NEWS

The C C Tan Award

This speech by President, Mr Michael Hwang, SC, was made in honour of Mr K S Rajah, SC, who was conferred the prestigious C C Tan Award for 2008.

The C C Tan award was inaugurated in 2003 by the Council of the Law Society.

The award is named after the late Mr Tan Chye Cheng, or C C Tan as he is fondly remembered by the Bar.

Mr C C Tan was the first elected President of the Law Society and a founding partner of the law firm of Tan Rajah & Cheah.

For members of the profession who had the privilege of knowing Mr Tan, he had throughout his long professional life embodied and exemplified the virtues of the legal profession - honesty, fair play and personal integrity.

The C C Tan award is presented by the Law Society to honour a member who exemplifies these highest traditional qualities of the Bar.

Our recipient this year was called to the Singapore Bar on 18 May 1966.

In his early career, he served as a Deputy Public Prosecutor and Senior State Counsel whilst in the Singapore legal service. He also served as Judicial Commissioner at the Supreme Court from 1991 to 1995. During his first year as Judicial Commissioner, he had to grapple with the concept of gender identity in a marriage in the case of Lim Ying v Hiok Kian Ming Eric. He highlighted in that case the oversight of the government to amend the legislation to fit its official policy of according recognition to sex-reassignment surgery.
In 1997, he was among the first batch of Senior Counsel to be appointed.

His appointments were many and his service as an arbitrator well sought after, both domestically and internationally. His practice is wide, ranging from criminal, constitution to commercial and construction.

Prior to joining Harry Elias Partnership, where he is now a consultant, he was leading the Civil and Criminal sections of the Attorney-General's Chambers and was Director of the Singapore Legal Aid Bureau. He had also served as President for the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents.
He has served the legal profession by volunteering in the Law Society's numerous committees; for example, he sat in the Criminal Practice Committee for many years and more recently in our Public and International Law committee. Besides serving on the Society's committees, he also contributed numerous articles to the Singapore Law Gazette.

For his personal integrity, honesty and outstanding contributions to the law community in Singapore, we are pleased to present Senior Counsel K S Rajah with the 2008 C C Tan Award.