The Opening of the Legal Year in Singapore is a tradition inherited from Singapore’s colonial past. I attended the Opening of the Legal Year on 9 January 2010.
In the past there was a fairly elaborate ceremony preceding the speeches including a march-past by the police. Unfortunately I cannot link photographs from the National Archives but to view photographs from the 1966/1967 Opening of the Legal Year, go here and in the search term type “legal year”, for the year range, insert “1966” to “1967” and check the box for photographs. You will be presented with photographs of the Opening from those years.
Below is a photograph taken at the 1966 Opening of the Legal Year (to the best of my knowledge). From left to right are Messrs Goh Heng Leong of Allen & Gledhill, Tan Boon Teik of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (who would become Attorney-General), Abdul Wahab Ghows also of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (my uncle who would become a High Court judge) and Abdul Manaf Ghows of Allen & Gledhill (my father). Unfortunately I don’t know the identities of the police officers to their left.
This photograph was taken a year after Singapore obtained full independence as a sovereign nation, and what fascinates me about this photograph is that within it one can see not only the last vestige of Singapore’s colonial past but also the transition of the legal profession to Singaporeans.
After the Opening, I reflected on the speeches made and felt a sense of optimism about how 2010 would turn out for the business providing legal services. 2010 will no doubt be a year of change for the local Bar as the Qualifying Law Firm Practices will have had a full year to make their presence felt. The fact that foreign law firms want to practice Singapore law must indicate that there are business opportunities. I cannot disagree seeing the success of practice areas such as arbitration, admiralty, intellectual property and general commercial work. It’s only a matter of time before corporate finance and banking work pick up.
As an aside, in his speech the Chief Justice made the comment that the high academic requirements required to be admitted to the local law schools and together with the minimum academic requirements required to be admitted to the Singapore Bar has resulted in a highly qualified legal profession. It was a simple statement of fact but that truism stuck in my mind as I had previously just taken the quality of work of my colleagues
for granted.
Goh Heng Leong's son Leonard was my classmate in Primary school and is now my cousin-in-law... Funny how small Singapore is. He by the way is also a lawyer as is his sister, Susan.
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