[This Long Call speech was delivered on 12th July 2024 before Yang Arif Dato’ Ahmad Kamal Bin Md Shahid]
Introduction
It is my great pleasure to introduce the Petitioner, Mr Edward Lee Way Yang.
The Petitioner was born on 5th August 1999. He is the eldest child of Madam Lau Sieu Keng & Mr Lee Seong Thiang – Madam Lau & the Petitioner’s sister is here with us today. The Petitioner was raised & spent her early years in Damansara, Selangor.
The Petitioner then proceeded to read law at the University of Malaya, and graduated in 2023.
The Petitioner then went on to complete his pupillage at Messrs Sreenevasan under the tutelage of Ms Sarah Ho Yixin, who has been a dear friend of mine. Indeed, I have worked at Messrs Sreenevasan for many years, with Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan as my pupil master. And I have no doubt that, throughout his journey as a pupil in Sreenevasan, the Petitioner has been instilled with the values of hard work, professionalism & integrity.
3 Reasons Why The Petitioner Would Be An Excellent Lawyer
My Lord, beyond his academic achievements & pupillage training, there are at least 3 reasons why I believe the Petitioner would be a valuable addition to the legal profession.
First, the Petitioner is an accomplished leader in the Scouts Movement of Malaysia. He was a King’s Scout (Pengakap Raja) in high school, which I know is not an easy thing to achieve. But even beyond his schooling years, and until this day, the Petitioner is an active mentor to budding Scout leaders throughout the State. He tells me that he spends most of his free time & weekends going around the district & state to help set out Scouts movements in different schools, and to train students in this field. My Lord, when you speak to someone, it will be apparent when that person is deeply passionate & lights up upon discussing a particular topic. And I can see the exact expression in the Petitioner when he talks about equipping his Scout juniors with important life skills, strong values & character-building.
The Petitioner tells me he was always inspired by the last words of the founder of the Scouts movement, Lord Baden-Powell: “But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best.”
My Lord, I can think of no better quote which also sums up what lawyers should aspire to achieve in our short time on Earth – and that is to “try and leave this world a little better than you found it”. Indeed, the Petitioner was inspired to help others, and that is one of the major reasons why he chose law as a career. I have no doubt the Petitioner, as a lawyer, will leave this world better than he found it.
Second, the Petitioner also told me that one of the people who inspired him to take up law were lawyers who played a key role in shaping social movements such as Dato’ Ambiga with Bersih. Indeed, the Bersih movements themselves also inspired the Petitioner to take up law. Now, back then many people would view peaceful protests as a taboo, but today it is part & parcel of the Malaysian democratic fabric. Indeed, in the 2019 Federal Court case of RAGM, the apex court cited with approval the Court of Appeal’s findings that the existence of activists group is very much a part of today’s society & have contributed much to the general well-being of the society at large. I am sure the Petitioner will take a leaf from the leaders of the Bersih movement that one must always have the courage to stand up, speak up & be counted to uphold the rule of law & human rights in Malaysia.
Third, the Petitioner is also an avid writer. In fact, he & Nevyn have started a blawg called Hitam Putih, which dissects broader societal issues with a legal lens. They hope to get people talking about issues which affect society, and they have written about a myriad of matters such as citizenship, gender equality, the pardon process etc. I know very well that it takes a lot of discipline & time management capabilities to dedicate to writing legal articles, and I am sure the Petitioner has became a better person throughout the writing process. But more importantly, it shows the Petitioner has a deep interest in the law such that he is willing to write about it, and it is something I hope he will continue to do. We do lack proper rigorous legal analysis on the roller-coster socio-political landscape in Malaysia – as My Lord is well aware from all the cases appearing in the RKKK roster. The repercussions of such legal issues should not be confined to the courtrooms, but also disseminated to the public in a digestable manner – and that is why the Petitioner has done & is trying to do.
Who The Petitioner Wishes To Thank
The Petitioner wishes to thank his father, who served in the Air Force with distinction during the 2nd Malayan Emergency, awarded the Ahli Mangku Negara for responding to the Bank Bumiputra fire in the 1980s, and was thereafter a commercial pilot for many years. He is now serving as a flight instructor in HK. He taught the Petitioner the values of courage, confidence, courtesy & of course in nation-building.
The Petitioner also wishes to thank his mother, who was an air stewardess – that is how she met the Petitioner’s father. Beyond the airline industry, the Petitioner’s mother had a successful career managing beauty salons in Malaysia & internationally for over 20 years. She is an inspiration to the Petitioner, successfully balancing her career & caring for her family.
The Petitioner thanks her little sister, who has been supporting him since young.
The Petitioner wishes to thank his Scout leaders for moulding him to be a better person.
The Petitioner also wishes to thank his mentors in Messrs Sreenevasan – Ambiga, Janini, Shireen, Sarah Ho, Gokul Radakrishnan, Anishaa, YC & others, who have been so patient with him & shown him what a healthy working environment feels like.
The Petitioner also wishes to thank his “bros” from law school, Luc, Thean Ern, Qai Qet, Ignatius, Matthew, Farhan & Nevyn, who has made his uni life unforgettable.
The Petitioner lastly thanks his girlfriend, Jhi Ying, for always having his back.
Conclusion
My Lord, given the above, I verily believe that the Petitioner is a fit and proper person to be admitted and enrolled as an Advocate and Solicitor.
I believe all the papers are in order, and there are no objections from the Attorney General’s Chambers, Bar Council of Malaysia & the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee.
I hereby seek this Honourable Court’s leave for the Petitioner’s pupil-master to robe the Petitioner.
