Prominent law expert Albert Myint Soe, who moved to S'pore from Myanmar, dies at 91

SINGAPORE - Prominent law expert Albert Myint Soe, whose outstanding career embraced teaching, professional practice and public service, died on Tuesday (April 5).

He was 91.

Before moving to Singapore in 1971, Cambridge-educated Dr Myint Soe worked as a criminology and law lecturer at the former Rangoon University in Myanmar, and later became a prominent criminal law practitioner.

Former senior minister S. Jayakumar recalled meeting Dr Myint Soe before he was recruited to join the University of Singapore.

"When Myint Soe applied to teach in the law faculty, the then vice-chancellor, Dr Toh Chin Chye, asked me to fly to Myanmar to interview him.

"After meeting him, I decided that he would be an asset to the faculty, and we hired him. He proved to be a dedicated law teacher," said Professor Jayakumar, who joined the law faculty as a lecturer in 1964, and was dean from 1974 to 1980.

"He went out of his way to assist his students. He never let us down," added Prof Jayakumar.

From 1971 to 1979, Dr Myint Soe taught various subjects embracing both civil and criminal law, and also authored and co-authored various legal publications, said former Law Society president Gregory Vijayendran in an online tribute.

Dr Myint Soe started practising law in 1980 as a partner at Murphy & Dunbar, and assisted in notable criminal cases.

He was involved in the Richard Charles Tarling case, the longest criminal trial in Singapore at the time, spanning about 60 days.

The British financier and former chairman of Haw Par Brothers International had violated laws under the Companies Act.

Dr Myint Soe also took an interest in medical and dental law, and defended doctors and dentists in disciplinary and other proceedings.

When the firm dissolved in 1995, he headed the main group of partners under the banner of MyintSoe Mohamed Yang & Selvaraj, which is now known as MyintSoe & Selvaraj.

He retired in 2018, having appeared for doctors and dentists in several successful High Court cases.

Over the years, Dr Myint Soe received numerous awards, including the Public Service Medal for his work as member and later as chairman of one of the Criminal Law Advisory Committees.

Together with the late Justice M. Karthigesu, he pioneered arbitration law for the profession and public in the early 1980s on behalf of the then newly formed Singapore Institute of Arbitrators.

Dr Myint Soe later served as its president for several years, said Senior Counsel Vijayendran.

He added: "A doyen of the Bar, Myint Soe (fondly known as Albert to friends) was a practitioner par excellence and educator extraordinaire who lived a rich and full life in the law."

Senior Counsel Abraham Vergis described Dr Myint Soe as a scholar and a gentleman at the Bar.

"His old-school mannerisms made him delightfully charming and classy at the same time," he said.

Professor Simon Chesterman, dean and Provost's Chair Professor of the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law, said Dr Myint Soe played an important role in an important phase of NUS Law's development.

"He was one of the more highly qualified academics of his time, holding a PhD from Cambridge, and he published important texts before deciding that his future lay in a move to the Bar," he added.

Dr Myint Soe's colleague S. Selvaraj, who worked with him for almost four decades, said he gained a lot from Dr Myint Soe's wide knowledge of law and in practice.

"Among other things, he taught me to serve the client first and not consider the fees, whether the client is rich or poor."

Dr Myint Soe is survived by his wife, three children, granddaughter and two great-grandchildren.