In the circumstances, I am doing as well as I can reasonably can to adapt to this new scheme of things – there is, after all, no baseline to allow for meaningful comparisons to be made.

In terms of making WFH actually "work", it is axiomatic that you need to keep to a schedule by observing normal business hours and being generally disciplined. Interestingly, with everything shuttered and stripped away, you begin to see the many distractions that may have previously "cluttered" your day or competed for your time - and not everything was necessary or beneficial. Ironically - speaking for myself - it has actually been easier to focus on work and be more productive during this quite exceptional time. I think it is well to live the Circuit Breaker by these salutary words: "If at the end of this enforced lock down, you do not emerge fitter or you have not learnt a new skill or gained more knowledge, then the truth is that you never lacked the time - you lacked the discipline".

Do you have any advice for students who may be looking to secure a training contract, or the graduating Class of 2020 who will soon embark on a training contract in this current climate?
All the murmurings and chatter about how COVID-19 and its attendant consequences have propelled us onto this inflexion point that might imminently and forever change how the world (including law firms) will operate in the post-pandemic era might be a tad over-exuberant and somewhat premature. Having said this, it is a given that change is on the horizon, and this will eventually inform the recruitment policies of every law firm.

Even so, I would advise those graduating into this uncertainty to take heart that opportunities will always exist and fortune does indeed favour the brave. When I served as recruitment partner at WongPartnership some eight years ago, I always told our interns and pupils (that is what they were called before being re-designated 'trainees') that when the right talent is in the market, no law firm – however large – is ever at full capacity. I think this advice remains as relevant now as it was then. So step boldly into this "new normal", and take comfort from these time-tested exhortations: be patient, be humble, be open and most of all, believe in yourself. In the end, everything's going to be okay and if it's still not okay, then it's not yet the end.

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Thank you for helping NUS Law with its first-ever e-Open Day by sharing your law school experience with potential students via a Youtube interview! How did you get involved and what was it like behind the scenes?
I’d never done a YouTube interview before! It was really fun. The process started with an email from Vice Dean Professor David Tan asking if I wanted to film a video for the law school’s e-Open Day and talk about mooting. It was an easy yes. Anyone who knows Prof Tan knows how easy he is to talk to and what a wonderful person he is, so the whole interview was like talking to a friend. The added bonus was getting to visit campus again which is one of my favourite places.View Parveen's interview for NUS Law's e-Open Day 2020 HERE.You shared in the interview that taking part in mooting competitions was one of your best experiences at law school. How has being part of the mooting community made a difference to you during and after law school?
Mooting was a very important part of my law school journey because I didn’t feel settled into university life until I got into moots. My teammates are some of my closest friends from law school, and I still keep in touch with my professors who coached us.

How have the networks you built at NUS made a difference in your journey post-law school?
The great thing about NUS mooting is the involvement of experienced mooters who come back to coach their juniors, even after they’ve left law school and become associates or legal academics, or they’ve pursued another career path altogether. It’s a fraternity that gives you friends beyond law school and your batchmates, and people that you can always seek out for advice on your career, employers or just to have a chat with someone who has similar interests as you do. I’ve been lucky enough to tap on this network and that has helped me navigate the often daunting landscape of adulthood.Since graduating in 2016, you have frequently helped out as a moot coach for our students. What keeps you coming back?
I come back to coach time and time again because the enthusiasm, dedication, passion and excitement of the younger mooters is infectious. Coming back also seems like a no-brainer. I had seniors who took time out of their busy schedules to coach me when I was in law school and it feels natural to do the same for my juniors in turn. It’s always memorable seeing mooters improve and build confidence in their abilities and that has given me the most pride as a coach. I tell my mentees that success in mooting is not measured by accolades won, because the learning process is the victory in itself.

Out of curiosity, how are you coping with the current Circuit Breaker?
The Circuit Breaker restrictions haven’t been that bad, and I’ve been able to use my free time baking, reading and catching up on all the movies I’d tell friends I would check out (but then never did). I’m also glad to have more facetime with my parents which was a luxury I didn’t have as an associate. But I will be very glad to catch up with friends face to face and plan my next holiday when this is all over!Do you have any advice for current students on how to make their time at NUS Law more meaningful?
My advice would be to not chase what you perceive to be perfect CV to the exclusion of all else. Law school is so much more than grades. Find what you enjoy within the legal curriculum and pursue it. For me that was international moots because I was genuinely interested in international law. But if you enjoy research instead, search out ongoing projects you can join or papers you can write. It’s entirely up to you!

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What did you enjoy most about law school? I enjoyed the interactions which I had in law school the most. I was fortunate enough to have great teachers whom I’ve learnt much from and were willing to stretch me. I enjoyed the time I had with my close friends, be it doing carpentry work for the NUS Law Float, or trying to figure out the law together. It is these people and interactions which have shaped me into who I am now, and I’m always grateful for it.As a bursary and scholarship recipient throughout law school, how did financial aid make a difference to you as a student and to your family? Financial aid definitely helped to ease some of my family’s worries and the reduced stress helped me focus on my studies. Just by way of some background, finances were always a challenge for my family. In particular, sometime in my second year of studies, my dad’s retina got detached and he was blind in one eye for a while. My dad works in the construction industry and was the sole-breadwinner, so that incident gave me much to worry about. I made the decision then to drop my concurrent degree in law and public policy, just so that I could enter into the workforce earlier. I’m quite sure it would have been much worse without the financial aid.
Somehow, while acing your subjects, bagging an armful of prizes and making the Dean’s list every year, you managed to find time to volunteer with the Assisted Deputyship Application Programme under the Pro Bono Office – and you continue as a volunteer today! What keeps you going as a volunteer? Yes – I’ve been with the project for almost 5 years now, and I am still actively running the deputyship cases. Fate is not kind to everyone, but I believe that we can help make life better for others. I continue to serve because I want to make life better for others, especially for those who have had a difficult start in life (in this case, those who lack mental capacity), through no fault of their own. Partly, it is also because my family had received a lot of help when we were down and out. Serving is a way for me to pass on the kindness that I have received. I always remind myself that my act of helping might seem small and insignificant to me, but it could be the very life-line which tides the recipient over another day.What do you teach at NUS Law and why did you choose to join the Faculty? At present, I teach Contract Law for the Year 1s and Property Law for the Year 2s. I’ve always wanted to serve in the public sector, such as teaching or civil service. Practice might have its monetary benefits, but I’ve always felt more inclined towards serving society instead. Teaching was very alluring, especially since my wife is also a teacher (with my old primary school). NUS Law was the natural choice as my alma mater and I enjoy being able to continue my learning journey here.
What do you like about teaching and how do you balance this with your job as a Legal Executive with Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow? Teaching has many attractions, such as having the luxury of researching into particular areas of the law and interacting with the young minds. I’ve definitely learnt a lot from the difficult questions which my students have posed. There is also the benefit of having proper working hours, and I now have time to spend with my parents! As for my arrangement with Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, I help with advisory matters relating to fintech and credit and security law. Teaching will always be my first duty, and I deal with the legal work outside of office hours (i.e. at night or weekends). It definitely helps that my legal work is complementary to what I teach at NUS Law. It also helps that I am still young (for now), and can afford to burn the midnight oil when necessary.On a side note, I know you’re an avid photographer who, at age 18, was named as one of Singapore’s best young photographers by CNN Travel! Have you continued to pursue this interest? Would you share with us some of your favourite shots? I’ve been a lot less active in the photography circles lately, but I do still shoot occasionally. Photography is a way for me to slow down my pace of life and to appreciate the beauty around me. I have a soft spot for the public housing and night scenes in Singapore. These are 3 of my favourites.

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Faculty Highlights

NUS Law named the Moot Court in honour of Singapore's First Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin

NUS Law recognised the legacy of the late former Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin, Singapore's first and longest-serving Chief Justice, by naming the Moot Court in his honour on 7 February 2020.

NUS Pro-Chancellor and former Chief Justice Dr Chan Sek Keong '61 LLD '10 (Honoris Causa) officiated the Moot Court naming ceremony as the Guest-of-Honour, in the presence of Mrs Cecilia Wee Chong Jin, wife of Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin, members of the Wee family and about 50 guests, including donors, members of the legal fraternity and faculty members.

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Ho Hock Lai appointed as the inaugural Coomaraswamy Professor of the Law of Evidence

Professor Ho Hock Lai ’89 has been appointed as the inaugural Coomaraswamy Professor of the Law of Evidence with effect from 1 July 2020.

This new Chair was created in honour of the late Punch Coomaraswamy and his wife, Kaila Coomaraswamy. Punch Coomaraswamy was one of the founding members of the Faculty.

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Michael Bridge appointed as the Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor

Professor Michael Bridge has been appointed as the Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor with effect from 1 July 2020.

Michael succeeds Jeffrey Pinsler who has served with distinction in the role since 2014. The professorship became available when Jeffrey generously asked that another colleague be given the opportunity to be considered for it.

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Alumni Events

Neither the grey skies nor the ageing silver grey-haired attendees could detract from the youthful spirit as the Class of 1979 met on the 14th December 2019 at the Bukit Timah Campus where it all started in 1975, for our 40th anniversary reunion.
In attendance were also members of our faculty, Professors Tan Sook Yee, Koh Kheng Lian, Leong Wai Kum and Adjunct Professor Irene Lye Lin Heng, looking just as youthful as when we graduated.

To kick off the occasion, a brief tour of the campus to see the nostalgic sites like the Lower and Upper Quads and the environs. This was followed by a buoyant get-together at one of the seminar rooms which was so reminiscent of our old NLT1. Amidst the fun and games, we were also briefed by Adjunct Prof Irene Lye on the many changes that had taken place since we were in law school, not least current students writing exam answers on laptops and not on paper!

It was then off to lunch at what used to be known the main admin block (now the Oei Tiong Ham Building, and the home of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy), where we experienced the camaraderie that we still have with both our classmates as well as our former lecturers, who happily engaged with us in banter and recollections of our times past. Those really were the days - now gone but always remembered…

Contributed by Edmund Baker ’79

For more photos, click HERE.

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At one of the last few alumni events before stricter Circuit Breaker measures kicked in, NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye met with 10 Law alumni for a Dialogue Lunch on 10 March 2020. Organized by the NUS Office of Alumni Relations and co-hosted by its Director, Mr Bernard Toh, as well as NUS Law Dean Professor Simon Chesterman, lunch was held at the Shaw Alumni Foundation House at the Kent Ridge Campus. As most had already started some degree of working-from-home, it was a welcome chance to venture out and catch up with fellow alumni (sans handshakes of course!).

Over a delicious 3-course meal, Professor Tan updated alumni on recent developments at NUS, including the very successful NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) Programme. Many alumni who attended are leaders in their own right, and offered their views on topics such the impact of technology, and how the law school can better prepare graduates for the fast-changing legal landscape.

Update on Alumni Events

Due to the current Circuit Breaker, all alumni events and class milestone reunions have been put on hold until the situation improves. Meanwhile, to receive our latest news, announcements and invitations, or to indicate your mailing preferences, please update your particulars with us HERE. Do also stay connected to the NUS Law community through our website and by following us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

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Student Highlights

One of the valuable educational experiences an NUS Law student can have is to represent the university in mooting competitions. Here are some of our students’achievements in competitions from January to April 2020.

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For A Good Cause!

Law IV 2020 - titled 'Undue Influence' - is an original musical by the 2020 graduating batch of the National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law. In light of the COVID-19 situation, this year’s performance premiered on YouTube on 22 May 2020.

This year’s production is about a young lawyer, Hugo Tan, who was found tragically dead in his office after a long day of work. The last person to see him alive was his Best Bro and micro-influencer, Nathaniel Ho (or as he prefers to be called, @natflexandchill on Instagram). Now pinned as the main suspect in Hugo's murder, the social media darling has to grapple with the #haters as he tries to find a real friend amongst his legion of followers.

While Nathaniel struggles to defend himself in the court of public opinion, his defence counsel, Shirley Hong, attempts to navigate the equally unforgiving landscape of the Singapore courts. With social media rife with fake news and subtweets, it is up to Shirley to uncover her inner sleuth and seek out the truth behind Hugo's death.

The team behind Law IV 2020 had put in months of effort for this musical. Many hours were spent rehearsing lines, building elaborate sets from scratch and composing song after original song. We hope to see you guys (online!)

Catch the virtual premiere and support our chosen cause, Geylang East Home for the Aged (GEHA), HERE.
A digital copy of the playbill can be viewed HERE.

Law IV 2020 Committee

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Support NUS Law Students

Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we anticipate an increase in financial aid applications in the coming months, and have earmarked the NUS Law Student Support Fund to be used to provide additional or urgent assistance to students who may need it. Should you wish to make a donation to this fund, you may do so HERE.

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