The 8th NUS Law Pro Bono Awards Ceremony

The Centre for Pro Bono & Clinical Legal Education’s 8th Pro Bono Awards Ceremony was held on 21 February. Graced by Justice Choo Han Teck ’79, the Centre presented 14 awards to recipients of three award categories in recognition of their outstanding contributions to pro bono service. The Pro Bono Innovation Award was presented to Lee Jie Yi ’24 and Siti Nurellisha Binte Khairi Sallehudin ’24 in recognition of their unique and innovative contributions to the Syariah Court (SYC). Under their leadership, the Syariah Law Friends project team worked with the SYC to create and populate a knowledge management portal. Student volunteers also summarised cases in the Singapore Syariah Appeal Reports and built a onestop portal for all legal resources to facilitate legal and presiding officers’ decision-making.

The Pro Bono Special Recognition Award, which recognises students for their outstanding contributions and dedication to excellence in pro bono service under their respective projects, was presented to the following 11 outstanding student leaders:
• Anthea Cheo ’25 and Damian Lee Han Ping ’25, for their contributions to Project Law & You
• Li Minghan ’25 and Trina Rahardja ’25, for their contributions to NUS-FIDReC
• Ge Yiming ’25 and Lim Peng Yong Darren ’25, for their contributions to Building of Bridges
• Whang Chia Ning ’25, Adri Faris ’25 and Janice Neoh ’25 for their contributions as the Pro Bono
Group’s President and Vice Presidents
• Janice Neo and Germaine Ong Jia Min ’25, for their contributions to Project Parachute

Finally, the Pro Bono Mentor Award was presented to Eunice Chua ’07, CEO, Financial Industry Disputes
Resolution Centre (FIDReC), in recognition of her dedication to mentor and guide our law students in their
pro bono efforts.

Seven noteworthy pro bono projects received support from generous donors and were presented with the NUS Law Class of 1992 Pro Bono Grant, the NUS Law Class of 2017 Pro Bono Grant, and the RHTLaw Asia Subhas Anandan Pro Bono Grant.

The NUS Law Class of 1992 Pro Bono Grant was presented by donor representative Vijai Parwani ’92 to Building of Bridges, Project Parachute and the NUS-FIDReC collaboration. Through the project Building of Bridges, the project group aims to raise legal awareness among migrant workers about the laws governing their industry, while the students working on Project Parachute will work towards promoting access to justice
for sexual assault survivors through its collaborations with NUS Care Unit and AWARE. In addition, the NUSFIDReC collaboration seeks to increase access to justice by raising awareness on common issues of dispute between vulnerable consumers, namely seniors and the youth, and financial institutions.

The NUS Law Class of 2017 Pro Bono Grant was presented by donor representative Charlene Wee ’17 to Project Legal Awareness for Youths Mentorship (PLAY) and Law & You. PLAY focuses on the mentorship of secondary school students from various neighbourhood schools, empowering these at-risk and the vulnerable youth to be more confident individuals through legal workshops centred on topics such as drugs
and addiction, mediation, cyberbullying and harassment, and regular engagement sessions. Law & You aims to promote access to justice for migrant domestic workers in collaboration with various organisations such as the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training, the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants & Itinerant People, the Centre for Domestic Employees and the Alliance of Domestic Employees Outreach, by raising awareness of
their legal rights and liabilities while working in Singapore.

The RHTLaw Asia Subhas Anandan Pro Bono Grant was presented by donor representative Yang Eu Jin ’97 to the NUS Criminal Justice Club (CJC) and in support of the Thai-Ed with Love initiative. The NUS CJC seeks to raise awareness about criminal law in Singapore and provide opportunities for students to engage with the criminal justice system through seven sub-branches including the Recourse Initiative (formerly known as the Innocence Project Singapore), the Military Justice Project and the Criminal Law Digest, while Thai-Ed with Love is an overseas pro bono exchange in collaboration with Thammasat University’s Pro Bono Society that is organised by the NUS Pro Bono Group. This year’s exchange, Thai-Ed with Love 2024, was a five-day trip involving out-of-classroom experiences and an exchange of ideas to enrich the learning and understanding of laws and pro bono cultures in Thailand and Singapore.

The Centre for Pro Bono & Clinical Legal Education congratulates all students and mentors who embody the heart and spirit of pro bono and for their commitment towards pro bono projects that serve the larger community in Singapore and beyond.