Without fear or favour - Part 1

Contributed by President Toh Harnniann

"...Upholding the cause of justice without regard to its own interest and without fear or favour."

That’s the heading you will see when you visit Malaysian Bar website.

The phrase “without fear or favour” has been repeated thousands times since the day I read law. However, just like I never paid much attention to my high school motto (Manners, Justice, Integrity and Honour); I just took this phrase for granted. Never had I given much thought about it.

How do you act for someone without fear?

The conquering of my own fear had been the integral part of my job scope. Though I am not so ambitious to be a fearless lawyer, it still requires a great deal of strength to overcome my fear.

Dealing with hostility is so akin to a lawyer’s job that it goes without saying. Almost everyday I have to meet angry and dissatisfied man and women. It’s only natural. Who will be happy when they receive a lawyer’s letter demanding for money, land, etc? Who will be delighted when they receive a lawyer’s phone call asking for fees? You get my point. That’s why lawyers had become a pain in the a** and so many jokes specially dedicated to lawyers.

“Why a lawyer’s heart is the cleanest?”
“because it has never been used.”

“You were in a jungle with a gun and two bullets. You met with a venomous king cobra, a hungry and ferocious tiger and a lawyer. What should you do?”
“Shoot the lawyer twice.”

Lawyer talking to his client, “Mr. Chua, you must understand, Justice must not only be seen to be done, it must also be paid to be done…”

This article is not intended to defend the integrity and pride of this profession because I know it would have been a futile exercise. Instead the purpose of this article is to share with the readers, what went through a mind of a young lawyer, when confronting his own fear.

Interesting fact: The first Rotary club in Asia was chartered in Manila, Philippines, in 1919.