CONTENTS 26 EDITOR’S NOTE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE PRESS RELEASES FROM THE BAR FEATURES/ARTICLES 23 Opening of the Legal Year 2015 26 The Offi ce of the President of the Malaysian Bar 36 Interview with Christopher Leong, 30th President of the Malaysian Bar 42 Citation for Dr Radhakrishna Ramani, Recipient of the Malaysian Bar Lifetime Achievement Award 2015 45 Dr Radhakrishna Ramani: A Lifetime of Achievement EVENTS 55 69th Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar, Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel (14 Mar 2015) 58 Malaysian Bar Annual Dinner and Dance 2015 (14 Mar 2015) 36 60 LEXPO Rocks Dataran Undergrnd (28 Feb 2015) 63 46th Malaysia/Singapore Bench and Bar Games 2015, Singapore (30 Apr to 2 May 2015) LIFESTYLE 64 Netting the Ball CASE NOTES — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FEDERAL COURT STATE BAR NEWS ELEVATION OF JUDGES NEWS 45 CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT BAR UPDATES/NOTICES 85 New Admissions to the Malaysian Bar 88 List of Departed Members 88 Notice Regarding Bar Circulars and E-Blasts 89 Summary of Circulars 90 General Information on Matters Discussed at Bar Council Meetings 90 List Of Struck Off Members Wherein Appeal/Reinstatement Allowed 91 Notice Regarding Documents in Bar Council's Custody: Legal Firms in which Bar Council has Intervened 91 Library Update 70 99 Disciplinary Orders JAN-JUN 2015 | PRAXIS 1 COVER STORY BAR COUNCIL MALAYSIA Bar Council 15 Leboh Pasar Besar 50050 Kuala Lumpur Tel No: (603) 2050 2050 Fax No: (603) 2026 1313 / (603) 2034 2825 / (603) 2072 5818 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.malaysianbar.org.my MEMBERS OF BAR COUNCIL MALAYSIA 2015/2016 President : Steven Thiruneelakandan Vice-President : George Varughese Secretary : Karen Cheah Yee Lynn Treasurer : Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor Abdullah Johari Hamzah | Ahmad Zaini Samsudin | Andrew Khoo Chin Hock | Brendan Navin Siva | Burhanudeen Abdul Wahid | Christopher Leong | Desmond Ho Chee Cheong | Hendon Mohamed | Honey Tan Lay Ean | Jeremiah R Gurusamy | Joseph Mathews PM Mathews | Kenny Lai Choe Ken | Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari | Low Beng Choo | Mudzafar Shah Mohd | Norazham Yahaya | R Jayabalan | Rajpal Singh Mukhtiar Singh | Ravi Nekoo | Ravinder Singh Dhalliwal | Richard Wee Thiam Seng | Roger Chan Weng Keng | Rosnah Zakaria | S Gunasegaran | Salim Bashir Bhaskaran | Salwa Mansor | Sarengapani K Rajoo | Shyama MM Narayanan Nair | Siti Hajar Che Ahmad | Sulaiman Abdullah | Surindar Singh Chain Singh | Syahredzan Johan | Thavamani Subramaniam | Victor Paul Dorai Raj MEMBERS OF THE BAR COUNCIL PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE 2014/2015 Raphael Tay (Chairperson), Aston Paiva, David Mathew, Gregory Vinesh Das, Janet Chai, KN Geetha, KS Shasha, Mariette Peters, Noor Arianti Osman, Alicia Tan EDITORIAL BOARD COVER STORY Bar Council Raphael Tay – Editor-in-Chief Baizura Abd Razak, Joane Sharmila – Editors The Offi ce of the President of the Malaysian Bar is a dignifi ed position, Nishta Jiwa, Sangheetha Kuppusamy – Marketing & Advertising LexisNexis and one of great signifi cance. Nonetheless, beneath the limelight this Amitabh Srivastava – Commercial Director, Southeast Asia Annie Yeoh – Managing Editor, Southeast Asia position brings, it is demanding and bears great responsibility, not only Jasmine Halili – Senior Legal Editor Mohd Khairil Johari – Design & Production to Members of the Malaysian Bar, but also to the public. This commemorative President's issue provides an in-depth look into LexisNexis Malaysia Sdn Bhd how the Offi ce of the President is managed, how each President views T1-6, Jaya 33, 3, Jalan Semangat Seksyen 13, 46100 Petaling Jaya Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia his/her time in offi ce, and his/her contributions as President. Readers Tel: (603) 7882 3500, Fax: (603) 7882 3506 are in for a treat, as past Presidents — Ambiga Sreenevasan, Yeo Yang Praxis is the official publication of Bar Council Malaysia, published quarterly in collaboration with LexisNexis Malaysia Sdn Bhd, for circulation to Members of the Malaysian Bar. Poh, Mah Weng Kwai — are featured in the article. Furthermore, Bar Council Malaysia, and its authorised authors and designers of Praxis, accept no liability for any loss arising from the use of, or reliance on, Praxis. Bar Council Malaysia does not readers will get an inside look at the many tasks the President of the warrant the accuracy of the contents thereof or any statement made by the contributors, writers or advertisers herein, and does not accept responsibility or liability in relation thereto. Malaysian Bar is expected to undertake. Read the full story on page 26. Statements of contributors, writers or advertisers herein represent their personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bar Council or the Malaysian Bar. All users are permitted to view the content of Praxis, without prejudice to the intellectual property rights belonging to Bar Council Malaysia. However, any unauthorised reproduction, duplication, transmission or alteration, in any form or by any means, whether in part or in whole, of Praxis, There’s more: Most Members of the Bar would only know Christopher is strictly prohibited. Bar Council Malaysia also prohibits the use of Praxis and all or any of its contents herein, for commercial and/or personal gain, profit or sale. Leong as the President who chaired the longest Annual General Meeting © 2015 All rights reserved in recent times! But get to know the other side of him as he reveals his Enquiries on advertising: Kajendran Arumugam — [email protected] early years, his education, and his journey into law, in an Interview with Nishta Jiwa — [email protected] Christopher Leong, 30th President of the Malaysian Bar, on page 36. Article contribution: Bar Council Malaysia welcomes letters, articles, views and news (including photographs) for possible inclusion in Praxis. However, Bar Council Malaysia reserves the right not to publish or to edit those published for content, clarity, style and space considerations. Contributions and enquiries may be directed to [email protected]. This issue, we also feature the late Dr Radhakrishna Ramani: A Circulation: 17,500 Lifetime of Achievement. It is remarkable that the Malaysian Bar Printed in Malaysia by Atlas Cetak (M) Sdn Bhd (97608-X) Wisma Atlas, No.2, Persiaran Industri had been graced by such unusual genius, a lawyer and diplomat par Bandar Sri Damansara, 52200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia excellence, wholly dedicated to serving the profession and the nation. Tel: (603) 6273 3333, Fax: (603) 6073 3833 Read more on page 45. Read these and more in this issue of Praxis! 2 PRAXIS | JAN-JUN 2015 EDITOR’S NOTE From the Editor´s Keyboard we subscribe to and the purpose of our President Christopher Leong stood resolute existence. The easy route is to pander in the course of the lengthy proceedings to popular opinion, which may bring until the end — even when the motions instant gratifi cation but have undesirable being debated were directly disparaging of consequences in the long term. The harder him, and accompanied by vitriolic outbursts. route is to make sound decisions that, The manner in which he conducted himself although unpopular with the masses, are will surely go down in history as one of the those which are optimum in the long run. fi ner moments of Bar leadership, if not any The latter is based on principles; the former leadership. on political expediency. The current President, Steven Thiru, Leadership is also about being open to continues this noble tradition of defending new ideas and the ability to listen. The the rule of law and the principles of immortal words of Voltaire — “I do not democratic governance. Early on in his agree with what you have to say, but I’ll Presidency, Steven’s plate has already defend to the death your right to say it” — been overfl owing with a plethora of issues is a gold standard to which every leader of concern, including the abuse by police must aspire. On this point, the present of their investigative powers, the arrest of The Importance of Sound and Government’s continued usage, and recent individuals exercising their right to peaceful Sensible Leadership enhancement of the ambit and power of the assembly, the passage of the Prevention Sedition Act 1948 reveals the Government’s of Terrorism Act 2015 and amendments to hen a country obtains independence inability and refusal to listen to dissent and the Sedition Act 1948, and most recently, Wfrom its colonial power, the country criticism. This is a move that is repugnant the saga of the boat people off our shores, is shrouded in a veil of uncertainty. While in a democracy, and demonstrates that the and the discovery of mass graves as well as there is the promise of autonomy and the Government is taking the convenient route “death camps” in Perlis near the border with power to chart its own future, a paternal of silencing dissent instead of engaging with Thailand. The sterling leadership qualities hand that has always had a fi rm grasp on the dissenters. that Steven has demonstrated will ensure the administrative aff airs is absent. that the Malaysian Bar stays true to its One must not forget that a true leader is one course. Questions abound about the country’s who sticks to his/her principles, no matter social, economic, military and foreign aff airs the cost. Principles are critical, because they Then again, the Malaysian Bar has never policies. Key decisions must be made, embody your true colours and core values. lacked outstanding leadership. Among the with costs and benefi ts carefully weighed. Principles also allow for some measure of most notable who have helmed the Bar, In this time of hope, and yet of uncertainty, predictability and consistency in making surely Dr Radhakrishna Ramani must be the role of government in its stewardship of decisions, which would reassure and give inducted in a Malaysian Bar Hall of Fame, if the nation is most direly felt.