Scholarship to Expand Mindsets About Success

What does it mean to be successful in life? Many may equate success with high earnings or stellar professional achievements.

Chandra Mohan K Nair ’76, Partner at law firm Tan Rajah & Cheah, and his wife Susan de Silva ’83, a former lawyer who is now a Life & Executive Coach, think of success in a much broader way.

They believe that people are truly successful when they engage all dimensions of their humanity, beyond the intellectual and physical, to include the emotional dimension and the human need for purpose and meaning in life.

They see the emotional and purpose aspects of human beings as powerful, largely untapped resources that are capable of igniting creativity, positive disruption and ultimately more well- being in the world. As such, they would like to encourage aspiring lawyers to think about what is important to them in all their dimensions as human beings.

To this end, Susan and Chandra have established a scholarship which recognises, cherishes, and celebrates NUS Law undergraduates’ personal qualities as much as their scholastic achievements.

The Chandra Mohan K Nair Scholarship will be given to deserving candidates who exemplify exceptional human qualities that Chandra is widely respected and recognised for. These include being honourable; service to the community especially in relation to the legal profession and NUS; acting with personal courage and integrity; and idealism.

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Susan and Chandra, and the full article can be found here: http://nus.edu.sg/nusgiving/news-and- events/giving-news/news-detailed-view/ newsview/law-veteran-s-scholarship- seeks-to-expand-mindsets-about-success

“We’ve been getting the feeling that the traditional measure of ‘success’ does not serve us fully as human beings. By seeding this Scholarship, we are grateful and thrilled to be able to contribute in some way towards expanding what society values as success.

In 2016, the Law Society of Singapore conferred on Chandra the CC Tan Award, an accolade presented to lawyers who embody the noble traits of the Law Society’s first president, Mr Tan Chye Cheng. It was this award that inspired us to set up this Scholarship.

We hope to see students who do the right thing by their values, even if it is scary or unpopular; someone who is honest with the small things as much as with the big things, especially when no one is watching.”

Susan de Silva ‘83

“I joined Mr CC Tan’s law firm, Tan Rajah & Cheah, in January 1977, the year I was called to the Bar. In his quiet way, Mr Tan taught me to carry out one’s duties diligently with the client’s interests uppermost in my mind, and that it was important to be a part of the larger legal fraternity, including the judiciary, legal service, and law faculty.

When I did legal work for the Singapore Sports Council, Mr Tan told me to treat it as pro bono work because it was a government body promoting sports and sportsmanship in Singapore.

These and many other incidents left an indelible mark on me. I was inspired to do voluntary work for the Law Society, voluntary organisations, and deserving non-governmental and sports organisations. I have done so for almost 43 years and counting.

Another person who deeply influenced me as a person and lawyer was my mother. She came to Singapore from India at 28 years old and was completely deaf. Whatever little money she had, she spent almost all of it on our family.

She never punished or scolded me. But she was a self-appointed ‘psychologist’ of sorts, telling me to improve through reasoned arguments and not to repeat my mistakes. Far ahead of her time, she was a truly democratic and liberal person. She imbued in me a commitment to justice and telling the truth, and to embrace being optimistic and idealistic.”

Chandra Mohan K Nair ‘76