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!

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.

My visit to Ipoh for Pre-Mediation Conference

The venue for the Pre-Mediation Conference

Recently, I was appointed to handle a “Court referred” mediation in Ipoh. “Court referred” mediation means that the matter is kept in abeyance in Court while the parties sought private mediation to meet their needs. I have not been to Ipoh for many years and was pretty excited to go there to attend the Pre-Mediation Conference.

Pre-Mediation conference is where the Mediator will explain to the parties what is Mediation, the Mediation process, the objective of Mediation, confidentiality and basically to answer any questions the parties may have. Pre-Mediation is not compulsory but it certainly helps if the parties have not been to a Mediation before. In this particular Mediation, we have quite a number of parties involved. Many of them have not been to a Mediation before, therefore we have to use the Perak Bar as its venue to accommodate everyone.

I was the only passenger in the entire ETS coach!

The first step in getting to Ipoh is to determine the mode of transport. Driving would be too tiring and flying is not an option as there are no longer flights available from KL to Ipoh. Therefore, this only leaves me with one choice and that is by rail. I decided to try the Electric Transit Services (ETS). The time duration for the trip from KL to Ipoh and vice versa ranges from 2 hours to 2 1/2 hours. It depends on whether the train is an express train (meaning there  are no stops and takes 2 hours), limited stops (ie: 7 stops and  takes 2 hours and 15 minutes) or the normal ETS (which means 13 stops and  takes 2 1/2 hours). Due to my schedule, I took the ETS with limited stops to Ipoh and the normal ETS from Ipoh to KL.

The Pre-Mediation Conference was scheduled  in the afternoon. I had plenty of time, so I  decided to take the 10.45am ETS from KL Sentral. My wife, Jennifer dropped me at the station with enough time for a “teh tarik” and some cookies which I brought from home. When it was time to board the train, there were a number of charming stewardesses guiding us but  somehow I found myself in the wrong coach. Nevertheless, I just sat in that coach since it was empty. When the train was moving, the stewardess came to collect my ticket and informed me that I was sitting in the wrong coach. When I was going to remove my things, she just smiled and said, “It is going to be quite a long walk. Why don’t you just sit here and be comfortable?” I smiled and thanked her. Since the coach was empty, I had all the seats to myself. During the entire journey, I was surfing the internet with my IPAD 3G while listening to my MP3. I made a few phone calls to my friends Kenny Lai (lawyer and mediator) and Leong Cheok Keng (lawyer) who are practicing in Ipoh, to see if they are available for lunch. Both of them had prior appointments, so lunch will be very much on my own.

My lunch at the Old Town White Coffee in Ipoh

For lunch, Kenny Lai recommended me Miner’s Arm which unfortunately was closed, so I proceed to the Old Town White Coffee. I had the kway teow soup and their famous white coffee. I must say the kway teow was really smooth and soft. It virtually melted in my mouth. The service was excellent and the waiter who was not much older than me called me “Uncle” which I thought was quite amusing.

After lunch, I went to the Perak Bar for the Pre-Mediation Conference. During the Pre-Mediation Conference, I applied the “mirroring” technique to make the parties comfortable.  I was matching and synchronising my movements with the parties. The Pre-Mediation Conference lasted about an hour. 

With my old buddy, Edwin Gomez

After the Pre-Mediation Conference, I had about 2 hours of layover time before my ETS to KL. I decided to call up an old friend, Edwin Gomez whom I have not seen for years. Edwin Gomez used to work as the General Manager in one of the leading banks in KL. Today, he is retired and living in Ipoh. He dedicated a lot of his time in doing charity work. He helps out in the soup kitchen for the poor and homeless three times a week. Way to go, Edwin! Edwin came and picked me up for some hot thosai, "koli varuval" (dried chicken curry) and a round of “teh tarik”. Before I left I took a photo of Edwin and myself for we do not know when we will see each other again.

On my way back to KL on the ETS, it was raining heavily. This time, I got into the right coach. The coach was packed with every seat taken except the one next to mine. It was a relief but a bit awkward. As a Mediator, I am used to people approaching me and talking to me but when that did not happen, I felt strange but a good feeling nevertheless!