My experience with COVID-19

 

On 5th January 2022, I was added to the official statistic for the number of COVID-19 cases in New South Wales (NSW). How did that happened? Well, here is my story:

Since the middle of December 2021, the number of COVID cases in NSW have been increasing day after day. This was just a few days after the NSW government had eased COVID restrictions such as lifting of face masks wearing and abolishment of QR code scanning in non high risk places. In spite of the easing of these restrictions during that time, I noticed that many people were still wearing face masks regardless whether they were in indoors or outdoors. This could be due to either people were still worried about catching COVID or they just didn’t believe that the COVID situation was improving. On 22nd December 2021, I went in for my scheduled oral surgery to treat my infected jaw bone and bone grafting. The procedure took about 2 hours. For obvious reasons, I would need to unmask in that duration while undergoing the surgery and treatment. The recovery from post-surgery was quite uncomfortable. I had a big swell on the left side of my face. I was on antibiotics and painkillers (I rarely take painkiller unless it becomes unbearable and this was one of those rare moments). On 28th December 2021, I had my appointment to take my booster vaccine shot. My earlier intention was to do it some time in January 2022. However, since the government have reduced the waiting time for boosters as well as urging us to take the booster shots as soon as possible, I felt that I should comply and get it over with. I also got the assurance from my dental surgeon who advised that it was safe to take the booster shot a few days after my oral surgery.

On that fateful day, I went to the Sydney Olympic Park Vaccination hub. As it was just a few days after Christmas, I did not expect to see many people at the Vaccination hub. Boy, was I wrong! There was a long line and it was crowded at the Vaccination hub. However, kudos to the health staff, the process was very easy, well organised and efficient. When it came to my turn for the booster shot, the nurse went through a list of questions with me and then proceeded with the shot. I was asked to wait in the “observation area” for 15 minutes until one of the health staff releases me. There were quite a number of people waiting together with me. Looking around, I was thinking to myself, “Wow, if someone here is COVID POSITIVE, this would be a “super spreader” venue”. Anyway, when my 15 minutes was up, I was officially released and allowed to leave the “observation area”. Unlike my other two vaccine shots, I did not go home but instead went to have lunch with my 87 year old friend, Uncle Eddie Chin. We had a nice lunch and as usual, great chat. When I came home, I felt lethargic but I put that all down as “side-effect” from the booster shot. In the evening, I had the “chills” and felt my face was quite hot. Fortunately, it was just for a short while. The next morning, except for the soreness in my arm due to the jab and a bit of a scratchy throat, I was fine. By afternoon, the soreness was gone but I felt tired. Again, I just put that down to the “side-effect” from the booster shot. On 30th December 2021, my throat was still scratchy. Even though it was scratchy but it didn’t really affect me as it was hardly noticeable unless I really focus on it. I could also swallow without any difficulty as my throat wasn’t sore at all. That evening, my family and I were invited to a friend’s house for dinner. I didn’t eat very much but I was thirsty. When I came home, I was very tired. I went to bed early.

That night I had a mild fever and my throat was a bit dry which made it even more scratchy. On New Year’s eve, while everyone was out celebrating, I just didn’t have the mood to celebrate. I was still very tired. Again, I put that all down as “side-effect” from the booster shot. That night, I began to cough, had fever and my nose was runny. I took Panadol and the fever went away. However, the cough and the runny nose became worst. The next day which was New Year’s day, I was still very tired. I was feeling down and restless. I just wanted to lie down and go to sleep but couldn’t. As I was lying down and looking up the ceiling, all sort of things were coming into my mind. I said to myself, “this can’t be the side effect from the booster. I didn't have any side effect from my first two shots and also, it has been about 4 days now”. I asked my wife whether it is possible to buy a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kit since the test kits were sold out almost everywhere. By a streak of good luck and my wife’s sheer determination, she managed to get some RAT kits. I took the test and it immediately showed the 2 blue lines that confirmed that I am COVID POSITIVE. I didn’t even need to use the ultra violet light that came with the kit as the 2 lines were so clear and unambiguous.

I immediately called the NSW Health to self-report that I am COVID POSITIVE but the NSW Health person said that I need to do a PCR test in one of the test centres. This was before the NSW Government changed their rulings on self reporting using RAT kit. I informed the NSW Health person that most of the test centres have shut their doors due to the overwhelming number of people requiring such tests that put enormous pressure on the health system plus it was New Year’s day. The person still advised me to try somehow and meanwhile, to self-isolate except when going out for the PCR test. I immediately poured through the entire cyberspace to look for a test centre that would be opened. I didn’t mind traveling as I would be in a car. I finally found 2 places that indicated they would be opened on 2nd January 2022. On 2nd January 2022, my wife and I decided to get ourselves tested. My wife’s RAT result was inconclusive and decided to go with me  to take the PCR test. Meanwhile, my kids did their second Rapid Antigen Test and found themselves to be negative. We drove to the first test centre that I googled. As suspected, we were informed that they have stopped operating due to heavy stress on the health system. I told my wife, there is another test centre from my internet search that could still be operating but not to hold our breath. When we reached the drive-in test centre, I was happy to see a long line of cars queuing up! That means the drive-in test centre is operating! We decided to join the long queue. All in all, it wasn’t that bad as we were quite comfortable sitting in the car and it took us about 90 minutes to complete the PCR test. We were told to go home and to wait for the PCR test results.

I felt much more energetic but the cough was still there. However, I could feel the cough wasn’t as bad as before because I could now construct a full sentence without coughing. The rest of the day was uneventful. When night came, I noticed that my children who were isolated from us were coughing and I could see from afar that they were rubbing their eyes. I immediately suspected that they must have caught COVID. Since our RAT kits were quite scarce due to the overwhelming demand, my wife advised that the kids should do the Rapid Antigen test on Day 5 as they have just taken them this morning. I told my wife that I recognised the symptoms from my experience and to take the test again. My children took the Rapid Antigen test that night and both of them received POSITIVE results. When our PCR results came back, they confirmed that both my wife and I are COVID POSITIVE. So, we have now an entire household / family that was COVID POSITIVE.

When you have an entire household that is COVID POSITIVE, the first thing is to get yourselves organised. The advantage is that you do not need to isolate with each other anymore since everyone is COVID POSITIVE. Apart from that, we also removed our face mask. It is strange but somehow it felt good to be a family as a whole again. We could move about in the house without any restriction. It certainly felt good to be free again, although, it was a confined freedom! Our concern is now focus on how to replenish our food supply. Luckily, my cousin and my sister-in-law were able to assist but we didn’t want to bother them too much. We also used UberEats to order food delivery. However, many of the participating UberEats restaurants suspended their delivery service during that period. It was due to lack of workers and disruption in supply chain due to COVID and holiday period. During this period, essential goods were becoming scarce due to supply issues as many people either got COVID or were isolating due to being a close contact. When we managed to order from the restaurant, the serving had become noticeably smaller and the prices have also increased significantly. These are interesting times, we are living in.

On Day 3 after I have been tested COVID POSITIVE, all of the sudden, my sense of smell became  wacky. The 4711 cologne that I have been using for years had suddenly smelt strange to me. Even certain food which I am accustomed to and familiar with suddenly smelt alien to me. This took about 2 days before I regain my sense of smell again. By Day 6, I felt much better, almost to my normal self. I took the Rapid Antigen Test and was delighted when I found out that I was COVID NEGATIVE. The next day, I received a letter of release from NSW Health that allows me to leave isolation and to join the community once again.

Even though, I am now COVID NEGATIVE but it took me a while to regain my stamina and strength. I wasn’t the only one but many friends who got COVID experienced the same thing. Climbing uphill or walking for a long period of time became a huge task. I was able to walk 10km a day without any problems but after having COVID, walking even 5km became an arduous task. I decided to take things easy and not to push it. Listen to your body. If you are tired, REST, and if you are able, WALK. I did that for about a month. I am happy to report that recently, I completed a 12.7km without even realising it. I hope that I am back to normal but like many doctors say, it is still too early to tell what is the long term effect of COVID. My advice is not to sweat over it but to take each day as it comes.

Negotiation and Communication Skills Workshop (24th April 2013) -Special Discount for readers of this blog!

Hello everyone! I will be visiting KL from 12th April until the 26th April 2013. I hope to catch up with as many of you as possible during that 2 weeks. During this visit, I will be conducting a workshop called "Negotiation & Communication Skills Workshop" at the Renaissance Hotel on the 24th April 2013. The organiser of this event is Crimson Logic. I understand from the organiser that there are still a few spaces left. In this workshop, I will be sharing with you some of the techniques in creating instant rapport. This is a practical interactive workshop. There will be role plays and exercises to allow you to attempt these new skills. I hope to see you in the Workshop. The organiser has very kindly agreed to give a discount of 15% if you mentioned that you heard about it through this blog! See you in KL and hopefully I will see you in the workshop! Cheers

Do you remember your school song?

SK Seri Hartamas' school song sung by Class 2012

LA Salle Klang's school song sung by Class 1985

I sure do. However, do you remember the NAME of your school song? No, I don’t. All I remember was that it goes something like this, “All through our classes, a voice is resounding.....”. I remember the lyrics well but somehow the NAME of the school song just slipped my mind. You probably wonder, how can a person still remember the school song after close to 30 years. Well, as my former schoolmate and friend, Winston Pang said, “How can you ever forget a song that you have sung every Monday for 5 years. Somehow the words are etched in your brain just like information stored in a computer hard disk”. That was a good reframe by Winston! Last year (2011), we had a class reunion (Class 1985) at La Salle Klang. We actually visited our old classroom and had the same class monitor (Harry Hubert) and our Form 2 class teacher (Bro Andrew Loke) with us. We decided to reminisce our old school days by having the class monitor giving his usual command “Class stand, good evening Bro Andrew” and then followed by us (the former students). We ended by singing the school song which everyone remembered.

Recently, I attended Ashley and Douglas’ “Prize Giving Day” and “Graduation Night”. There was a good mix of students coming from different classes and from different years singing the school song. I am not sure whether those who were leaving school realised at that time, that was probably the last time that they would be singing the school song in their school uniform. Anyway the school song was sung in high spirit with pure gusto. Have a listen to both school songs (both mine and my children) and see who gave a better performance! :-)

Have you tried the "salted peanuts" on board Malaysia Airlines (MAS)?

If you have not, you should. The "salted peanuts" are really good!

I know I have written about Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and talked about its service before in this blog. Like all things in life, we have to be fair with our comments. If we feel there are certain things lacking then we should voice out our concern and perhaps even suggest ways that can help to improve the situation. Likewise, if there are things which are done well, we should be generous with our praises and that is exactly what I am going to do in this posting.

My views on Malaysia Airlines’ food are still the same - unpalatable! However, I reiterate my admiration for the cabin crew and their inflight service. On our MAS flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur recently, we were served with some refreshments. The refreshments consisted of drinks (juices, sodas, beer, wine or water) and packets of salted peanuts. The cabin crew who attended to us was one Lee Siok Choy (I hope I got his name correctly) whom I noticed was very good in his job. He would made cheerful remarks to the passengers while serving them. It wasn’t so much of what was said, it was more of the way he interacted with the passengers that made them feel at ease. He was also very attentive and efficient. Before the food cart was pushed towards our section of the aircraft, he was already taking orders for food (you know the standard “would you like the fish or the chicken?” Initially, I doubted that he could remember all of the orders but surprisingly he remembered them and directed his colleagues to serve the right food to the respective passengers. Ashley, Jennifer and I ordered the Noodles (Vermicelli or “Bee Hoon”) with beef while Douglas had chicken. It was a mistake to order the Noodles as it didn’t taste good at all. As a matter of fact, Ashley threw up on board the flight, not sure if it was caused by the food but I suspected it may have something to do with it. The only consolation was the mango ice-cream which was very good. The mango ice-cream was from Australia.

I didn’t realise at that time that our cabin crew Lee Siok Choy was observing that we were not eating the food except for the salted peanuts which by that time I had already consumed four (4) packets. Lee Siok Choy has a very keen eye, he saw that both the passenger in front as well as Jennifer have empty mineral water bottles in their seat pockets. He immediately offered to fill up the bottle for them which they happily accepted. When the time to serve the snacks came, we were given the option of either “chicken or vegetable pie”. Sounds palatable? Well, the pies came in a cardboard box and it was nothing like the chicken pie or vegetable pie that we know very well. We have been frequently served with this “snack” whenever we flew with MAS. Naturally, I declined the “snack”. Lee Siok Choy was shocked that I declined the “snack” and asked again and again whether I am sure about it. He said to let him know if I changed my mind. Anyway my decision was firm.

As the plane was about to land and being the observant person, Lee Siok Choy offered to give me a few packets of the salted peanuts which I have been eating to fill my tummy. That was a very nice gesture which I truly appreciated. I must add here that all of the cabin crew on board that particular flight were friendly and helpful but to me, Lee Siok Choy stood out. He has got some good people skills and I believe would make a rather good Mediator. So, Lee Siok Choy, if you are reading this post and you are interested to be a Mediator, please let me know!

Meeting Sir Peter Mooney

Dato' Dr Sir Peter Mooney and me

Yesterday, I had the honour of meeting and having lunch with Dato’ Dr Sir Peter Mooney. My father and I were very keen on meeting Sir Peter, especially after reading his book, “A Servant of Sarawak: Reminiscences of a Crown Counsel in 1950s Borneo”, a fascinating book about Sir Peter’s journey and life in Borneo. I will share a little more about the book later. My good friend, Catherine Eu (former Executive Director of the Bar Council) put me in touch with Sir Peter and we set a date for lunch at the Chinese Restaurant located at the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur.

Sir Peter Mooney autographing his book

Now, you may be curious to know who exactly is this person, Sir Peter Mooney? Dato’ Dr Sir Peter Mooney is an illustrious lawyer being the co-founder of Skrine, one of Malaysia’s leading law firms and had served as the Attorney General of Sarawak in the 1950s. Sir Peter Mooney hailed from Ireland but was educated largely in Scotland. Being a brilliant student, he literally sailed through his education on scholarships  based on merit. Sir Peter Mooney had his first taste of Far East when he fought in one of the toughest battle in World War II in Burma. Sir Peter Mooney fought with the British Fourteenth Army under the command of General Sir William Slim (who incidentally became the Governor-General of Australia in 1953). After the war, Sir Peter Mooney continued his education and subsequently was called to the Scottish Bar. Sir Peter Mooney practised law for a short while in Scotland until he was appointed as a Crown Counsel for Sarawak by the Secretary of State for the Colonies in the United Kingdom. Being a linguist, Sir Peter Mooney managed to pick up the local languages such as Malay, Iban and Mandarin rather quickly. Sir Peter Mooney was subsequently appointed as the Attorney General of Sarawak and had faced many legendary opponents (Defense Counsels) such as David Marshall and Lee Kuan Yew. Many of the notable names which we frequently come across in history books such as Sir Malcolm MacDonald and Sir Anthony Abell were people that Sir Peter had worked with and were colleagues of Sir Peter.

Sir Peter's book - a good read

I found Sir Peter Mooney’s book, “A Servant of Sarawak: Reminiscences of a Crown Counsel in 1950s Borneo” a rather good read. The author’s style of relating his experiences and the thorough and vivid description of how the lifestyle of the people in Borneo at that time gives you a feel of the 1950s in “wild Borneo”. The readers could actually feel and see the things that Sir Peter had gone through in those years (perhaps not the same experiences he had but you get an idea). The author shared some interesting cases which he handled and made it even more interesting by adding some anecdotes here and there. The book is written in a simple style and easy to understand. This book is highly recommended for those who wants to know about the colonial times.

Dato' Manan listening attentively to Sir Peter's experiences in Borneo

With Datuk Mahadev Shankar (former Court of Appeal Judge)

The lunch was marvelous. I ordered a number of dishes consisting mainly of vegetables as Sir Peter is more keen on vegetables compared to meat. Joining us for lunch was my dad, Dato’ Abdul Manan Othman (former Cabinet Minister), Catherine Eu (former Executive Director of Bar Council)  and Puan Hendon Mohamed (former President of the Malaysian Bar). I have also invited Lim Chee Wee (current President of the Malaysian Bar) but he sent his apologies. During lunch, we bumped into Datuk Mahadev Shankar (former Court of Appeal Judge), we shared some jokes and had a few laughs and he had to go on his way to another function.

Sir Peter Mooney with a copy of my book

I brought along a copy of Sir Peter’s book and requested for his autograph which he obliged. After that, I presented Sir Peter an autographed copy of “Mediation Skills and Techniques” and a few memorabilia. Sir Peter Mooney is a great man and I must say that it is indeed an honour and privilege to meet you, Sir Peter (if you are reading this post) and hope to catch up with you again!

Thank you and good-bye SKSH - "SKSH forever"

"SKSH forever"

The Proud Mums

Ashley with few of her good friends

The "cool boys" of SKSH

The words said it all

The Finale - "Sealed with a Kiss"

Saying goodbye...until we meet again!

Ashley embracing her good friend, Safia Razin

On 6th November 2012, Jennifer, Douglas and I attended Ashley’s farewell night at Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Hartamas. It was a fun evening with good food and entertainment. The event was well attended by the Standard Six pupils (the event was for them as they will be leaving school soon), the Principal, teachers and parents. The Standard Six pupils put on a very good show with some individual singers, choir and dancing ala 1960s style. The theme of the night was “Retro Night”. Jennifer and I didn’t know what “Retro” was so we googled it and this is what it says, “old fashioned” style. Again, the definition was rather vague and we clicked “images” and then we got it! It means the bell bottom and colourful era. Initially, Jennifer wanted to wear “kebaya” but that may not fall into the category of “Retro” so we decided to wear something less formal.

The Standard Six pupils put on a splendid show. You could see that a lot of efforts were put into the performance. What amazed us were the camaraderie and the genuine friendship shown by the pupils to each other. If only the adults could behaved like that, the world would have been a peaceful one. For a short while there, even the parents were behaving like 12 years old - giggling, laughing and teasing each other.

The food was good with a lot of nice local flavour such as “satay ayam” (chicken satay), “soto ayam”, nasi tomato, fried fish fillet, “ice kacang” and “teh tarik”. The food was served ala “buffet style” and the lines were orderly.

The finale on that evening was an emotional and touching one. The Standard Six pupils were invited to the stage to deliver three (3) songs as a final tribute to the teachers, parents and friends. It started with “Ilhamku” (My inspiration), “To Sir with Love” and the last one was “Sealed with a Kiss”. I could observed from the songs that somehow the lyrics and the tune had an impact on the students’ emotions. “Ilhamku” was sang quite solemnly and then when it came to “To Sir with Love”, some of the students’ voices were already cracking and when the famous words “Though we gotta say goodbye for the summer.....” from “Sealed with the Kiss” was sung, tears were beginning to flow. What made it even more emotional was than when “Sealed with the Kiss” was sung, the students in an orderly manner moved and shook hands with each other. Some even embraced and let the tears flowed freely. Even some of the parents including Jennifer shed a few tears. After having spent six (6) wonderful years at Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Hartamas, you can’t help but feel emotional. Jennifer, Ashley, Douglas and myself would like to say a big “thank you” to all the wonderful teachers and friends that we have met along the way. Whenever you are in Sydney, please look us up!

My visit to LEADR in Sydney, Australia

Me and Fiona Hollier (CEO of LEADR)

This morning, I had the privilege of visiting LEADR which is one of Australia's leading Dispute Resolution Organisation in downtown Sydney. I had a meeting with Fiona Hollier who is the CEO of LEADR for about an hour. It was a very fruitful meeting. We exchanged ideas on Mediation training and assessment. All I can say from the meeting is that we have got a lot to learn from our friends here in Australia. I presented a copy of my book "Mediation Skills and Techniques" to LEADR and in return I was presented with some wonderful souvenirs. LEADR is a non-profit organisation and you can learn more about it by visiting their website www.leadr.com.au

A nice home cooked meal - Thank you, Mr & Mrs Arul

A wonderful spread of home cooked meal!

Mr. Arul with my parents

Mr and Mrs Arul with my dad

Catching up on old times

Mrs Arul with my mum

Mr. Arul shared with us a useful paper cutting

This afternoon, my father’s former classmate and family friend, Mr. G Arulanathan and his lovely wife invited us over to their place for lunch. They heard that my family and I would be leaving for Sydney soon and therefore, wanted to give us a home cooked farewell lunch in their home. My children, Ashley and Douglas did not attend as they have exams tomorrow. My parents, Jennifer and me attended the wonderful lunch.

We had a home cooked meal of fish head curry (Mrs. Arul’s specialty), basmati rice (brought all the way from Australia as their son, Balan lives there), indian “yong tau foo”, mutton varuval, dried indian fish flake, drumstick dried curry, green “kampung” chicken curry and “pappadam”. We also had “murruku” and “fried dried bittergourd” on the side. As for dessert, we had fresh mangoes and coffee. It was a very hearty and nice meal. Thank you to Mr & Mrs Arul for that lovely lunch!

Gave a luncheon talk to soon to be lawyers at RSC - 18th Oct 2012

Last Thursday (11th October 2012), I was invited by the Bar Council, Malaysia as a Guest Speaker to deliver a speech at a formal luncheon for soon to be lawyers (pupils in chambers) at the Ballroom, Royal Selangor Club. Puan Hendon Mohamed read a short bio data of me and introduced me as “a fellow Member of the Bar, a colleague and a good friend”. There were more than a hundred people who attended the lunch. Below is the speech given at the luncheon:-

SPEECH –Bar Council’s Ethics and Professional Conduct Luncheon, 11th October 2012

1.    Thank you and congratulations for completing the Ethics and Professional Conduct Course. You have endured and experienced two days of added wisdom, knowledge and to some extent, skills. Please give yourself a round of applause. You deserve it!

2.    Before long, you will be having another celebration – celebrating your long call to the Bar. Try to treasure every minute of it because you earned it! All the hard work you have put in and not forgetting the great support given by your family and loved ones.

3.    Once the celebration simmers down, then it will be time for you to apply what you have learned in law school should you choose to be a lawyer or in a law related field.

4.    A question that one will always ask when venturing into the professional working world for the first time is that “Am I thoroughly prepared?” “What happens if I screw it up?” “What happens if I make mistakes?”

    I am going to share with you six (6) principles that I live by when I became a lawyer. Are you ready for this?

5.    First principle, please accept yourself as being a human-being. There is no such thing as being perfect or being completely and thoroughly prepared. We can only do our very best and to pick up skills and knowledge as we go along.

6.    Second principle, don’t compare yourself with others. As they say, you do not know what the other person’s ultimate goal is. By all means, learn from them. Make them as your role models (if you wish) but don’t compare yourself with them BECAUSE you are much better in some of the areas than they are.

6.    Thirdly, allow yourself to FORGIVE yourself. Give yourself that permission. Don’t be too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes, all of us do. God knows, I have made mistakes on a number of occasions in my legal career. But what is important is that I learnt from those mistakes so that I can improve myself. Once we realize our mistakes, we learn to avoid them or remedy them. Learn to find ways and alternatives to resolve an issue. Most of the time, there is more than one way to resolve an issue or to “skin a cat” as the saying goes.

7.    Fourthly, learn to communicate with both your colleagues and clients. Try to put yourselves in their shoes and see how they would feel when faced with a certain situation or challenge. By understanding your colleagues and clients, you know you are in good footing.

8.    Fifth, when faced with challenges, accept it. Because challenges can be overcome. Sometimes, the road in front of us may not be as straight or as smooth as we want but how comfortable we want to make that journey depends on us NOT on the road. We can travel either in a bigger car or in a bus or we can always take an alternative route BUT the destination remains the same.

9.    Sixth, learn to adapt.

    Many years ago, after completing my SPM, as a matter a fact, two days after, I was literally packed and left for the US to start College. I wanted to start early and graduate early. As a matter a fact, I did graduate from one of the finest Universities in the US at the age of 21. Back in 1989, that was quite unheard of. But before I could gain entry into that university, I had to enroll myself in a Community College to prepare for my eventual entry into the University.

10.    Coming to a big city like Los Angeles, more specifically in East LA in the 1980s was a big adventure. Going to a Community College comprising of 95% of Hispanic students was one heck of an experience. I was culturally shocked but I adapted myself, learning some Spanish words, got myself well liked and enjoyed my semester there.

11.    Like in everything else in life, learn to adapt to your professional working environment, be flexible and learn to contribute to the well being of the firm and also to the Bar Council.

12.    Remember, the Bar Council is a legal statutory body which governs and looks after the welfare of pupils and lawyers. When you become a lawyer, find time to contribute to the Bar either by joining one of the Committees or volunteering your services from time to time. Not only will you meet new people and expand your network of friends and legal colleagues but it is also for self satisfaction.

13.    The journey that we are traveling and experiencing call “Life” is wide and long. We do not know where it will take us or where it will end. There may be a few bumps here and there or it may be a smooth one for majority of the time. But what we know is that we are the ones who determine how comfortable or how successful that journey will be. As lawyers, we have a duty to our clients, to the Court and to the Bar. We must ensure that our clients have confidence in us; the Court has respect for us and the Bar has trust in us to keep it independent and just. With that, I wish you all the very best in your legal career or whatever career that you choose. Thank you and best wishes.

Gave a talk at the "Employment Law & HR Management Master Class", 9th Oct 2012

Me and Bernard Ong

Me and Stephanie (the usher)

One of the funny powerpoint slides

Last Tuesday, I gave a talk at a seminar called “Employment Law & HR Management Master Class”. It was held at Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur. I spoke on “The HR Function: Understanding Legal Obligations and Boundaries”, a topic which was picked by the organisers, Crown Leadership which is based in Singapore.

In return for giving the talk, Crown Leadership gave me a complimentary pass entitled me to invite a guest to attend the full two days seminar. I invited my old friend, Bernard Ong to attend. He told me he found the seminar useful and he learned a few new things plus he made a few friends as well. The size of the seminar was rather small - about 15 to 18 people. However, we have got a very active group, asking a lot of questions. In this particular seminar, I did not give any handouts. I gave a powerpoint presentation that contained only pictures - nothing else. I started the talk by telling a story which was related to employment issues. As I went along, I showed the slides. Some of the slides were pretty amusing which got the whole class laughing. I guess when you are giving a talk at 9.00am, it would be wise to tickle their funny bone, otherwise the class would be rather slow and quiet. All in all, it was fun.

Mediation Skills Training Course at the Bar Council - 3rd Oct until 7th Oct 2012

Mediation Skills Training Course October 2012

Mediation - role play in session

Mediator "mirroring" one of the parties

"Mirroring" in action

The wonderful participants

Mediator setting the Agenda

Me and Faizal

Last week was a very busy week for me. I was asked by the Malaysian Mediation Centre (MMC) to be the Course Leader and the Lead Trainer for a 5 days Mediation Skills Training Course at the Bar Council, Malaysia. The course ran from 3rd October until 7th October 2012. The thing I like about the MMC is that they give you a free hand to run the course as you deem fit. I decided to rope my colleagues and friends to help me out in the Mediation Skills Training Course. All of them are Certified Mediation Trainers and like me, we are all doing it pro bono. We are not paid a single cent. All the monies collected from the Training Course go to MMC for the upkeep and the maintaining of the Centre.

The people who came and helped were Wong Lu Peen (she was there the whole of first day as she already had plans to travel to overseas the following day), Marcus Hwang, Tejinderpal, Puan Hendon (Tejinderpal and Puan Hendon have been helping me since Day 1 of the Course), Serene, Chan Kheng Hoe, Nacha, Sumathi, KL Choy, Tay Bee Choo and Christine Khor. Serene, KL Choy, Bee Choo and Christine are from outstation. Due to the spirit of volunteerism and camaraderie, they made the extra effort to be with us at the Training.

During the Training, Bee Choo (from Johor Baru) and Christine (from Penang) stayed at my place. After the Training on Day 3, I took Bee Choo, Jennifer, my father and our friend, Catherine Eu (former Executive Director of the Bar Council, Malaysia) to Jinjang (Kepong) to try this unique steamboat porridge dinner. Amongst the dishes was a plate of “live” prawns. The prawns were still moving and active. You have to literally and physically put the prawns into the pot of hot steamboat porridge. You can’t get the prawns any fresher than that. Without a doubt, the prawns were simply delicious. On Day 4, Christine Khor joined us from Penang. Catherine Eu invited us over to her place for dinner but we had a better idea, we asked her to join us for seafood dinner in Port Klang. We went to this place called “Klang Seafood” and had crabs, “sotong”, fried “hokkien mee” just to name a few. It was real fun having Bee Choo and Catherine over at our place.

When it comes to food, I digressed. Let us get back to the Training. We had a wonderful group of people comprising of senior lawyers, marriage therapist, psychologist and a medical doctor as participants. As Puan Hendon remarked in her closing speech, this Training was conducted in a different style compared  to the previous trainings. In this Training, we played games, had short exercises, several role plays and we showed seven (7) different video clips. The clips are fun videos featuring flash mob, baby laughing and also “gang-nam style”. We wanted to keep the Training exciting and lively for the participants. It was our intention get them on their feet and keep them moving. We even had a “set-up” sketch where my secretary, Michelle Martin played the role of the “rude lady” who kept on interrupting me while I was conducting the Training. It was all done in good fun with a specific purpose. If you want to know the purpose, come and join us in the next Training.

Besides having fun, the Training was also quite a personal challenge for me. On the last day, I had food poisoning and was throwing up. Later on, I discovered that a number of participants also experienced the same thing. However, as they say, “the show must go on”. I am thankful to Bee Choo, Christine and a few others who were constantly checking on me throughout the day. My thanks also go to Marianna Tan and Faizal who showed genuine concern. They are from the Malaysian Mediation Centre and have been a great help throughout the Training. In that Training, I also took my final bow as that was my final training given as a member of the Malaysian Bar. A lot of nice memories and I made a lot of good friends. Thank you everyone!

Mediation Skills Training Course at the Industrial Court - 18th -22nd Sept 2012

Distinguished participants

"Mediation Skills and Techniques" book presentation

The Malaysian Mediation Centre (MMC) conducted a 5 days Mediation Certification Course at the Industrial Court, Malaysia recently. It ran from 18th September 2012 till 22nd September 2012. The venue was at the Industrial Court itself in Kuala Lumpur. The trainers were Nacha, Meg and myself. Nacha and Meg did most of the work while I handled the topic on techniques or better known as “Dealing with Stubborn Behaviour”. I informed the participants that I intend to replace the negative word “Stubborn” with “challenges”. Why? Because challenges can be overcome! The participants were made up of the Chairmen and Chairwomen of the Industrial Court (“Industrial Court Judges”), the Registrar, the Deputy Registrar and the Assistant Registrars. They came from Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Sarawak and Johor.

The feedback from the participants was positive. I think most of them enjoyed the course very much. I wish I could share more techniques with the participants but because this  is a Certification course, there were a lot of grounds to cover apart from mediation techniques. As usual, the training would not have been possible without the support of the wonderful coaches like the ever obliging Puan Hendon, the ever friendly and helpful Tejinderpal, the witty Wong Lu Peen, Sumathi and a few others. For the record, the trainers and coaches were not paid. All monies collected go to the MMC fund.

Rachel Tan who is now with Thomson Reuters Malaysia (Sweet & Maxwell Asia) made an appearance with copies of my book. The Industrial Court bought seven (7) copies of my book to be distributed to the various Courts in Malaysia. Thank you so much for the great support. All of us had a great time and hope that we will be able to conduct more of these trainings in the future.

My Final Appearance at the Selangor Bar

I gave my final talk as a member of the Malaysian Bar at the Selangor Bar on 20th July 2012. The title of my talk was “Mediating Family and Relationship Disputes”. The attendance was relatively intimate about 30 people. In that talk, I spoke about the causes of breakdown in relationships, exploring different types of Mediation such as Divorce Mediation, Post Divorce Mediation, Unmarried Couples Mediation, etc. When I asked the participants to name some of the causes of breakdown in relationships, one of the participants shouted “Mother in law!” Wow! I must say I didn’t see that coming! Other participants gave the usual answers such as infidelity, misunderstanding, etc. Well, those are not causes. Those are actually consequences. The causes are basically lack of communication, trust and empathy. A skillful Mediator would explore those causes with the parties in order to generate options as to how and which direction the parties wish to take.

The talk lasted about 2 hours. At the end of the talk, the Selangor Bar Committee presented me with a souvenir made entirely of glass. The Committee was mindful that I will be moving to Australia soon and they were aware that any products made of wood may be prohibited from entering into Australia. In my previous talks at the Selangor Bar, I was presented with a wooden plaque. After being presented with that souvenir made of glass, I just stood there and smiled. There were some small laughter from the participants as they thought it was rather odd that I was staring at an object made of glass. I quickly realised that and informed them that the talk I gave a few moments ago was actually my last talk at the Selangor Bar. I thanked them for all the support they have been given me and was honoured to have been invited a number of times to the Selangor Bar. The participants were kind of sad that I will be leaving but I guess for every lawyer that leaves practice there will be a younger and better ones to replace him.

Thank you for all the good times, Selangor Bar! I will miss you all.

Happy 47th birthday, Singapore!

The formal toasting

With Mike Kuek

With Capt David Padman, Dato' Thava and Datuk Sundra Rajoo

Jennifer and Serene Padman

Jennifer and Puan Hendon

Last night (9^th August 2012), Jennifer and I attended the Republic of Singapore’s National Day reception at Shangri La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. We were there rather early and were greeted by His Excellency, The High Commissioner of Singapore Ong Keng Yong. Incidentally, the High Commissioner of Singapore bought a copy of “Mediation Skills and Techniques” and wrote me a very nice personal letter.

The ballroom was beautifully decorated and there were many diplomats and corporate figures mingling with each other. Jennifer and I helped ourselves to endless supply of the famous cocktail known as “Singapore Sling”. They had two versions of “Singapore Sling” – one with alcohol while the other is a “mocktail” (without alcohol). There were also a variety of canapés to choose ranging from spring roll, prawn cocktail to samosa. As we were walking around and checking out the various food stalls, suddenly we heard someone calling my name. It was none other than our very dear friend, Mike Kuek who is a Counsellor from the Singapore High Commission. Mike chatted with us for a while and then excused himself as he was in the greeting committee and needed to be at the front line to greet the guests.

Jennifer and I were moving about to see if we recognized anyone but so far, we did not spot anyone we know. As we were going to the front part of the ballroom, suddenly I heard someone calling me and tapping my shoulder, “Hey bro, what’s happening?” It was my old friend, Dato’ Thavalingam Thavarajah (commonly known as Thava). Thava is a leading Employment lawyer in Malaysia and was also the former secretary of the Malaysian Employers' Federation (MEF). While we were chatting, another familiar person came up and greeted us. It was another old friend, Datuk Sundra Rajoo who is the Director of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration. I commented that Datuk Sundra Rajoo didn’t seem to age and jokingly asked if he was using botox! I know, I know, I am a mischievous guy! As we were catching up on old times, suddenly who did I see but an old family friend standing behind us – Captain David Padman. Capt David is the current General Manager of Port Klang Authority. I asked Capt David whether his wife Serene is here. Sure enough, Serene showed up with a plate of the famous Singapore chicken rice! Serene and Jennifer had a wonderful time checking and trying out all the different food at the Reception. Jennifer had a great time with Serene chatting and catching up.

They served very good food at the Reception. It is common in this of kind of function for the host to proudly serve the food from their country. We had a lot of similarities here in food such as Char Kway Teow (with prawns and cockles), lamb kurma (which was excellent, I must say), naans, satay, chicken rice (both steam and roasted) amongst others. They even had a stall with a variety of local fruits. As I was ordering a plate of custom fried Char Kway Teow, suddenly I heard another familiar voice behind me saying, “Seumas, are you enjoying the Kway Teow?” Lo and behold, another old friend, Andrew Khoo who was in his batik shirt. Andrew is the Chairman of the Bar Council’s Human Rights Committee and has done fantastic work in defending and preserving human rights.

Suddenly there was a call for silent when the High Commissioner of Singapore and the Malaysian Government’s representative, Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen who is also the Minister of Tourism went up to the stage to perform the customary toasting. After that, the national anthems of both countries were played. Serene who is a Singaporean proudly sang “Majulah SIngapura!” when the anthem was played while her husband, Capt David who is an accomplished singer sang “Negaraku” with the rest of the Malaysian guests who attended the reception.

While heading towards the fruit stall, I bumped into the High Commissioner of Australia. Had a chat with him and then went to grab some nice sweet “jambu air”. While enjoying the “jambu air”, suddenly my mobile phone rang. It was Puan Hendon Mohamed (the first woman President of the Malaysian Bar and the first female Malay lawyer). She asked me whether I am at the reception and I informed her in the affirmative. She was outside the ballroom. I went out to accompany her into the ballroom and we went to check out the “ice kacang” stall. I decided to go and look for Jennifer when I saw Lim Chee Wee (the current President of the Malaysian Bar). We spoke for a while and promised to catch up for lunch soon.

All in all, it was a lovely evening and what makes it even more enjoyable was the wonderful food and excellent company. Thank you to the Singapore High Commission for hosting such a great event and finally, happy 47^th birthday, Singapore!