Do Singapore Lawyers Talk To Each Other?

Remember the President of the Law Society, Mr Wong Meng Meng, who was so quick to jump on M Ravi for shooing the pesky reporters out of the his office, writing officially to him and the proprietor of the firm he works at "to seek a full report, on an urgent basis, on what transpired”? Seems like he has an unique sense of priorities.

This time, members of the Law Society (LawSoc), Ravi probably included, are riled by Wong's initiative to provide business class air tickets for council members travelling on business for the society.

Writing in the Law Gazette, Wong gave an account of his 6-hour coach ride to KL for an official engagement, detailing how he and other council members had to endure the "filthy toilets" at the Golden Mile Complex. No, he did not write officially to the proprietor of the firm he made his travel arrangements with "to seek a full report, on an urgent basis, on what transpires" at the convenience stop. Without seeking prior approval, Wong and companions bought airplane tickets for the return journey because "we had suffered far beyond the call of our duty to the Singapore legal profession". His follow up action was to persuade the LawSoc Council to approve business class travel for council members for trips exceeding 5 hours. There's nothing outrageous in the proposal, which is in line with most travel policies of private profit generating companies, except that LawSoc members have to cough up $200 each for their use of the VIP airport lounge toilet facilities. By the way, did anybody notice the legality of the transgression incurred when the lawyers flew without prior official approval?

Association of Criminal Lawyers in Singapore (ACLS) president Subhas Anandan commented, "We do not know how serious the president is... but if he is serious, then we will seriously object." Meanwhile, obviously oblivious to the objections, Wong claims he has "not received any complaints about the new travel policy". It's a sorry state of the Singapore legal profession when lawyers don't talk to each other anymore. Oh, we forgot, this Wong guy communicates only via official correspondence, "to seek a full report, on an urgent basis, on what transpired".