Malacca Bar had its annual dinner on August 9, 2008 (Saturday) at 7.30pm at Bunga Raya Ballroom in Renaissance Melaka Hotel.
About 300 participants comprising of Bar members and their guests turned up for the dinner. The dinner was blessed by the presence of Malacca High Court judge, Datuk Wira Mohtarudin Bin Baki and his wife, who were guests of honour at the dinner. Malaysian Bar Council President, Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan and Vice President, Ragunath Kesavan were also present.
Chairman of the Malacca Bar Committee, Ng Kong Peng welcomed the participants in his speech during the dinner. He also took the opportunity to emphasise on the importance of rule of law and the Bar’s position and tradition in upholding justice and opposing certain legislations such as preventive detention legislations as well as legislations which were discriminatory in nature. He reminded members of the Bar of the society’s expectation on the Bar to be advocates for people’s rights and urged the members to do their part to make our country a better place.
Datuk Wira Mohtarudin also delivered speech at the dinner. He informed the participants that the development of media had created more awareness of rule of law among members of public. As such, legal practitioners need to understand the complexity of practising law. He also spoke about the independence of judiciary which consists of two elements, independence and accountability. Thus, the Bench has to discharge its duty without fear or favour and with judicial conscience as well as wisdom. Datuk Wira Mohtarudin also urged the participants to protect the relationship between Bench and Bar in Malacca so that the good relationship may continue. In the conclusion of his speech, Datuk Wira Mohtarudin invited Bar members to express any problem faced by them to him via proper channel.
The organisers of the dinner gave prizes to participants with best dressing. For the category of men, the winner was none other than Datuk Wira Mohtarudin (his bow tie must be the main reason of his win) who was presented the prize by his wife. A female guest won the prize for the women’s category.
During the dinner, the participants were entertained by a band, Glittering Diva. The dinner ended with the performance from comedian, Andrew Netto.
It was indeed a precious moment for members of the Bar who gathered at this annual event in relaxing mood.
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