QUOTE: “I hope the day will never come when the guilt or
innocence of anyone in Singapore is decided by politics. Your guilt or
innocence on this charge is decided by the law of the land, by the courts and
by the judges. No one, least of all a politician, is above the law. The law is
enacted by Parliament.”
AUTHOR: Wee
Chong Jin (Chinese: 黄宗仁; pinyin: Huáng Zōng Rén; 28 September
1917 – 5 June 2005) was a Singaporean judge and the first Chief Justice of the
country. He was born in Penang to parents Wee Gim Puay and Lim Paik Yew. He
received his early education at the Penang Free School, and read law at St
John's College, Cambridge. He was called to Bar at the Middle Temple in
November 1938, and was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of Straits
Settlements in 1940 upon returning to Penang.
Wee practiced law in Malaysia and Singapore
from 1940 to 1957, with the firm Wee Swee Teow and Co. He also became the first
Asian lawyer to be appointed to the position of a judge at the Supreme Court of
Singapore on 15 August 1957, and subsequently appointed Chief Justice of
Singapore on 5 January 1963. His appointment as Chief Justice, marked the end
the century-old tradition of appointing British Chief Justices -the last of
whom was Sir Alan Rose - for Singapore. Wee remained in the position for 27
years, making him the longest-serving chief justice not only in Singapore, but
also in the Commonwealth.
He also served as the first chairman of the
Presidential Council for Minority Rights from 1973 and remained at its helm for
18 years. Wee assumed the post of the acting President of Singapore for two
days when Devan Nair stepped down as President. Wee Chong Jin had also stepped
in when head-of-states were either away or indisposed. He had stood in for
Yusof Ishak when he was Yang di-Pertuan Negara and also for President Benjamin
Sheares. He was the first president of the Singapore Academy of Law in 1988. In
April 1992 Wee was made an Honorary Member and Fellow of the Singapore Academy
of Law for life - the highest honour made to a person by the Academy. He served
as a legal consultant of the Supreme Court of Singapore after his retirement on
27 September 1990, and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2004.
Wee was also known for his love for sports,
as he was an outstanding cricketer for Cambridge University in 1937 and a keen
golfer serving as President of the Singapore Golf Association from 1962 to
2002. Wee died on June 5, 2005 of complications from lung and brain cancer, and
a funeral was held at the Catholic Church of St. Ignatius at King's Road before
his body was cremated at the Mandai Crematorium. Wee is survived by his wife,
Cecilia Henderson, three sons, Laurence, John and Patrick, and one daughter,
Veronica, and grandchildren.
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“Chief Justice Wee set the benchmark for all of us in the Legal Service. He was greatly admired by his peer and critics alike. If he was convinced that was an intention to commit a crime, he would not hesitate to find an accused person guilty, even if it meant that the death penalty had to be meted out. His judgments, even if they were brief, were well-written and demonstrated the clarity of his legal mind.”– Glenn Knight, former Deputy Public Prosecutor of Singapore.
“Chong Jin was the dominant judge of his time. He administered justice with a firm hand, quiet dignity and fairness. His great virtue was not to say too much in court. He did not find it prudent to state a principle of law wider than necessary to dispose of the point in issue.”– Former Singapore Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong.
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