THE late criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan's happiest day of the year was June 23. It was the day his son Sujesh was born.
So, yesterday, a lunch was held in memory of Mr Subhas at the Supreme Court. Mr Subhas died of heart failure in January at the age of 67.
The buffet lunch was organised by the Association of Criminal Lawyers of Singapore, which Mr Subhas co-founded.
The association's acting president, Mr Sunil Sudheesan, who is also Mr Subhas' nephew, called for a minute of applause instead of the traditional minute of silence for his late uncle.
However, he stopped halfway and said, to laughter from the crowd: "In Subhas' style, he would say 20 seconds is enough."
More than 50 people from the legal fraternity attended the event, including Attorney-General V. K. Rajah, Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon and Mr Subhas' long-time friends, lawyers Noor Marican and Amolat Singh.
Addressing them, Mr Sunil said: "All of you would have worked with Subhas in one way or another, and touched his life...
"We hope to do this once a year, and to also continue his legacy to fight for the underprivileged."
Judicial Commissioner See, who is also the Presiding Judge of the State Courts said: "Subhas really impressed me as someone who was always professional... He always gave his best.
"I have seen few criminal lawyers with the same level of commitment that Subhas had."
Senior Counsel Mavis Chionh, chief prosecutor at the Attorney-General's Chambers' Criminal Justice Division, said: "All of us prosecutors who have worked with Subhas will remember him as a man with a very big heart, who fought very hard to help his clients. We certainly admire him for that."
