The Singapore Law Gazette

Message from the President

It is with much pride and happiness that in my first message as President in this Gazette, I have the pleasure of congratulating and welcoming to our fraternity the new members of the Law Society of Singapore who were admitted in the Mass Call ceremony of 2026. All of you have been admitted at a special time as this year also marks the 200th year since the Second Charter of Justice was issued on 27 November 1826. This charter established a common legal framework, introduced English law, and founded the Court of Judicature for the Straits Settlements. It marked the beginning of Singapore’s modern legal system based on the rule of law.

Notwithstanding the objectives of the Second Charter, this did not preclude the English judges from occasionally giving effect to the customs of the other inhabitants where this did not undermine English law. Decades after its introduction, in an 1883 case between Lim Guan Teet v. Yew Boh Neo¹Kyshe, 1808-1884, vol 1, at xxxv. on a promissory note, a consent order was recorded that if the plaintiff “goes to swear according to Chinese custom by cutting off head of a cock, and burning joss sticks before the temple in Pitt Street, he shall have verdict, if plaintiff refuses to do so, there will be verdict for defendants”. The interpreter of the Court was directed to accompany the parties but apparently the agreement tumbled through because the priest of the temple declined to allow it!

More significantly, for reasons of culture, language and inadequate resourcing, the formal legal systems were largely inaccessible to much of the population in the decades after the Second Charter was introduced. Amongst the Chinese, for instance, the first person from the community to be called to the Singapore Bar was Song Ong Siang in 1893. Accordingly, for a considerable period of time, dialect associations helped maintain law and order within the Chinese community, including settling minor disputes.

The Singapore legal system has come a long way from those earlier days. Today, the rule of law in Singapore is strong and very much embedded in the DNA of the country. We have a world-class judiciary, a highly respected legal profession with many Singapore lawyers featuring prominently in annual international rankings of leading lawyers, and good law schools with NUS Law being ranked as one of the best law schools in the world since the inception of global rankings in 2010. As the Chief Justice has also reflected in his address at the Opening of the Legal Year this year, this strong foundation has been built through the collective efforts of the Bench, the Bar and the wider legal community. All of you are now part of this proud tradition that has evolved over the last 200 years and on your shoulders will also rest the continued development of our legal system. It is my hope that each of you will leave your imprint and contribute positively to Singapore’s legal system.

To do so will require commitment and dedication to the legal profession. But this is not all. To fulfil your potential, humility and strength of character are also essential. A good lawyer must have the humility to know that we need to continue to learn. We need to be mindful to the prospect that we may be wrong so that we are open to alternative perspectives and views. Law is a complex social science and an overly dogmatic approach to it is unhelpful. In the course of your practice, you will often be confronted with difficult scenarios and choices and must have the strength of character to hold fast to the moral and ethical underpinnings of our profession and not be swayed by what expediency may apparently offer. If nothing else, holding fast to your principles, however tempting it may be to do otherwise, is the best guarantee of a fruitful career.

At the same time, I hope that for those of us previously called to the Bar, particularly the senior members of the profession, the Bicentennial will remind us that we have benefited from what previous generations have done and so we in turn ought to be mindful of how we can contribute to the development of our legal system. In the context of the Mass Call, I hope we can reflect on whether we can do more to mentor the new and younger members of our profession. Is there a danger that in the midst of the strain of managing a business, we are placing less emphasis on what it means to be a noble fraternity where younger members are nurtured and guided? Do we treat our younger colleagues in a manner that we would have liked to be treated when we were ourselves new to the practice of law?

To conclude, as we celebrate this Bicentennial year, we look forward to at least another 200 years of a vibrant and strong legal system in Singapore that continues to be underpinned by the rule of law. It is our responsibility now to do our part in this journey and this is a shared responsibility of all members working in collaboration with other stakeholders such as government and the judiciary. I am confident that with the strong foundation built over the last 200 years, we can look with great confidence to the future.

Click here to read the speech by the President, Law Society at Mass Call 2026.