The audio recordings and transcripts of the interviews (subject to conditions stated by the interviewees) can be accessed through the NAS portal. Interviews marked with (*) were carried out by the NAS.
Practitioners
- Subhas ANANDAN (listen)
Interviewed by Balasakher Shunmugan
Born in Kerala, India on 25 December 1947, Subhas Anandan attended primary and secondary school in the naval base where his father worked as a clerk in the British Royal Navy. He obtained his law degree from the National University of Singapore in 1970 and did his pupillage under Chan Sek Keong at Shook Lin & Bok. After he was called to the Bar in 1971, Anandan started his own practice sharing the premises with his friend, M. P. D. Nair. Following Nair’s death, became the managing partner of M. P. D. Nair & Co. In 2000, Anandan closed the firm and joined Harry Elias Partnership as a consultant to help build up its criminal practice. In 2007, he joined KhattarWong to head the firm’s criminal practice. Anandan started the Association of Criminal Lawyers of Singapore in 2002, with the goal of raising the number of criminal lawyers in the country. In 2011, Anandan, he founded RHTLaw TaylorWessing and remained one of its senior partners until his death on 7 January 2015.
- Howard Edmund CASHIN (listen)
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng and Thian Yee Sze
Born in Singapore on 29 November 1920, Howard Cashin read law at University College Oxford in 1939. He was called to the Bar at Inner Temple, and then to the Singapore Bar on 14 September 1951. He practised at Rodyk & Davidson but left in 1960 to join Murphy & Dunbar. He took over as senior partner upon Murphy’s departure in 1973. This marked the beginning of his career as the Bar’s leading criminal lawyer. He retired from Murphy & Dunbar in 1988, remaining as consultant. He was a keen sportsman and served as President of Singapore Rugby Union from 1977-1986. Cashin passed away on 5 September 2009, aged 89.
- Harry ELIAS SC (listen)
Interviewed by Elisabeth Eber-Chan
Born on in the Jewish quarter in Singapore on 4 May 1937, Harry Elias studied at St Andrew’s School where he was active in rugby, hockey and debating. He taught in a primary school in Singapore for two years before travelling to London to read law. There, he pursued an external degree while teaching at the same time to supplement his income. He graduated in 1963 and started work at Shearn Delamore & Company in Kuala Lumpuer in 1965. He joined Drew & Napier in Singapore in 1970 and became an administrative partner in 1979. In 1988, he started his own practice, Harry Elias & Partners. He was President of the Law Society of Singapore between 1984 and 1986. He co-founded the Criminal Legal Aid scheme (CLAS) in 1985 to provide legal aid to those facing criminal charges but who could not afford lawyers. He was among the first appointed Senior Counsel in 1997 when the Senior Counsel system was introduced in Singapore. He passed away on 27 August 2020, aged 83. - Alec Crowther FERGUSSON*
Interviewed by Jason Lim
Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, on 14 March 1934, Alec Fergusson read law at Leeds University. His father was a solicitor who had influenced him into becoming a solicitor. He did national service in England between 1956 and 1958. He was interviewed in London for a position in Drew & Napier Singapore which he accepted. He arrived in Singapore in 1958 and started out as a legal assistant. He became partner in 1964 and was there until the end of 1983. The following year, he set up his own firm in Singapore. Fergusson passed away on 26th March 2000, aged 66.
- GIAM Chin Toon SC
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng and Victoria Gomez
Born on 11 October 1942, Giam Chin Toon read law at the University of Singapore. He joined the Singapore Legal Service in 1967 and was a Magistrate when he left for private practice in 1970. Giam practised at Ong Swee Keng & Company before joining Wee Swee Teow & Co in 1973 where he is today a senior partner. A former President Law Society of Singapore, Giam played a key role in developing and growing the Society's Criminal Legal Aid Scheme where he served as its Chairman. He was also formerly Chairman of the Law Society’s Inquiry Panel. He was among the first batch of Senior Counsel appointed in 1997 and was conferred the CC Tan Award by the Law Society in 2006. He is Singapore’s roving Ambassador to Peru and non-resident High Commissioner to Ghana.
- Joseph GRIMBERG SC (listen)
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng and Daniel Chew
Born in Singapore on 8 April 1933, Joseph Grimberg read law at Cambridge and was admitted to the Bar in October 1957. He joined Drew & Napier as a legal assistant and was the first local senior partner of Drew & Napier at the tender age of 33. After 20 years as a senior partner, he was appointed a Judicial Commissioner in November 1987, aged 54. He served in that capacity until January 1990, after which he was among the first batch of lawyers in Singapore to be conferred the title of Senior Counsel in 1997. For his personal integrity, honesty and outstanding contributions to the law community in Singapore, Grimberg was conferred the CC Tan Award by the Singapore Law Society in 2007. A keen hockey and cricket player, Grimberg also served as a former president of the Singapore Cricket Association. He passed away on 17 August 2017, aged 84.
- Clive Boon Howe HENG (listen)
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng
Born on 15 September 1953, Clive B H Heng studied mostly in the UK and graduated from London University in 1975. He was called to the English Bar in London in 1976. Upon his return to Singapore, he did his pupillage under Howard Cashin at Murphy & Dunbar and worked as a legal assistant in the firm from 1980 to 1990. He then left practice to work at Wilmer Holdings Pte Ltd where he was Managing Director until his retirement. Heng passed away on 1 May 2021 at the age of 68.
- Kenneth HILBORNE (listen)
Interviewed by Eleanor Wong
Born on 29 April 1919, Kenneth Hilborne was a Londoner and qualified solicitor in England who was admitted to the Singapore Bar on 5 July 1948. He was chiefly a conveyancer, and practised in Hilborne & Murphy until it was closed in 1955. He then formed Hilborne & Co and was later joined by Chung Kok Soon. Shortly after this, he retired and left Singapore. Hilborne passed away in September 2008.
- Michael HWANG SC
Interviewed by Eleanor Wong
Born on 14 November 1943, Michael Hwang SC read law at Oxford University. After completing his legal education, he took up a teaching appointment at the Faculty of Law at the University of Sydney. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 1968 when he joined Allen & Gledhill and retired from the firm in 2002. In 1991 he was appointed a Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore and returned to private practice in 1993. e was among the first batch of lawyers to be conferred the title of Senior Counsel in 1997. He currently practises at a barrister and arbitrator. He has held office in various international arbitration institutions, having been involved in many arbitrations and mediations involving countries in Asia Pacific and beyond.
- Sat Pal KHATTAR (listen)
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng and Sellakumaran Sellamuthoo
Born in Bhera, in present-day Pakistan on 22 November 1942, Sat Pal Khattar read law at the University of Singapore. After graduation in 1966, he joined the Singapore Legal Service as a Deputy Public Prosecutor and State Counsel at the Attorney-General’s Chambers. This was followed by a shift to the Inland Revenue Office (IRO) as a legal officer. He resigned from the IRO in 1974 to start his own firm Sat Pal Khattar Company.
It was later renamed Khattar Wong & Partners when property lawyer, David Wong joined the firm. Khattar retired from law practice in 2000 and established Khattar Holding, a private investment firm. Since the early 1990s, he has been investing in India, and this experience has helped him promote and support bilateral trade and investments between Singapore and India. He has served on many civic bodies in Singapore in various capacities and has been honoured at the May Day Awards on several occasions. He was the first resident in Singapore to receive the Padma Shri Award from the Indian government.
- Michael KHOO SC
Interviewed by Eleanor Wong, Foo Kim Leng, Victoria Gomez and Ashutosh Ravikrishnan
Born on 7 November 1943, Michael Khoo SC studied at St Joseph’s Institution and completed his law studies at the University of Singapore in 1967. He joined the Singapore Legal Service and served in various judicial positions including that of Senior District Judge and Registrar of the Supreme Court as well as Senior State Counsel and Deputy Public Prosecutor in the Attorney General's Chambers in a public service career spanning 20 years, before entering private legal practice in 1987. He was among the first appointed Senior Counsel in 1997 when the Senior Counsel system was introduced in Singapore. He is currently the founder and precedent partner of Michael Khoo & Partners.
- Glenn Knight (listen)
Interviewed by Eleanor Wong
Born on 13 November 1944, Glenn Knight studied at Anglo Chinese School and completed his law studies at the University of Singapore in 1970. After graduation, he joined the Singapore Legal Service and served in various positions as Deputy Public Prosecutor and State Counsel in the Attorney-General Chambers. He was the first Director of the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) when it was founded in 1984. He lost the post in 1991 after being convicted in a much-publicised trial. Following his first conviction, Glenn Knight was disbarred from legal practice in 1994. Four years later, he was convicted again for misappropriating CAD funds during his stint as director. It took more than a decade before his application to be reinstated was granted in 2007. He currently practices in a small law firm.
- LIM Chor Pee* (listen)
Born in Penang, Malaysia on 18 June 1936, Lim Chor Pee attended Penang Free School. In 1955, he went to Cambridge where he read law at St John’s College. He was called to the English Bar at Inner Temple in 1959 and was admitted to the Malayan Bar in Singapore in 1962. He joined the Singapore Legal Service from 1960 -1964 where he served in various capacities including Crown Counsel and Deputy Public Prosecutor in the Attorney-General’s Chambers, District Judge and Magistrate and legal officer in the Legal Aid Bureau and the Economic Development Board.
In 1964, Lim and his colleague Khoo Hin Hiong who was then a Magistrate at the District Court, set up a two-man law firm, Chor Pee & Hin Hiong on Robinson Road.. After this company was dissolved, he founded Chor Pee and Company, which later became Chor Pee & Partners. In the early 1990s, Chor Pee & Partners was among the first handful of foreign law firms that were granted licences to open offices in Vietnam, at a time when few other local firms had branched out into the region. The company was dissolved upon his death.
Apart from his career in the law, Lim was one of the prime movers of Singapore’s English-language theatre. He was among the first batch of playwrights in the 1960s. He founded the Experimental Theatre Club to create “Malayan theatre” and to encourage local playwrights by staging their plays in a scene dominated by expatriates. He produced many plays including “Mimi Fan” and “A White Rose at Midnight” which he wrote. He passed away on 5 December 2006.
- David MARSHALL* (listen)
Interviewed by Lily Tan
Born in Singapore on 12 March 1908, David Marshall attended St Joseph’s Institution and Raffles Institution. He was called to the English Bar at Middle Temple in 1937. In 1938, he was called to the Singapore Bar. He worked at Aitken & Ong Siang, rapidly building a reputation for himself in criminal litigation. In 1940, he joined Allen & Gledhill and, after the war, was made its first Asian partner in 1949, aged 41. He resigned soon after, and joined Battenberg & Talma in January 1950. He entered the political arena and became Chief Minister in 1955 for 14 months. He served as ambassador for nearly 12 years to France, then Portugal, Spain and Switzerland from 1978. Marshall passed away on 12 December 1995, aged 87.
- T P B MENON (listen)
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng
Born on 10 March 1937, Mr TPB Menon was among the pioneer batch of 22 law students who graduated from Singapore’s first law faculty in 1961. Mr Menon was senior partner of Oehlers & Choa before it merged with Wee Swee Teow LLP in 1989. He was senior partner of Wee Swee Teow LLP from 1989 to 2000 and is now a Consultant at the firm. He was President of Law Society from 1980-83 and was awarded the Society’s highest honour – the CC Tan Award in 2004.
- Chelva Retnam RAJAH SC
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng and Victoria Gomez
Born on 3 November 1948, Chelva Rajah read law at Lincoln College, Oxford University from 1967 till 1970. He was called to the English Bar at Middle Temple in 1970 and has practised at Tan Rajah & Cheah since being called to the Singapore Bar in 1972.
- Gopalan RAMAN (G Raman) (listen)
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng
Born in 1938 in north Perak, Raman worked as a court interpreter in the Singapore courts from 1956 to 1966 during which he studied for his A Levels and an external law degree. He re-started his law practice in 1978 and became a leading authority on probate, wills and trusts. He was awarded the Singapore Law Society’s CC Tan award in 2014 for exemplifying the virtues of “honesty, fair play and personal integrity”. G Raman passed away at the age of 82 on 9 December 2020.
- Vengadasalam RAMAKRISHNAN (listen)
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng and Sellakumaran Sellamuthoo
- Pathmanaban SELVADURAI* (listen)
- Anamah TAN
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng and Victoria Gomez
- Phyllis TAN
Interviewed by Joseph Yeo
Born in Singapore on 15 June 1933, Phyllis Tan attended Raffles Girls’ School. She was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1955 and was admitted to the Singapore Bar in May 1956. She began her career as a legal assistant in Eber & Tan. Upon Mr Eber’s death, the firm was called Tan & Tan, where she practised with her father. She was a part-time lecturer at the University of Singapore from 1973 to 1977. She was the first female President of the Law Society of Singapore in 1979. Tan retired in 1998.
- TANG See Chim
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng and Sellakumaran Sellamuthoo
- WONG Meng Meng SC
Interviewed by Eleanor Wong
Born on 5 August 1948, Wong Meng Meng read law at the University of Singapore and was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1972. He joined private practice working at Braddell Brothers, Lee & Lee and Shook Lin & Bok. He founded WongPartnership in 1992. He retired from the partnership in 2006 and remains with the firm as Founder-Consultant. In 1997, he was among the first group of lawyers to be appointed Senior Counsel. He was President of the Law Society from 2010 -2012.
- Helen YEO
Interviewed by Foo Kim Leng and Victoria Gomez
Born on 18 August 1950, Helen Yeo read law at the University of Singapore. She joined Chor Pee and Hin Hiong after graduating in 1974. The firm was later renamed Chor Pee and & Company. In 1992, Yeo and a few partners from the firm quit to set up Helen Yeo & Partners. In 2002, Helen Yeo & Partners merged with Rodyk & Davidson and Yeo continued as Managing Partner of Rodyk until her retirement in 2010.
