TALK ON HUMAN RIGHTS LITIGATION

PBC/ Circular-PSD/ 32/07/08

21st July 2008

Dear Members of the Perak Bar

Topic : Human Right Litigation

Speaker : Edmund Bon

Venue : Perak Bar Secretariat

Date : 28th July 2008 (Monday)

Time : 5.00p.m – 7.00p.m

Kindly RSVP to the Perak Bar Secretariat by 24th July 2008 as refreshments will be served.

Please be notified that recently , talks have been cancelled because of poor response. Kindly RSVP as requested so that the talk can be held as scheduled.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Rashpal Singh

Chairman

Professional Standards &

Development Sub Committee

Perak (PSDC)

PERAK-PENANG GAMES 2008 REPORT

July as everyone knows is the clarion call for all the sportsmen and women of the Perak Bar to dust off their sports equipment as the annual Inter Bar games between Perak and Penang kicks off. The games are held annually over the course of a weekend except that this year, the golf competition was held a week earlier at Clearwater Sanctuary.

First up was tennis which was meant to begin at 9am. However,the actual matches only took place an hour after the allotted time as participants slowly staggered onto the tennis courts after the previous night's revelry and overindulgence in liquid lubrication. Led by our Sports Committee Chair, Mr Kenny Lai, the first doubles of Kenny and Tai Jek comfortably ousted the Penang pairing. Nevertheless, as Penang failed to make up the numbers required for tennis a walkover was conceded as Perak celebrated the first victory of the day.




Thereafter, the volleyball team gamely salvaged a draw after having lost the first game to the Penang Bar. Having the rather large presence of YB Thomas Su probably had something to do with the wall of opposition the Perak Bar managed to put up.

A draw was also on the cards for our Badminton team as the final result was 4-4 despite great battling displays from Steven Su, Chong Kok Yew, Cheong, Michael et al.




Tragically, these games will be remembered only for the loss of one our own, namely Thinakaran or Thina as he was popularly referred to. At around 3pm, Thina suffered a massive heartattack while on the field of play during the futsal game and subsequently passed away despite the best efforts of the players there to revive him. Thina epitomised the spirit of the games by virtue of his ready smile, warm spirit and passion for the games. As news of this tragic event slowly reached the rest of the participants, participants of the hockey game held a minutes silence for Thina as they struggled on with the rest of the game.



Dinner was as to be expected a sombre event with much tears, cries of shock and fond remembrances of Thina our friend and peer. The minutes silence was carried out impeccably by all the members of the Perak and Penang Bar.


As a mark of respect, all games for the following day were cancelled as the Perak Bar mourned the loss of a wonderful man.

Rest in Peace Thina.

You will always be in our hearts.

ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS

THINAKARAN A/L PRABHAKARAN
Advocate & Solicitor
29.7.1958 – 19.7.2008

A great loss of a great soul.

Thina (as he was popularly known) graduated with an LLB (Hons) degree from the Newcastle Upon Tyne Polytechnic and was a member of Lincolns Inn. He was called to the Malaysian Bar on July 28th., 1984.

He did his pupilage in the chambers of Messrs Cheang Lee & Ong. He worked as a Legal Assistant with a number of firms in Ipoh and Teluk Intan before joining Messrs Lalchand & Nawawi., Ipoh as a Partner on July 1st 1992. He was instrumental in setting up the branch office in Teluk Intan, his home town.

Thina leaves behind his beloved wife, Mrs Kamala Mahlini Jeganathan, also a member of the Perak Bar and three beautiful children, two daughters, Kavena aged 14, Keshana aged 12 and a son, Daksheshkaran aged 5.

He was a Chairman and Committee Member of the Investigating Tribunal, Advocates & Solicitors Disciplinary Board. He was also a Committee Member and later the Chairman of the PIBG Tarcisian Convent, Ipoh where his girls are studying.

Thina lived an amazing life. He was an extraordinary partner, colleague, friend and mentor. He never failed to be available to anyone who needed him. Thina always had his family, firm and friends close to his heart.

What is it that we remember of Thina?

With almost a quarter century in practice to his credit, his dedicated service and solution- oriented professional attitude encouraged confidence not only in his clients, but also his office mates and colleagues at the Bar. Yet his humility and consideration for the other’s feelings would not permit him to embarrass or put down anyone even when he knew that they were wrong. His attitude of quiet professional commitment was an effective lure for clients both in Ipoh and in Teluk Intan where he successfully and unobtrusively built up the firm’s business. He reflected an increasingly rare trait of being aware of commercial realities without ever compromising his principles for them.

Thina was an active Court going lawyer. He built up a reputation as a formidable litigator in civil matters representing banks, financial institutions and corporate clients. He was also an accomplished conveyancing lawyer.

Outside the work place, his kindness made him an obvious focus for people with problems who needed wise counsel. His ever listening ears combined with his ‘thinaesque’ assurance “Don’t worry lah. Things will be alright” made him a treasured confidante. He had a ready sense of humour which came with an infectious laugh that touched all those who came into contact with him.

That is what we will truly miss about Thina. He could make us laugh and especially in the face of difficulties. With a cheery smile, he’d give a comforting pat on the back and gently remind us that behind every cloud there is a silver lining.

Thina loved sports. He played badminton twice a week for more than twenty years and futsal once a week for more than five. During his years in practice, he had on numerous occasions represented Perak Bar in its annual games in Perak, Penang and Kuala Lumpur. He was so looking forward to the Penang/Perak Bar games that fateful weekend as he was involved in futsal (his favourite sport), Badminton and Darts and not to mention the fellowship that traditionally follows.

At 49, Thina was too young to leave his family and friends As we struggle to come to terms with his passing, it is slowly dawning on us that Thina lived his life wonderfully and to the fullest. He was an excellent time manager and made the space for his work, and his commitment to family and friends, without compromising his hobbies. His attitude and respect for all typified his dealings. In this he has left a legacy to be cherished by his friends and one that his family, especially his children would be proud of - to be honourable, fair and loving to all people at all times.

We are privileged and honoured to have known this gem of a man and to have been a part of his life. All that we have shared with him will forever be held dear and remembered. Even as we grieve our loss for our irreplaceable friend and partner, we shall also celebrate his life because Thina continues to live in our hearts.

And we know that some day we will meet Thina again, where in all probability he’ll be there to greet us at heaven’s doors with a twinkle in his eyes, a great big smile and a giant hug. On that day we shall laugh together again.

Our prayers and thoughts are with you Kamala, Kavena, Keshana and Daksheshkaran .

We feel your loss and share your pain.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the Perak and Penang Bar especially the futsal teams who administered immediate aid and CPR on Thina during his final moments. A special thanks to our dear friend Dr. Anoop Kumar who came to the Sports Centre immediately after being informed and continued with the necessary aid right up to the Emergency Room at Pantai Putri Hospital.

WE LOVE YOU THINA AND WE SALUTE YOU.

Rest in Peace dearest friend.

Your family at Lalchand & Nawawi.,
Ipoh and Teluk Intan.

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

TO HEAR OR NOT TO HEAR

The recent circular issued by the Chief Judge of Malaya directing that all Order 14 and Order 18 rule 19 applications are to be heard by the Judge from the 1.7.2008 certainly took many by surprise. While pondering about the wisdom of this directive, I was also wondering whether a staggered approach would have been more suited as there must have been some cases where the arguments were part heard.

A good move?

Order 14 and Order 18 rule 19 applications more often than not are characterised by voluminous affidavits, multiple adjournments and lengthy written submissions. On average, an application on this first tier can take from start to finish, about 9 months to be disposed off. There are of course, shorter or longer periods depending on the complexity of the matter, the status of the Court diary and the personality of your opponent.

So if this initiative succeeds in shaving off about 9 months from the duration of a litigation matter, it is most welcome. However, I wondered whether the removal of this first tier, would prejudice litigants? I don’t think so but any views to the contrary are certainly welcome.

It is a common lament amongst the lawyers that the administration of the Court Registry is not as efficient as it should be and there is no proper turn around time taken to process and return documents.

The Registrars tackle administrative duties as well as doing their Judges research and conducting their own hearings. Litigation is on the rise and proportionally, the Registrar’s duties have increased manifold. Registrars often have to juggle these administrative duties with their legal work and thus it is understandable, if one inadvertently drops the ball.

Hence removing these, sometimes protracted, applications from the Registrar’s diary will free up more of their time to tackle more administrative matters and their own cases which can also be highly contested especially in the areas of Insolvency Law.

One issue I did have with the directive was that the Registrars, who may one day preside over a Magistrates or Sessions Court, would not have had the benefit of getting their feet wet in appreciating more complex arguments. As there is direct supervision by way of appeal before the Judge in Chambers, the now abolished practice was, in my view, an ideal way to expose the Registrars to weighing more complex evidence and arguments and writing their grounds of judgments.

Therefore, this initiative may have sacrificed that valuable exposure for the sake of efficiency and expediency but only to a limited extent only assuming the Registrars will still assist their assigned Judge in the research of the Order 14 and Order 18 rule 19 applications.

In conclusion, the intention of the directive, if deciphered correctly above, is well intentioned but only time will tell whether it was a good move or not as the High Court Judges will have to juggle far more applications in addition to carrying out the full trials and the hearing of appeals from the Subordinate Courts scheduled in their already packed diaries. For the time being, I am cautiously optimistic!

Submitted by Navit Kaur

PERAK-PENANG GAMES SHROUDED IN TRAGEDY

Sadly, what was to be a weekend of sports, fellowship and revelry turned into one of mourning at the loss of a much loved and popular member of the Perak Bar. At around 3pm on Saturday 19th July, Mr Thinakaran s/o Prabakharan (of Lalchand & Nawawi) or Thina as he was popularly referred to collapsed while playing futsal. His death was confirmed at Pantai Hospital after being rushed to the hospital and the cause of death was attributed to a massive heart attack. Last rites were held on Sunday, 20th July. Thina is survived by his wife Kamala Malini Jeganathan, his two daughters, Kaveena Thinakaran age 14, Keshana Thinakaran age 11 and his son, Daksheshkaran Thinakaran age 5. Rest in peace Thina. You will be sorely missed.

Penang-Perak Bar Games Venues

Dear Members,

The list of venues for the games this weekend are as follows:-

Saturday (19/7/2008)

1) Tennis 9.00 am – 11.00 am DBI Courts

2) Futsal 2.00 pm – 3.00 pm Sports Planet Menglembu

3) Badminton 2.00 pm – 4.00 pm Buntong Assembly Hall

4) Netball 3.00 pm – 5.00 pm National Sports Council

5) Volleyball 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm National Sports Council

6) Football 5.30 pm – 6.30 pm FRU

7) Hockey 5.30 pm – 6.30 pm Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium

8) Darts During dinner Royal Ipoh Club

Sunday (20/7/2008)

1) Basketball 9.00 am – 10.00 am St. Michaels School

2) Bowling 10.00 am – 12.00 pm Ampang Bowl Ipoh Parade

3) Cricket 11.30 am – 4.00 pm Ipoh Padang

4) Snooker 10.00 am – 11.00 am Royal Ipoh Club

Please do come and support our valiant sportsmen and women!!!