MY JOURNEY IN LAW SCHOOL AND THE WAY FORWARD
IN AN INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING PROFESSION
Why the law?
LEEROY TING
KAH SING
• Final year law student at the
University of Malaya
• A varsity debater. He has
won several speaker awards
such as in the Macau Asian
Parliamentary Debating
Championship 2016, Royals
Intervarsity Debating
Championship and
Australasians Intervarsity
Debating Championship
•
He is also a LexisNexis
Student Ambassador and
Peer Mentor for the
University of Malaya Law
Faculty
Leadership:
• Founding Editor in Chief,
University of Malaya Law
Review 2016/17
• Editorial Advisor, University
of Malaya Law Review
2017/18
• Director, Organ Donation
Week 2014/15
For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated by the art of
public policy, and at how legislations shape, and deal with the problems
that afflict society. It was this innate sense of curiosity, that drove me to
be a voracious reader during my high school days, influenced me to study
law in university, led me into the world of competitive debating, and
eventually inspired me to establish the University of Malaya Law Review,
an exclusively student-run law review at the top university in Malaysia.
Foray into Legal Work
Before entering law school at the University of Malaya, I took a gap year
to work as an intern for a law firm, Dominique Ng & Associates, in my
hometown, Kuching, Sarawak, in order to get acquainted with the field
and to assess whether reading law was the right career path for me.
I learned a great deal from my time there, thanks to the patience and
kind guidance of Mr Dominique Ng, a prominent and accomplished
lawyer, and a respected former state assemblyman. In fact, I am still
doing work for the firm today, as a case researcher, and have been
conducting legal research for the firm on a contractual basis throughout
my time at university. It added an extra dimension to my studies, as I
could see the practical applications of knowledge acquired as I progressed
through my studies.
Debate Career
As a university student, I am very active in varsity debating, primarily
driven by my interest in a wide range of matters not traditionally taught
in law school, such as public policy, international relations, economics,
and sociology. I was blessed with the opportunity to represent the
university in many national and international level competitions,
emerging triumphant from some, while learning from others.
My decision to dedicate myself to debating might seem puzzling to some,
given the established and formidable reputation of UM law’s Moot teams.
However, as someone with both mooting and debating experience,
having won the Orientation Moot Competition and bagging the Best Team
Award at UM’s Internal Moot Competition in my first year, I found that
competitive debating allowed me to step outside my comfort zone and
engage in a broader range of complex discussions that I would have never
encountered in mooting competitions focusing predomi nantly on specific
legal issues.