Treasurer’s Amity Visit to Singapore and Malaysia 2025

Master Geraldine Andrews

My connections with Singapore go back to my pupillage, as one of the silks in Chambers did a lot of work there, which meant he travelled there regularly. I assisted him from England by supplying the results of legal research, or sometimes drafting pleadings and skeleton arguments, in the process developing good working relationships with my counterparts in the local law firms. However, my love affair with the country truly began in 1992, when I spent three weeks across the causeway in Johor Bahru, working through the documents in a commercial fraud case in which my leader was Master John Thomas (then a QC). I was unable to do the work in Singapore, because I was still a junior, but my clients put me up in the Shangri-La hotel in Singapore at weekends, and I rapidly got to know my way around. I developed a taste for the local food, and came to know and admire the harmonious way in which people from the four main ethnic groups – Chinese, Indian, Malay and European, lived and worked together, and celebrated each other’s cultural heritages. Once I was in silk, I travelled there on a regular basis to advise on cases, and appeared as counsel in international arbitrations and, on one occasion, by special dispensation, in a trial in the High Court. Over the years I have made many good friends in Singapore, and have come to regard it as my second home.

Eden Hall, Singapore
Left to right: Paul Broom, British High Commission, Master Georgina Kent, HE Nik Mehta OBE, British High Commissioner, Liam Chin, The Treasurer, Master Jacqueline Perry, Master Anuja Dhir, Master Sophie Lamb

In September 2024, I was having lunch in Hall with the Hon. Justice Su Tiang Joo, a judge of the High Court of Malaya, and a member of the Inn who has done sterling work over many years to promote the Malaysian Chapter of its alumni, of which he is President. I had just got off a plane from Singapore, where I had been advocacy training with Master Jacqueline Perry KC and two other judges, pursuant to a long-standing annual invitation most recently extended by the current Attorney-General, Master Lucien Wong. It occurred to me that if we were invited back to teach in 2025, the Inn might be able to use this as a launchpad for an amity visit by a small delegation. When I mentioned this to Justice Su, he embraced the idea wholeheartedly and immediately sought to persuade me that we must also visit Malaysia.

Thus it came about that in September 2025, I travelled to Singapore with Master Perry and Master HH Judge Anuja Dhir KC, in order to fulfil our commitment to train the young lawyers in the Attorney-General’s Chambers. At the end of the week we were joined by the remaining members of the delegation, the Master of Students, HH Judge Georgina Kent, Liam Chin and Sam Hutchinson, our Chief of Staff, who had the unenviable task of dealing with the logistics and ensuring that we were all in the right place at the right time. I have to say that he did that job superbly, and it was not easy because we had a truly packed programme.

On the first evening, Sunday 21 September, we were hosted at a private dinner at Violet Oon restaurant in Dempsey by Master Christopher Lau SC, recently appointed as an Honorary Bencher. The other guests included Master Sophie Lamb, Master the Hon Justice Philip Jeyeretnam, President of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC), and Engelin Teh SC, one of the first female advocates to be appointed to the rank of senior counsel and a truly inspirational role model.

Palace of Justice, Malaysia
Left to right: Sam Hutchinson, Master Georgina Kent, The Treasurer, Rt Hon Tan Sri Hasnah binti Dato’Mohammed Hashim (Chief Judge of Malaya), Master Jacqueline Perry, Liam Chin

Next morning we visited the Law Courts and were given a tour of the Judicial Heritage Gallery on the ground floor, a relatively new installation which I had not previously seen. I was taken aback to find one of my Singapore cases being referred to in an exhibit on display! We then went to one of the courtrooms used by the SICC and viewed a video presentation about the work of that court, before we were joined by Master Jeyeretnam who answered questions about the SICC and then took us out for lunch. In the afternoon the delegation were welcomed by His Excellency Nik Mehta OBE, the British High Commissioner, to the High Commission (a wonderful historic building named Eden Hall), where guests from law firms across Singapore, my former senior clerk David Grief, and other members of the Inn, including Master Robert Hardy and his wife Chee, joined us for a networking event and a splendid High Tea.

On Tuesday morning, Master Kent went to the Subordinate Courts to speak at a training event for judges and judicial officers. In the late afternoon Master Perry and I participated with Master Lamb, Master Lau and Master Jeyeretnam in an event entitled ‘Mareva Injunction at Fifty in a Cross Border World’ organised by the Singapore Academy of Law. I gave a short lecture which was followed by a panel discussion, but unfortunately Master Perry and I had to be whisked away by Sam before the end in order to catch a plane to Kuala Lumpur. We did not arrive at our hotel until almost midnight, which meant there was little opportunity to relax before the busiest day of the trip.

Bright and early the following morning we travelled across the city to Limapulo Terrace where I was subjected to a lengthy interview for ‘Advocates the Podcast’ by two senior Malaysian advocates, and then fielded a lively Q&A session. The venue was immediately above a local restaurant who supplied us with the most delicious lunch, fortifying us for the journey back to the Asian International Arbitration Centre where I delivered a keynote speech entitled ‘From Advocate to Arbitrator – Building a Sustainable Career in Commercial Arbitration’. We received a warm welcome there from Datuk Almalena Shrmila Johan, CEO of the AIAC, and the Hon Dato Mary Lim, a formal Federal Court Judge who is now Director of the AIAC, and an old friend from international advocacy training. The final event that day, and one of the highlights of the trip, was a splendid gala dinner at the Majestic Hotel, organised by the Malaysian Chapter of our Alumni, attended by many senior judges as well as practitioners who were members of all four Inns of Court. Justice Su, Master Kent and I made speeches and Liam Chin proposed the toast to ‘Domus’.

There was no chance of a lie-in on Thursday because we had to be up at the crack of dawn to travel to a meeting before court with the Rt Hon Tan Sri Hasnah binti Dato’ Mohammed Hashim, Chief Judge of Malaya. I sat next to Justice Hasnah at the gala dinner, and there was an immediate rapport. She has since retired, and we are in regular contact. We had a meeting in the Chief Judge’s beautiful private suite before she had to leave us to sit on a case; her staff then showed us round the library and an interesting exhibition of the history of the courts in Malaya. We then travelled back to Kuala Lumpur for an afternoon meeting with the President of the Malaysian Bar, Mohamad Ezri bin Abdul Wahab, who took us to the roof of the Bar Council’s offices so that we could take photographs of the wonderful panoramic view. Then it was back to the airport for the return flight to Singapore.

After the intense activity of the two days in Malaysia it was quite a relief that the only remaining event in the programme was dinner with Master Lucien Wong on Friday evening. He was greatly interested in Liam Chin’s past career as a chef, and persuaded him to cook for him on a future occasion!

I was delighted with the success of the visit and the warmth with which we were received everywhere we travelled. I am sure that the visit has consolidated existing ties and made the Inn a lot of new friends. On a personal note, I cannot wait to see more of Malaysia. I must end by reiterating my thanks to Sam, who ensured everything ran smoothly and worked extremely hard – though I would like to think he also enjoyed the trip!

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