to get admitted to practice law in Singapore

y Lee Shih

Recent changes to the Singapore Bar admission requirements have made it easier for foreign lawyers to get admitted to practice law in Singapore. Here are the requirements Malaysian lawyers need to meet.

This first-part will set out in some detail the process in which a Malaysian lawyer can get admitted to the Singapore Bar. Due to the various rule changes over the years, with different admission standards applying for different years, it will focus mainly on younger lawyers who obtained their law degrees after 1997.

Part 2 will then shift to a different perspective where we get to learn about the personal experience of a LoyarBurokker who recently sat for the Singapore Bar examinations.

Increasingly, Singapore seems to be the port of choice for many Malaysian lawyers to practice in. There are many factors attracting Malaysians over, including higher pay and the opportunity to gain better exposure to higher level work.

In the past, the most common route to work in Singapore was to find a position as a foreign lawyer. This allowed a lawyer to work at Singapore law firms but without the need to be admitted to the Singapore Bar. Strictly speaking, as a foreign lawyer, you could advise only on foreign law but in practice, you largely carried out the same duties as a Singapore qualified lawyer but without the ability to attend Court or to sign off on documents or opinions. Some of the drawbacks of being a foreign lawyer were that in most cases, you would draw a lower pay than a Singapore qualified lawyer and your promotion prospects may also be affected.

While many Malaysians do still go over to Singapore to work as foreign lawyers, there have now been some recent changes to the admission requirements which make it easier to get admitted to the Singapore Bar.

PREREQUISITES

Even before you consider taking the Singapore Bar examinations, you will need to see if you satisfy certain prerequisites, and if you don’t meet these requirements, then you need to plan and see if you can apply for exemptions.

Broadly, to get called to the Singapore Bar, you need to satisfy 3 requirements:

1. Satisfy the requirements of being a “qualified person” – more on this below.
2. Complete the Part B Singapore Bar exams. The Part B is similar in some respects to the Bar Vocational Course or Certificate of Legal Practice, in that it focuses on more procedural law.
3. Complete a 6-month training contract at a Singapore law firm. This is similar to pupillage.

I will explain more on these 3 requirements below and how the most important threshold to cross is that of being a “qualified person.”

QUALIFIED PERSON

(i) Scheduled Universities

You need to have graduated from a certain list of scheduled universities, as a full-time internal candidate with a certain degree class. You can go through this useful checklist to see if you are a “qualified person” by first checking which university you graduated from.

So for instance, for a UK graduate, you would need to have been a full-time internal candidate with at least a Second Lower degree from a list of only 19 recognised universities. For an Australian graduate, you would need to be in the top 70% of your graduating batch from a list of only 10 recognised universities.

Some examples where you would not satisfy the requirements for being a “qualified person”:

1. You graduated from a twinning programme or a London external law degree; or
2. You had graduated from any of the local Malaysian universities.

However, you would be able to apply for exemptions from any of the requirements which I will elaborate on further below.

(ii) Permanent Resident

Another requirement is that you will need to be a Permanent Resident or a citizen of Singapore. So a factor you must take into account for being admitted to the Singapore Bar would be whether you are planning on moving down to Singapore to then apply for Permanent Resident status.

(iii) 6 Months of Legal Practice

You need 6 months of either “relevant legal training” or “relevant legal practice” to satisfy this final requirement to be a “qualified person.” So, if you were in active practice in any jurisdiction other than Singapore, this would fall under the definition of “relevant legal practice”.

Chambering/pupillage may also qualify under the definition of “relevant legal training.”

(iv) Part A Bar Examinations

The final requirement to be met is that you would need to pass the Part A Bar examinations. The examinations cover 5 academic Singapore law subjects: Criminal, Evidence, Land, Singapore Legal System & Constitutional, and Company. You can either opt to sit for only the examinations, held once a year in November, or to attend a 3-month course (starting in August) and then sit for the examinations. This year the exam format was open book (i.e. you could bring in all your study material with you into the examination hall) while last year, it was closed book.

The deadline for applying for the Part A Bar Examinations (both for the course + exam or just the exam) is by the end of April of every year.

More information on the Part A Bar Examinations and its syllabus/fees are on the National University of Singapore website.

QUALIFIED PERSON – EXEMPTIONS

If you do not satisfy any of the above requirements, you can apply for exemptions. A common exemption is from the requirement of being a full-time internal candidate from a scheduled university. So for instance, an exemption to allow for a twinning programme to be recognised, or an exemption as your university does not fall under one of the scheduled universities.

The present exemption process, from what I have heard from friends, seems to be more flexible in allowing twinning programme candidates as well as non-recognised foreign universities graduates. I know that graduates from local Malaysian universities have a very hard time in getting an exemption and I have not heard of any London external degree law graduates having obtained an exemption as well. All these policies are of course subject to change and are discretionary.

In terms of applying for an exemption from the Permanent Resident requirement, it appears that this exemption is not granted any more or is at least very difficult to obtain. You therefore will likely need to obtain Permanent Resident status in Singapore if you are considering getting admitted to the Singapore Bar. I know of senior practitioners having successfully applied for exemption from the Part A requirement as well. For instance, I had a Malaysian lawyer friend with around 10 years of experience and she was exempted from Part A. But they still needed to become a Permanent Resident of Singapore.

Applicants who are intending to sit for the Part A Bar examinations will put in their exemption applications around the same time in April when applying for the Part A. More information on exemptions can be found on the Singapore Ministry of Law website.

PART B BAR EXAMINATIONS & TRAINING CONTRACT

Having now satisfied the prerequisites of being a “qualified person”, you will need to complete the Part B Bar examinations as well as the 6-month training contract.

The Part B Bar examinations are made up of a compulsory 5-month practical law course and exam, which in some respects, is very similar to the English Bar Vocational Course (now renamed to the Bar Professional Training Course) in that it teaches you practical aspects of Singapore law. The subjects covered include subjects such as Civil and Criminal Procedure, Conveyancing Practice, Professional Responsibility, and Family Law. More information on the Part B can be found at the Singapore Board of Legal Education website.

After successfully completing these examinations, you will then need to serve a 6-month training contract, which is akin to pupillage.

EXEMPTION FROM PART B AND TRAINING CONTRACT

You are allowed to apply for complete exemption from the Part B Bar examination as well as the 6-month training contract. To obtain such an exemption, you will need to already be a “qualified person”, and also been practicing in a common law jurisdiction for at least 2 years (and this period could possibly include your 9 months of chambering as well). If you do not fulfil any of the requirements of being a “qualified person”, or you have not achieved the necessary length of practice, you can also try to apply for exemption from such a requirement.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, if you are a practitioner in Malaysia, of 2 years experience or more, you can likely be exempted from having to take the Part B Bar examinations as well as be exempted from the 6-month training contract. You will however need to still pass the Part A Bar examinations and in order to qualify to sit for the Part A, you will need to fulfil the other requirements of being a “qualified person.”

Lee Shih was away from the office for 3 weeks sitting for his Part A Bar examinations. Try as he might, he has not been able to clear enough of his work to bring down the fort of papers and documents built up in his absence. He blogs at all the world’s a stage and tweets @iMleesh

Tags: Malaysian Lawyer

path of becoming a lawyer in Malaysia

Do you know the path of becoming a lawyer in Malaysia? Let me share with you briefly, so that you can share with someone who is interested to be a lawyer.

The 1st step is to obtain a law degree i.e. LLB (Hons) from the recognised universities. You may obtain the list of the relevant universities from Legal Profession Qualifying Board Malaysia or from the Malaysian Bar website.

Thereafter, you may choose to take up a Bar Vocational Course in England and be called to English Bar or choose to come back to Malaysia to sit for a qualifying exam in order to obtain a Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP). However, for those who have obtained a law degree from UM or NUS (or such person who has possessed the relevant qualification as stipulated by the laws), they are not required to sit for neither of the abovementioned exams.

As soon as you has passed all the requisite exam, you are expected to undergo a 9 months training commonly known as chambering (The official name is pupillage). This is the period where one is exposed to the “real law” world. I bet all the lawyers will not forget this plight period in their practising journey. As a pupil or so called chambie, you are expected to work as hard as a qualified lawyer (or most of the times even harder) with NO salary.

Hah…is it true? yes, you are not entitled to any salary during this period, however, the law firm will pay you a remunaration in form of allowance, the sum of which is as low as a street cleaner’s salary (of course, now a day, may be chambie is getting more than that). The market rate for the allowance in my time ranging from RM300 to RM500 per month. But for those who is lucky enough to get into big firm then they will get about RM700 to RM1,000 allowance per month.

While serving the 9 months “cheap labour”, you will still need to sit through some exams conducted by Malaysian Bar and partake in Malaysian Bar legal aid programme before you can be called to the Malaysian Bar and become a qualified lawyer.

So, are you still interested to be a lawyer now? of course, on another hand, there are also many sweet memories which still linger in my mind while I was serving my pupillage in chamber.

I believe - English Version

巫啟賢 至少還有你MV

王菲 - 我願意

100个对不起

有些事，一转身就是一辈子

谢谢你给我的回忆.wmv

王心凌-月光(亜麻色の髪の乙女)_MV

Angela Zhang - Invisible Wings

Song: 隐形的翅膀 / 隱形的翅膀 / Yǐn Xíng de Chì Bǎng / Invisible Wings
Artist: 張韶涵 / Zhāng Sháohán / Angela Zhang

Lyrics:
每一次 都在徘徊孤單中堅強
每一次 都在徘徊孤单中坚强
měi yīcì dōu zài páihuái gūdān zhōng jiānqiáng
Everytime I wander in loneliness I become stronger

每一次 就算很受傷也不閃淚光
每一次 就算很受伤也不闪泪光
měi yīcì jiùsuàn hěn shòushāng yěbù shǎn lèiguāng
Everytime, even when I'm deeply hurt, I hold back my glimmering tears

我知道 我一直有雙隱形的翅膀
我知道 我一直有双隐形的翅膀
wǒ zhīdao wǒ yīzhí yǒu shuāng yǐnxíng de chìbǎng
I know I will always have a pair of invisible wings

帶我飛 飛過絕望
带我飞 飞过绝望
dài wǒ fēi fēiguò juéwàng
That let me fly, fly past despair

不去想 他們擁有美麗的太陽
不去想 他们拥有美丽的太阳
bù qù xiǎng tāmen yōngyǒu měilì de tàiyáng
I won't think about others' beautiful sun

我看見 每天的夕陽 也會有變化
我看见 每天的夕阳 也会有变化
wǒ kànjiàn měitiān de xīyáng yě huì yǒu biànhuà
I see that even the sunset changes everyday

我知道 我一直有雙隱形的翅膀
我知道 我一直有双隐形的翅膀
wǒ zhīdao wǒ yīzhí yǒu shuāng yǐnxíng de chìbǎng
I know I will always have a pair of invisible wings

帶我飛 給我希望
带我飞 给我希望
dài wǒ fēi gěi wǒ xīwàng
Letting me fly, giving me hope

我終於 看到 所有夢想都開花
我终于 看到 所有梦想都开花
wǒ zhōngyú kàn dào suǒyǒu mèngxiǎng dōu kāihuā
At long last, I see all my dreams blooming

追逐的年輕 歌聲多嘹亮
追逐的年轻 歌声都嘹亮
zhuīzhú de niánqīng gēshēng dōu liáoliàng
In pursuit of of the youthful song loud and clear

我終於翺翔 用心凝望不害怕
我终于翱翔 用心凝望不害怕
wǒ zhōngyú áoxiáng yòngxīn níngwàng bù hàipà
At long last, I take flight and look towards the future without fear

哪裏會有風 就飛多遠吧
哪里会有风 就飞多远吧
nǎlǐ huì yǒufēng jiù fēi duō yuǎn ba
Flying as far as the wind will take me

隱形的翅膀 讓夢恒久比天長
隐形的翅膀 让梦恒久比天长
yǐnxíng de chìbǎng ràng mèng héngjiǔ bǐ tiān cháng
With my invisible wings, I will dream until the end of time

留一個願望 讓自己想像
留一个愿望 让自己想象
liú yī gè yuànwàng ràng zìjǐ xiǎngxiàng
Leaving only a single dream behind

Song: 隐形的翅膀 / 隱形的翅膀 / Yǐn Xíng de Chì Bǎng / Invisible Wings
Artist: 張韶涵 / Zhāng Sháohán / Angela Zhang

Lyrics:
每一次 都在徘徊孤單中堅強
每一次 都在徘徊孤单中坚强
měi yīcì dōu zài páihuái gūdān zhōng jiānqiáng
Everytime I wander in loneliness I become stronger

每一次 就算很受傷也不閃淚光
每一次 就算很受伤也不闪泪光
měi yīcì jiùsuàn hěn shòushāng yěbù shǎn lèiguāng
Everytime, even when I'm deeply hurt, I hold back my glimmering tears

我知道 我一直有雙隱形的翅膀
我知道 我一直有双隐形的翅膀
wǒ zhīdao wǒ yīzhí yǒu shuāng yǐnxíng de chìbǎng
I know I will always have a pair of invisible wings

帶我飛 飛過絕望
带我飞 飞过绝望
dài wǒ fēi fēiguò juéwàng
That let me fly, fly past despair

不去想 他們擁有美麗的太陽
不去想 他们拥有美丽的太阳
bù qù xiǎng tāmen yōngyǒu měilì de tàiyáng
I won't think about others' beautiful sun

我看見 每天的夕陽 也會有變化
我看见 每天的夕阳 也会有变化
wǒ kànjiàn měitiān de xīyáng yě huì yǒu biànhuà
I see that even the sunset changes everyday

我知道 我一直有雙隱形的翅膀
我知道 我一直有双隐形的翅膀
wǒ zhīdao wǒ yīzhí yǒu shuāng yǐnxíng de chìbǎng
I know I will always have a pair of invisible wings

帶我飛 給我希望
带我飞 给我希望
dài wǒ fēi gěi wǒ xīwàng
Letting me fly, giving me hope

我終於 看到 所有夢想都開花
我终于 看到 所有梦想都开花
wǒ zhōngyú kàn dào suǒyǒu mèngxiǎng dōu kāihuā
At long last, I see all my dreams blooming

追逐的年輕 歌聲多嘹亮
追逐的年轻 歌声都嘹亮
zhuīzhú de niánqīng gēshēng dōu liáoliàng
In pursuit of of the youthful song loud and clear

我終於翺翔 用心凝望不害怕
我终于翱翔 用心凝望不害怕
wǒ zhōngyú áoxiáng yòngxīn níngwàng bù hàipà
At long last, I take flight and look towards the future without fear

哪裏會有風 就飛多遠吧
哪里会有风 就飞多远吧
nǎlǐ huì yǒufēng jiù fēi duō yuǎn ba
Flying as far as the wind will take me

隱形的翅膀 讓夢恒久比天長
隐形的翅膀 让梦恒久比天长
yǐnxíng de chìbǎng ràng mèng héngjiǔ bǐ tiān cháng
With my invisible wings, I will dream until the end of time

留一個願望 讓自己想像
留一个愿望 让自己想象
liú yī gè yuànwàng ràng zìjǐ xiǎngxiàng
Leaving only a single dream behind

相逢是首悠扬的歌，相识是杯醇香的酒，相处是那南飞的雁，相知是根古老的藤，心静时总会默默地祝福您，愿幸福与平安伴随着您甜甜蜜蜜的一生~~天天好心情！ 凡夫俗子， 深情至上

下辈子，无论爱与不爱，都不会再见。

这是今天我在读者上看到的一篇文章，写的非常深刻，虽然有很多条自己也理解，但是想总结成这样的话写出来，自己是做不到的，而且一次性总结这么多，或许自己没有到那个年龄吧，经历的少，等经历多了，自然就可以想到了。

我父亲从没有给我写过信，在我上学的时候也没有给我打过几次电话，因为那个时候打电话还是一件很奢侈的事儿，记忆中的父亲一直是一个忙于工作，表情严肃的 人，很少坐一起谈话，谈心，大概农村的家庭父亲全都是这样吧，不像城市里的父亲们那样很会直接表达自己的感情，而且城市里和亲人沟通感情的东西也很多，比 如可以逛逛公园，打游戏，打球，游泳，爬山，游乐场，在村里就只有干农活了。

这个孩子很幸福，不管自己在什么年龄能得到父亲这样的指导，很幸福。

备忘录的正文（转载）

我儿

　　写这备忘录给你，基于三个原因：

（一）人生福祸无常，谁也不知可以活多久，有些事情还是早点说好。

　　（二）我是你的父亲，我不跟你说，没有人会跟你说。

　　（三）这备忘录里记载的，都是我经过惨痛失败得回来的体验，可以为你的成长省回不少冤枉路。

　　以下，便是你在人生中要好好记住的事：

　　（一）对你不好的人，你不要太介怀，在你一生中，没有人有义务要对你好，除了我和你妈妈。至于那些对你好的人，你除了要珍惜、感恩外，也请多防 备一点，因为，每个人做每件事，总有一个原因，他对你好，未必真的是因为喜欢你，请你必须搞清楚，而不必太快将对方看作真朋友。

　　（二）没有人是不可代替，没有东西是必须拥有。看透了这一点，将来你身边的人不再要你，或许失去了世间上最爱的一切时，也应该明白，这并不是什么大不了的事。

　　（三）生命是短暂的，今日还在浪费着生命，明日会发觉生命已远离你了。因此，愈早珍惜生命，你享受生命的日子也愈多，与其盼望长寿，倒不如早点享受。

　　（四）世界上并没有最爱这回事，爱情只是一种霎时的感觉，而这感觉绝对会随时日、心境而改变。如果你的所谓最爱离开你，请耐心地等候一下，让时日慢慢冲洗，让心灵慢慢沉淀，你的苦就会慢慢淡化。不要过分憧憬爱情的美，不要过分夸大失恋的悲。

　　（五）虽然，很多成功人士都没有受过很多教育，但并不等于不用功读书，就一定可以成功。你学到的知识，就是你拥有的武器。人，可以白手兴家，但不可以手无寸铁，谨记！

　　（六）我不会要求你供养我下半辈子，同样地我也不会供养你的下半辈子，当你长大到可以独立的时候，我的责任已经完结。以后，你要坐巴士还是奔驰，吃鱼翅还是粉丝，都要自己负责。

　　（七）对人要好，但不能期待人家对你好。你怎样对人，并不代表人家就会怎样对你，如果看不透这一点，只会徒添不必要的烦恼。

　　（八）我买了十多二十年******，还是一穷二白，连三奖也没有中，这证明人要发达，还是要努力工作才可以，世界上并没有免费午餐。

　　（九）亲人只有一次的缘分，无论这辈子我和你会相处多久，也请好好珍惜共聚的时光；下辈子，无论爱与不爱，都不会再见。

　　你的爸爸

標 題】：不是失敗，只是滑ㄧ跤
【作 者】：佚名
【轉載地點】：網路文章
【文章內容】：

美國最偉大的「林肯總統」之簡歷：
七歲時父親在官司中敗訴，放棄土地，他開始外出打工；
九歲喪母；
二十二歲初次經商失敗；
二十三歲競選州議員落選；同年失業、投考法學院落第；
二十四歲，向朋友貸款經商，同年破產，此後用十六年時間清還債款；
二十五歲再次競選州議員，終於成功。
二十六歲即將結婚前，未婚妻去世；
二十七歲臥病半年；
二十九歲爭取擔任州議員發言人失敗；
三十一歲爭取成為選舉人失敗；
三十四歲參加國會大選落選；
三十七歲再次參加國會大選，當選。
三十九歲尋求國會議員連任失敗；
四十五歲競選參議員落選；
四十七歲爭取共和黨副總統提名失敗；
四十九歲再度競選參議員又落敗。
不過五十一歲時，他當選美國總統。

這一份幾乎被「失敗」佔滿的簡歷，主人是被譽為「美國最偉大的總統」的林肯。
他一生中失敗過三十五次，只有三次成功。
他曾說：「我一隻腳滑了一下，另一隻腳因而站不穩。
但我緩口氣告訴自己，這不過是滑一跤，並不是死去而無法爬起來。」
最後他進駐白宮，更帶領國家粉碎了奴隸制度。

【讀後感想】：

種種失敗，都只是「滑一跤」，只要還能「活著」，有什麼事情不能克服？
深深感恩： 只要還能「活著」，有什麼事情不能克服？

You can try your hardest - you can do everything within your means but sometimes people just aren't worth it anymore. They aren't worth all the tears and worrying, and it's important to know when to let go of someone who only brings you down.

血染的風采

一生何求? - 悼念趙紫陽 MV 2:58s

一生何求 - 陳百強 (Stereo)

幾許風雨 (Stereo)

區瑞強 - 那天再重聚

學吉他一定會練的一首演奏~愛的羅曼史;禁忌之遊戲;Romance~

區瑞強 - 願一切留住

Try to remember - Albert Au + Cheng Chi Shing.wmv

Vincent - Albert Au 區瑞強

All kinds of everything - Albert Au 區瑞強

Life presents us with an ongoing stream of experience — with experiences of situations and events, of interactions of all kinds with our environment and the other people in it. These experiences are multidimensional, involving visual images, sounds, physical contact, sometimes smell and taste. We attach emotional reactions to them. Some experiences feel good; we are drawn toward them and want more like that. Others feel bad and we try to avoid them. We tend to think of experience as something that just “happens to us” as we go through life — the automatic result of the events and situations in which we find ourselves. It doesn’t feel like something over which we have much direct control, except by taking action to change the situation being experienced.

It’s really much more complex than that. You have a great deal more control over your ongoing experience than you may realize or acknowledge, and many aspects of experience that seem determined by external events actually result from choices you make. These choices are automatic and unconscious, for the most part, which is why they don’t feel like your choices, But they are. The more you understand that, and the better you understand the mechanisms by which you make those choices, the more control you will have over your life.

You compose your experience on an ongoing moment-to-moment basis. You do this by filtering and selecting bits and pieces of information from the much richer stream of information in which you are constantly immersed. You combine those bits and pieces with information and structure from your past experience to create your current experience. The kind of life you have — happy or sad, secure or fear-filled, bland or exciting, meaningless or rewarding — may ultimately be determined more by the way you manage that creative process than by the external circumstances you encounter.

Think about watching a movie. At first glance, this seems like a passive experiences. You sit and watch as the movie rolls by. Yet movie watching is really a very active process. The viewpoint you adopt — the filter through which you watch — plays a major role in the experience with which you leave the theater. Consider some different filters and the experiences they might produce.

• You might identify with one particular character, experiencing events through her eyes, sharing her fear, joy, excitement, etc.
• You might watch the same scenes as an outside observer with no sense of personal involvement, seeing them as events happening to other people.
• You might ignore the story altogether, concentrating instead on technical aspects of the moviemaking such as lighting, camera work, or set design.
• Or, realizing that there’s really nobody really up there — no people, places, or events, just patterns of colored lights on a white wall — you might just sit back and enjoy the light show.

Different filters produce very different experiences. The first may lead to an intensely personal participation in the story. The second might be less personal but still very empathetic. Both of these, though different, flow from the basic story the movie tells. The third filter focuses not on that story, per se, but on how it is told — on the craft of the moviemaker. The final filter ignores both the story and how it is told, simply taking in and responding to the raw flow of visual pattern that the movie provides.

You may choose your filter consciously or unconsciously. You might go to the movie with the intent of identifying with a particular character, or you might simply find yourself drawn into that experience as the movie progresses. If you work in the movie industry, you might want to learn from or critique the directing, editing or costuming, or you might find yourself unable to step out of your professional role and into the story itself. But whether you choose your filter consciously or unconsciously, you are making a choice. The more conscious you are of that choice, the more you control will have over your experience, and the greater your chances for a satisfying experience.

The same is true of your experience of life. You encounter and participate in a stream of events, like scenes in a movie, which seem to “just happen” to you. But those events do not completely determine your experience. You experience a filtered and interpreted version of the events in which you emphasize (and possibly distort) some aspects while you downplay (or filter out) others. This process of filtering and interpreting has as much influence on your ultimate experience, as do the events themselves.

Imagine, for example, attending a dinner party. On arriving, you mill around having a couple of drinks and making small talk. Then you sit down for dinner. You eat, the plates are taken away, and dessert and coffee served. You talk some more, and then those plates are taken away and you leave and go home.

What was your experience? As with the movie, there are different filters you might apply to the dinner party. You might focus on the food, making the dinner primarily a gastronomic experience. You might focus on your conversation with your dinnertime companions, letting the food play a secondary role. You may be interested in the content of the conversation, or you may be using it for other ends such as cementing business relationships or finding a new love interest. You might give considerable attention to the setting — the furniture, dinnerware, etc. — or you might give it very little. You might observe a large number of people, or devote most of your attention to one or two. Your overall experience of the dinner party will flow from the way you make these choices.

This is not to say, of course, that life is the same as watching a movie. The movie scenes roll by in their predetermined order; the only choices you have are how to experience them. In life, you don’t just observe but you also act. You respond to events and that response affects what happens next. Your choice of where to sit at dinner and whom you talk with will affect the flow of your experiences in ways that have no counterpart in the movie. Life is, as computer people say, “interactive.”

That interactivity goes much deeper than your conscious responses. Composing experience involves choices you are not aware of making, choices you may not even think of as choices at all, such as which muscles you tense when you’re under stress, how you orient yourself in gravity, or the breadth of your awareness. These choices can significantly impact aspects of your experience that you may think are beyond your control, such as the ease or difficulty with which you move, the competency or lack thereof you feel under stress, and even your overall sense of security, or anxiety.

You may have learned growing up that life is difficult, and that you need to work hard to accomplish anything. If so, you may habitually use more effort than necessary in everything you do. You may hold your breath and stiffen your chest when you read something difficult, make a presentation to a client, or work at your computer. This extra effort is a bit like riding the brake when you drive. It diminishes the performance of the vehicle and creates unnecessary wear and tear. But it accomplishes nothing, except perhaps to validate the belief that life is hard, and make life harder than it needs to be.

Extra tension and effort also contribute to many common sources of pain and limitation, such as back problems, the epidemic of repetitive stress injury currently associated with computer usage, even the increasing stiffness and decreasing mobility that we normally blame on aging. This isn’t to say that you “choose” those ills directly. Rather, you make choices that contribute to and support them, without realizing that you are doing so. You really don’t have to do it that way.

This extra effort and tension can even affect your sense of security and emotional well-being. Your most basic support comes from the solidity of the earth beneath you. Your sense of safety and security is intimately tied in with feeling that support, and unnecessary tensions in your body reduce your ability to do so. On the one hand, not feeling the ground contributes to anxiety, because you feel insecure and unsupported. On the other hand, anxiety diminishes your sense of contact with the ground, because you respond to it by tensing and lifting yourself away from the ground. The tension and anxiety create a self-amplifying feedback loop in which each feeds the other. If this feedback loop becomes habitual, you may experience it as on ongoing sense of angst and insecurity.

Miracles Do Happen

I'm a radiographer (Aussie version of an X-ray technician) in a small private practice. A patient whose doctors had just discovered he had bowel cancer came to me for a CT scan and, unfortunately, the result was not good, with huge metastases in his liver. Once this type of cancer has reached that stage it's usually only a matter of time before the end.

He suspected the truth and even though it's not my place to discuss the results with the patients, while waiting for his family to come and collect him we had a chat. I told him about another patient whose first scan showed tumors on both kidneys that were inoperable and a sure death sentence who'd gone to a Naturopath-MD near our practice. Set on a path of a healthy diet, meditation, visualization and a lot of mindpower, this man had astounded us all. About eight months and three scans later, the tumors had totally disappeared.

I told the current patient that miracles do happen. He asked for a pen and paper, wrote down those three words and stuck the note in his shirt pocket, and asked for the name of the Naturopath-MD.

After the conservative treatment of bowel surgery and chemotherapy, he returned for a follow-up scan, and his liver had improved far more than expected. This, he believed, was due to the alternative treatment supplementing the conservative.

Over the next few months he returned for regular follow-up scans. The last time I saw him I was absolutely thrilled to find only a trace of the biggest metastasis left. He did come back once more, unfortunately while I was on vacation. But he asked the office staff to give me a message. Apparently he patted his pocket and said, "Tell her I still read it every day." And yes, his last scan was perfectly normal.

Miracles do happen.

On men pleasing women in bed — Dina Zaman

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A dream of Malaysian unity — CKL

June 01, 2011

MAY 31 — I have read with sadness the many letters you have published regarding Malaysia’s brain drain. I am one of those, who left Malaysia for many reasons, chiefly, because I did not see any future for my children in a country which had become increasingly racist, moving from moderate to fundamentalist Islamic and also increasingly intolerant.

To those who say that I am unpatriotic and that I should stay on to help change the country, I tell you that it cannot be changed! Whilst working as a professional in Malaysia, I also served for 14 years in the Territorial Army of Malaysia (Rejimen Askar Wataniah), rising to my last rank of Major.

Rejimen Askar Wataniah is the army reserves of Malaysia and we undergo weekend military training every fortnight. During those years, not only was I prepared to risk life and limb for King and country, but I also initiated and helped set up Askar Wataniah societies in mainly Chinese tertiary institutes which recruited Chinese students into the Askar Wataniah. Every year, those societies recruited some 100+ Chinese students into the Rejimen Askar Wataniah, compared with a miserly 10+ in the regular army.

I expected nothing from my efforts because I enjoyed my time in the Askar Wataniah and I was patriotic, then! But I certainly did not expect brickbats and every effort being made by my fellow Malay officers to run me down because they were jealous (my efforts in recruiting such large numbers of Chinese into the Askar Wataniah had caught the attention of the military top brass and also assorted politicians, in particular MCA politicians) or as one of them told me, “perasaan dengki” which Malays always seem to have for those who are more successful than they are.

Perhaps they thought I was taking their rice bowl away from them. Whatever their reasons, it was made very clear to me that I was not one of them, even though I had sweated and toiled with them during military exercises in the jungle and training courses.

That was when I realised that no matter what I do or try to do, I would always be to them, and legally too, firstly a non-Malay, secondly a non-Bumiputera, thirdly a non-Muslim. I was not a Malaysian to them first and foremost!

However, I was lucky. I was a successful professional with skills and experience which could be transferred overseas. I have been working for the past few years in the Middle East, which although fully Islamic, treats me first and foremost, as a Malaysian!

There are only two types of people here, locals and expats. Yes, locals have better conditions and benefits but it is their country, isn’t it? And they certainly don’t discriminate amongst one race or another amongst their citizens.

For those who have been here, you would know that there are many Indians who have settled in this area for many years, ending up as citizens in their adopted countries. There are no discriminatory laws which favour one particular race amongst their citizens above others, unlike in Malaysia!

I was certainly luckier than those non-Malay officers serving in the regular army as, without an exception, every single one of them had tales to tell me about junior Malay officers being promoted over them, even though these non-Malay officers had both the qualifications and experiences which entitled them to promotion!

One particularly poignant tale I heard came from a retired Chinese senior officer who had been passed over many times for promotion even though during the final years of the communist insurgency, he had actually commanded an operation which caught a communist insurgent.

But the non-Malay officers were in many ways luckier than the non-Muslim Bumiputera officers, i.e. Ibans. They are supposed to have the same rights and opportunities as Malay officers, yet they did not receive them. They suffer the same fate as many non-Malay officers in having junior Malay officers with less experience and qualifications being promoted over them!

Just talk to any Iban officer and you will hear their frustration and anger at such discrimination against them, even more anger than non-Malay officers. As they used to moan to me, “Sama bangsa tetapi tidak sama ugama”! To those who have served in the military, you will know exactly what I am talking about, that is, if you have not buried your head in the sand like an ostrich!

Everyone seems to have forgotten how the Malaysian Constitution was achieved. It was negotiated, chewed over and fought over in words at the height of the Emergency, at a time when the British and Malayans thought that the communist terrorists was not winning but certainly not losing either.

The British basically gave Malaya its independence because they had been bankrupted by the Second World War and it was the platform that the communists were ostensibly fighting for. At a stroke, by giving Malaya independence, which was also what Malayans were fighting for, they helped removed any public support for the communists.

Yet, it was not easy to achieve the compromises that the Constitution eventually became. Many Malays and the Islamic parties at that time wanted an Islamic state with limited rights for non-Malays and non-Muslims.

In fact, the biggest dispute was about granting citizenship rights to non-Malays. It was only after intense negotiations with the British acting as referees, that our present Constitution came about.

Please remember, the original Malaysian Constitution gave equal rights for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or creed. Islam was recognised as the religion of the country but with no special rights over other religions and original, the Malays were given certain rights over other non-Malays in order that they could achieve economic parity.

Further, ethnic bargains between the Alliance parties were the mainstay of the Constitution. The MIC and MCA agreed to give special rights to the Malays and maintain Malay as the national language. Umno, on the other hand, agreed to allow Chinese and Indian participation in politics and be awarded citizenship. After much discussion, the Constitution was finally agreed upon and became known as the Merdeka Constitution.

Those rights were originally meant to last 15 years after independence and were actually recommended by the Reid Commision, which was set up by the British to look into the requirements for an independent Malaya.

They were meant to act as a walking stick and not a crutch! As to the effect of those, originally 15 years of Malay rights but which later became permanent, well, one has only to look at the Malays in Malaysia, 53+ years after Merdeka, and ask the simple question, are they ready to stand on their feet without any special rights or government assistance?

As to Malaysia’s brain drain, one has only to read the prophetic words of Tun Tan Cheng Lock, the first president of MCA, when in 1943, he wrote:

“The best way of treating the Chinese is to trust them and to give an opportunity to those of them, who have resided in Malaya, especially if they have done so with their families, for a sufficiently long period and have become domiciled in the country, to acquire the right of Malayan citizenship by naturalisation, so as to enable them to identify themselves completely with the interests of the land of their adoption. This is the wisest course to adopt by way of solving the so-called Chinese problem in Malaya in the humble opinion of the writer.

“It is the firm conviction of the writer that the ideal to be aimed at by every community in Malaya is that they should learn to regard themselves as Malayans first irrespective of their race. This should not only for inter-racial unity and harmony such as has so conspicuously characterized, for instance, Switzerland, but would also contribute to the unity, strength and stability of the Malayan State, which would thereby enabled to raise itself (the country) to the rank of a worthy and important partner in the great British Commonwealth of Nations”. (On the occasion of drafting a Memorandum On “Self-Government” in 1943)

And in 1945, he wrote:

“We are strongly of the opinion that the only safe, sound and wise policy for the future Government of Malaya should be to rally to its support those true Malayans, who passionately love the country as their homeland and those who intend to settle there, and who are united by the legitimate aspiration to achieve by proper and constitutional means the ideal and basic objective of Self-Government for a united Malaya within the British Commonwealth and Empire, in which the individuals of all communities are accorded equal rights and responsibilities, politically and economically, including a balanced representation of the various communities in the Government to ensure that no one community will be in a position to dominate or outvote all the others put together”. (On the occasion of submitting a memorial relating to Malaya to Secretary of State for the Colonies, London, in 1945)

Prophetic words indeed, and the chickens have certainly come home to roost!

* We asked readers who have left the country to tell us in their own words why they migrated. This is one of the stories.