31 March 2017
In each issue of our newsletter, we interview an SIArb member to get their views on the alternative dispute resolution scene in Singapore, and to obtain some insight into what makes them tick.
In this issue, we interview PROF TAN CHENG HAN SC, former Dean of Law at the National University of Singapore.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
I can only think of one-boring
How did you first get involved in arbitration work?
When I was appointed to a panel in the early 2000s.
In the course of your work, do you notice a trend in clients preferring arbitration over litigation as a form of dispute resolution?
Absolutely, there is a discernible trend driven in no small part by the number of cross-border transactions and the confidentiality of proceedings.
What is the most memorable arbitration or arbitration-related matter that you were involved in, and why?
It was a joint venture that had gone sour, and it was memorable because the deal revealed the depth of corruption at that time in a country in Asia.
What advice do you have for a young fellow practitioner interested in arbitration work?
You have to put in the hours, there is no substitute. Reputation is everything.
What are the challenges you think arbitration practitioners will face in the upcoming years?
Although arbitration is doing well, it can be time consuming and expensive. Thus its value proposition will increasingly be questioned.
With the establishment of the Singapore International Mediation Centre and the introduction of the SIAC-SIMC Arb-Med-Arb Protocol, do you see mediation as now having a bigger role to play in assisting parties to resolve their disputes?
Yes, I do and this is a good thing.
Who is the person(s) who has had the greatest impact and/or influence on your career?
My father because he was a lawyer and that no doubt made me sensitive to a career in the law, and Dean (later Justice) Tan Lee Meng who asked me in my final year to consider academia, a prospect I had not previously entertained as I was an indifferent student in my school years.
If you weren’t in your current profession, what profession would you be in?
Perhaps a historian, or law enforcement/regulation.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Almost anything sweet.
What is one talent that not many people know you have?
I would like to know too! I do hold a Black Belt Third Dan in Tae Kwon-do but I suspect the examiners are very kind to mature practitioners.
Fill in the blank: “Arbitration is to dispute resolution as _______”
"water is to snow ”. Apologies, I had to endure unseasonably cold weather earlier this year in Europe and this is the only thing that comes to mind.