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The 7th NUS Law Pro Bono Awards Ceremony
The Centre for Pro Bono & Clinical Legal Education celebrated the spirit of community at the 7th NUS Law Pro Bono Awards, by recognising outstanding student leadership in pro bono projects, as well as awarding financial grants towards student-led pro bono work.
Held at the Wee Chong Jin Moot Court on 15 February, the event kicked off with Professor Andrew Simester, Dean of NUS Law, giving opening remarks and welcoming Ms Rahayu Mahzam, Senior Parliamentary Secretary of Health & Law, as Guest of Honour.
This year, two awards – the Pro Bono Innovation Award and the Pro Bono Special Recognition Award – were given out to nine students for their stellar contributions to pro bono work in AY 2021/2022, and eight projects received grants from generous donors.
The nine students included the former president of the Pro Bono Group (PBG), Ryan Zachary Koh; former group vice-president (Internal), Yan Jun Yi; and former group vice-president (External), Chai Jing Xuan; as well as six other students that were involved in projects comprising Building of Bridges (BoB), Law & You and Project Parachute.
Special Recognition Awards
– Ryan Zachary Koh, former president of PBG
As the former PBG president, Ryan led 27 PBG Executive Committee members and oversaw more than ten projects that involved some 200 student members’ pro bono activities. In response to the challenges posed by pandemic disruptions, he introduced PBG training workshops to the club’s offerings. He also organised a virtual cross-border dialogue and networking session with Thailand’s Thammasat University, and initiated a pilot project to support NUS student victims of alleged sexual assault.
On his win, Ryan said: “Receiving the Pro Bono Special Recognition Award is a major encouragement to me and my peers, as it shows that student pro bono could continue in a meaningful way during the Covid-19 pandemic and that we were able to make a positive difference. I am deeply grateful for the support of my peers in the Pro Bono Group, the Faculty (shoutout to Professor Helena Whalen-Bridge), as well as every partner-organisation and beneficiary with whom I had the privilege of working in AY 2021/22.”
– Yan Jun Yi, former group vice-president (Internal) of PBG
Jun Yi oversaw the running of eight core PBG projects that ran concurrently through the academic year. This was particularly important as many projects had to be tweaked so that they could continue running while COVID-19 restrictions were in place. Jun Yi also helped in preparing applications for group’s core projects that had to be submitted to the Singapore Institute of Legal Education for approval, by liaising regularly with the NUS Centre for Pro Bono & Clinical Legal Education. During his term, several new pro bono opportunities were approved by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education.
– Chai Jing Xuan, former group vice-president (External) of PBG
Jing Xuan was responsible for overseeing the array of pipeline projects and ad-hoc opportunities run by the club, as well as liaising with external partners to bring in new pro bono opportunities. She spearheaded the inaugural virtual Cross-border Pro Bono Panel Discussion and Networking Event with Thammasat University, where PBG invited lawyers and professors from Thailand and Singapore to share their pro bono experiences with law students from both countries. The virtual event saw more than 50 attendees and allowed NUS Law students to forge new friendships with Thai law students and gain deeper insight into Thailand’s pro bono culture.
– Joanne Teo and Charisse Peh, Project Directors, Building of Bridges
This project benefits migrant construction workers. Charisse and Joanne led volunteers to create new infographics for the Employment Claims Tribunal, in partnership with the Community Justice Centre. They also collaborated with two new PBG partners, the Ministry of Manpower and the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, to provide attachment opportunities for students. Through these attachments, students impacted migrant workers’ lives by engaging in focus group discussions on issues that matter to them, and the students also assisted case workers with live casework.
Said Joanne: “I first got interested in pro bono work when I volunteered with NGOs such as Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME), where I was inspired by how legally trained case workers assisted migrant workers on their employment claims. It was here where I learnt more specifically where the gaps were within the system and how to focus efforts to serve the community. We planned talks on legislation, led projects to create infographics and organised discussion groups with migrant workers. Ultimately, we acknowledged the limitations that we had as students and, instead, felt it was more important to ensure that our members gained greater empathy and understanding of the community, in hopes that they would offer pro bono services to the migrant workers when they became qualified.”
– Lo Yin Peng and Adriel Ho, Project Directors, Law & You
This project serves migrant domestic workers. Yin Peng and Adriel conducted multiple legal awareness workshops in partnership with the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training to increase migrant domestic workers’ awareness of issues including responsible moneylending, salary matters and legal rights. The materials they used for this were then translated into the migrant domestic workers’ native languages.
Yin Peng said: “This award affirms our collective efforts to reach out to migrant domestic workers. Our members conducted field research with the Ministry of Manpower and legal information workshops with FAST. The workshop slides were designed to be inclusive and had Burmese and Bahasa Indonesia translations that were funded with the Class of 2017 grant. For everyone who was part of Project Law & You, interacting directly with our beneficiaries, be it through surveys, focus group discussions or workshops, were meaningful experiences that allowed us to see for ourselves that our work could make a positive impact.”
Innovation Award
– Christabelle Tan and Annabel Kwek, Project Directors, Project Parachute
Christabelle and Annabel were the driving force behind Project Parachute, where students compiled useful legal information and resources for sexual assault survivors regarding their rights and possible avenues of support. They led student volunteers in compiling a victim-survivor guide, under the supervision of lawyers from Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow. The guide is a first-of-its-kind resource that compiles important information on legal courses of action, claims under the Protection from Harassment Act, and support services available to survivors. It is presently available on the NUS Care unit’s official website.
Christabelle said: “This award is a recognition of our team’s hard work, and also an encouragement – to the Project Parachute team, and the wider law school community! As law students, we really are in a privileged position, with so much access to information and knowledge. We ought to tap on this, and be the voice for those who are voiceless. My Co-Project Director Annabel and I, along with a team of volunteers from PBG, safeNUS, and care officers from the NUS Care Unit, worked on helping sexual assault survivors through a difficult time, further complicated by information that is hard to access and full of legal jargon. This project is incredibly meaningful to us, as we work towards a where no victim-survivor feels unsupported or helpless.”
The NUS Centre for Pro Bono and Clinical Legal Education also proudly administered three different pro bono grants, made possible due to the generous financial support of the NUS Law Class of 1992, the NUS Law Class of 2017 and RHTLaw Asia.
NUS Law Class of 1992 Pro Bono Grant
This grant was presented to five pro bono projects, in the memory of Winston Wong, Richard Choong, David Lee, Malathi Das and Philip Tay. The focus is on pro bono projects with a catalytic effect – those that galvanise efforts towards a worthy cause to which NUS Law students can provide significant contributions.
These five projects are – Building of Bridges, the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre Collaboration, the Legal Education & Awareness Programme, Parachute and Project Law Help.
NUS Law Class of 2017 Pro Bono Grant
This grant is awarded to projects targeted at pro bono efforts, community service, or both. The projects are weighed on the basis of innovativeness, impact on the beneficiary, sustainability and contributions to NUS Law students’ learning journey. The two projects awarded this grant are Law & You and PLAY – Project Legal Awareness for Youths – Mentorship.
RHTLaw Asia Subhas Anandan Pro Bono Grant
This grant was established by RHTLaw Asia in honour of founding partner Subhas Anandan and in the hopes of continuing his work. The awarded projects must have a strong focus on increasing access to justice, whether for groups or individuals, and the recipient is the NUS Law Criminal Justice Club.