The ex-DPP is known for his pursuit of justice and love for Chinese literary works
By
Carolyn Quek & Selina Lum
A visitor paying his last respects at the wake of ex-judicial commissioner Tan Teow Yeow (above), 62, who died on Wednesday of cancer. The wake was attended by many in the legal fraternity. Mr Tan will be cremated today at 9.45am at the Mandai Crematorium. -- MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN/THE STRAITS TIMES
AS A teenager growing up in Chin Swee Road, Mr Tan Teow Yeow saw his older cousin knifed by another boy.
His cousin died and Mr Tan ended up in the witness box in court to testify against the killer.
Then only about 13, he was grilled by the late David Marshall, widely regarded as Singapore's best criminal lawyer at the time.
That first court encounter left such a deep impression on Mr Tan that he resolved to get into law school.
He did that, and eventually rose through the ranks to become the head of the Crime Division of the Attorney-General's Chambers in 1973.
On Wednesday, Mr Tan died after a two-year fight with mouth and tongue cancer. He was 62. He left behind his wife, two sons aged 35 and 33, and his only grandchild, a girl, aged two.
His road into the legal profession was a rocky one initially; he had been schooled in the Chinese system in Catholic High while law at the National University of Singapore was taught in English.
'All the elders in the extended family said he made a mistake, believing that his English would not be able to see him through,' his younger brother Mark, 61, said at the memorial service last night.
But Mr Tan persevered, signing up for a crash course in English - a year's worth of intensive English classes - before he entered law school.
Mr Mark Tan - who shared a bedroom with him - recalled that his older brother's English-Chinese dictionary was so well-used that it became his 'principal supplementary text'.
Mr Tan graduated at the age of 20 in 1967 and enjoyed a legal career which saw him as a prosecutor, judge, and then defender. His legal career spanned 40 years.
He joined the legal service after graduation, and it was there that he spent most of his career. He was a Deputy Public Prosecutor, with a brief stint as a magistrate, and was made head of the Crime Division of the Attorney-General's Chambers in 1973.
In 1988, he was appointed president of the Industrial Arbitration Court, a post he held for more than two years.
He was elevated to the Bench in 1989, serving as a Judicial Commissioner for two years before returning to the legal service in 1991.
He resigned from the Attorney-General's Chambers in 1993 and set up his own firm, practising under the name of Tan Teow Yeow & Co. He ceased practice in 2004 after breaking his hip in a bad fall.
As a DPP, he handled many high-profile cases involving names like opposition politicians J.B. Jeyaretnam and Gopalan Nair, and also prosecuted former Commercial Affairs Department director Glenn Knight.
In the 1980s, Mr Tan argued before then-Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin against the acquittal of Workers' Party members, Mr Jeyaretnam and Mr Wong Hong Toy, for making a false declaration about the party's accounts.
He successfully sought a retrial.
He also prosecuted ex-colleague Glenn Knight for attempted cheating and giving false information to secure a government car loan.
As a lawyer in private practice, he was known for defending a Hong Kong teenager in a vandalism case related to that of American student Michael Fay.
Criminal lawyer Ismail Hamid, who worked under Mr Tan as a DPP in the 1970s, described his former boss as someone who was 'very serious at work' but 'quite a jovial chap' on social occasions.
'He punctuates his conversations with laughter,' said Mr Ismail, who recalled that Mr Tan used to play badminton after office hours.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jennifer Marie, who worked with Mr Tan for 10 years, said: 'He had a stern demeanour but he was a kind and caring boss who stood by his officers when the going got tough.'
Mr Tan was passionate about the Chinese language, literature and calligraphy. To make sure he did not lose his command of the Chinese language, he diligently kept diaries which he wrote in every night for almost 40 years in Chinese.
These were mostly his thoughts about Singapore society, which Mr Mark Tan deemed to be a 'treasure trove' and his brother's 'literary legacy'.
Mr Mark Tan said his brother pursued his love for calligraphy seriously by his early 40s. He received several calligraphy works from his brother, which were on full display at the wake at Mr Tan's Begonia Drive home in Yio Chu Kang.
The wake yesterday was attended by many from the legal fraternity. Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, on behalf of the judges and staff of the Supreme Court, sent a wreath. Mr Tan will be cremated today at 9.45am at the Mandai Crematorium.
