Speech by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Law at the Official Book Launch of Mr Subhas Anandan's It's Easy to Cry

09 DEC 2015

9 Dec 2015 Posted in Speeches

Vimala, Sujesh, Sunil, friends, it’s a privilege to be here at this launch of this second book by Subhas (Anandan).
And Vimala, thanks for making sure that we in Singapore benefit from having such a book added to our legal landscape.
This book has many interesting aspects.
It starts out by talking about Subhas himself.
Some of us know, some of us don’t, that he came here when he was five months old, and he was stateless until 2001. And I recall him entering into a verbal joust with our first Prime Minister at a Select Committee hearing, at the end of which I think he left enough of an impression on Mr Lee (Kuan Yew), for Mr Lee to tell him “I think you don’t need to be too worried about your citizenship.” And he got it subsequently.
Subhas has been described in many ways. Generous, kind-hearted, sharp lawyer, good man, big-hearted, wonderful man, wonderful person. I think each of us who has met with him, dealt with him, has something positive to say, both in the context of his legal abilities and even more importantly, as a gentleman at the Bar and as a person, as an individual, as a family man. And those aspects come through in the book.
I described his loss as a loss to Singapore, and I meant everything I said then. We have lost a legend, and it’s a loss that’s not going to be replaced easily but this is a very nice way of remembering him.
The book talks about Vimala and Sujesh – they are referred to quite liberally in the book, but also his cases. And they show his approach to the law and what he felt should be done.
He talks about the case of a mother who attempted to plead guilty, to take the rap for her son, because she wanted to go to jail instead of her son. He dealt with that.
(He also dealt with) a young lady from China who was in a terrible marriage and, feeling cornered, killed her brother-in-law and stabbed his wife. Subhas managed to make sure that that wasn’t a case of life imprisonment, that it was 16 years’ jail.
So he fought for the underdog. He fought cases which were considered hopeless, and this book is rich in setting out his experiences and his attitude towards his family.
Thirdly, Subhas is a man of some controversy. As his son said, he is opinionated. He has strong opinions, strong viewpoints. He sets out his views on various legal service officers, some senior, some less senior. And their views on the meetings he has had with them diverge somewhat sharply from his views on what those meetings were about.
I was left with deciding whether or not to say anything. So we issued a short statement. In the memory of Subhas, there are these differences of viewpoints. We don’t want to go in and deal with each one. I think just the general point, that there are differences of viewpoints but we should let these things rest. We just make the point in a very brief way.
So if he were alive, I could have had a word with him and being a fair man, he would have looked at the facts and maybe made some changes. But it may be equally likely that he may not have changed his viewpoints. But he probably would have invited me for a drink and toasted to the differences. That’s the kind of man Subhas was. We would have laughed over it.
So there are those differences of viewpoints. I think overall that adds to, rather than subtracts from the book.
And finally, the fact that you have thought of having a fundraising for the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which is something that many of us consider extremely important, is really a truly noble gesture, so thank you for that.
Thank you for using the occasion to help others who are less privileged from prison, who we hope will come out and stay out of prison. That’s important and as Home Affairs Minister, that is something that I take very seriously. And we are going to put in a fair bit of resources into that to make sure that our penal system gets even better.
So, (Subhas was) a man who touched everyone whom he met, who built institutions, who argued many high-profile cases, left a deep impression on the law, and really made a significant contribution to society.
It is a privilege to be here with you. Thank you.

Last updated on 11 Dec 2015