Welcome address by Yeong Zee Kin, CE of Singapore Academy of Law at Valedictory Dinner

Singapore Academy of Law – Valedictory Dinner
26 September 2025
Welcome Address By Yeong Zee Kin, CE, SAL

Your Honours,
Distinguished colleagues and friends,

Opening & Appreciation

1. Good evening, and a very warm welcome to our inaugural Valedictory Dinner. It is a privilege to be here among so many of our esteemed colleagues whose dedication and service have shaped the legal profession for decades.
   
   
2. On behalf of the Academy, thank you for choosing to spend your Friday evening with us, when we know how precious time with family can be.
   
   
3. We wanted to create a meaningful community practice that brings us together as a profession. Gatherings like this strengthen our spirit of collegiality and build a common aspiration. They also allow us to honour role models whose careers vividly embody the values of integrity, professionalism and justice.
   
   
4. This dinner reminds us that while we honour your remarkable contributions, we also carry a shared responsibility to pass on
   wisdom, uphold a healthy professional culture, and nurture the young lawyers who will carry the torch forward.

Building a Sustainable and Values-Based Profession

5. This shared responsibility is a call and a timely opportunity for us to engage with and support our young lawyers. It forms a core tenet of the Academy’s mission to build a values-based and sustainable legal profession.
   
   
6. Hence, we are committed to upholding ethics and professionalism across the legal profession, with the Ethics and Professional Standards Committee (EPSC) — spearheaded by Justice Valerie Thean and Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim — leading this effort.
   
   
7. Our young lawyers need not only technical training, but also lessons in judgement, resilience, and values. One way we are putting this into action is through continued education.

Continued Education: Building the Next Generation

8. To carry this forward, in May 2025, we launched the Junior Lawyers Professional Certification Programme (JLP) — the first of its kind to prepare young lawyers for evolving practice demands by closing skills gaps, reinforcing ethics, and building confidence through hands-on mentoring.

Preparing for the Future: Legal Profession Symposium

9. We have to be honest about the challenges our juniors face today: heavy workloads, the pressures of AI adoption, rising client demands, mental health concerns, and global competition.
   
   
10. Through the Legal Profession Symposium, we are tackling these issues with five key workstreams:
    
    1. Sharpening business and leadership skills;
    2. Reshaping legal education to align with industry needs;
    3. Strengthening global competitiveness through internationalisation;
    4. Driving digital transformation through AI integration; and
    5. Promoting sustainability and well-being to build a resilient profession.
       
       
11. At the Legal Profession Symposium, we launched the Mindful Business Movement to support work–life balance, and foster a healthier, more sustainable workplace culture across the profession.
    
    
12. We will draw on proven practices and focus on three key pillars: Smart Meetings and Communications, Supporting Rest and Growth, and Mindful Delegation.
    
    
13. These efforts respond to the realities voiced by our junior lawyers and will help ensure that sustainability and mental well-being underpin legal excellence. This movement is part of our broader strategy to develop future-ready talent, alongside initiatives such as the JLP.

Future Steps & Call to Action

14. For both JLP and Future of Legal Profession, senior lawyers play a crucial role to ensure that juniors are not only technically competent but also grounded in the values that sustain them throughout their careers.
    
    
15. Through the course of my career, I found the greatest sense of meaning when my work had an impact on a broader segment of society. I also quickly discovered that no one had ready answers, but I benefited from discussions with seniors and mentors that shaped my thinking.
    
    
16. In turn, I have sought to pass this on to younger colleagues who work with me through coaching sessions. They are not here today, but I hope that they found these sessions helpful. They have not tried to skip the sessions, and often complain that my schedule does not permit these sessions to be a regular or long as they would like. So I will take that as affirmation that these coaching sessions are helpful.
    
    
17. Mentorship and coaching are important pedagogical techniques for adult learning. They feature heavily in our plans for JLP and Future of Legal Profession. Senior practitioners like you play a vital role as faculty, adjuncts, and mentors. Your experience and guidance are crucial to bringing out real life lessons for our younger colleagues at the Bar.
    
    
18. I urge you to remain involved — as mentors in the SAL Programme, as role models in ethics and leadership, and as voices ensuring the profession stays values-based as it evolves. Together, we can nurture our young to thrive for the long haul.
    
    
19. I invite you to lend your wisdom, time, and guidance, so that together we may carry the torch of excellence — and light the way for generations to come. Thank you.