Singapore acts to lure overseas-trained lawyers back home

Singapore acts to lure overseas-trained lawyers back home
By Imelda Saad | Posted: 13 February 2009 1755 hrs
CNA

SINGAPORE: Major changes are on the cards for Singapore’s legal education system.

The changes are aimed to ensure Singapore has an adequate supply of local lawyers who can compete against global competition and to strengthen Singapore’s position as a key regional legal education hub.

Law Minister Law Minister K Shanmugam announced the changes in Parliament on Friday.

In hoping to attract overseas-trained Singapore lawyers to come back and practise law at home, the Law Ministry will abolish the one-year-long Diploma in Singapore Law course.

Mr K Shanmugam noted that the course, which is a requirement for all returning lawyers, has proven to be a disadvantage as lawyers feel they can pick up most of what’s taught during practice.

Hence, from June this year, such students will be offered an optional three-month conversion course.

To enhance legal training, measures include:

– revamping the Practice Law Course;

– replacing the pupillage system with training contracts, with the intention of putting the onus on law firms to ensure that trainees have a constructive and structured learning programme;

– the possibility of making continuing legal education mandatory to ensure practising lawyers are up to date on any changes to the law and are familiar with emerging areas of law.

To ensure a steady supply of lawyers, graduates with a Second Class (Lower) degree from approved universities will be admitted to the Singapore Bar without the two-year minimum legal experience requirement.

Adding to this, the Singapore Management University’s Law School will put in place additional measures to add to the pool of lawyers.

The first batch of graduates from SMU will join the industry in 2011.

The NUS Law Faculty will also increase its intake from 220 to 250 students a year.

Together, Mr K Shanmugam said, these moves will result in an almost 70 per cent increase in the number of local law graduates in a few years’ time – from 220 to 370 annually.

He added the incoming Qualifying Foreign Law Practices (QFLPs) will also bring in more lawyers as they consolidate their regional offshore work here.

To oversee the legal education in Singapore, a new statutory board – tentatively called the Institute for Legal Education – will be set up.

Mr K Shanmugam said: “Most essential for a vibrant legal sector are good quality lawyers. Therefore ensuring that legal education and training is top notch is extremely important”.

The minister also gave an update on moves to free up legal services in Singapore.

The Law Ministry notes that despite the current economic crisis, there is potential in the medium term for the legal sector to expand in certain areas.

One example is arbitration as Singapore is fast becoming an arbitration venue of choice.

By mid-2009, Singapore will have the Maxwell Chambers to house arbitration hearings under one roof.

Mr K Shanmugam said: “Our advantage is our connectivity and world class infrastructure, our judicial philosophy in respect to arbitration and being accessible at a much lower expense than some of the other popular arbitration centres.”

Another good sign is that international law firms have been setting up new offices in Singapore in recent months.

In the past four months alone, four new firms opened up offices here, one of them among the Global Top 40.

Another two firms have already registered with the Attorney-General’s Chambers and have announced plans to open new offices in Singapore.

Atheists and the Stock Market – Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Taleb’s exposition of the Ludic fallacy:

“We love the tangible, the confirmation, the palpable, the real, the visible, the concrete, the known, the seen, the vivid, the visual, the social, the embedded, the emotional laden, the salient, the stereotypical, the moving, the theatrical, the romanced, the cosmetic, the official, the scholarly-sounding verbiage, the pompous Gaussian economist, the mathematicized crap, the pomp, the Academie Francaise, Harvard Business School, the Nobel Prize, dark business suits with white shirts and Ferragamo ties, the moving discourse, and the lurid. Most of all we favor the narrated.

Alas, we are not manufactured, in our current edition of the human race, to understand abstract matters — we need context. Randomness and uncertainty are abstractions. We respect what has happened, ignoring what could have happened. In other words, we are naturally shallow and superficial — and we do not know it. This is not a psychological problem; it comes from the main property of information. The dark side of the moon is harder to see; beaming light on it costs energy. In the same way, beaming light on the unseen is costly in both computational and mental effort.”

How to choose good durian

Here is a short durian tutorial by Mr Wong who runs a small boutique durian stall at 231 East Coast Road (Opp Jago Close) Singapore. You can contact him for your durian needs by calling 97514828. At the time of blogging, his Mao Shan Wang was selling for $16 per kg. Having been in the durian trade for 20 years, he has established a good relationship with his suppliers who would pre-select all his durians so that his customers can look forward to a really good durian experience.

Source: http://ieatishootipost.sg/2008/07/durian-tutorial-made-possible-with-my.html

Short straw dims New Year glow

Short straw dims New Year glow
Fortune stick predicts worst luck for HK, and hours later fireworks barge catches fire
Mary Ann Benitez, Danny Mok and Amy Nip
SCMP Jan 28, 2009

As if recession and the prospect of a worsening economic downturn were not enough, Hong Kong yesterday drew the worst possible fortune stick in a ceremony at a Sha Tin temple.

Lau Wong-fat, chairman of rural affairs body the Heung Yee Kuk, drew the stick numbered 27 on the city’s behalf in the Taoist ceremony at the Che Kung temple.

A fortune-teller at the temple who read the stick said it showed the city could not isolate itself from the global economic turbulence, but that Hongkongers should nevertheless be cautiously optimistic.

Fung shui masters interpreted the stick’s meaning differently.

James Lee Shing-chak said it signified possible conflicts between the government and its people.

Mr Lau said: “It is a warning to all of us that only a harmonious society with people staying united can enable us to get through our challenges.”

The last time that stick was drawn, 1992, saw, among other things, the arrival of last governor Chris Patten – who unleashed fierce political strife.

When a Sha Tin district councillor drew the ill-omened stick 17 years ago, the council immediately burned it and drew another, lucky one.

Yesterday, that option was not open to Mr Lau and, rather than the stick burning, it was a barge used for the Lunar New Year fireworks display that went up in flames last night.

The barge, one of three from which fireworks were launched during the 23-minute display, burst into flames near the end of the HK$5 million spectacle that lit up Victoria Harbour. The barge’s two crewmen were rescued. No one was hurt.

Within minutes thick black smoke had engulfed the bow of the vessel. Fire boats soon doused the flames.

Teddy Ng, watching with his 19-year-old daughter, said flames engulfed at least a quarter of the barge.

Wilson Mao Wai-shing, chief executive officer of Pyro Magic Productions, which produced the show, could not be reached for comment.

A spokesman for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department said it appeared sparks falling onto the barge had started the fire.

It wasn’t the only mishap on the harbour. Earlier, a pleasure boat taking 41 people to see the fireworks sprang a leak soon after leaving the Kowloon City ferry pier.

A lucky 23,888 fireworks formed the display, which was watched by 250,000 people lining both sides of Victoria Harbour and featured the character for ox.

The crowd was much smaller than expected. A turnout similar to last year’s 400,000 had been forecast.

Spectators gasped when curtains of gold and red fireworks cascaded or comets and sparking fireflies seemed to hover on the horizon.

As well as the character for ox – which was hard to pick out – the show also featured for the first time the characters for “good luck” and the lucky numbers six, eight and 10.

Afterwards spectators were divided about the merits of the show. Some said it was small and that, because it was a windless night, smoke had blanketed the harbour by halfway through the show. An amateur photographer, C. P. Chan, said: “I took pictures and the smoke started to get in the way after just 10 photos.”

But another spectator, Lois Wong Yu-siu, 19, said: “The combination of the music and fireworks matched.”

Alex Tsang said he was disappointed because it was quite smoky.

Still, he is hopeful about the Year of the Ox.

“My new year wish is for a pay rise so that I can get married soon,” the sales representative said.

Restaurants, too, were optimistic. Several said that business was holding up during the Lunar New Year holiday.

More shops were open than a year ago, too, though there was both a positive and a negative reason for that, said Caroline Mak Sui-king, chairwoman of the Retail Management Association.

On the one hand, a rise in tourists made it more worthwhile opening, but on the other hand they were forced to open because they needed every opportunity to earn the money to pay ever higher rents, she said.

Away from the festivities, pan-democrats petitioned Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen – who is on holiday – with their wishes for the Year of the Ox, and reminded him he had a tough year’s work ahead.

The Hong Kong Observatory issued the cold weather warning for the fifth consecutive day.

Urban temperature hovered around 12 degrees Celsius. In the northwestern New Territories they dipped to 8 degrees. Warmer weather is forecast for today.