In October 2008, Mr Justice Dato Vincent Ng, then a judge of the Court of Appeal, Malaysia was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
These were his thoughts:
“One morning at 3am, soon after I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, I was suddenly awakened and confronted with the thought of my mortality and the question: as I journey through mother Earth only once, how do I leave my footprints, however small, of this travel.
Then, I recalled that during my long career on the bench, with so many of my judgments published by the law journals, some members of the bar and even a few judges had suggested that certain interesting passages could be excerpted and compiled into a book form. I thought why not – if in the process of so doing, I could also raise some money for charity for the poor in this unprecedented era of the impending world economic turmoil and hardship. To bring about implementation and happy fruition of this project, the names of two lawyers quite readily came to mind.
They had often appeared before me in intricate cases, and I must say, despite some light censures by me for improvement, they had consistently demonstrated focus, dedication, passion and doggedness in pursuing their clients’ cause before me – though I am indeed proud to note that they have not won every case before me. So both Alex Chang Huey Wah Esq. and Khoo Guan Huat Esq. became my natural choice to lead the team to undertake this unique task at hand. The credit should be ascribed to and abide with them for their hard work as this will be the first of such work in the annals of the legal history, and probably the last.”
So the co authors and I began to work on the compiling of the book and planning for the donation drive.
Miss Usha the Commissioning Editor and Ms Cindy Chan the Electronic Editor from our publisher the Malaysian Current Law Journal tirelessly stitched our work together…
On August 17, 2009, we were proud to announce that we raised the sum of RM100,000 from donations in cash and RM20,000 in kind in the form of books from the Malaysian Current Law Journal totaling RM120,000, to set up the ‘The Justice Vincent Ng Scholarship Fund’, managed by the Rotary Club of Pudu. For the speech of Alex Chang click here…
‘Footprints of a Judge’s Journey Through Mother Earth’ A book based on Dato’ Vincent Ng’s Judgments Launched by Tan Sri Arifin Zakaria Chief Judge of Malaya Seated Karpal Singh Esq, Mr Justice Dato Vincent Ng
Standing Mrs Elaine Chang, Lim Hui Ling co-Author, Tan Sri Arifin, Datuk V K Liew Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister’s Dept, President Robin, Alex Chang Esq, Principal Author Datin Theresa Ng, His Excellency James Keith, Ambassador of USA to Malaysia Mr Justice Dato Hishamudin Yunus, Judge of the Court of Appeal Khoo Guan Huat Esq, co-author.
News in press: Bernama
The Forewords in the book written by:
- The Right Honourable Tun Dato’ Seri Zaki Tun Azmi, Chief Justice Federal Court Malaysia
- The Right Honourable Mr Chan Sek Keong, Chief Justice Singapore
- The Right Honourable Tan Sri Arifin Zakaria, Chief Judge Malaysia
- The Right Honourable Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Richard Malanjum, Chief Judge High Court Sabah & Sarawak
- The Preface by Alex Chang Huey Wah Esq.
- Leaving My Footprints on Mother Earth by the late Dato’ Vincent Ng Kim Khoay, Judge of the Court of Appeal Malaysia, Retired
- The Hon Datuk Low Hop Bing Judge Court of Appeal Malaysia
- The Hon Dato’ Kang Hwee Gee Judge Court of Appeal Malaysia, Retired
- The Hon Ms Nallini Pathmanathan Judge High Court Malaya
- The Hon Datuk K C Vohrah Judge Court of Appeal Malaysia, Retired
- The Hon Datuk Liew Vui Keong Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department
- Former President of the Malaysian Bar, Yeo Yang Poh Esq.
