"Growing up in Kampung Eunos in the 1950s, Mr Peter Cuthbert Low remembers being envious of neighbourhood children running around in shoes whilst he himself was barefoot. And after Secondary Four, because his family was not well off, he wanted to enter the job market as a bookkeeper. But his form teacher intervened and said, 'No, you must not stop schooling.' His elder sister who was drawing $265 per month as a school teacher stepped up to finance him at $25 a month to continue his pre-U education at RI. With the teacher’s confidence and sister’s financial support, Mr Low went on to build an illustrious career of service through the law.
Ms Engelin Teh SC is another lawyer who knows the pain of poverty. Growing up, she remembers having to go around to a neighbour to “borrow” a cup of rice. There were also days when she had to study by candlelight because her family could not afford to pay their electricity bill. She, too, had a stroke of luck when it came to funding her law degree: the Rotary Club, which gave her an interest-free tuition loan. She, too, has made service to the community a tenet of her practice.
As anyone who knows Mr Low and Ms Teh will tell you, they have never forgotten the kindness and support of the community. Each of them has paid it forward in their own way.
The legal profession, contrary to popular belief, is filled with stories like these. It would have been a deep loss to the profession and the country if financial means had prevented bright minds from taking up the law."
Mr Rama Tiwari shared the stories of these legal luminaries as he announced the expansion of the SAL Undergraduate Scholarship at a ceremony last month. Watch highlights from that event and learn more about the expanded scholarship in this video:
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