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Pro Bono Scoop Newsletter of the NUS Pro Bono Group

AY 2015/2016 Semester 1

2 NUS Pro Bono Group Newsletter AY 2015/2016

Dear PBG members,

hank you for reading PBG’s first newsletter of the academic year! I am extremely excited for you to see the

many things PBG has done in service in the past year with our various beneficiaries.

2015 has definitely been an exciting year for PBG. We kick-‐started new initiatives such as the Syariah Court Friends scheme, where students would volunteer in the counters of Syariah Courts and assist members of the public with their applications to the court and we also had our first overseas trip to Khon Khaen University in Thailand, where students from PBG interacted with students from KKU to try to build a feasible pro bono framework in their university. Our existing projects expanded their scopes to reach larger audiences: our legal research team held a series of workshops for sex workers and our Legal Education and Awareness Programme (LEAP) team reached out beyond specialized secondary schools to cater to family service centres such as the Boon Lay Family Service Centre. These are but a few of the exciting things that have been happening within PBG.

These are all things that are incredibly heartening for the group because all this means is that we are playing a bigger and bigger role in reaching out and plugging the gaps that exist in society and more and more people are benefitting from what we do. This definitely would not have been possible without the cooperation and enthusiasm of the organizations we work with, who so eagerly look to serve the needs of their beneficiaries in the first place. Equally, our passionate members have made all this possible as well with their hard work and initiative. At the end of the day, apart from reaching out to groups in society, what PBG aims to do is also to instil a pro bono culture within the student body of NUS Law and seeing the rising numbers of members committed to doing pro bono work, I can proudly say we are slowly but surely reaching this goal.

The growth of PBG is particularly meaningful to me because it demonstrates the wonderful synergy across different bodies in society and the impact it can create. All our projects are sustained through cooperation between different groups in society, ranging from non-‐governmental organizations (NGOs), schools, the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Law Society, NUS Law professors and overseas universities. These are vastly different groups that function extremely differently yet when coming together at certain points with a common goal; it results in projects that are both creative and effective. It is this type of synergy that I wish our society would have more of because there is truly so much untapped potential that can be unleashed through such cooperation.

We hope you enjoy reading about the fruits of our labour in the past year and will be inspired to do something in your own capacity in the coming year!

Cheryl Lim

President, Pro Bono Group

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President’s Address


Overview of PBG Events for Jul -‐ Dec 2015

Date Event/Activity July 2015 Law Awareness Week 2015

31 July 2015 PBG Booth at CCA Fair 2015/16

mid-‐August 2015 PBG recruits its members for AY2015/16

21 August 2015 PBG’s International Affairs Division (IAD) hosts law students

from Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand

29 August 2015 PBG Cohesion & NUS-‐SMU In-‐Session Dialogue

Aug – Sept 2015 Get-‐togethers within the various projects

early Sept 2015 PBG Presidents attend the 4th Asia Pro Bono Conference and Legal Ethics Forum, organised by the Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia Community Legal Education Initiative (BABSEA CLE), in Mandalay, Myanmar

September 2015 Thai-‐ed With Love recruits new members for its team!

26 Sept – 1 Oct 2015 Pro Bono Awareness Week 2015: Migrant workers’ tour in Geylang, tour for youth-‐at-‐risk at NUS Law Campus, panel discussion & quiz on sex workers’ issues

Oct 2015 LEAP concludes its series of 10 sessions with Thye Hua Kwan FSC @ Boon Lay

Oct 2015 S4M organizes 2 Law & You workshops with residents of HOME’s shelter

Nov 2015 UCF Appreciation Tea for Semester 1 Run

Dec 2015 PLH members undergo an attachment at Ang Mo Kio FSC

Dec 2015 Internships at Justice Without Borders and HealthServe

Dec 2015 Pro Bono Services Office CLAS Attachment


Engaging with foreign domestic workers in Singapore In order to empower foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore with an understanding about the law and their rights, the Students4Migrants (S4M) team organises workshops titled ‘Law & You’. S4M Project Director, Phoebe Tan (Year 2), provides us a progress report on how the S4M team has engaged its target group in the past semester!

ver two weeks, students from the Students4Migrants

group conducted two sessions of workshops for

Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) from the HOME Shelter. The FDWs who live at the shelter are those who have experienced abuse, exploitation or suffered injuries at their workplace. Each session covered two topics which were designed specifically to cater to the issues Foreign Domestic Workers face, and that the topics covered were “Money Matters”, “Ending Work”, “Well-‐Being” and “Criminal Law”. For example, we taught the FDWs what they can do if their employer has not paid their salaries, or what happens if their employer wants to repatriate them. Or what basic needs they are entitled by law to be provided with, or what they should do if they find themselves victims of crimes, or what happens if they find themselves on the wrong side of the law? The underlying theme connecting all the topics is the idea of “Empowerment”.

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Madeleine Poh (Year 1) enlivens the session with a short puppet scene

The FDWs participate in a hands-‐on activity that tests their knowledge of what they have learnt so far

The S4M team with the residents of the HOME Shelter who participated in the first workshop


From the start, we knew we did not want our workshops to be just like a lecture, simply inundating the FDWs with information. We wanted to let the women be empowered and feel that they are capable of seeking solutions to their problems. At the time, we were careful to always remind the FDWs to try and seek the best solutions that would benefit both themselves and their employers. Thus our approach was to encourage the FDWs to try and negotiate with their employers and come to a compromise where possible. We wanted to make our workshops as engaging as possible, so we tried to have interactive activities that would get our message across. There was lots of time for discussions, skits, games and even an appearance by a Minion sock puppet. We were helped by the FDWs themselves, who were very responsive. They participated in the activities enthusiastically and were willing to share their experiences and stories – some sombre, others happy and funny. In fact, we often got new insights and ideas from the FDWs through their sharing. Sometimes, they were able to come up with novel and interesting solutions that have not even occurred to us. Through their sharing of real life experiences, we

also learned a lot of the other possible unpleasant situations FDWs find themselves in. For example, we heard a story of a FDW who had to clean a 3-‐storey house and 3 cars, and take care of the children every day. As a result of the many chores assigned to her every day, she could only afford 4 hours of sleep a day. Listening to such stories also reminded us that these issues FDWs face are very real. I think this helps us to remember that there is a purpose to conducting such workshops as they could potentially help some FDWs. After the second session, there was surprise for the FDWs. They were treated to a manicure done by Ruelia and Xue Kun. This was an idea by Prof Sheila -‐ just to do something nice for the FDWs who came. The FDWs were very excited about it as they chose the colours and designs they wanted for their nails. All in all, the first set of legal education workshops went well. We will continue to improve on our presentations, and we are looking forward to conducting more of the workshops to more FDWs by working the various embassies in the next semester! J

During the workshops, it is often the FDWs who eagerly offer up insights and advice on the problems that they face, providing a conducive environment for sharing

The Law & You team providing manicures for the participants as a fun add-on service!


Bridging the needs of VWOs in Singapore

uring the December break, members of Project Law Help

(PLH) underwent an attachment at Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre (FSC) in order to better understand the needs of Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) in Singapore. Samuel Ang (Year 1) and Pei Fang (Year 4) share their insights into the challenges that VWOs face and what PLH has in the works to meet these challenges. Give us an introduction to your attachment! Samuel: We were attached to Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre (FSC), which

is a one one-‐stop centre for dealing with various family issues. The goal of our attachment was to pick up on as many of the potential legal issues that may arise in the day to day operations of the FSC. Pei Fang: We worked with Dr Terence Yow, the director of Ang Mo Kio FSC, who kindly designed a rotating attachment with the various FSCs in the North East area, such as Punggol and Ang Mo Kio. These FSCs provide social services to residents in need, such as counselling services (for marital, child management, family violence an financial difficulties), information and referral (for legal and financial aid) and community support programme (e.g. family bonding). The FSCs also have subsidiaries which cater to specific age groups, such as the Youth Infinity and COMNET Senior Services. We engaged heavily with the counsellors and the senior social

workers, observing their operations and sitting in their meetings to sieve out legal issues which they need guidance on. What was the purpose of having the VWO attachments & did you guys manage to fulfil this through the attachment? Pei Fang: We sought to gain a better understanding of the procedures and operations of the FSCs, so that we could develop targeted advice for the FSCs. For example, there were concerns with managing employees and compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act, so we

specifically requested to review the consent forms and procedures so that we could develop the response in context. There was also very effective communication between the PLH Committee and the FSCs, as the staff were very aware of our objectives and were able to consolidate their questions beforehand,

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Members of the PLH team with staff from Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre From left to right: Samuel Ang (Year 1), Pei Fang (Year 4), Janice (Year 1), Ms Patricia Angelina Santiago (Counsellor) and Ms Cathy Ding (Senior Social Worker)

“There was also very effective communication between the PLH Committee and the FSCs”


making the attachment very smooth going. What new insights did you gain into the challenges that VWOs in Singapore face? Tell us about the most unexpected thing you learnt about VWOs in Singapore! Samuel: The most unexpected thing I learnt was that though they deal with the judicial system on occasion, they may not be well-‐equipped to do so due to a lack of knowledge of court processes. For example, there was one

case raised about a client whose mentally-‐ill son allegedly molested others and went to jail. The client did not know anything about a court trial, or even how long his jail sentence would be. Social workers at Ang Mo Kio FSC also do not know where to start looking for information regarding the client's son. There is also some mistrust of the judicial system and an impression that it may not be fair to clients. One

case was raised about a divorced man who defaulted on maintenance to his ex-‐wife. He was jailed rather than made to return the money, as he had no money to give. This seems to not solve the problem, and to social workers working with the client appears unjust. What is the role of PLH in responding to these challenges? Samuel: PLH has been committed to making legal information available to non-‐profit organisations on a website that the teams maintain and update. With such a website, non-‐profit organisations with legal issues may look up this website to provide them with the information they need. Pei Fang: The VWOs often deal with residents who face financial, marital and housing problems. Sometimes legal issues pertaining to these areas arise, and the social workers are not equipped to provide answers for their clients who may need a solution urgently. For example, directing their clients to a specific channel (eg. for partner violence, filing at the Complaints Counter of the Crime Registry at State Courts Level 1) and offering a timeline (e.g. enforcing maintenance order). We have compiled a list of FAQs in consultation with the FSC

staff and will be developing a comprehensive guide for the social workers. 4. What will PLH be embarking on in the coming semester? Any new ideas or initiatives that emerged after the attachment? Samuel: Now that we have visited the Family Service Centres and their associated services, we will be embarking on research in order to answer their queries and consolidating a Q & A toolkit for FSCs. Pei Fang: We will focus on developing a database for the VWOs in response to the legal issues identified during our attachment. We observed that the FSCs undertake quite a large amount of counselling work and there are many grey areas which they need to navigate. The code of conduct for social workers is inadequate, so a potential area of interest may be developing a best practice guide for these VWOs.

“There is also some mistrust of the judicial system and an impression that it may not be fair to clients.”


A dialogue about the issues sex workers in Singapore face: The challenges of moderating a discussion about the legal issues sex workers in Singapore face As part of Pro Bono Awareness Week 2015, the Legal Research team organised a panel discussion titled ‘Stripping It Down: the

truth about the legal issues sex workers face’, featuring Mr Vikram Nair, Member of Parliament and partner at Rajah & Tann; Ms Nadia Yeo, Assistant Chief Counsel of the Personal Data Protection Committee and avid pro bono lawyer; Ms Vanessa Ho, Coordinator of Project X which advocates for sex workers’ rights; and Ms Lisa, Programme Coordinator and Outreach Officer at Project X. Nigel Na (GLB Year 1) shares the challenges faced and insights arrived at in his experience as moderator of the discussion.

moderated the panel discussion on sex workers and sex work

in Singapore as part of Pro Bono Week 2015. My guests were Mr Vikram Nair, Ms Nadia Yeo, Ms Vanessa Ho of Project X, as well as a couple of the

volunteers at Project X. It was a very intense experience for a number of reasons — the eminence of the guests and the sensitivity of the subject matter, to name a few. As a new member of the Pro Bono Group, I was certainly jumping in both feet first!

It is bad form for anyone conducting an event to be as clueless as an audience member might be: while I was certainly not an expert on any of the issues at hand, I was determined to be in a position to at least contribute something to the discussion. What’s a student to do but hit the books? I tried to give a historical overview of the profession, from the extremely traditional form of temple prostitution to some of the new challenges that social media and new technology have presented to sex workers and regulators.

The real challenge was, I think, not the book-‐work but rather getting the conversation started. I made it a point to be early and get a chance to speak to as many of the guests as possible beforehand — it’s always easier to draw an existing acquaintance in by referring to a prior conversation, than to get someone to start a conversation cold with a stranger. Once we got

I

In moderating the panel discussion, Nigel (third from right) had to balance between getting the ball rolling and then stepping back to let the discussion flow


that ball rolling, the conversation came alive — at that point, my challenge was to stay out of it! I noticed that the guests from Project X were initially a little more reluctant to join in, so I directed ‘safe’ and non-‐confrontational questions to them. When starting out cold, it’s always easier to ask for comments on what’s already been said, than to get someone to make a new point, but once our guests really got going, the session was well and truly under way, and all that was needed from me was some pruning and trimming in the interest of time.

The experience was rewarding mostly due to its authenticity. Everyone – panellist and audience member alike – came with open minds and few preconceived notions, and the sharing was open and honest. Even Mr Vikram Nair confessed that much of what was said was new to him and had rarely been discussed in Parliament. Sometimes, reading case-‐law gets tedious because you start to lose sight of the people behind the pronouncements, and sessions like these really remind you of the human element in legal practice and in governance.

Especially in a conservative society that can be dismissive and

judgemental of those who make unorthodox choices, it’s very rare to hear such decisions represented earnestly and sympathetically. I was struck especially by the stories of the sex-‐workers who volunteered to join the panel: their testimonies were unvarnished, their concerns genuine, their pride and self-‐esteem untarnished, and they spoke powerfully about their strong sense of community and fellowship.

After all, as law students, we too aspire to be members of a rather exclusive and oft-‐misunderstood fraternity.

That sense of fellowship, not just with fellow students but with the larger community, is what drove me to join the Pro Bono Group. As a mid-‐career professional used to dealing with society at large, I didn’t want to lose touch with the community entirely when I re-‐entered the ivory tower, and the

Legal Research team’s balance of community engagement and rigorous academic focus offered the perfect balance. I hoped to maintain my outward focus while having the chance to brush off long-‐unused swotting skills, and so far, the PBG Legal Research team has delivered.

At the moment, we’re following up on our engagement with Project X with a paper. We hope to look at the various legal positions that relevant jurisdictions have taken vis-‐à-‐vis prostitution and sex-‐work, and their ramifications on other issues such as trafficking, in order to identify and propose ‘best-‐practices’ that Singapore could consider. The forces of globalisation and the Internet Age have not spared the commercial sex industry, after all, and we hope to provide some foresight for some of Singapore’s least visible yet most notorious professionals.

The panel addresses a packed seminar room.


Upcoming PBG Events for Jan -‐ Apr 2016

Date Event/Activity Jan 2016 Thai-‐ed With Love trip to Thailand

End Jan 2016 Mass PBG Chillout

End Jan 2016 SCF Semester 2 Run commences

Feb 2016 Beneficiary Interaction Initiative

4 Mar 2016 PBG 10th Anniversary Celebration (Invitation

Event for Alumni and Partners)

Apr 2016 PBG Elections & Annual General Meeting


NUS PBG Members of the Semester

AY 2015/2016 Semester 1 Based on feedback from the various project directors, we have compiled a list of members who have shown outstanding performance in their respective projects. Keep up the good work! Project: Thai-‐Ed with Love 2016

Wesley Aw Wesley, who is also a member of Project Law Help, has been exceptional in the discharge of his duties. While he mainly dealt with the administrative work (which he carried out dutifully and exemplarily), he went beyond his port of call by being someone who the team can trust. He is well respected among the team members for his firm but flexible stance, as well as well liked by participants of the trip. He was extremely responsible and was always proactive in helping other members of the team with their work. Project: Project Law Help

Grace Teo Grace is an excellent team member. Efficient, professional and organised, she takes exceptional pride in her work. Project: Moot Parliament Programme

Benjamin Heng Benjamin has been invaluable in this project. Ben was just supposed to help with the IT work, but really stepped up when needed and helped with moderating the panel, fielding the online streaming of questions, assisting the MOE presenters, and even in checking on all the room. Project: Students 4 Migrants

Madeline Poh She is very enthusiastic and earnest about presenting. She has a lot of potential :) Project: Legal Research

Nigel Na Nigel is a very enthusiastic member who volunteered to help out with pro bono awareness week and did a stellar job as the moderator of the panel. Project: LEAP

Teo Ang Siang Ang Siang consistently volunteers to more than is expected of him. E.g. for PBAW he actually volunteered to share his own experiences with the students from Crest. He also has an amazing attitude. He has never complained about sessions ending late, and always helps out in cleaning up even when everyone else has left. He is also responsible and helpful, always volunteering to help his peers.

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