Remarks by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong SC at Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Annual Appreciation Event

29 APR 2024

Mr Davinder Singh SC, Chairman of SIAC

Ms Lucy Reed, President of SIAC Court of Arbitration

SIAC Management, Board, as well as Court Members

Judges

Friends and Colleagues

Distinguished Guests

Introduction

  1. Good evening.
  1. I want to start by saying how proud I am at seeing these achievements by SIAC, but also a little wistful because I used to be but am now no longer in this practice. This makes me a little wistful and somewhat reminiscent of the days that I used to be appearing as counsel in one of these hearings.
  1. I must say that every time I go overseas, and I introduce myself and I say that I am from the Ministry of Law in Singapore, my overseas counterparts will inevitably say “Ah! SIAC!” I think that is a hallmark indication of what you have seen on the slides earlier.
  1. I think it also stands for something that is very intangible, which is trust - a trust in the system. An understanding that if you have an SIAC-administered arbitration, you can trust that it will go well. You can trust that it will be administered fairly, expeditiously. And if you ever needed, particularly on a Friday evening, to seek an emergency arbitration, someone will answer the call. I think that is really important. To not just have case statistics, which are important – the number of cases, the sum in dispute, all are important - but I think what you have, which is non-negotiable, and really important, is the trust in the system, trust in every single appointment and trust that every single arbitration will be well administered.

Commend SIAC Team

  1. I am not sure I can add very much to what you have just seen, and I am sure many of you will be trying to go off to read the report to see what else we can make of the latest statistics. But I think it really leaves me, before I step off, to say something about SIAC, in particular, Davinder.
  1. He has, in his usual self, tried to downplay his role, but we all know what a busy practice he has. And I will say that in my own experience, no time is a bad time to Davinder. Whenever we speak with him or call him to try and understand how we can improve, help and work with SIAC, no detail is too small for Davinder. He has made himself available all the time and almost everything that you see here is a product of something that is very deliberate. It is not by chance. So, I want to thank you, Davinder, for taking the time and the effort, not just in terms of putting in the hours but really being completely invested in the success of SIAC because you want to fly the flag for Singapore so proudly. Thank you very much for that.
  1. I want to take the opportunity to thank the Board members. Thank you very much for spending a lot of time on SIAC. I can see from my perspective how much time it takes to organise, to have a vision and to plan ahead in terms of our overseas presence as well. As you have seen from the statistics, it has made a very clear indelible impact.
  1. I also want to thank Lucy and your team at the Court. This, I agree tremendously with Davinder, is the best court in the world. And I do not say this lightly because I go around and I make similar speeches at several other institutions as well. But here on home ground, I can say that I am very proud that we have a Court that is first class, that is the envy of many other institutions, and we are very proud to have you on board. Thank you very much, Lucy.

Conclusion

  1. Finally, I want to say that we will continue to do our best to work with SIAC, and support SIAC in your endeavours. A lot of the work that you do, as Davinder said, is not apparent. It is behind the scenes, a lot of paddling under the water to keep afloat and keep moving, but we will support you in your endeavours.
  1. We will continue to work with you to grow SIAC’s presence internationally. You can also count on one of us from MinLaw to be with you whenever you make your visits overseas, to fly that flag, and to speak at conferences, to be at dialogues.
  1. Thank you very much and I want to wish all of you a great SIAC Appreciation Event. It is fitting that you are honoured and thanked in this way, because all of you - the users of SIAC, the various stakeholders, make SIAC truly special.
  1. Thank you very much.

Last updated on 29 April 2024