Sage Mediation CEO, Mr Aloysius Goh, was invited as the Guest of Honour for the official launch of the National University of Singapore Collaborative Dispute Resolution Club (NUS CDRC) for the new academic year 21/22.
Sage Mediation is proud to be the official sponsor for the NUS CDRC, supporting the student club not only in annual funding but also through the provision of the Young Mediators Training Programme. Aloysius shared how university clubs could create a culture of care and how mediation can inspire sustainable solutions.
You may read the edited transcript of the speech delivered at the launch below:
Introduction
While I should be congratulating everyone on the start of a new school year, I wondered if it would be hypocritical to do so.
Law School is Confusing
My undergraduate days were one of the darkest periods of my life. The course is tough. I tried hard to grapple with the subject. I (crazily) read every page of the assigned readings – even the case precedents! But, the harder I tried, the more dis-illusioned I felt.
Many of the judgments made no sense to me. My own impression of life contradicted the notion that there were clear right and wrongs. The law seemed very often to confuscate and make matters worse for everyone.
What am I doing here?
That was the question I was asking myself about 2 weeks into law school. I struggled.
By the penultimate year, my grades convinced me that my legal career was doomed. I decided to do what I enjoy in my final year. Instead of banking, construction, and shipping law modules, I chose jurisprudence, legal traditions, human rights, bioethics, and, of course, mediation. Stuff that would not have made me a top candidate for employment in Singapore.
That turned out to be the turning point for my learning. Finally, I got to see how the law could be applied to find practical solutions to human problems.
Looking back, I wished more NUS alumni had made time to illuminate the different pathways of lawyering. In my time, there seemed only 3 paths after law school: become a judicial law clerk, get called to the bar, or open a cake shop.
**
Is a Good Lawyer Defined by Winning?
I hope most of you are here because you want to be a lawyer. In which case, the question is, what is a “good lawyer”.
CDRC Exco wants me to help its members win competitions. It is hard to disagree that a good lawyer is one who wins. But, what if winning does not solve the problem?
Just last month, I mediated a sensitive matter. It involved the death of a child in a pool. I knew the lawyers representing each side. No one wanted to fight this in court. There could have been no winners. Slightly past midnight we reached a resolution. There was reconciliation. It was an outcome that no court could have ordered. Everyone was overwhelmed with emotion.
A Culture of Care
To finalise the sponsorship, I had several meetings with the CDRC’s Exco. I asked them, what’s so special about CDRC? Why did people join the CDRC?
There were a few different priorities amongst Exco members. But one stuck out: they wanted to create a culture of care. In my time, there was no club whose vision was to cultivate an attitude where students looked out for each other within the school, and between alumni and current students.
I liked that the CDRC was trying something new. I will be inviting more NUS alumni to make time to share their stories. These are real examples of how we can use mediation and other collaborative problem-solving skills in our careers.
Free Mediation Training
Lastly, CDRC Exco requested for skills equipping. Some of you are involved in mediation and advocacy competitions. Some of you just want to learn.
We will run 6 sessions this academic year. They will largely be delivered by me and the Sage team. But, I will try to get guest speakers from overseas too. I have also invited students from other universities from Austria, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
The sessions are FREE. To encourage all of you to join for all sessions, you can only get a certificate if you attend all 6 sessions and pass an assessment. Because there is a natural human tendency to take free things for granted, there will be a small fee for the assessment to make sure you show up.
Closing
I am excited about this collaboration. I am proud for Sage Mediation to be CDRC’s official sponsor. It is Sage’s first with a university.
CDRC Exco has put together an ambitious plan. I have pushed them to go further.
Make it an audacious one. Don’t just win. Redefine victory.
When you graduate, the world is going to be a different place. Redefine lawyering if you are not happy about the definitions you hear. Be part of the solution to the social faultlines made visible by the pandemic. Do something about access to justice.
I wish you a fun and lifegiving year ahead.
And look forward to seeing all of you at the upcoming trainings.
Thank you!
