Description

Synopsis

A woman’s estranged husband started a fire in their flat, in order to commit suicide. He perished, but fortunately, she and the children survived. Her in-laws tried to get care and control of her youngest son. She wanted to keep her son by her side.

A machine operator was punching and stamping metal-work pieces with a 110,000-kg power-press machine at a factory. Part of the machine came down on her hands while she was working. Both her hands had to be amputated. Unable to work after this, she wanted compensation.

A factory worker stood by her husband for 24 years, even after he had been sent to jail thrice. The last straw came when her husband attacked her with a chopper and poured hot water on her, leaving her skull fractured in several places and with multiple cuts and burns all over her body. She decided to divorce him.

A 17-year-old girl found out that she was pregnant and went for an abortion at a private clinic. After the procedure, she remained in a coma for a month and became severely brain damaged. Her relatives wanted to claim compensation on her behalf.

These people all came to the Legal Aid Bureau for help. The Legal Aid Bureau provides low or no cost legal services in civil matters for the less privileged in Singapore, and has been doing so since 1958.

If these stories interest you, come and hear from the Director of Legal Aid, Ms Lim Hui Min, and a colleague. They will tell you all about what life is like in the Bureau, the applicants they see, what keeps them going in challenging times, and what it takes to be a lawyer who helps the less privileged get access to justice. All the Legal Officers in the Bureau are Legal Service Officers with the Singapore Legal Service. Ms Lim and her colleague will also share on their experiences as Legal Service Officers, and the opportunities, challenges and joys of working in the Legal Service.

About the Speakers:

Lim Hui Min
Director, Legal Aid Bureau

Hui Min started work in a private law firm before joining the Singapore Legal Service, doing stints in the Civil Registry of the then Subordinate Courts of Singapore and the Family and Juvenile Court. She has also worked in the then Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports (now Ministry of Social and Family Development), designing programmes to deliver social and work assistance to the less-privileged, and later, as the head of their legal department. She is currently the Director of the Legal Aid Bureau, which helps the less privileged get access to justice. The Bureau has launched a number of significant legal technology initiatives under Hui Min’s leadership. Hui Min has also authored and edited numerous publications on legal aid, civil and family procedure and family law. This includes the only book on the youth justice system in Singapore entitled “Youth Justice in Singapore – Rehabilitation, Reintegration, Restoration.

Jonathan Cheong
Senior Assistant Director, Legal Aid Bureau

Prior to joining the Singapore Legal Service, Jonathan practiced commercial litigation at a private law firm. As a Legal Service officer, Jonathan has served in the Ministry of Defence, advising on both civil and international law matters. Jonathan is currently a legal officer at the Legal Aid Bureau who advises and represents the less privileged in a wide variety of matters. He is also part of the Bureau’s Social and Family Assistance Committee, a committee which helps the Bureau’s applicants with their non-legal needs.