Crystal Tan ’10 receives Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship to Harvard Law

Congratulations to Crystal Tan Yan Shi ’10 on receiving the 2016 Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship to pursue the LLM at Harvard Law School!

Crystal graduated with First Class Honours from NUS Law in 2010 (placed in the top 5% of the graduating cohort), and served as a Justices’ Law Clerk and Assistant Registrar at the Supreme Court of Singapore.

She is presently a Deputy Public Prosecutor and Deputy Senior State Counsel at the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), conducting criminal prosecution in the State and High Courts, and criminal and magistrate appeals in the High Court and Court of Appeal. One of her notable recent cases include the Criminal Reference in Jali Bin Mohd Yunos v Public Prosecutor in which the Court of Appeal considered a question of public interest, viz, does rashness require consciousness of risk for road traffic offences. The decision had huge ramifications not only for the prosecution of road traffic offences but the mens rea elements of “rashness” and “recklessness” for criminal culpability in all criminal offences.

Crystal was also involved in the inter-ministry review of remand cases in the criminal justice system and diversionary measures for youth and mentally disadvantaged offenders. She had represented the AGC at the Asean Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights Advance Training Program of Human Rights (Bangkok, November 2013) to speak on access to justice issues in Singapore’s criminal justice system.

When she was a student at NUS Law, Crystal was actively involved in pro bono activities, and served as chairperson of the volunteering committee for the Cheng Su Lan Children’s Home.

On the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship

The Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship was set up in 1991 by the Tanjong Pagar Citizens’ Consultative Committee with funding from the public to commemorate the contributions made by the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew to Singapore.

Applicants, who must be Singapore citizens, are assessed based on whole-person qualities including their academic achievements and track record of leadership and service within or beyond their profession. Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship holders can pursue postgraduate studies overseas or locally, and there are no restrictions on the course of study. While there is no bond associated with the scholarship, Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship holders are expected to actively contribute towards the country and the community.

To date, 56 outstanding Singaporeans have been awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship in various disciplines, such as law, business management, life sciences and music. Associate Professor David Tan, Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) at NUS Law, was a recipient of the Scholarship in 1997.