Double Double "U"s Means “Wonderful Weekend”

Ahh… 

I had one of the most enjoyable times last weekend. I got to spend a lot of bonding time with my pretty Bride and playful Baby.

The Bride wanted to have a haircut and she did the style which I loved most.

Yes. I just love the China Doll hairstyle. 

*Alisha hoping to have hair like her mommy*

It really makes her eyes look like a one liner… Perhaps as she frowns when she is angry with me her eyes will shut and I could run and escape from her wrath… A possible theory. Will try it when the need arises.

I also have this theory. Your hairstyle will influence your character for that period of time. It will not change your personality but just the way you act and react. Last time when the Rock was the hero in WWF, I used to ask the Mamak who cuts my hair to do The Rock’s hairstyle. Having that hairstyle, I would somehow feel a little bit more confident like The Rock but without the body. I think that was when I met the Bride. It could have been because of that confidence that I managed to get her attention. It could be… but I don’t know. And as of this moment, I don’t really care. Haha.

We finally got Alisha’s car seat courtesy of my sister. (Thank you Kakak!) 

After walking from one end of 1Utama to the other and back again… we were contented with a blue coloured Safe & Sound car seat. Actually, Alisha was contented with her car seat. 

*Muka contented*

We made sure she tested it and gave her approving smile before confirming the purchase.

Considering that Alisha is already 9 months, she can now sit facing forward at the back seat. This means that she could see her Mommy when they go to work and would not be alone facing the seat anymore!

 Yay!

*Duduk dekat shelve pun jadila!*

This is when Alisha was trying the Chicco brand.

We also went to Ikano Power Centre last weekend. 

*Daddy's little chempedak was cold so Daddy wrapped her like E.T. and this is how Daddy's curious Chempedak was as she refused to sleep in her pram*

As we were walking, we saw this Vitagen exhibition. They prepared some sort of an arch which separated the stomach, small intestines and large intestines and we were ushered to walk under the three huge arch. There were also plenty of digestive information pasted all around the arch so you would see people turning their heads reading and explaining the information to their kids as they walkthrough.

I thought it was a fun thing. The information was pretty easy to understand and with the graphics, it was really cool. But as I came out of the arch, I realized something.

As I entered the stomach arch, I was made to understand about how food gets into there and how it is digested. In other words, I was like food going through the arch. Then I had to go through the small intestines. No problem there. Then I had to go through the large intestines. Still no problem.

But after that?  

What happens to the food (i.e. The Bride, Alisha and I) walking through the stomach, small intestines and large intestines?

Hahaha! Kitorang jadi TAHI la kan??? Hahaha!

Thank God they didn’t make the exit look like an ass hole! Hehehe.

After being flushed out of the digestive system, I went for a Body Mass Index checkup. Surprise Surprise! Yours truly is no longer underweight anymore! I have about 18.1% of fat and the nutritionist said that I’m a healthy boy! (Well, I was quite sure she wanted to say that but when she saw The Bride pushing a little Alisha in her pram beside me, she just didn’t mention the “boy”. Haha)

Good Job M-i-L! you have made your menantu domok and normal! Thank you! Hehe.

Did I mention that Alisha also went swimming twice? One on Saturday morning and the other was on a hot Sunday afternoon in her private pool?

*Wanna join me??*

*This is so much fun Daddy!!!*

Not to mention we went to my friend’s wedding on Saturday (Congrats Yasmin and Khairil!) and the Bride managed to prepare Alisha’s meal for a whole week (yes. She cooks for Alisha now. See how motherhood can change you? You better be a good girl Alisha!) while I sat and cursed Astro’s stupid World Cup advertisements.

All in all, it was a Wonderful Weekend indeed!

Blog adjourned!

Your Respective Chambers

Ladies And Gentlemen,

May I present… "Your Respective Chambers"…

It’s something that the Bride was kind enough to put it for me so that we could see where my readers come from. It is actually an old thing but for In My Chambers, it is something new and I am extremely excited about it!

If you take a peek at the Bride’s page, you would notice it there too.

It all started when the Bride and I were seething through In My Chamber’s recent visitor activity. The Bride said that I could see where my readers are coming from. Apart from the majority Malaysian readers, we discovered that there were also readers coming from Poland, UK, Norway, Jordan, Russia, Canada, USA, Netherlands (I hope you guys win the World Cup this year! I’m all for Holland and Netherlands this year!! Hehe), Australia, Singapore, Egypt, Germany and New Zealand, just to name a few. I never knew that this blog had achieved its international mark.

On that note, I am certainly pleased to welcome you all to In My Chambers!

I’m not sure about other bloggers but I somehow felt a tinge of satisfaction knowing that this humble blog of mine receives so many international visitors.

So, following the footsteps of the Bride on her blog, I managed to persuade the Bride to add a map on In My Chambers as well. As I watched her expert fingers typing and clicking here and there, all I had to do was to choose the type of map that I wanted, the colour of the mark and where I wanted it on my page, and hey presto!

There it is! 

I have to admit that I’m a sucker in designing stuff. Even the template of this blog was the result of the Bride’s master craft. For this (and practically every other thing in my life) I am much obliged to the Bride!

There you are Ladies and Gentlemen, a new gadget to show the world where your learned chambers are from. I hope you would all continue to enjoy reading what I have to post as much as I enjoy drafting it for you.

Feel free to drop your points of information as and when you like. Rest assured that I would approve all of your comments. I insisted the Bride to put the comment approval system only to weed out spam comments only.
Last but not least... I am glad that you came and mark your Chambers here.
Welcome!

Blog adjourned!

Go Holland Go!!

Your Luxury Is Something That Other People Would Admire More

As I sit in front of my laptop not knowing what to do next, I suddenly feel that my semester break is slowly making me die of boredom.

NOT!

Now I get much time to go and read Batman Comics at MPH for free! That is luxury! Haha!

*Batman is Ganas!*

Anyway...

You know that procrastinating feeling you get when you have to do something? Sometimes I think we are confusing it with laziness. I had the holy intention of doing so many things when I was working or even when I had my classes. I’d tell myself that I don’t have the time to do it now but if I had my semester break, I’d surely be able to do it.

Lo and behold!

I am half way through my semester break and every time I think about doing the stuff I wanted to do a few months back, I’d just shrug it off and keep it in abeyance. That’s not procrastinating. That is just pure laziness. It means that something that I had wanted to do is only interesting in theory but was not appealing enough to be done.

The same goes for blogging.

Sometimes when I am driving, I’d think of some fabulous (at that time lah) topics to write about. As I sit quietly on the driver’s seat for about an hour because of a ridiculous traffic jam which happens for no apparent reason, I would frame the whole post in my mind. I will have the flow drafted in my mind from the beginning to the “blog adjourned” part. I would get excited in the car all alone. I’d even have the sort of picture I think would suit that post. If I have the “luxury” of not being stuck in a traffic jam that doesn’t move at all, I would jot down that draft in my phone to be transferred to my laptop later.

As I get back home and sit in front of my laptop, suddenly that whole idea seems so dull that I don’t even want to type it out.

What the hell was going through my mind when I drafted this shit?? 

Was traffic jam so boring that this boring shit seemed so bloody interesting earlier on??

Haha.

Or better still, as I turn on the laptop, I forgot what the draft is all about. If I still remember it, it is only bits and pieces that don’t seem interesting anymore.

It’s funny how your mind can play tricks on you.

Blog adjourned.

JALSOA High School Mock Trial 2010

JALSOA actually stands for Judicial and Legal Service Officer’s Association. It’s just a social group created for the officers in The Service to have activities and some fun time amidst all the work that has been bestowed upon us.

So far, I have managed to keep a low profile within JALSOA. My name was never mentioned in the AGM. However, last year, my senior, who was appointed in the previous AGM decided to resign from her post citing too much work as her reason. The meeting then decided to appoint me as her successor.

After seeking approval from my Big Boss, I ultimately accepted the offer. Thus I was an Executive Member for JALSOA 2009/2010.

Among the things that I managed to do for JALSOA was to draft a mocktrial script for our High School Mock Trial program. It is sort of a corporate responsibility program. This idea was actually inspired from the Chief Justice of Guam. He said that in Guam, they had mocktrials using fairytales as the basis of the case. For example, they had one civil mocktrial where Humpty Dumpty sued the King for negligence in building the wall too high. How cool can that be right?

The Chief Justice told the Chief Registrar, who was also the previous President of JALSOA, and when she brought it up in the meeting, I agreed to draft the script.

Well, in order to localize the flavor, it was agreed that JALSOA’s mocktrial would be something more relevant. So I drafted a theft case where a canteen boy stole a high school girl’s handphone that was left in her bag beside the field during her P.E. class.

The idea of the mock trial was to expose the students to criminal procedures and how crime does not pay.

After selecting a very committed school, (SMK Putrajaya Presint 8(1)), all we did was to email the script to the school. It was the teachers who guided them on the acting and other stuff.

*The awesomely cool kids with JALSOA 2009/2010 Executive Members*

It was done on a Saturday and even the Chief Justice drop by to say a few words to the kids.

As the kids started their mocktrial, you could see that they had given a lot of effort and were really into the character! It was awesome! The way the defence lawyer and the Deputy Public Prosecutor maintained their composure and elegance, how the witnesses were giving testimonies (complete with slang, jokes and style), the accused who actually cried when giving his testimony in the dock and the Magistrate (who actually wore a robe for style, hehe) with the cool and don’t play play face.

*The Magistrate*

*Key Witness giving testimony and watched by The CJ President and Deputy President of JALSOA*

As I was discussing with another officer, we thought that the accused’s testimony was more convincing than a real accused!

*The Crying Accused*

 We also thought that if we these students could have been even more creative if they were just provided with a general story and not a complete script.

We briefed the students before, during and after the mocktrial.

Much to our amazement, they actually asked a lot of technical questions! They even asked the Chief Justice questions!!! This proves that they were really interested in this program. Also it was because they didn’t know who or what is the rank of the Chief Justice so to them, even though the Chief Justice was present, it did not make them shy to ask questions.

*The Chief Justice discussing with the students with the teachers being in the accused person's dock!*

That was also an open day for them to snap pictures of themselves in open court. Everywhere you turn you can see students posing for a shot. Funny bunch of kids I tell you.

It was certainly a successful program. I hope this program would continue in the coming years. It would be really cool if JALSOA could create a mocktrial competition for these kids.

As how our Deputy President concluded:

Do not underestimate these kids. Given the right guidance they can perform even better than the real life cases!

I could not agree more…

*The youngest member of the public was more interested with her mommy's handbag than the acting*

Blog adjourned.

Alisha's Teacher's Day

My land law lecturer contacted me via Facebook for some work related matter last week. (Yeah! She has a Facebook account and she updates her status frequently too! How cool is that?) So I took the opportunity to wish her Happy Teachers Day.

Guess what happened next?

She also took the opportunity to wish my dad Happy Teacher’s Day! Haha!

So I called my dad to convey my lecturer’s wishes.

He laughed and laughed and laughed throughout the conversation. I guess he found it hilarious that my lecturer is wishing him for Teacher’s Day. I am quite sure that made my dad’s day!

Wishing your teachers on Teacher’s Day is one thing. Celebrating it with your daughter’s teachers is another!

As you might recall, Alisha was sent to a nursery ever since she was four months old. So she already has teachers to celebrate Teacher’s Day with.

Apparently, on every Teacher’s Day, most parents would lavishly make beautiful cakes and cup cakes for the teachers. So much so until one of her teacher told the Bride that if these were to continue, all the teachers would be as round as cakes!

The Bride wanted to do something for Alisha’s teachers that did not involve cakes and cupcakes. So she rang my aunt who cooks the best Beriyani Kambing and managed to persuade her to cook for 15 pax on Monday. She usually takes order for 50 pax and above but for the Bride, she said ok. But she said she can’t do it on a Monday as she was busy, she could only do it on Wednesday as the new fresh kambing meat would only be available on Tuesday.

So last Wednesday, yours truly was the designated beriyani kambing transporter.

*siap ada salad and carrot cake for dessert*

When we arrived, Alisha and her gang were fast asleep. They lined up the babies in one row and it is sooo adorable.

*Alisha pengsan*

*baby selonggok*

Alisha’s teachers really enjoyed themselves. They said that this was the first time someone had brought an Arabic cuisine for Teacher’s Day and it was simply delicious. They tambah and tambah and tambah and still there was enough food for everyone. 

*the Bride tengah set up lunch*

To me, I find this as some of God’s small miracles. You can cook for 15 pax and some of these 15 pax had three to four servings and you still have extra food. Amazing!

All in all, I think the Bride was brilliant to organize a wonderful celebration for Alisha’s teachers. Two thumbs up for the Bride! Yay!

I wonder what would she come up with next year???

Blog adjourned.

Touched By The Evil One... (Al-Baqarah, 2:275)

A fellow student from INCEIF emailed my CIFP group this link. It is a blog post by one Syed Akbar Ali. I think he is really funny when he tries to say that conventional banking and Islamic banking are of the same genus.

There are many ways to approach conventional and Islamic banking issue. A more technical explanation about its differences would allow people to really understand why these two systems are not the same and can never be the same. It would be useful to bankers and “people who are really into this stuff”. For most of you, I guess you would want a simple enlightenment. Something solid enough to ensure you that you have made the right choice by changing your conventional deposit accounts to the Islamic ones.

Righto!

The most elementary difference between the two lies in how banks utilize its funds. Conventional banks give out loans to its customers. The bank does not care about how its customer uses the money just as long as it pays back the principle sum and some additional interest sum.

This is the major underlying difference. Interest. In Arabic it is called Riba’. Actually there are no specific word to describe riba’ in Malay. I was told by my lecturer that Tunku Abdul Rahman, being conventionally educated, translated riba’ into “faedah”. I don’t think that is the right translation. Riba’ is prohibited in Islam but Faedah, (in its general sense, it means to benefit) is not prohibited. However, the term Faedah in banking world is now customarily understood as riba’. Hence, Malaysians must now regard faedah, in the banking world, to be prohibited.

Islamic banks can only give interest free loans. In other words, if Bank Islam gives RM50,000 loan to me, I will have to pay only RM50,000 when the loan matures. Anything more that is stipulated in advance or being asked by Bank Islam is considered as riba’ and is prohibited.

How can Islamic banks make money than?

Well, from the funds that they get, they are allowed to do trade. Instead of using the funds that they have to trade money with money and make money, they instead use the money as a medium of exchange of an asset, to be traded. From such trade, the bank would make profit. This profit is allowed in Islam as profit from trade is not similar to interest.

Why is it not similar? Well, the reason is because in the Quran chapter 2 verse 275 (2:275) which reads:

"Those who devour usury (riba') will not stand except as stand one whom the Evil one by his touch Hath driven to madness. That is because they say: "Trade is like usury," but Allah hath permitted trade and forbidden usury. Those who after receiving direction from their Lord, desist, shall be pardoned for the past; their case is for Allah (to judge); but those who repeat (The offence) are companions of the Fire: They will abide therein (for ever). "

Therefore, the initial agreement between the bank and its customer must be in compliance with the Shariah. The terminologies used must be correct in order for the product to be a Shariah compliant product. The contract (or sighah) is very important and cannot be regarded as trivial.

Just like how nikah (or zawjah) must be used in solemnizing marriages, the terminologies for Islamic finance must also be accurate.

One cannot have illegitimate sex, produce bastards and say that that bastard is just the same as a child conceived from a legitimate marriage.

In summary, the difference between these two financial creatures lies in how the bank utilizes its funds. One lends and the other trades. In order to make money out of money, interest is involved. Interest is Riba’. Riba’ has been prohibited by Allah whilst trade is permissible.

It is better to learn about the technical differences before you write about these issues less you would be misleading your readers.

I have posted a short comment to Syed Akbar Ali’s post. He has yet to approve it at the time I write this post. In my comment I said that the decision by Justice Abdul Wahab Patail regarding BBA has been overruled by the Court of Appeal. I also suggested that he should apply for the Bank Negara scholarship and complete his CIFP at INCEIF before he writes about Islamic finance. He has a lot of followers and depicting a wrong picture about Islamic finance to his readers is certainly misleading.

It would certainly be interesting to see how he views on Islamic finance after graduating from INCEIF.

It would be even more interesting to see him as a student there! hehe.

 :)

Blog adjourned.

INCEIF FC's First Game At Rentap Futsal Midnight Putrajaya

Saturday nights would normally be my Futsal night. After ensuring that my girls are tucked in safely and sleeping soundly, I’d make my way to play futsal with my friends.

However, last night was a bit different.

A friend of mine from INCEIF managed to convince INCEIF to sponsor a team to join the Rentap Futsal Midnight Putrajaya. The event was only open to locals so he had a tough time looking for local players from the CIFP program.

After securing eight players, we had two trainings before the big tournament. On the second day of training, one of our players tore his muscle (am not sure how bad it was) so he had to be out. Another just couldn’t make it for both training and tournament. We had no goaly. After asking around the staff of INCEIF, we still couldn’t get a goally. So eventually the manager “imported” his friend to play for us.

So instead of the normal 2-3 hours of fun futsal, I was up for the Rentap Futsal Midnight Putrajaya (you can read more about it here). The grand prize was supposed to be RM20,000 and a trip to Genting! Or so I was told by the Manager.

I was not there for winning the whole thing. It was more like a fun thing to do with your Uni mates. Tapi kalau dapat duit banyak camtuh saper tak nak kan??? 

Plus we were fully sponsored by INCEIF. Marketing strategy? You bet! We had huge INCEIF, The Global University In Islamic Finance written in front of our jersey. The best part is that we also had our names written on the back of the jersey with random numbers. I got # 7. Gila Christiano Ronaldo OK! Tapi main defence! Hahaha.

Posing skit!

Senang untuk referee kalau foul ada nama and number nak tulis. Haha.

Well, considering that we were a new team, we managed to beat UNITAR in our first match 1-0.

UNITAR! What a coincidence kan? You see my dad was previously in UNITAR and now he is in INCEIF. My brother had his Masters from UNITAR and I’m taking my CIFP @ INCEIF. Whatever it is, INCEIF berjaya kalahkan UNITAR 1-0!

INCEIF FC in action!

*woot*woot*

We were to play only 2 group games. The champion will go to the knock out stage.

The first game was played around 12.20am. The second game was played around 2 something! Lama gila tunggu! Ada yang bawa roti, margerin and tuna so semua dapat isi perut.

At 1am I was so sleepy that I took my sweater and dozed off, in the midst of a few hundred people cheering for their teams, for about 40 minutes. Kalau dah ngantuk tu, letak kat mana-mana pun aku tido, even dalam class!!! Hahaha.

Unfortunately we got beaten up 3-0 for the second game by some red jersey team. I told my cousin:

"Team kami Power… Team opponent pun Power. Cuma team opponent ada tambah Root kat belakang. Bila combine, Power Root lah menang!"

(Alasan bila dah kalah!)

I’m sad that we didn’t get the RM20,000 and Genting Trip (chewah! Ada hati!)

Then again, I am also glad that we didn’t have to wait for another few hours for a 10 minute match at the knock out stage. Lagi penat menunggu dari main.Apparently, the semi-finals and final would be played at 2pm on Sunday. Gila panas! Gelap kulit I yang sensitive ni. Haha.

All in all, it was a good tournament. Respect to the organizers for making the night game. Takdela panas bila kena menunggu 2-3 jam.

The RM3.48 Million Putrajaya Futsal Complex is optimum for night games. Cooling.

 INCEIF FC

(Ah sudah! tengok bulan pulak line belakang ni!)

Blog adjourned.

Dua Gigi

Burung Kakak Tua,

Hinggap di Jendela,

Alisha sudah besar,

Gigi ada dua...

Such a big girl already. 

Yesterday morning she shoved her head to my back and fell asleep behind me... haha.

My prayers to both of my girls... 

May Allah make them Hafizah, Solehah, Outstanding in their performance, Dunia Wal Akhirah... 

Insha Allah...

Blog adjourned.

No Comment

Confidentiality is one of the fundamental rules that a lawyer needs to observe. Just like doctors, clients (or patients) come with their problems and hopes that it could be settled by their lawyers or (doctors). That is why lawyers and doctors do not work. They practice. Probably it is because you can never get the best solution to a very subjective profession like law and medicine and there is always room for improvement.

Being in The Service also requires one to shut up and not comment to the public on what your colleagues in other departments or agency have decided to implement or work on. It does not mean that you have to agree with what they are up to; it is just being neutral to the public on your personal point of view to it.

I guess it goes to any organization as well. If your company has decided to take a stand on some issues, being the arms and legs (kakitangan???) of the company requires you to also adopt that stand. If you have some issues to it, you should first discuss it with your company.

The body can never function if the arm decides to go against the wants of the brain.

That arm should also not bad mouth the brain to others.

Most of the time it boils back to the concept of confidentiality.

This concept of confidentiality includes comments on Facebook, blogs and other internet windows as well.

Sometimes I know it is tough to maintain the proper conduct especially with regards to confidentiality. At the moment, I’m having a tough time not to make butt jokes which I find really apt and funny to be shared with the world. But those Planet Uranus jokes will just have to be shared privately.

Poot poot.

Blog adjourned.

What My Mover Said...

There were 11 petitioners before me. This means that there were 11 speeches before I could hear what my mover had to say about me. With no draft whatsoever, it was some thrill trying to figure out what he has in mind.

When my turn came up, he started of saying that I the third from four siblings. That my dad was a distinguished economist and my mom was a distinguished biologist. I am married to Yang Mulia the Bride (he knows his protocol as I did not mentioned the Bride as Yang Mulia before him). He mentioned my education background from primary school all the way to my tertiary level.

Then he mentioned that I was attached to KLRCA.

“It is here that I first met the petitioner as a young and confident boy. Now he has turned to be a confident man!”

He mentioned that I joined The Service thereafter. I can’t remember exactly what he said word for word but this is the gist of it…

“Just like My Lady (referring to the Judge) and me, the petitioner too joined the service and escaped the hardship of pupillage. As how some would say that we took the easy route out, I believe working in the service is not as easy as how people perceive it to be.

The Petitioner joined as a Senior Assistant Registrar at the High Court at Kuala Lumpur, Commercial Division 6 under YA Datuk Siti Mariah for about one year. He was then transferred as a Magistrate in Kuala Lumpur for the next 5 months. He was again transferred to the Office of the Chief Justice as the Special Officer II to the Chief Justice of Malaysia, YAA Tun Zaki Tun Azmi.

I can do no better than to quote what YAA Chief Justice of Malaysia has to say about the Petitioner:

(at this time, I could see heads of the other movers turning towards me and I could feel their eyes watching me)

“He was given the ardent task of researching at the federal Court level. I find that his comprehension and understanding of the law is commendable. His write ups depict a high level of maturity and illustrates in depth consideration. He is also able to grasp complicated facts and principles. A good writer and with continuous practice and reading, I am certain he will improve to a very well respected level in the near future.

He is constantly cheerful, good-humored and friendly”

He then concluded by mentioning my gratitude for the support given from my parents, wife, family and colleagues.

As expected, there were no objections from the AG Chambers, Bar Council and KL Bar Committee.

After his speech, my mover came and robed (is there such a word?) me.

It was then the judge’s turn to say a few words. She mentioned that today was a very important day as well for her. It was one of the petitioner’s birthday today, her ex-classmate was present in court, her old friend from The Service (my mover) was in court, it was the first time an MMU student got called in her court and she also mentioned something about me. She mentioned that both she and I worked together before when she was still at the Office of the Chief Registrar. On that note, she agreed with what the Chief Justice had said about me. 

After that the court was adjourned. 

(Nasib baik pun... robe aku dah nak koyak sebab kembang tak proportionate and melebihi had pengembangan yang dibenarkan!)

We all went to the back for a photo session with the judge. Then the Bride and I went for some refreshments as my parents headed home.

Thereafter we went to the nursery to get our bundle of joy. Boy was she surprised to see us both taking her back! Muka blur sampai rumah macam tak sure what’s happening.

Hehe, funnylah you Alisha. You’ll probably understand why we both went to take you back that day when you know how to read and you accidentally stumble upon this blog many years from now. :)

Blog adjourned.

Tea Boy KL Court

The Long Call

As I have mentioned yesterday, my Long Call was on 7^th May 2010.

(Long Call is the ceremony where the Padawan is conferred a Jedi status or in my case, to be enrolled as an Advocate and Solicitor).

I managed to get a good friend of mine, a senior partner in one of the biggest firm in KL to move my call. I knew him back when I was a legal executive at the KLRCA. I was indeed honoured when he agreed to move my call.

Briefly, this is what would happen in court.

When a mover moves a call, it means that he will be representing the person who wants to be enrolled as a lawyer (the petitioner) to speak to the judge informing the court about the petitioner’s family and education background, what people thought about the petitioner and whether the petitioner is a fit and proper person to be and Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court.

Apparently, the practice is to prepare your own *angkat bakul* speech and give it to your mover and he will read it for you.

After the speech, the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Bar Council and the local Bar Committee will rise to inform the judge that they have no objection to the petitioner’s petition. The Judge would then instruct the Registrar to enroll the petitioner as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court.

The mover will then call the petitioner’s master to robe the petitioner. This is where the master would walk to the petitioner and take the petitioner’s robe and put it on the petitioner as a symbolic gesture that the petitioner is now an Advocate and Solicitor.

There would be about 10-12 individuals per session.

Lucky for me, I was the last.

I say that I was lucky because I was not informed of the rehearsal session. The rehearsal session is where all the petitioners would get a briefing from a very senior lawyer about the do’s and don’ts as well as the steps and bows needed to be made on that day. Since I was the last one, I just observed the rest and generally got the idea on how to do it.

My mover was the best mover ever. When he arrived, I introduced him to my family. Then he got my draft orders and got everyone’s name and signature for me.

I did not prepare my own speech. When I asked him, he said that all he needed was my CV. I gave him my CV and the personal appraisal that I got from my previous boss. He said that was enough.

On that day, when every other petitioners were running to and fro from their mover correcting their speech, I asked mine if he had any draft. He replied in the negative.

No draft?

Nope.

*smile*

Thanks for doing this for me. It means a lot to me that you are here.

Don’t thank me now. I have not done anything yet. Thank me later.

No worries, I’ll thank you again later.

Well, it will either be that you thank me or curse me later.

Haha. I’m sure you won’t let me down!

*smile*

Apparently he knew the judge as they began their legal career in The Service around the same time. Thereafter he left for private practice.

He was the only one who gave an impromptu speech and his style was by far the best in that session. It was simple, interesting and with style!

He referred me as the petitioner in his speech. I was so thrilled that I had him as my mover!

I’m trying to recollect what he had said about me in his speech. I’ll post it up later.

Till then,

Blog adjourned.

The Jedi Master and The Apprentice

If you plan to be enrolled as an advocate and solicitor, you must first be called to the Bar. 

Hah?? 

“Enrolled as an advocate and solicitor”?? 

“Called to the Bar”???

Ok. Ok. 

Let me explain as I am very sure that my Sis-In-Law would need the explanation as she sent me a congratulatory comment on my Facebook saying that she does not know what it means but she is sure that it must be something good! Haha. Funnyla la you Tia!

Let’s say you want to be a lawyer in Malaysia. You go to a local university to “read” law (you can also use study but if you say “read” law it is better). After completing your Bachelor of Laws or in Latin it is Legum Baccalaureus (LLB), you will have to complete your pupilage at any law firm for nine months. It is also called chambering It means attaching yourself to a senior lawyer (someone who has been practicing for more than 7 years) at legal firm or chambers. Majority of the Malaysian lawyers have done their nine month chambering. It is meant to expose you to the work life of a lawyer.

If you manage to get a good Master, one who is concerned with your future, he will guide you through the necessary stuff that is not in any text book or taught in any universities. It is the real lifetime experience that is very important in the legal profession. If you are able to tap into someone else’s experience, you can bypass the time needed for you to gain that wisdom based on your own experience.

The reason why you must complete your pupilage is so you can be listed (or enrolled) as an Advocate and Solicitor at the High Court Malaya or Sabah and Sarawak, (depending where you did your chambering.)

In other words, to be a private practitioner or a lawyer at the private sector, you must complete your nine months chambering under a specific Master.

I call it the Legal Star Wars. It is sort of like the Apprentice Jedi and his Master. Like Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi. You start as a Padawan. Once you complete the training, you can be a Jedi. When you get even older, have matured properly and gained more experience, you can be considered as a Jedi Master which entitles you to take a Padawan as your apprentice. Wow! Best kan?

However, there is one alternative to be doing chambering. That is if you join the Judicial and Legal Service (“The Service”) and be a Government lawyer. If you manage to be selected to join The Service, after one year, you are entitled under the Legal Profession Act to be exempted from doing your nine months chambering to be enrolled as an Advocate and Solicitor. (You are also paid more as you can get a normal salary instead of a chambering allowance... Believe me, beza dia macam langit and bumi!) Well, that was the route that I decided to take. 

Praises be to Him that I was selected to join The Service. 

If I recall the online digits carefully, there were about 2000 plus applications and only 80 plus were finally selected. Out of the 80 plus, only around half were fresh intakes (which included me) and the other half was formerly contract officers. That was after waiting for a whole year (from July 2006 to July 2007).

Thus sometime in 2008, I started to write some letters requesting that I be exempted from doing my chambering. The Attorney General himself will sign a certificate saying that I am a fit and proper person and that I am entitled to be exempted from completing my chambering and that I can be enrolled as an Advocate and Solicitor. I got that certificate early 2009. Then I filed my papers at the High Court at Kuala Lumpur. I had to complete the necessary forms and finally got my Long Call date on 7^th May 2010.

It is not that I am planning to leave The Service or anything at the moment but having been listed as an Advocate And Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya is certainly the dream of most lawyers. You may not want to practice (and have to pay the expensive practicing fees!) but having the certificate is like a consolation prize. It’s like the lightsaber.

You may not need to use it but to a Jedi, that is the most important thing in life!

So Tia, I have just gotten my Lightsaber. 

I'll explain more about the ceremony next time. :)

Blog adjourned.

Happy Birthday and Mother's Day To The Bride!

Last Saturday was the Bride’s birthday!

Happy Birthday Bride!!!

May Allah continue to shower you with lots of love and great success in this world and in the hereafter Insya Allah…

Last Sunday was Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day Bride!!!

Best tak first time celebrate Mother’s Day??? :)

I hope you like your presents... :)

Hehe.

I have also just completed my exams last week. I think I can pass 5 subjects but I am not too confident with my accounting paper. Oh well, I guess at this moment I should only be praying to God for the best. Berserah dan bertawakkal sahajalah…

I guess I can safely say “Welcome Back” to myself. I can now hapdet my entries more than during exam month. Wow! No more exams to worry about for the next 3 months. I also have about one month of semester break with no ultimate plans yet.

Wah…

Best giler…

I can go to MPH and start reading all of their Batman comics. Hmm, that seems like a good plan for today… oh wait, I have to go and watch Ip Man 2 (btw, I really feel that Ip Man's wife looks exactly like my friend who is getting married next month... She should go to 1Utama and bring home Ip Man's poster that has Ip Man's wife pictures as a momento... hehe)

But it’s still too early now… I better go and get my beauty nap now… I heard it is good for the skin... I like soft skin... Hehe.

Blog adjourned.

Random Conversation

Sayang, nanti kalau I jadi director, you jadi secretary I nak? I bagi you secretary to the secretary lagi. Mana ada secretary ada secretary??

Tanaklah. Takkan I jadi secretary aje.

Ok. You jadi Personal Assistant I.

Tamau. Bagi I jadi directorla.

Takkan you nak jadi part of the Board of Directors kot. You kata nak jadi tai tai, BOD kena kerja nanti.

I jadila sleeping director.

Sayang, u sleep dengan director sudahla ok?

...

Blog adjourned.