PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

It is customary in December for this column to be an opportunity for reflection, gratitude, and optimism. While 2021 has been another long and difficult year for so many of us, and Omicron raises new uncertainties of the moment, we still have much to be grateful and thankful for.

While we have not been able to meet in person yet to celebrate SIArb’s 40th year milestone, we are thankful that SIArb has nevertheless continued to adjust well to the pandemic in 2021.

Over the past two years, Council has made a concerted effort to invest in infrastructure and expertise to ensure that SIArb can adaptably take its activities completely online whenever necessary.

Thanks to the hard work of our Education Committee led by Chia Chor Leong and our Secretariat led by June Tan, our flagship Membership and Fellowship courses and exams continue to be in high demand and can now be fully conducted in a virtual and online format. We will continue to invest in getting more adept at this, take in your suggestions for improvements, and focus in 2022 on developing new continuing education resources for arbitrators since this lies at the heart of SIArb’s mission.

Without question, SIArb training and accreditation is now one of the most recognised and sought-after badges in the regional international arbitration community. This is an achievement that we can all be proud to be associated with and your Council will continue to invest in ensuring that we safeguard the inherent value that has been built up by successive Councils over the decades.

In 2021, in lieu of being able to meet in person, we conducted two annual lectures online (our Annual Lecture with Lord David Neuberger addressing a global virtual audience on the impact of unilateral state sanctions on international arbitration practice, and our Beyond Arbitration Lecture with His Excellency the Honourable Will Hodgman, Australian High Commissioner, addressing us on the urgent issue of climate action and his experience of steering Tasmania to achieve net-zero emissions).Ironically, we were able to reach larger and wider audiences. As the curtain raiser for Singapore Convention Week 2021, we co-organised the inaugural Asia Pacific Institute of Experts (APIEx)-SIArb conference which focused on the role of experts in international arbitration. Although we have had to postpone our annual commercial arbitration symposium in the Old Parliament Chamber for a second successive year, we will continue to keep a look out for suitable hybrid formats to engage with our local and international members during 2022.

Our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Committee led by Andrew Pullen organised ten ever popular monthly CPD webinars, among which, one focused on guiding our younger members on building sustainable careers in international arbitration. The popularity of the latter prompted Council to establish a new Young Practitioners Network for 2022, steered by Cathryn Neo, to focus on the needs and interests of our more junior members.

Our Activities Committee led by Tan Weiyi and Rebecca Tai Andersen worked hard to innovate ways to engage with our members remotely, organising our first virtual members’ drinks night, which turned out to be one of our most successful and memorable events of the year, as well as a seminar which focused on mindful wellness in our hectic professional lives. While we were not able to hold our annual dinner in 2021 to celebrate our 40th year, please keep watch for developments as our 40th Anniversary Committee, led by immediate past president Dinesh Dhillon,shall be looking to do so in 2022 if all goes well. Just recently, the committee closed the year with its annual debate – on the motion “This House believes that the received wisdom that litigation practice is the best foundation for a successful career in arbitration should no longer be so readily received.” As before, the debate was provocative yet entertaining and a fitting end to the year’s programmes.

Council worked hard over the year to deliver a much-needed and long-planned constitutional review. Thank you to the Constitutional Review Committee led by Ramesh Selvaraj and Andy Pullen as well as to all our members who participated in the Town Hall, who gave feedback on drafts and who attended at the 7 December 2021 EGM to support and pass the amendments.

We are also pleased to announce that the next issue of the Singapore Arbitration Journal should be on your desks. This well-received publication has become yet another flagship of SIArb that we can be proud of. Many thanks to our General Editor Mohan Pillay, Editor Chan Leng Sun SC, Publishing Editor Yeo Boon Tat, our journal Advisory Board and Assistant Editors for the hard work they have invested into laying this foundation that we are all proud of.

Finally, I would like to congratulate all the new Council members who were elected to office at the 2021 AGM and to record a personal note of thanks to our immediate past president, Dinesh Dhillon, for steering SIArb so ably over the past four years to such a strong and stable footing. I am pleased to introduce you to the new Chairs of the various SIArb Committees for 2021-2022:

On behalf of your Council, I wish you all a healthy, restful, and happy New Year!