Lai Kew Chai

Lai Kew Chai
Justice of Singapore
In office 1 July 1981 – 6 February 2006
Nominated by	Benjamin Henry Sheares
Chairman (Professional Affairs Committee) Singapore Academy of Law
In office 24 July 1993 – 6 February 2006
Succeeded by	V. K. Rajah
Chairman (Legal Education and Studies Committee) Singapore Academy of Law
In office 19 January 1989 – 28 July 1995
Succeeded by	Chan Sek Keong
Honorary Director, Postgraduate Practical Law Course (PLC) Board of Legal Education
In office 1978–1981
Vice-President, Law Society of Singapore
In office 1980–1981
Personal details
Born	(1941-02-07)7 February 1941 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia
Died	27 February 2006(2006-02-27) (aged 65) Singapore
Nationality	Singaporean
Spouse(s)	Dorothy
Children	2
Alma mater	National University of Singapore (NUS)
Religion	Anglican

Lai Kew Chai (Chinese: 黎嘉才; pinyin: Lí Jiācái; 7 February 1941 – 27 February 2006) was a Malaysia-born Singaporean judge and the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court Bench, having served for almost 25 years as a Judge.

Born in Tanjung Malim, Perak, he received his early education at Methodist English School at his hometown in 1950, and at the Methodist Boys' School, Kuala Lumpur in 1955. Lai was an exceptional student in school, excelling as a school captain and in his studies. He received a School Book Prize for best HSC results for his final year examinations in 1961, and from there went on to read law at the University of Singapore in March 1962, with a University Entrance Scholarship. He continued to shine in his academic results, received a Book Prize for his first-year results in March 1963 and graduated with Honours in 1966.^[1] Upon graduation that year, he was admitted to the Singapore Bar on 14 December and began his career with the law firm Lee & Lee. In 1971 Lai become a full partner of the firm.

In his 13 years' private practice with the firm, he was very active member in the legal fraternity, having served as Honorary Director of the Postgraduate Practical Law Course and a member of the Military Court of Appeal between 1977 to 1981, and as Vice-President of the Law Society of Singapore between 1980 to 1981.

On 1 July 1981, he was appointed to the High Court at the age of 40, making him the youngest judge to be appointed to the High Court in Singapore. In 1989, he was made Senate Member and Executive committee member of the Singapore Academy of Law. Justice Lai was appointed Chairman of the Legal Education and Studies Committee of the Academy from 19 January 1989 to 28 July 1995, and Chairman of the Professional Affairs Committee, Singapore Academy of Law from 24 July 1993 until his retirement on 6 February 2006.^[2] – on his 65th birthday.

High-profile court cases by Lai Kew Chai

In his 25-year career, Justice Lai heard many high-profile cases, and made many contributions in the legal arena.
In 1982, he issued the first written decision on the granting of a Mareva injunction in Singapore in the Art Trend Ltd v Blue Dolphin (Pte) Ltd case.^[3]

In 1986 Justice Lai sentenced Malaysian businessman and the then-MCA President Tan Koon Swan to a S$500,000 fine and two years' imprisonment in Singapore, for Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) which led to the collapse of Singaporean company Pan-Electric Industries.^[4] In his judgement, Lai said Tan's offences had "struck at the very heart, integrity, reputation and confidence of Singapore as a commercial city and financial centre.^[5]
Tan's sentence was later reduced to 14 months, and released on 26 December 1987.^[5]

In the case of Thahir v Pertamina (1992), the Indonesian petroleum conglomerate presented substantial claims to over S$60 million deposit in various accounts with Sumitomo Bank in Singapore, and belonging to the late General Achmad Thahir, a former General Assistant to Pertamina's President-Director, General Ibnu Sutowo. Much of the deposits were deemed to be kickbacks from corruption practices by the General Thahir, during his office in Pertamina between 14 October 1968 and the day of his death on 23 July 1976. Justice Lai thus allowed Pertamina's claims to be passed and the decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal.^[6] The judgement passed by him deeply impressed The Privy Council in Britain, and formally accepted Lai's rejection of exercising an English legal authority on the Commonwealth corruption law that had been upheld for more than a century.^[7]

On 12 May 2005 Singapore saw for the first time, a case involving exercise rights of discretion in the amendment of patent specifications for commercial products in the Trek Technology (Singapore) Pte Ltd v. FE Global Electronics PTE Ltd and others, and other suits [2005] (SGHC 90)^[8] Justice Lai ruled on all counts, in favour of Trek 2000 International that their USB portable mass storage device patent to be valid, enforceable and infringed by Israel's M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd, and Hong Kong's Ritronics Components.

Justice Lai's last major case heard was that of the sexual assault cum murder of 8-year-old Chinese national Huang Na on 26 August 2005, by the accused Took Liang How. He ruled all forensic evidence pointed to Took's guilt and to his admission of sexual assault and murder of Huang Na, as well as dismissing Took's defence that he was schizophrenic.^[9] Took was hanged in Changi Prison on Friday, 3 November 2006 before dawn.^[10]

Personal life

Lai Kew Chai was an active church worker and an avid traveller. In his lifetime, he was made Honorary Secretary to the Parochial Church Council of St. John's – St. Margaret's Church from 1973–1978, and a member of the Council between 1978 and 1981. He was also a Registrar of the Diocese of Singapore, appointed by The Bishop of Singapore.^[1]

Lai Kew Chai died at 11.36 a.m., after a seven-month battle against stomach cancer. He left behind his wife, Dorothy and two children Stanley, 37, and Amy, 33, both lawyers, and two granddaughters.

Quotes

• I remember I went with him in his vintage Mercedes Benz to the nearby shopping centre to buy groceries for the dinner. But when we walked to the payment counter, there stood the Singapore politician J.B. Jeyaretnam whom Lai had earlier ordered to pay Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew damages for defamation amounting to about SGD$260,000. Fearing that the encounter might turn out to be a rather awkward one, the tense situation became a subdued one when Lai gave a polite smile to the politician. Such were his humility, friendliness, and most of all his kindness in sponsoring the event for the cash-strapped students who had yet even to start their pupillage. – Malaysian Bar Councillor, Roger Tan Kor Mee^[11]
• Justice Lai was undoubtedly a strong and fair judge, always anxious to do justice to the parties, whether it was a civil case or a criminal trial. He was sound in the law and was always prepared to take in arguments from a fresh perspective … It was abundantly clear that as a Judge, Justice Lai was held in high regard by members of the Bar. He was similarly held by his colleagues on the Bench. – Justice Chao Hick Tin, in his eulogy delivered at Justice Lai's funeral at St Andrew's Cathedral on Friday, 3 March 2006.
• One of our finest judges, he was respected for his sharp mind, patience and fairness. He was always on top of every case, and very often offered perspectives that were not very readily apparent to lawyers appearing before him – Lawyer Mr Davinder Singh of Drew & Napier.^[5]
• ...Justice Lai gave up a successful and lucrative career as a lawyer to become a judge, at a time when judges were paid much less than now – so he made a real sacrifice ... He was an excellent trial judge, and made several lasting contributions to our jurisprudence. But despite his seniority, he was never unkind to lawyers and retained his essential humanity. – Senior Counsel Michael Hwang.^[7]
• Justice Lai made great efforts to guide junior members of the Bar at every possible opportunity in and out of court ... I had the privilege of being his colleague on the High Court Bench upon my appointment as judicial commissioner. He was a friend and mentor in my five years there. – Second Solicitor-General Lee Seiu Kin.^[7]
• Justice Lai was the only High Court judge to type notes on his laptop in recent years – the only person in the Bench who kept up with technological trends... – civil litigation lawyer Foo Soon Yien.^[7]

References