30th Anniversary Reunion
We were the NUS Law Class of 1986. A sterling crop by any standards, worthy of a Sunday Times feature. Turning back the clock some 30 years ago, we were once bright eyed, bushy-tailed, a picture of innocence and naivete. Just look at us now!
30 years is a long time. I swept across the room, exchanging hand-shakes and hugs with many classmates whom I haven’t seen in decades. Those who are still in practice have dodged the scourge of the mid-term mass exodus of practitioners in the 7-12 years band. I take my hat off to these comrades. Law is a demanding and exacting profession. The toll it takes on those who choose to walk this path is evident, even at face value.
” We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun…” It was a class of disparate personalities and talent – the verbose and the quiet pillars of sanity, the madcaps and debaters, the dramatic, the glamorous, and the ordinary. We encompassed the entire spectrum. At a stage in our lives where we are starting to attend more wakes than weddings, old friends and shared experiences take on a new meaning. It is at the same time nostalgic, beautiful and significant. In the midst of all that wining, dining, small talk and exchanges, deep down, we felt it and once again, there was that connection which transcends words.
There were 4 of our classmates who have passed on. We held a minute of silence . I missed our jolly ” Santa Claus” with his rotund figure and razor-sharp wit. That Christmas in 1985 where we went caroling around the campus and Santa with his Ho-Ho-Ho-s, is fondly remembered. Another was lost at sea in a tragic accident and our Alumni started the Class of 1986 Bennett Lam Scholarship Fund in his memory. This fund is channeled towards deserving law students with financial needs. Law school changed our lives in so many ways and this is but a small token of paying it forward to make a difference to someone passionate about law.
There was another incident of a classmate who fell into a coma one day and defied medical conventions by “coming back to life” after doctors declared her medically dead. A small group of us met up with her when she returned to Singapore some months after this incident. There was absolutely no trace of any residual impact or physical damage to her health or well-being. Her close friends who walked this journey with her will speak of the miraculous healing and testify to the powers of prayer and faith. The other alternative approach is to simply ignore and let time take its course towards oblivion. At least for me, it is a powerful testimony of redemption and promise of a God in whom we trust.
I went into Law School because there was nothing else better to do. The Arts, during that era, was perceived as a dumping ground for duds. Sorry folks, but that was that. Would I have done the same thing again? Probably not. I would have been much wiser and followed my heart in the Arts. I have no regrets, though. After a relatively short stint in legal practice and as a once in-house counsel for a certain media establishment, I am now most content in this current role as blogger, home cook and baker. Law School has taught me confidence, a mastery in focusing on the essentials and discarding the ramblings, good writing skills and brought out a cast of the most colorful, articulate and unforgettable characters in my cohort.
It has been a wonderful journey together!
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