NUS Law ‘family’ reunites at Dean’s List & Awards Ceremony 2025

The lifeblood of NUS Law is the energy and enthusiasm of its students, both past and present, pointed out Dean Andrew Simester, with alumni revisiting the Bukit Timah campus—as donors and even parents—for this year’s Dean’s List & Awards Ceremony held on 23 September.

That sense of family was palpable, as friends gathered in camaraderie to celebrate their achievements born of gruelling nights spent together mugging for exams, with their parents and loved ones showing up to share in their joy.

Counted among the donors representing their companies to present prizes were several alumni: yesteryear’s students, today’s movers and shakers. This extended “family” included managing partners of top law firms and chief executives of key legal institutions, and they came to honour the accomplishments of the students in the Academic Year 2024/2025.

Associate Professor Tan Zhong Xing’12, Director of the Sheridan Fellowship Programme, who is an alumnus himself, opened the ceremony on a jocular note, quipping that the 167 Dean’s Listers and prize winners have unlocked a new level of “aura”. He deadpanned: “In one of my favourite legal classics of all time, the movie Legally Blonde, the irrepressible Elle Woods is asked by an incredulous friend, ‘You got into law school?’ And her response goes, ‘What, like it’s hard?’

“Let me assure you that NUS Law School is not just hard, but very hard, given the sheer overall quality of our students.”

This year, 68 awards were given out to 105 students, with many winning multiple awards, on top of being placed on the Dean’s List. For instance, valedictorian Choi Young Jae ’25 took home seven certificates, among which were the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal and the Chief Justice Prize, and was placed on the Dean’s List for the academic year 2024/2025, as well as clinching the Dean’s List (Overall) for academic excellence across his undergraduate years.

As Professor Simester addressed the audience, he made the same point, referring to the “intelligent young men and women [travelling] with us on our journey of teaching and learning”. He sounded a note of sensibility, even as he commended the students on their strong academic performance.

“Don’t forget, though, that prizes are not everything. All of you are heading out into a world in which, soon after graduation, the quality of your university degree will become less important than what you do with it.”

Amid the warmth and cheer of the event, donors and faculty members got to meet and mingle with the prize winners and their families after the ceremony, with good memories recounted in the final months of the law school’s stay on this historic campus, before the move to Kent Ridge next year.

What’s important to remember is the deep ties forged among generations of NUS Law students, as Professor Simester emphasised in his speech: “This Faculty is a family, and I look forward to seeing you again in future years, at reunions and maybe as part of the LAMP mentoring project.”

That sentiment was likely most keenly felt by the Class of 2025, our newly minted crop of graduates. Today’s students, tomorrow’s movers and shakers? They will be, if our alumni are anything to go by.

Congratulations to all Dean’s Listers and award recipients!

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Among the donors who presented prizes on behalf of their companies are the following NUS Law alumni:

Azman Jaafar ’90, Managing Partner, RHTLaw Asia LLP

Chen Zhida ’13, Director, Helmsman LLC Singapore

Thomas Choo Grad Dip Sing Law ’04, Managing Partner, Clyde & Co Clasis Singapore Pte Ltd

Jerry Koh ’92 LLM ’96, Managing Partner, Allen & Gledhill LLP

Kevin Kwek ’06, Chief Executive, Singapore Mediation Centre

Leong Kah Wah ’90, President, The Maritime Law Association of Singapore

Ng Kim Beng ’97, Managing Partner, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP

John Sze ’03, Managing Partner, Joseph Tan Jude Benny LLP

Benny Tan ’12, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore

Bernard Yee ’00, Treasurer, The Maritime Law Association of Singapore

Yeong Zee Kin ’97, Chief Executive, Singapore Academy of Law

Monica Yip ’89, Partner, Head of the Corporate Group, WongPartnership LLP