is right.” I reminded him that Hinduism is a very liberal religion and Hindus are supposed to be tolerant.
He thanked me for all that I had done for him and assured me that his family would never blame me and that I should continue defending people with the same zeal I had shown in his case. He also told me that I was hot tempered and that I should try to control my temper. He laughed loudly as he said this, startling the prison guards who were present. “See what a hot temper has done to me,” Tampines Raja said. As I stood up to say my last farewell, he hugged me and said, “May Jesus Christ bless you and your family.”
I walked out of the prison with a heavy heart. Tampines Raja was a young man who had wasted his life over a silly argument. In fact, two young lives had been destroyed.
The Straits Times
announced shortly after my last meeting with Tampines Raja that he had been hanged. It was a tragic end to my first case, but I took consolation in the fact that I knew that it would be the start of an exciting career in criminal law for me. Tampines Raja’s faith in me gave me the confidence I needed.
SEVEN
TEMPLE
This look at my early years would not be complete without including the time I spent in prison. It was a dark period for me. Throughout my life, I had been among the prime movers in many escapades and incidents, but my incarceration in Queenstown Remand Prison brought me back to earth. More importantly, it gave me a chance to rediscover who I really was as I gradually adjusted to life in prison.
My troubles began innocently enough at a temple called the Holy Sri Balasubramaniar Temple, which was then located at Canberra Road within the Naval Base. The temple was founded by a man called P Karupiah who worked at the British Royal Navy Dockyard. He dreamt one night of a very powerful golden cobra living in a tree in the Base. On the basis of this dream, some Hindus got together and built a small shed for the deity Murugan in the vicinity of the tree. Murugan is the God of War and the patron deity of Tamil Land. According to Tamil devotional literature, Murugan never hesitates to come to the aid of a devotee when called upon in piety or distress. A bigger building was constructed on the site when more and more devotees visited the temple. Naturally, a committee was elected to run it.
At that time, in 1972, the president of the committee was S Saravanan, an elder in our community. He had been president for almost 10 years. He was not popular with the younger generation of devotees because of the heavy-handed way he ran the temple. It was not unusual for the older generation to pursue matters relating to the temple without involving the younger devotees. But there were more immediate problems.
After I was called to the Bar, my childhood friend Sam, who was a committee member of the temple, approached me to discuss issues related to the rules and regulations of the temple. He needed my help to amend some parts of the temple’s constitution. At the time, the committee was also having a problem with the Hindu Endowment Board. A member of parliament, N Govindasamy, had insisted that the temple join the Hindu Endowment Board but the committee was not keen to do so. I helped Sam draft some amendments to the constitution and to the rules. I also drafted a letter on behalf of the temple stating that we declined to come under the umbrella of the Hindu Endowment Board. The letter was practically a challenge to MP Govindasamy to show which part of the law required our temple to come under the board. That ended the matter.
Later that year, when my family had already moved to Kampung Wak Hassan, Sam visited us. He wanted me to attend the temple’s annual general meeting. It was fixed for a Sunday and my appointment as the temple’s legal advisor had to be formalised at the AGM. I told him: “There’s no need for me to be present. Why don’t you just ask the members to endorse it.” Sunday was the only
He thanked me for all that I had done for him and assured me that his family would never blame me and that I should continue defending people with the same zeal I had shown in his case. He also told me that I was hot tempered and that I should try to control my temper. He laughed loudly as he said this, startling the prison guards who were present. “See what a hot temper has done to me,” Tampines Raja said. As I stood up to say my last farewell, he hugged me and said, “May Jesus Christ bless you and your family.”
I walked out of the prison with a heavy heart. Tampines Raja was a young man who had wasted his life over a silly argument. In fact, two young lives had been destroyed.
The Straits Times
announced shortly after my last meeting with Tampines Raja that he had been hanged. It was a tragic end to my first case, but I took consolation in the fact that I knew that it would be the start of an exciting career in criminal law for me. Tampines Raja’s faith in me gave me the confidence I needed.
SEVEN
TEMPLE
This look at my early years would not be complete without including the time I spent in prison. It was a dark period for me. Throughout my life, I had been among the prime movers in many escapades and incidents, but my incarceration in Queenstown Remand Prison brought me back to earth. More importantly, it gave me a chance to rediscover who I really was as I gradually adjusted to life in prison.
My troubles began innocently enough at a temple called the Holy Sri Balasubramaniar Temple, which was then located at Canberra Road within the Naval Base. The temple was founded by a man called P Karupiah who worked at the British Royal Navy Dockyard. He dreamt one night of a very powerful golden cobra living in a tree in the Base. On the basis of this dream, some Hindus got together and built a small shed for the deity Murugan in the vicinity of the tree. Murugan is the God of War and the patron deity of Tamil Land. According to Tamil devotional literature, Murugan never hesitates to come to the aid of a devotee when called upon in piety or distress. A bigger building was constructed on the site when more and more devotees visited the temple. Naturally, a committee was elected to run it.
At that time, in 1972, the president of the committee was S Saravanan, an elder in our community. He had been president for almost 10 years. He was not popular with the younger generation of devotees because of the heavy-handed way he ran the temple. It was not unusual for the older generation to pursue matters relating to the temple without involving the younger devotees. But there were more immediate problems.
After I was called to the Bar, my childhood friend Sam, who was a committee member of the temple, approached me to discuss issues related to the rules and regulations of the temple. He needed my help to amend some parts of the temple’s constitution. At the time, the committee was also having a problem with the Hindu Endowment Board. A member of parliament, N Govindasamy, had insisted that the temple join the Hindu Endowment Board but the committee was not keen to do so. I helped Sam draft some amendments to the constitution and to the rules. I also drafted a letter on behalf of the temple stating that we declined to come under the umbrella of the Hindu Endowment Board. The letter was practically a challenge to MP Govindasamy to show which part of the law required our temple to come under the board. That ended the matter.
Later that year, when my family had already moved to Kampung Wak Hassan, Sam visited us. He wanted me to attend the temple’s annual general meeting. It was fixed for a Sunday and my appointment as the temple’s legal advisor had to be formalised at the AGM. I told him: “There’s no need for me to be present. Why don’t you just ask the members to endorse it.” Sunday was the only
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