October 2020
Alumni Features
Women in Academia
Five of our alumnae, Associate Professor Lynette J. Chua, Associate Professor Jaclyn Neo, Associate Professor Jean Ho, Assistant Professor Tara Maria Davenport and Senior Lecturer Sonita Jeyapathy (all coincidentally from the Class of 2003), share with us their different journeys into academia, and their advice for budding academics.
Remembering James Low Hong Ping, LLM '17
A promising constitutional law scholar and disability rights activist, James was in the first year of his PhD at NUS Law when he passed away in May 2020. We remember his legacy of hope and inspiration.
Faculty Highlights
Professor S Jayakumar ’63 appointed as NUS Pro-Chancellor and Emeritus Professor
Leong Wai Kum, Chin Tet Yung, and Robert Beckman appointed as Emeritus Professors
Appointment of Andrew Simester as the new Amaladass Professor of Criminal Justice
Student Highlights
Class of 2020’s Virtual Graduation
Virtual Moots Spotlight
Law Tech Ninjas to the rescue!
KEEN TO PURSUE LIFELONG LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES AT NUS LAW?
NUS Law offers a wide range of graduate coursework programmes to enable legal professionals to upskill and remain competitive in the legal industry. Enrolment for Academic Year 2021 is now open!
Click on the links below to find out more:
Graduate Certificates & Graduate Diploma, Juris Doctor, Master of Laws
Join our webinar on 30 October 2020, Friday, to learn more about our LLM (International & Comparative Law) and LLM (General) Programmes. Our LLM Directors will give you an overview of the programme structure, scholarship opportunities and application procedures. Click HERE to register!
Alumni Features
Women in Academia
Associate Professor Lynette J. Chua ’03
Lynette is Associate Professor at NUS Law, as well as Head of Studies of the Double-Degree Programme in Law-Liberal Arts and Rector of Elm College at Yale-NUS College. She is a law and society scholar with research interests in rights, legal mobilisation, and legal consciousness, and the author of two award-winning books, The Politics of Love in Myanmar: LGBT Mobilization and Human Rights as A Way of Life (Stanford University Press, 2019) and Mobilizing Gay Singapore: Rights and Resistance in an Authoritarian State (Temple University Press, 2014). She received her PhD in Jurisprudence & Social Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BSc in Journalism from E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University.
When students come to me for advice on how to plan their academic career, I like that they have a plan but I also urge them not to stick to their plan or any tried-and-tested formula. I would much prefer that they take time – to discover themselves, and to grow intellectually and emotionally. Who we are, our sense of self, belonging, and worth, are never fully formed. We are always becoming, shifting with the relationships we make, keep, and break, and thus shifting with time (acknowledging George H. Mead and Henri Bergson here).
To young women, especially, I try to suggest adhering a little less to social time that tells them when to get married and when to become a mother. The unspoken dilemma is that taking too much time for doctoral studies and research might disrupt their plans for marriage and childbirth. The anxiety is unsurprising in patriarchal societies where women are conditioned to believe that self-sacrifice and selflessness are timeless virtues.
I never had the right moment to say this directly to any of the women who came to me for advice, so this is probably a good opportunity: If you are serious about academia, put it above all else. Your partner(s) must accept that your career and your scholarship come first. If they cannot, reconsider that relationship. You can find love and soulmates, romance and lovers, and marriage and children (only if you wish) outside of the pace and dictates of social time. My ex-partners called me cold, heartless, and many more adjectives and nouns unfit for print in this magazine, but that is because I am a woman who did not behave as a woman is expected to.
For me, deciding to become an academic and scholar – these are overlapping but distinctive concepts – is a process. It is neither an event nor a moment. It is a process of finding happiness and of being happy. It started with that teaching assistant who scribbled in the margins of a term paper, asking if I had ever considered becoming an academic. It inched along as I discovered that writing essays – never answering a hypo question – was the best thing about law school. It progressed as I felt ready to get out of the office and to UC Berkeley to pursue my PhD in the interdisciplinary study of law. It was nudged along when I ran into then NUS Law Dean Tan Cheng Han ’87, who encouraged me to return to NUS after graduate studies. And it sped up with the joys of fieldwork and the endless hours of writing and rewriting.
Along the way, I realized what made me happy – to be free. Probably I would have been a halfway decent lawyer. I tried it out with internships and pupillage, which lasted only a few weeks before my entire body and soul were screaming. With my first-class honours, I could have applied to become a Justices’ Law Clerk at the Supreme Court of Singapore. After attending a briefing about the scheme, I searched my heart and conscience, and found no desire for it. I knew legal practice in the private or public sector could not offer the intellectually rewarding life that would make me feel authentic, feel like myself.
Of course, I am not saying that being an academic and scholar enjoys absolute freedom. Far from it. One needs absolute discipline, in fortifying determination, in nourishing dedication, and in honing and living one’s craft. It is by being disciplined that I find freedom, and consequently happiness. In saying this, I am recalling Twyla Tharp’s praise of Steven McRae, a principal dancer of the Royal Ballet. Watching McRae soar gloriously above Haydn’s music as he rehearsed Tharp’s The Illustrated Farewell, I was moved and inspired by Tharp’s words about him, “He is free at the centre of enormous discipline.” That is what I strive for and hope for myself and all women who come after.
Associate Professor Jaclyn Neo ’03
Jaclyn is an Associate Professor and Director for Centre for Asian Legal Studies at NUS Law. Her research forefronts Asian jurisdictions in comparative constitutional law. After graduating from NUS Law, she was recruited to join WongPartnership’s disputes resolution department, and has been a consultant with the firm. Jaclyn is known internationally in her research field and is an elected Council Member of the International Society for Public Law (ICON-S). She currently serves on the Singapore Academy of Law’s Law Reform Committee and on the Executive Committee of the ASEAN Law Association (Singapore), and was recently appointed a Professorial Fellow with the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) Academy.
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 2009
I joined the faculty in 2007 when I was offered the NUS Overseas Graduate Scholarship to pursue my Master of Laws (LLM) at Yale Law School. Thereafter, I returned to teach at NUS and it was during this time of interacting with students and colleagues, and in experiencing research life full time that my decision to become an academic became firmly solidified. I subsequently applied to and was admitted to the Doctor of Juridical Science (JSD) program at Yale Law School, with the support of another full scholarship from NUS.
For me, transitioning from litigation at a big law firm to academia had more to do with pull, rather than push, factors. Litigation is hard work, but I enjoyed the dynamism and energy of coming up with legal solutions and working in teams. As an academic, though, I appreciate the opportunity to educate the next generation of law graduates and the research autonomy it offers. But a career in academia is no walk in the park either. The pressures to ‘publish or perish’ are very real. With great autonomy comes great responsibility, paraphrasing a line from Spider-Man. You can be the master of your universe, but only you can ensure this universe flourishes; self-direction and self-motivation are essential.
Every academic today has to juggle teaching, mentoring students, researching, writing, publishing, presenting papers at local and overseas conferences, organizing conferences, administrative duties, and more. But as an academic mum with two young children, time management is ever more crucial. I find myself often trying to squeeze in the most in a short window of time. One of my craziest trips was when I flew 20 hours to San Francisco, gave a lecture at a conference, attended several meetings, made it to a nice work dinner, and then flew another 20 hours home so that I was not away from my kids for too many days. The long flight and time difference meant that in the five days I was away from home, I slept in a proper bed only on one night. All I can say is: (hopefully) never again!
Indeed, as a female academic, we often face particular challenges. Women are more likely to experience imposter syndrome. Studies have also shown that women tend to feel that they must possess 100% of the qualifications (or more) in order to apply for a job. In contrast, men are more likely to think they are qualified even when they have the same (or fewer) qualifications. But, contrary to the misconception that women are inherently more competitive towards other women, as opposed to men towards other men, I have had a group of female colleagues at NUS, who have been, though not exclusively, my best sounding boards and support system. I have also had strong role models and mentors who are, though again not exclusively, women. The work environment makes a huge difference - studies show that so-called Queen Bee behaviours are not inherent but are triggered by sexism whereby women distance themselves from other women in order to get around gendered barriers.
For students interested in exploring an academic career. I would say – ask questions. Your professors explored different paths to enter academia and you can tap on their wealth of experience by asking for feedback and direction. Some of my best decisions were made after seeking advice from professors and others whom I now consider my mentors.
And lastly, to my female students, former and present, I can do no better than emphasize Justice Ginsburg’s words above and say: Take your place at the table; you deserve to be there.
Associate Professor Jean Ho ’03
Jean lectures and supervises on diverse aspects of international investment law. Jean pursued further studies and graduated with honours from the l'Université de Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, topping her class in several courses including Droit des Contrats, Droit de la Responsabilité Civile, and Droit des Sociétés. She was also the first Singaporean to be awarded a placement with the Conseil d'Etat in Paris, an honour normally reserved for foreign judges. Prior to academia, Jean specialised in investor-State disputes at Shearman & Sterling LLP. She was the first person to contribute in English, French, and Mandarin to the United Nations Audiovisual Library on International Law Lecture Series. At NUS Law, she teaches international investment law and arbitration, international contract law and evidence.
Favourite memory from law school
My favourite memory from law school was winning the Vis moot in my third year. It was the first time NUS Law fielded a team for the competition in Vienna and no one, least of all ourselves, expected us to win. We also became the first Asian team to win a moot dominated by European and Australian teams, breaking a glass ceiling of sorts. Much of the credit for the historic win must go to our coach Associate Professor Gary Bell because he believed in us from the get-go and physically barred us from attending any social events in Vienna until the competition was over.
Journey into academia
I suppose I fell into academia. Prior to joining NUS Law, I had no relevant experience and no inkling of what it meant to be an academic. I was halfway through my LLM at NYU when I was asked by several of my former professors, including Gary, if I had thought about joining the faculty. Then came a chat with former Dean Professor Tan Cheng Han SC over the phone and I put in a job application after I graduated from NYU. I learnt the ropes along the way and things have turned out all right.
The mentors who have made a difference
There are so many people to whom I owe thanks but the following have been instrumental in shaping my career and my scholarship in international law. Emeritus Professor M Sornarajah, who tutored me for a decade, continues to be the fountain of all inspiration, good advice and moral support. Professor Emmanuel Gaillard and Dr Yas Banifatemi, whom I worked for at Shearman & Sterling LLP, are always generous with their time and resources and constantly challenge me to rethink and refine my arguments. Ms Meg Kinnear, Secretary-General of ICSID, and Ms Anna Joubin-Bret, Secretary of UNCITRAL, are always so encouraging and have opened many professional doors for me. And last but not least, Wing-Tat Lee Professor of International Law James Gathii of Loyala University Chicago who regularly persuades me to leave comfort zones and develop more critical scholarship.
Your advice for anyone keen on academia
They should definitely try to speak to those in academia since academics ought to know what their jobs entail better than anyone else. For those looking at tenure-track placements, an interest in research and writing is a must since that is what tenure-track academics like myself spend the bulk of our time on. Self-discipline also helps since there are very few hard deadlines in academia. I am always happy to chat with anyone thinking of a career in academia!
Assistant Professor Tara Maria Davenport (Grad.Dip.Sing. Law ’03, LLM ’10)
Tara holds a Bachelor of Laws from the London School of Economics, a Masters of Law (Maritime Law) from the National University of Singapore (NUS), and a Masters of Law and Doctor of Juridical Science from Yale Law School. She is a recipient of a Fulbright scholarship as well as an NUS Overseas Graduate Scholarship. She is currently an Assistant Professor at NUS where she teaches Principles of Property Law and Law of the Sea. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for International Law (CIL) at NUS as well as Deputy Director of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL), and a member of the Editorial Board of the Asian Journal of International Law. Her research interests are in public international law, law of the sea, marine environmental law and international dispute settlement.
I enrolled into NUS Law in 2002 for the Diploma in Singapore Law (DipSing) after completing my LLB at LSE. I missed London terribly and thought that I would not fit into NUS. Fortunately, I was wrong and made some long-lasting friendships, including with colleagues who are also featured in this issue of Law Matters! What I remembered most about my DipSing was working in one of the seminar rooms until the wee hours of the morning with my Maritime Moot teammates. The daily lunch of Beijing dumplings at the Business School canteen comes a close second.
I fell into academia quite accidentally and relatively late in life. After I finished my DipSing in 2003, I did the expected thing by joining the shipping practice at Rajah and Tann. After a year at Rajah and Tann, I joined the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) as I loved international law. Regrettably, my stint at MFA was short-lived. Two months in, my father passed away leaving a shipping company which I needed to help manage. After about a year, I returned to Rajah and Tann while continuing to manage my father’s shipping business. Three years on and I could see a sliver of a silver lining in my father’s untimely death: it pulled me back in a direction which now seems to have been inevitable – the oceans.
I left practice again to do an LLM in Maritime Law at NUS for several reasons, not least because by then I had two children and wanted to spend more time with them. During my LLM, I had the privilege of taking Ocean Law and Policy under Professor Robert Beckman who had coached me during my Maritime Moots in 2003. It would be an understatement to say that I enjoyed my Ocean Law and Policy course immensely. I felt that the international law of the sea was a happy marriage of two of my interests, international law and maritime law. I readily accepted an opportunity to be a part-time student research assistant and then full-time research associate at the (then) newly-established Centre for International Law (CIL) at NUS in 2009. My time in CIL gave me a taste of what life as an academic was like. Four years on, I decided to pursue graduate studies, at the age of 34 with 2 kids and a husband in tow, and an additional child born smack in the middle of my doctorate! I was privileged enough to receive an Overseas Graduate Scholarship from NUS and ultimately got my position as an Assistant Professor when I was 38 years old.
As trite as it sounds, I feel as if I found my calling in academia. It is a demanding yet intellectually stimulating career which requires many different skillsets. Moreover, engagement with students can be very rewarding. Particularly important for me is the fact that while there is a seemingly unending stream of work, timing is flexible and hence more suitable to the demands of a working mother. To any future academics out there, I would say if you are truly passionate about the law and enjoy deep thinking and debate about legal issues, do not let either age, the demands of family or the fact that you think you’re not smart enough stop you. Being an academic requires intellectual curiosity, hard work and an ability to think outside the box. If you have these qualities, I look forward to welcoming you as a colleague!
Senior Lecturer Sonita Jeyapathy ’03
A graduate of NUS Law, Sonita started her career in litigation with Allen & Gledhill LLP before moving on to corporate mergers and acquisitions. In 2008, she was seconded to the London office of Linklaters LLP and in 2011, made partner with Allen & Gledhill LLP where she focused on single and multi-jurisdictional mergers and acquisitions, domestic and international joint ventures, corporate restructurings, and general corporate and commercial law. She joined NUS in 2013 as the Deputy Director of the Legal Skills Programme and has been actively involved in the full spectrum of offerings in the Legal Skills Programme, including the foundational first-year legal analysis, research and communication module and Corporate Deals, the second-year transactional skills module. In July 2020, Sonita was appointed one of the Deputy Directors of the NUS Law Centre for Pro Bono & Clinical Legal Education where she has primary oversight for administering the Centre’s corporate clinical programmes.
Favourite memory from law school
Hands down this would be co-producing a radio programme in my final year at Law School (with 4 other law students under the supervision of Associate Professor Eleanor Wong ’85) as part of a project combining learning with service to the community. “Sex, Rights & Videotape” was a six-episode radio programme that aired on NewsRadio 93.8 which delved into what the law is and where the law should be when individual rights and social interests collide in areas such as sexual behaviour, press freedom, access to government information, reputation and privacy.
I remember the excitement of being involved in something so novel at the time. There was so much to do and learn - from the research and discussions to figure out topics, to coming up with a website survey to seek out views from the public on what they thought the law should be, to interviewing experts, opinion-leaders and lay persons (including the likes of Crazy Rich Asians’ Tan Kheng Hua) for their take on issues, to learning how to produce a radio programme from the pros at Mediacorp, to scripting each episode and heading on into the recording studio to record them and more. A lot of heart and soul (and many, many, many hours) went into that project but it was so much fun to be involved in.
Journey into academia
My journey into academia was definitely not a case of following any well-trodden yellow brick road. I would characterise it more as a leap of faith with fingers and toes crossed based on a hunch that the education field might be a better fit for me as a lawyer.
I had spent 9 years in practice focussing initially on litigation and later on corporate mergers and acquisitions. It was a proud moment to be able to become a partner with the firm I was with. In time however, the prospect of continuing to rise in the firm was not as thrilling to me as I felt it ought to be. Coincidentally at the time, there was an opening at Law school for the position of Deputy Director of the Legal Skills Programme. With some trepidation, I decided to make the move over. To bid farewell to the familiarity and security of practice and jump into something I had no clue if I would take to or be any good at was unnerving. Thankfully, in hindsight, the leap worked out well for me.
The mentors who have made a difference
I have had the good fortune of being able to learn from some amazing women in the legal skills team, namely Associate Professors Eleanor Wong, Lim Lei Theng ’92 and Ruby Lee ’85. In their unique ways, each is fearless and tremendously creative. I’ve been able to watch and learn as they broke new ground time and again to create innovative opportunities for students. To be able to see them in action and learn from them has been a privilege and has certainly inspired my own journey.
Your advice for anyone keen on academia
Observe, reflect and interact.
Observe people who are in academia to figure out if a similar lifestyle would suit you; reflect on your own strengths and interests and figure out ways to build your portfolio in those fields; interact with anyone who may be able to provide insight into life in academia.
Remembering James Low Hong Ping LLM ’17
Faculty Highlights
Professor S Jayakumar ’63 appointed as NUS Pro-Chancellor and Emeritus Professor
Alumni Events
LLM (IBL) Class of 2010's Zoom Reunion
The LLM (IBL) Class of 2010 held a virtual reunion attended by 39 out of 60 classmates from around the world. Alumnus Charles Guo LLM ’10 shares with us about his class reunion amidst the pandemic.
Neither the pandemic, nor borders, nor different time-zones, could prevent the LLM (International Business Law) Class of 2010 from celebrating our 10th anniversary since graduation. The e-reunion was held virtually on Zoom late on the night of the 26th of July 2020, with the theme: “One year of study, life-long friendship”.
The event had the full support of the Faculty of Law, and was graced by Dean Simon Chesterman as the Guest-of-Honour. To kick off the celebrations, Dean Chesterman warmly greeted the class and shared his views on how Covid-19 has changed methods of teaching, reshaped education, as well as the means of connecting. The International Business Law (IBL) Programme Director, Professor Stephen Phua ’88, then delivered a keynote speech recalling some of the highlights and memorable moments from when he taught the Class of 2010, and summarizing the unique features that have made this class so special and united from the day they entered NUS Law.
Following that were three sessions of sharing and discussion by various classmates around three broad areas: career development, life and work experiences as well as opportunities for co-operation. This presented a unique opportunity for everyone to get involved as representatives of judges, lawyers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, in-house counsels, government officials, and scholars all took turns to share their stories and experiences since graduation. Amidst recalling the good old days and exchanging the latest developments on each side with much laughter and friendly banter, time really flew and all too soon, it was time to say goodbye with tears! Many of us have not seen each other since we graduated from NUS Law in 2010.
The Class of 2010 of the IBL Programme is one family consisting of some 60 alumni from 12 countries in 3 continents, and we were delighted that 39 of us were able to join in this online reunion. As Jo-Ann Chan ’97, Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Development at NUS Law, commented, “being able to bring together people in different countries in celebration of a common event via Zoom is one of the small silver linings of this difficult time in history, and your class reunion is a perfect example of this.”
We are grateful that together, our class has made a difference to strengthen the NUS community, especially during this time of pandemic which is full of uncertainty!
Student Highlights
Class of 2020’s Virtual Graduation
Screengrabs from the Virtual Graduation Party.
Virtual Moots Spotlight
One of the most 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 May to September 2020.
Law Tech Ninjas to the rescue!
As a result of COVID-19, education has changed dramatically, shifting away from classrooms and onto digital platforms. To facilitate this transition, NUS Law has launched the Student Innovation and Technology Assistance (“SITA”) initiative. SITA is run by alt+Law, and through this initiative, tech-savvy students (affectionately called the “Law Tech Ninjas”), embraced the opportunity to innovate and play an active part in the learning process by collaborating with our academic faculty members to produce remote teaching materials.
The Genesis of SITA
The humble beginning of SITA can be traced to when Associate Professor Eleanor Wong ’85 reached out to Leah Chua ’22, Chan You Quan ’22, Zane Chong ’22 and Bryan Ong ’22 with an idea - to explore ways to engage students to make learning more effective in the age of online learning, especially so during the Circuit Breaker period. The objective was to have a student-led taskforce that could work hand-in-hand with the professors to (a) use the students’ technical expertise to ease the professors with the transition to a fully virtual experience; (b) revolutionise/reimagine the syllabus and way of teaching such that the students would have the same, if not better, learning experience. The point of SITA was not just to do what the IT support team already does, but to provide personalised and relevant assistance based on the SITA members’ understanding of the pedagogy and teaching styles of their Professors.
What does SITA do?
- Assist with enquiries
- Help Professors on a consultancy basis, where SITA members assist with creation of virtual content (such as videos and
slides), host Zoom meetings and conferencing - Miscellaneous technical support and trouble-shooting
What are some of the key projects done?
One such project is helmed by Associate Professor Burton Ong ’99, who worked with rising-3rd year student Darren Ang ’22 and Ashleigh Gan ’22, to create engaging online content using animated doodling for the first-year Law of Contract module. Watch a preview of the video below.
Another project was the interactive slides produced by You Quan for Associate Professor Eleanor Wong and the Legal Analysis, Research and Communication (LARC) Team.
What are the future plans for SITA?
• Continue to raise the tech-savviness and self-sufficiency of faculty members through interactions with students via SITA
• Experiment and recommend new methods and solutions to the school to create a more dynamic and helpful learning
environment for students
• Assist non-academic faculty members who require technical assistance to produce new materials related to legal education
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.