Kedah Bar remembers 22 of its departed lawyers

ALOR STAR: The scene at the High Court 1 here today was solemn and dignified as legal practitioners in the state gathered for the reference proceedings in memory of 22 deceased members of the Kedah Bar (BPK).
About 100 legal practitioners attended the proceedings that started at 9 am, to remember and pay respect to 22 lawyers in Kedah who have passed away from 1994 until this year.
Three High Court judges, namely, Datuk Ghazali Cha, Chan Jit Li, and Abu Bakar Latar presided over the ceremony that was also attended by the deceased lawyers' immediate family members and friends.
BPK chairman Nazliyah Mansor said the ceremony was one of the legal profession unique traditions that were almost identical to the admission ceremony as an advocate or solicitor before the High Court judge.
"Traditionally when a lawyer passed away, we have proceedings at the High Court to commemorate the lawyer, and in Kedah, we have not done so, hence, the BPK is trying to continue the traditions," she said after the proceedings.
At the end of the proceedings, Nazliyah said they also proposed that the records of the proceedings be kept in the court's archives, and a copy be extended to the families of the deceased, before the judge's hearing was convened.
One of the attendees, Idris Hashim, 69, from Simpang Empat Kangkong near here, whose son Mohamad Firdaus Idris, 33, was one of the lawyers remembered today, said he was deeply moved with the reference proceedings to commemorate and appreciate the services of his son and other deceased lawyers.
He said Mohamad Firdaus who died of hypertension, was very keen in the legal profession since childhood and had served in the law firm Messrs Shukor, Baljit & Partners, Kuala Lumpur.
Among the deceased lawyers remembered and commemorated in the proceedings today were Manjit Singh Ram Singh Deo, younger brother of the famous lawyer Ram Karpal Singh, Zainon Mohd Mokhtar, Aliza Ahmad, Adi Satria Ahmad @ Harun and Oo Gin Sun. — Bernama