The 52nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Malacca Bar was held on Friday, 23rd March 2018, at 4.00pm at the Malacca Bar Auditorium. The quorum of 5% of the total number of members of the Malacca Bar was easily achieved with seventy-one (71) members of the Bar present by 4.10pm. The meeting was then called to order by Malacca Bar Committee Chairman, Mr. Jaspal Singh Gill, who wished the members a happy Chinese New Year and thanked all those present for making the time to attend.
Prior to the commencement of the meeting, a minute’s silence was observed for the following members and former members of the Malacca Bar who had passed away in the past 1 year:-
- Dato’ Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah (departed on 4th May 2017)
- Mr. Shaari bin Hj. Md Nor (departed on 28th August 2017)
- Mr. Mohd Hilmy bin Samsudin (departed on 8th November 2017)
- Mr. Teoh Kim Hong (departed on 26th January 2018)
In accordance with past practice, Item 4 of the Agenda, namely to confirm and approve the audited accounts for the year ending 31st December 2017 was brought forward with the concurrence of all members present as our Auditor, Mr Varan, was present. Mr Varan explained that the overall situation of the Malacca Bar accounts was good, but because we had taken a RM300,000.00 loan from Bar Council for renovations of our new Bar Building we had to exercise prudence in our spending to meet the monthly repayment of the loan. The next item on the Agenda was the confirmation and approval of Minutes of the 51st Annual General Meeting and the Annual Report. Mr Jaspal highlighted the activities carried out by the respective sub-committees, and the Minutes and Annual Report were then approved without debate.
Up next on the agenda was the fixing of the Annual Subscription for 2018. After explaining to members that RM200 per member was just about enough to enable the Bar Committee to carry out its activities, the members present unanimously agreed to fix the Annual Subscription at RM200.
The election of the Chairman and Committee Members for the term 2018/2019 was up next on the Agenda pursuant to Section 70(4) of the Legal Profession Act 1976. Mr Jaspal Singh Gill was nominated as Chairman, and as there were no other nominations, Mr Jaspal was elected as Chairman for 2018/2019.
The following members were then elected as Committee Members:-
- Sheikh Ikhzan Bin Sheikh Salleh
- Amritpal Singh A/L Satvindar Singh
- Desiree Teh Ken Wen
- Phang Jai Juet
- Muhammad Farhan Mirza Bin Azme
- Teng Sher Li
- Zairin Binti Dzainal Abidin
- Shobashini Devi Pillay
After the election of the State Bar Committee members, Mr Nitin Kumar Gordhan was then elected as the representative of the Malacca Bar on the Bar Council for the term 2018/2019 pursuant to Section 70(7) of the LPA 1976.
The last item on the Agenda was to discuss any other matter which 7 days’ notice had been given. Mr Jaspal informed the floor that Malacca Bar Committee had not received any such notice. Mr Jaspal then updated the members present on the following:-
- Amendments to the Legal Profession Act. Mr Jaspal explained that the Special Consultative Committee regarding the said amendments had met with the Minister and that the exercise was now moving to its final stage. He informed members that a portal would be going on live to enable consultation with the public and the members of the Bar, and urged all members to respond and take part in the consultation.
- Application for Declaratory Reliefs with regard to Legal Professional Privilege. Mr Jaspal informed the floor that the matter had been fixed for decision on 29th March 2018 at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
- 72nd Malaysian Bar Annual General Meeting 2018. Mr Jaspal informed members that the AGM would be held on 17th March 2018 at 10.00am at Renaissance Hotel Kuala Lumpur, and urged members to attend, and said that Malacca Bar would charter a bus or van if the numbers warranted.
- International Malaysia Law Conference 2018. Mr Jaspal informed the floor that the early bird rate had been extended to 15th March 2018, and urged members to attend if they could. A short video clip on IMLC was then played to the members present.
The meeting then concluded at 5.15pm. Mr Jaspal invited all members present to high tea on the ground floor.
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