NUS Law Alumni in Parliament

NUS Law congratulates our alumni who will join Singapore’s 13th Parliament after the General Elections 2015: Halimah Yacob ’78, K Shanmugam ’84, Indranee Rajah ’86, Sylvia Lim ’88, Lim Biow Chuan ’88, Edwin Tong S.C. ’94, Patrick Tay ’95, Desmond Lee ’01, Rahayu Mahzam ’03, Amrin Amin ’03, Christopher De Souza ’03 and Vikram Nair ’05.

Halimah Yacob, LL.B Class of 1978, LL.M Class of 2001
Speaker of Parliament
Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC  

Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob’s move from Bukit Batok East to the newly-formed Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC was confirmed by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on August 8.  Mr Tharman said that Mdm Halimah made Bukit Batok East what it is today: A strong and caring community, which is the model for the whole of Singapore.

Mdm Halimah Yacob became Singapore’s first female Speaker of Parliament when she assumed the position in January 2013.

She had previously served as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Social and Family Development. She was a Member of the Public Petitions Committee before taking the role as Chairman in the Committee of Selection, Committee of Privileges, House Committee, Public Petitions Committee and Standing Orders Committee in the 12th Parliament.

K Shanmugam, Class of 1984
Minister for Home Affairs & Minister for Law
Nee Soon GRC

Mr K Shanmugam has led the Nee Soon GRC since 2011, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Sembawang GRC from 1988 to 2006. Starting his career as a lawyer, he became one of the youngest Senior Counsels of the Supreme Court of Singapore, when he was appointed in 1998 at the age of 38.

Maintaining close contact with the faculty, Mr K Shanmugam also served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Law.

Indranee Rajah, Class of 1986
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law & Ministry of Finance
Tanjong Pagar GRC

Ms Indranee Rajah was previously also Senior Minister of State for Education (till 2015) in addition to her portfolio at the Ministry of Law, and had served as Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 2006 to 2011.

In 2003, she was appointed Senior Counsel by the Chief Justice of Singapore and also held the post of Deputy Head of Drew & Napier’s Dispute Resolution Department, until October 2012. She had previously served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Law.

Sylvia Lim, Class of 1988
Member of Parliament
Aljunied GRC

Ms Sylvia Lim has taken on another term of office at the Aljunied GRC, and has been a member of parliament since 2011. Prior to this, Ms Sylvia Lim was a Non-constituency Member of Parliament from 2006.

Starting off her career with the Singapore Police Force, Ms Lim later entered private practice, and afterward joined Temasek Polytechnic as a lecturer, before returning to private practice in 2011.

Ms Lim is also the first female chairperson of a major political party in Singapore.

Lim Biow Chuan, Class of 1988
Member of Parliament
Mountbatten Single Member Constituency (SMC)

Mr Lim Biow Chuan will continue to lead the Mountbatten ward, a role he has taken on since 2011. Prior to his appointment at Mountbatten (which was made a SMC in 2011), he had represented Marine Parade GRC as a member of parliament from 2006 to 2011.

A recent news report had cited some improvements that were made to Mountbatten during Mr Lim’s leadership included the upgrading of playgrounds, installation of CCTVs, and cooperation with LTA for more elderly-friendly traffic crossings.

Mr Lim co-founded the law firm Derrick Wong & Lim BC LLP in 2008.

Edwin Tong S.C. Class of 1994
Member of Parliament
Marine Parade GRC

Mr Edwin Tong will be taking charge of Joo Chiat, a sub division of the Marine Parade GRC. Mr Tong was previously part of the now-dissolved Moulmein-Kallang GRC, where he represented the Jalan Besar ward and served as MP for the GRC.

As a partner at Allen & Gledhill, Mr Tong’s practice includes corporate and commercial litigation and international arbitration. He has also had experience with arbitrations such as those under International Chamber of Commerce, United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, London Court of International Arbitration and Singapore International Arbitration Centre Rules. In January this year, he was appointed Senior Counsel.

Patrick Tay, Class of 1995
Member of Parliament
West Coast GRC  

Mr Patrick Tay moves over from Nee Soon GRC to join the West Coast GRC in this year’s elections. He is currently the assistant secretary-general at the National Trades Union Congress and a member of the GPCs of Health and Manpower. Mr Tay has been a member of parliament for Nee Soon GRC since 2011.

Desmond Lee, Class of 2001
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of National Development &
Deputy Leader of the House
Jurong GRC

Mr Desmond Lee continues in his role as MP for the Jurong GRC, and will represent his Jurong Spring ward. Mr Lee was first elected as MP for the Jurong GRC in May 2011.

Prior to his entry into politics, Mr Lee also spent two years at in the Legal Policy Division of the Ministry of Law, and later joined Temasek as in-house counsel until his appointment to office at MND.

Amrin Amin, Class of 2003
Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs
Sembawang GRC

Mr Amrin Amin, a corporate lawyer at Joseph Tan Jude Benny, was fielded as a newcomer to the Sembawang GRC team, and will join parliament for the first time this year. He has been active in grassroots work since 2004, and has served in various grassroots committees such as Citizens Consultative Committee and Community Club Management Committee. From 2004 to 2006, he was Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam’s legislative assistant.

Mr Amrin has been involved in welfare activities, serving the boards of Nanyang Polytechnic, National Council of Problem Gambling, feedback unit REACH, bursary and scholarship body Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday Memorial Scholarship Fund Board (LBKM), and the Association of Muslim Professionals’ “Ready for School” Programme that assists underprivileged children with their education costs.

During his time at NUS Law, Mr Amrin represented the university in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in Washington D.C. and the Singapore Inter-Varsity Malay Debates. He has done internships with United Nations in New York, Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.

Rahayu Mahzam, Class of 2003
Member of Parliament
Jurong GRC

Madam Rahayu Mahzam, a former deputy registrar of the Syariah Court, has filled the void left by mentor, Madam Halimah Yacob, in Jurong GRC. A newcomer to the political scene, Madam Rahayu specialises in civil litigation and family law, and has been an active volunteer since 1997.

Christopher de Souza, Class of 2003 (GRAD.DIP.SING.LAW)
Member of Parliament
Holland-Bukit Timah GRC

Mr Christopher de Souza will join parliament as a member representing the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC. He has been a Member of Singapore’s Parliament since 2006 and serves as a member of the Government Parliamentary Committees for Manpower (Deputy Chairman) and Law and Home Affairs.

Mr De Souza, a lawyer at Lee & Lee, has experience in dispute resolution areas including intellectual property, contractual, negligence, defamation, internet defamation, banking and regulatory disputes and disputes involving shareholders, directors, finance and companies, as well as matters involving international arbitration and white collar crime. He has acted as lead Counsel in hearings before the Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal, and has acted as counsel in International Arbitrations. He also represents clients in mediations and negotiations, and in the State Courts.

Vikram Nair, Class of 2005 (GRAD.DIP.SING.LAW)
Member of Parliament
Sembawang GRC

Mr Vikram Nair has been an MP for Sembawang since 2011, and will continue to do so for the current
term. He has also been a member of the GPCs for Communications and Information, Finance and Trade
and Industry, and Home Affairs and Law.

Mr Nair, partner at Rajah & Tann, specialises in international arbitration and commercial and corporate
litigation with particular experience in handling complex, multi-jurisdictional disputes. He was previously
a management consultant at McKinsey, and has worked in international and Singapore law firms.