Small & Successful….Sharing About My Lil Red dot

Today’s Straits Time, our national newspaper, dated 15 October on page A36 ran a column by Professor Tommy Koh for the Straits Times.

Prof Koh is a remarkably astute yet kind gentleman. 

Despite his status as Ambassador at large with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and Rector of the Tembusu College at the National University of Singapore…he remains humble, genuine and sincere.

Having met him at several occasions, he always has a calming persona with wise words. I enjoy my chats with him immensely as he leaves me thinking and seeking more info my brain.

I remember he used to spearhead The United Nations Convention Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and because of him, I queued to study this course under Prof Hovet in University of Oregon as an undergraduate in Political Science faculty. 

I did not regret the wait for an extra term to graduate as I was happy at the information learnt.

It helped me understand the issues of Pedra Branca better when Prof Tommy Koh and then lawyer, now Minister of Law, Shanmugam, argued successfully against our Neighbor, Malaysia, for rights to this tiny islet which sits a lighthouse.

So today when I saw this article, I immediately downed more coffee and became alert to read it as it was to me about how our little red dot, I fondly call for Singapore, is faring economically.

Below are photos I took of the article and share with credit to Straits Times

Hope you enjoyed learning more of my lil red dot. We are really small on world map but most travelled lot.

😊

Happy weekend folks

Death Of A Great Criminal Lawyer, Subhas Anandan

I do not know Mr Subhas Anandan personally.

Like any citizen in my little red dot, I read of this man and his kindness in standing as criminal lawyer for pro bono cases or legal cases when no one wants to represent an accused for a criminal offence.

What I knew of him from TV interviews seen is that he has a sharp mind and an exceptionally good lawyering skills, having defended several high profile murder cases as well as he believed in those who were wrongly accused.

I also knew he was of poor health, suffering from diabetes, heart failure and losing a kidney due to cancer.

Working as a criminal lawyer I suppose affects any kind hearted person. I also learnt that he smoked and drank heavily and often wondered if this was how he coped as he prepared mentally for each and every case he defended from the gallows.

Seeing a client or clients hang for the crime of murder may have impacted this kindly soul. There were cases that the facts were evident in that the crime was committed.

Our little island state lost a good lawyer on 6 January 2015. He was a fighter and though he was diagnosed having both heart and kidney failures, he did not give up the fight and returned to the courts recently to defend accused clients.

Mr Subhas succumbed to heart failure whilst undergoing dialysis at Singapore General Hospital at age 67 years old.

May God rest and bless his soul and console his family during this time of grief.

We have truly lost a good lawyer with a kind and good heart approach!

Andris & Partners – Great Lawyer In Batam

I met Pak Andris (Pak Is a term to signify respect and a salutation to a male person. Ibu is a term of respect to address a female person).

Pak Andris is a lawyer or we call Hukum in Bahasa Indonesia.

I got along smashingly well with Pak Andris as we met and spoke for 2 hours discussing a legal matter which I was in Batam for.

We ended up discussing in Hokkien dialect and I was quite taken aback that I could really conduct a legal meeting in Hokkien! LOL!

Sharp, astute and eloquent, Pak Andris was not full of hot air. He was realistic in his views, down to earth and took us through the matter on hand offering views and options.

What I especially liked and respected was his commitment to us as clients, availing himself to us on mobile as and when required.

Though I had just met him on Monday, by Tuesday we were fast friends.

His practice is not big but niche with 3 other partners. They are all very busy but they met us on Tuesday night without hesitation.

I would recommend anyone in need of Indonesian law to consult Pak Andris. He travels to Jakarta, Medan and other Indonesian states for cases too.

It is good to have a competent lawyer and one with heart at that. Pak Andris is one such lawyer 🙂