HISTORY OF THE PERAK BAR

When Gavin Tang asked me to write for the Perak Bar Blog on any topic of my choice, I thought it is an opportune time to point out that we lack a historical account of our Perak Bar. True, we have some photos but sadly lack a history of our Perak Bar. Why we do not even know who were the Chairmen of the Perak Bar before Dato Seenivasagam, Tan Sri Jeyaratnam and Dato Yeoh Kian Teik.

Somebody should record the events, anecdotes, jokes, actual incidents and other comments about the Perak Bar and the members. Perhaps together, we can tell our stories of what made the Perak Bar tick. Each of us may like to record our memories of the events affecting the Perak Bar, our members, the Courts, the buildings and what made the Perak Bar tick.

Members like Tan Sri Jeyaratnam, Dato Yeoh Kian Teik, Dato RCM Rayan, S.A. Lingam, Lim Boon Seng, Khong Kok Yat, Mahendran and Leela Mahendran, L.H. Singh, S.N. Leow, Philip Leong and many others may relate some interesting tales of what practice in the Perak Bar then was.

Remember judges like the late Tan Sri Chang Min Tat, Dato Pawan Ahmad, Tan Sri Wan Hamzah, the late Tan Sri Hashim Yeoh Sani, the late Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader (who made such a big impact on us and forced us to brush up our Civil Procedure and the Rules of the High Court) , the late Tan Sri Anuar (one of the most interesting judges with his jokes during our dinners and his beautiful rendition “To all the girls I’ve loved before” – he substituted “met” for “loved”). Remember his joke about the judge’s brains in cannibal village? No? Remind me to tell it to you some day, Mr. Ong See Seng, the late Tan Sri Abdul Malek Ahmad, Dato N.H. Chan, Dato Peh Swee Chin, Dato Chin Fook Yen, Dato James Foong, Dato Kang and too many to name. [My apologies if I spell the names wrongly or I use the wrong titles].

You may also recall the late Seenivasagam brother (Dato S.P and D.R.), the late J.R. Devadas (who relied on only one book, the Annual Practice, but who can give you a run for your money), the late R.G. Suppiah (remember him as a Commissioner for Oaths?), the late Dato A.S. Yeo, the late U Harcharan Singh, the late Bachan Singh, the late Dato Fred Arulanandom (who was one of the lawyers from Perak elevated to the Bench), Dato Vincent Ng (another Perak lawyer elevated to the Bench and now presiding in the Court of Appeal), Dato Jeffrey Tan Kok Wah (yet another Perak lawyer elevated to the Bench), the late Yeoh Lam Cheng, the late Gurdial Singh and the late Clarence Wilfred. The Ong brothers (Tan Sri H.T. Ong and H.S. Ong were brothers from Perak who were elevated to the Bench).

I met Dato RCM Rayan the other day. He told me he is now 92 years young. Many may not know that he was a former Member of Parliament. I am sure he has a lot of interesting stories to tell. I am sure S.A. Lingam also has a lot of interesting experiences to relate (just give him a few whiskies). I believe at one time, Lingam probably handled the most cases of any lawyer – I must ask him how he could go from Ipoh court to Kampar court, Batu Gajah court,

Sitiawan court, Sungei Siput court and Parit court and probably all in one day!
You may like to relate of the Bench, Bar and Senior Police Officers Games which incidentally started when the late Tan Sri Hashim Yeop Sani and the late Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader were judges of the High Court in Ipoh and how our sports committee convinced them to donate the challenge trophies. Remember the dinners on each of the festive occasions (Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Deepavali) during their time as resident judges here?

You may like to hear of the origin of the Council’s Chambers (or Bar Room now as it is called) in the Subordinate Courts complex and the Tun Salleh episode and how it affected our Perak Bar. Our S. Theivanthiran was the then vice Chairman of the Bar Council (subsequently Chairman) and I was the Perak Bar Committee Chairman. You may like to hear of the origin of the Perak Bar Bulletin.

More senior members may remember the Magistrates Court and Sessions Court was once located where our General Post Office now is. You may remember the old High Court building before the renovation. Remember how we had to wear coats when there was no air-conditioning, the opening of the various courts in Ipoh and elsewhere in Perak. Remember the era before photostat machines came into existence when quoting authorities mean you have to supply the list of cases and bring along baskets (specially made) of books and bringing a lot of books not relevant to your case just to convince your client you did a lot of work and research.

On a more recent note is the passing away of Thinakaran recently. We used to play badminton together with Lalchand, Kiko, Ghanshamdas, Khai Kit and Cheng. We will remember Thina as a perfect gentleman who never had a bad word against anyone and certainly one of the friendliest and nicest lawyers of the Perak Bar. He was polite not only to the senior lawyers but also to the junior ones. He always called me “Chief”. Remind me to tell you why someday. To his widow Kamala and family, we offer our condolences. He will always be in our memory.

So how about it – do you think we should record all these episodes for posterity? It is no good just agreeing – you have to contribute articles.

So let’s hear from you.

S.Y. Lee