The Kuala Lumpur Bar Blog

Dear KL Bar Members and Pupils-In-Chambers, The KL Bar Environmental & Humanities Committee is organising a half-day Family Picnic on 10.10.2009 (Saturday) at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). The Picnic will include a Canopy Walkway Trip (a 200m long walkway, 30m above ground) and a picnic at the Sungai Kroh Picnic Area (meal will be included). For registration form/flyer please click here or contact Yati at KL Bar Secretariat at 03-26933585 or email yati@klbar.org.my . warm regards, Saha Deva Arunasalam Chair Environmental & Humanities Committee

Click here for the Entry Form.

The KL Bar Young Lawyers Committee ("YLC") organised a Seminar on An Introduction of Income Tax Law on 11.09.2009. The speaker S. Saravana Kumar managed to captivate the audience of 66 with his illustrations and explanations on what is usually a dry topic. Lai Chee Hoe, the Chairperson of the YLC was on board to present him a Certificate of Appreciation for his efforts. Saravana started the 2 hour Seminar with some recent Tax Law Developments and ended with tips on how to negotiate with the IRB. Participants were given notes together with the relevant sections from the Income Tax Law Act and 2 articles that were co-written by the speaker. Prepared by: Melissa Dass

On 03 September 2009, the KL Young Lawyers Committee (KL YLC) organised a buka puasa event. It is an annual event organised to foster the spirit of togetherness between young lawyers and to celebrate the month of Ramadan. This year, the event was held at Medan Ikan Bakar Kampung Baru, located at No. 43, Jalan Raja Abdullah, 53100 Kuala Lumpur . Medan Ikan Bakar Kampung Baru is set up in the style of a Malay kampong house, complete with areas in which you can opt to dine by sitting cross-legged on the floor. To top off the traditional, kampong-style ambiance, visitors were treated with a performance by a talented angklong player. The buka puasa was a buffet and was reasonably priced at RM25 per person. A variety of authentic Malay dishes were available, such as pucuk paku , ayam masak merah , rendang daging and kerabu , as well as an assortment of kuih-muih . Of course, the main attraction of the restaurant was the delicious ikan bakar (grilled fish), eaten with kuah assam . Many attend

Scuba Diving was never a remote possibility in my life. Nor was it ever contemplated. I was instantly intrigued when I read the KL Bar email inviting members to dive at the charming Alu Alu Divers, Perhentian Island (the “Scuba Diving Certification Programme”). Adventure. Excitement. A weekend of relaxation. What could possibly darken high spirits? I was wrong. Our SSI Open Water Diver course involved a theory exam and swotting on the Dive manual. Ejay, our unflappable Dive Master, brandished threats of failure and the 5 of us from the KL Bar duly accepted defeat with a sigh. We were also made to watch videos with dire warnings of life-threatening hazards- Nitrogen Narcosis (i.e. nitrogen in the brain causing one to act “drunk”), Decompression Sickness (i.e. nitrogen bubbles in the body when ascending too fast) and Overexpansion (similar to Decompression). We started to worry. Then there were all these cumbersome equipment for one’s ‘Total Diving System’- the cylinder, regulator, fir

A project initiated by the KLYLC 2005/06, this program involves visiting the Law Faculties of Universities around Klang Valley to meet the LLB undergraduates and it continues to top the list of the many activities the KLYLC organises. On 1.8.2009 and 8.8.2009 the KLYLC literally went back to school to meet the students of University Malaya (“UM”) and University Teknologi Mara (“UITM”). The volunteer lawyers attended the workshop in UM were Lai Chee Hoe, Sandesh Kabir, Fam Yu Min, Richard Wee, Kenneth Poh Lim, Caryn, Syahredzan, Daniel Albert, Alan Teoh, Chan Kit Keong, Jason Kong, Jessica Audrey, Andrew Liew, Samuel, Clarice Ngan, Mun Wai, Brandon, Aston, Sherrie, Wai Kuan, Donovan, Yvonne. The volunteer lawyers attended the workshop in UiTM were Lai Chee Hoe, Sandesh Kabir, Fam Yu Min, Richard Wee, Kenneth Poh Lim, Syahredzan, Chan Kit Keong, Jason Kong, Mun Wai, Aston, Sherrie, Seirra Sacha, Faris Jinnah. The session was conducted in an interactive manner. After Lai Chee Hoe and Sa

Persatuan Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Cacat Klang Selangor (“Home”) takes care of children ranging form the ages of 3 to 26. The Home is a happy multiracial home. The special children in their care have various disabilities such as down syndrome, autism, physical disabilities, blindness, muteness, deafness and mild mental retardation. The Home is equipped with a live in teacher who educates, trains and grooms the children to enable them to lead independent lives and to contribute to the society. The Home also employs full time staffs to look after and help the children in their daily activities like feeding, cleaning and bathing. Mr. N. Morgun, the President, Advisor and Founder of the Home came to the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee (“KLBC”) Secretariat on 27.08.2009 to collect the cheque amounting to RM10,000.00 which forms part of the proceeds from the donation collected at the KLYLC Charity Night. The cheque was presented by the Chairman of the Kuala Lumpur Young Lawyers Committee (“KLYLC”)

Contributed by Seira Sacha Binti Abu Bakar “We will not accept closure of this case until a satisfactory inquiry”, said Datuk Dominic Puthucheary. On 12 December 1948 , in a military operation against the communist insurgencies in then Malaya, a group of Scots Guardsmen shot dead 24 unarmed Chinese labourers in a rubber tapping village of Batang Kali . The village was then set on fire. To justify the killing, the British Government argued that the 24 Chinese civilians were communists attempting to escape and military force was necessary to stop them. 2 superficial investigations were conducted in 1949 and 1970 to look into the incident, but nothing came out of it. In Malaysia , a campaigning group who called themselves the Action Committee Condemning the Batang Kali Massacre (“ ACCBKM ”) was formed to press the case for the victim’s families. In March 2008, the group presented a petition to the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur calling for acceptance of responsibili