Lai Kew Chai
Lai Kew Chai | |
---|---|
黎嘉才 | |
Benjamin Henry Sheares | |
Chairman (Professional Affairs Committee) Singapore Academy of Law | |
In office 24 July 1993 – 6 February 2006 | |
Succeeded by | V. K. Rajah |
Chairman (Legal Education and Studies Committee) Singapore Academy of Law | |
In office 19 January 1989 – 28 July 1995 | |
Succeeded by | Chan Sek Keong |
Honorary Director, Postgraduate Practical Law Course (PLC) Board of Legal Education | |
In office 1978–1981 | |
Vice-President, Law Society of Singapore | |
In office 1980–1981 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Tanjung Malim, Perak, Federated Malay States, British Malaya (now Malaysia) | 7 February 1941
Died | 27 February 2006 Singapore | (aged 65)
Nationality | Singaporean |
Spouse | Dorothy |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | National University of Singapore (NUS) |
Lai Kew Chai (Chinese: 黎嘉才; pinyin: Lí Jiācái; 7 February 1941 – 27 February 2006) was a Singaporean judge and the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court Bench, having served for almost 25 years as a Judge.
Biography
Early life and education
Born in
Legal career
Upon graduation that year, he was admitted to the Singapore Bar on 14 December and began his career with the law firm Lee & Lee. In 1971 Lai become a full partner of the firm.
In his 13 years' private practice with the firm, he was very active member in the legal fraternity, having served as Honorary Director of the Postgraduate Practical Law Course and a member of the Military Court of Appeal between 1977 and 1981, and as vice-president of the Law Society of Singapore between 1980 and 1981.
On 1 July 1981, he was appointed to the High Court at the age of 40, making him the youngest judge to be appointed to the High Court in Singapore. In 1989, he was made Senate Member and executive committee member of the Singapore Academy of Law. Justice Lai was appointed Chairman of the Legal Education and Studies Committee of the academy from 19 January 1989 to 28 July 1995, and Chairman of the Professional Affairs Committee, Singapore Academy of Law from 24 July 1993 until his retirement on 6 February 2006.[2] – on his 65th birthday.
Select cases
In 1982, Lai issued the first written decision on the granting of a
In October 1984, Lai presided the manslaughter trial of Beh Meng Chai, a Malaysian and one of the three perpetrators of the 1980 Jurong fishing port murders, in which a fisher dealer Lee Cheng Tiong and a teenager Teo Keng Siang were both robbed and killed. Beh was initially charged with murder after his capture in 1982, but after Beh made a plea bargain and expressed his willingness to be the prosecution witness in the trial of his accomplice Sim Min Teck, the prosecution proceeded with two reduced charges of manslaughter (also known as culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against Beh, who pleaded guilty. Lai sentenced Beh to life in prison and 24 strokes of the cane in October 1984, and he stated in his verdict that the brutality of the killings were so abhorrent that it justified the imposition of the maximum punishment for manslaughter in Beh's case, despite noting his young age and full cooperation with the police.[4] As for Sim, he was sentenced to death and hanged for murder, but till today, the third and final accomplice Chng Meng Joo was never caught for the murders.[5][6]
On 14 August 1985, Lai, together with High Court judge Abdul Wahab Ghows, heard the case of
In 1986, Lai sentenced Malaysian businessman and the then-MCA President Tan Koon Swan to a S$500,000 fine and two years' imprisonment in Singapore, for Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) which led to the collapse of Singaporean company Pan-Electric Industries.[9] In his judgement, Lai said Tan's offences had "struck at the very heart, integrity, reputation and confidence of Singapore as a commercial city and financial centre".[10] Tan's sentence was later reduced to 14 months, and he was released on 26 December 1987.[10]
In April 1987, Lai and another judge Chan Sek Keong (then Judicial Commissioner) sentenced two Malaysians - Ramachandran Suppiah and Krishnan Varadan - to hang for the murder of Packiria Pillai Krishnasamy in 1984, after they found both men having acted in furtherance of the common intention to rob Packiria by stabbing the 74-year-old elderly man to death. Subsequently, after five years of appealing against the death sentence, Ramachandran was acquitted of the murder, while only Krishnan, who admitted to having stabbed the victim to death, was hanged on 15 April 1994.[11][12][13]
Lai was also one of the two judges (the other being Joseph Grimberg) who sentenced Sim Ah Cheoh, a housewife and single mother of two sons, and her two bosses - Lim Joo Yin and Ronald Tan Chong Ngee - to death in 1988 for attempting to illegally import 1.37 kg of heroin from Singapore to the USA. Sim was later granted clemency and her sentence commuted to life imprisonment in 1992, while both Lim and Tan were executed.[14][15]
In November 1990, Lai and another judge, Judicial commissioner (JC)
In the case of Thahir v Pertamina (1992), the Indonesian petroleum conglomerate presented substantial claims to over S$60 million deposit in various accounts with Sumitomo Bank in Singapore, and belonging to the late General Achmad Thahir, a former General Assistant to Pertamina's President-Director, General Ibnu Sutowo. Much of the deposits were deemed to be kickbacks from corruption practices by the General Thahir, during his office in Pertamina between 14 October 1968 and the day of his death on 23 July 1976. Lai thus allowed Pertamina's claims to be passed and the decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal.[18] The judgement passed by him deeply impressed
In March 1993, Lai also presided the trial of
Between March 1993 and December 1993, Lai presided over the three-week murder trial of
In January 1995, Lai also tried a Singaporean fugitive named S. S. Asokan for killing a loan shark. Asokan and another man named Maniam Rathinswamy had committed the crime by using an axe and knife to kill 32-year-old
On 24 June 1995, Lai found mechanic
On 12 May 2005, Singapore saw for the first time, a case involving exercise rights of discretion in the amendment of patent specifications for commercial products in the Trek Technology (Singapore) Pte Ltd v. FE Global Electronics PTE Ltd and others, and other suits [2005] (SGHC 90)[32] Lai ruled on all counts, in favour of Trek 2000 International that their USB portable mass storage device patent to be valid, enforceable and infringed by Israel's M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd, and Hong Kong's Ritronics Components.
Lai's last major case heard was that of the sexual assault cum murder of 8-year-old Chinese national
Personal life and death
Lai Kew Chai was an active church worker and an avid traveller outside of his legal and judicial career, for he was a devoted
Lai was married to Dorothy and had two children, both of whom became lawyers, as well as two granddaughters.[35]
Lai died on 27 February 2006 after a seven-month battle against stomach cancer.[35]
References
- ^ a b 'Appointment of High Court Judge', Singapore Government Press Release (Document No. 1246-1981-06-15; dated 15 June 1981)
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) In The Subordinate Courts Of The Republic Of Singapore Registrar's Circular No. 2 Of 2006. Demise Of Mr Lai Kew Chai – Minute Of Silence - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Supreme Court Of Singapore Annual Report 2006 - ^ "Life term and 24 strokes for killer in double-murder case". The Straits Times. 9 October 1984.
- ^ "It's death for fisherman Sim". The Straits Times. 28 March 1985.
- ^ "Robber loses appeal against death sentence". The Straits Times. 8 July 1986.
- ^ "True Files S2". Toggle. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ Jalelah, Abu Baker (15 May 2016). "Guilty As Charged: Serial murderer Sek Kim Wah found it 'thrilling' to strangle victims". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Malaysian Gets 2 Years", Reuters, in New York Times published: 28 August 1986]
- ^ a b 'Justice Lai Retires After 25 Years,' Business Times, 7 February 2005
- ^ "Two to die for murdering 74-year-old man". The Straits Times. 1 May 1987.
- ^ "Man on death row freed after five years". The Straits Times. 27 October 1992.
- ^ "Murderer to hang after record 7 years on death row". The New Paper. 13 April 1994.
- ^ "Housewife and 2 men to hang for drug trafficking". The Straits Times. 30 July 1988. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ "这11人在新加坡犯了滔天大罪也能有退路". 红蚂蚁 (in Chinese). 3 January 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ "Man gets death for throwing girl from flat". The Straits Times (Overseas). 24 November 1990.
- ^ "德士司机邢谷环遇害案《绳之以法》今晚播映详情". Lianhe Zaobao (in Chinese). 7 November 1992.
- ^ Kartika Ratna Thahir v PT Pertambangan Minyak dan Gas Bumi Negara (Pertamina) (1994) 3 SLR 257; (1994) SGCA 105 Archived 18 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 'High Court Judge retires after 25 years.' Straits Times, 7 February 2006.
- ^ "IN THE COURTS". The Straits Times. 12 March 1993.
- ^ "乱刀杀准新娘". Lianhe Wanbao (in Chinese). 10 March 1993.
- ^ "打抢准新娘暴露身分 杀人灭口 装配匠死刑". Shin Min Daily (in Chinese). 10 March 1993.
- ^ "Spouse of accused must testify if called to give evidence". The Straits Times. 2 April 1993.
- ^ "Punggol murder case: Carpenter to make defence". The Straits Times. 6 April 1993.
- ^ "Carpenter sentenced to death for murdering ex-girlfriend". The Straits Times. 2 December 1993.
- ^ "万礼焦尸案 谋杀'黑炭' '黑豹'死刑". Shin Min Daily (in Chinese). 19 January 1995.
- ^ "外号"黑豹"被告谋杀罪名成立被判死刑". Lianhe Zaobao (in Chinese). 20 January 1995.
- ^ "Two murderers hanged". The Straits Times. 9 September 1995.
- ^ "Ex-mechanic to hang for murdering lover". The Straits Times. 25 June 1996. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- ^ "Mechanic acquitted of murder". The Straits Times. 14 January 1997. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- ^ "How mechanic escaped death". The New Paper. 15 January 1997. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- ^ http://app.supremecourt.gov.sg/default.aspx?pgID=1138 Trek Technology (Singapore) Pte Ltd v FE Global Electronics Pte Ltd and Others and Other Suits (No 2) [2005] SGHC 90, Supreme Court of Singapore.
- ^ "Took Leng How sentenced to death for killing 8-year-old Huang Na", Channel NewsAsia, 26 August 2005.
- ^ "Took's appeal dismissed, death term upheld for Huang Na's murder", Channel NewsAsia, 25 January 2006.
- ^ a b "Former Singapore High Court judge Lai Kew Chai dies - The Malaysian Bar". www.malaysianbar.org.my. Retrieved 21 July 2023.