New e-book on Singapore's pre-independence legal history launched

Curator of Legal Tenor: Voices from Singapore's Legal History (1930-1959), Eleanor Wong, poses for a photograph in the Supreme Court library on Oct 31, 2013. The 274-page work features transcripts of interviews with 15 legal personalities, including
Curator of Legal Tenor: Voices from Singapore's Legal History (1930-1959), Eleanor Wong, poses for a photograph in the Supreme Court library on Oct 31, 2013. The 274-page work features transcripts of interviews with 15 legal personalities, including former MP J.B. Jeyaretnam, former Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin and first chief minister David Marshall.  -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LUI

Back when Singapore was still a British colony, its legal scene was dominated by foreign firms, lawyers and judges. Aspiring lawyers did not yet have a local law school to attend.

The setting is captured in a new e-book launched on Friday evening by the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL).

Called Legal Tenor: Voices from Singapore's Legal History (1930-1959), the 274-page work features transcripts of interviews with 15 legal personalities, including former MP J.B. Jeyaretnam, former Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin and first chief minister David Marshall. Audio clips of the interviews are also included.

Such voices of the "pioneering generation" of the legal fraternity here "evoke a real sense of our historical past and of an era when Singapore transitioned from colonial rule to self-governance", said Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon. He was speaking on Friday evening at a dinner event to mark SAL's 25th anniversary as well as launch the book.

Nine individuals who have made "key contributions" to the academy were also presented with awards.

For more information about the book, email publications@sal.org.sg or call 63320041/63324644

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