On 2 May 2015, after the Year 1s had rounded off their first year of law school with their final exams, two batches of PBG Executive Committee members gathered for PBG’s annual general meeting (AGM). The meeting brought together the people who had worked tirelessly over the past year to build PBG’s programmes and outreach – the incoming Exco, the outgoing Exco, external partners, as well as our faculty advisors Professor Helena Whalen-Bridge and Professor Sheila Hayre.

Outgoing PBG President, Lim Wei Zhen, reflected on her term in office and presented PBG’s partners, including representatives from the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Justice Without Borders, with a token of appreciation – a cactus – in recognition of their contribution towards growing the local pro bono landscape. The AY14/15 Exco also provided updates and outlined key developments in their respective projects. Notably, there have been new initiatives, such as Syariah Court Friends (SCF), which give volunteers the opportunity to facilitate processes at the Syariah Courts, and Thai-ed With Love, where PBG members tied up with Khon Kaen University in Thailand to exchange ideas on pro bono. Following that, incoming President Cheryl Lim expressed her appreciation for the work the outgoing Exco had done and shared her hope that the incoming Exco would be able to build upon these strong foundations to strengthen PBG as an organisation and better serve the community.

We are glad to announce the PBG Executive Committee for AY2015/16, as follows:-

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President: Cheryl Lim

Vice-President (External): Douglas Leow

Vice-President (Internal): Shawn Teo

Secretary: Alvin Chua

Treasurer: Claudia Lee

Publicity Directors: Amelia Chew & Samuel Ling

PROJECT DIRECTORS 

University Court Friends (UCF)

Co-Head: Estella Low

Co-Head: Sandra Lye

Syariah Court Friends (SCF)

Head: Ijechi Nazirah Nwaozuzu

Legal Education and Awareness Programme (LEAP)

Head: Sarah Thaker

Vice-Head: Asher Chin

Vice-Head: Charmaine Saw

Legal Clinics

Co-Head: Chester Yan

Co-Head: Lavinya Arun Velu

Project Law Help (PLH)

Head: Chua Jia Ying

Vice-Head: Jess Cheong

Legal Research

Head: Chong Shi Cheng

Moot Parliament Programme

Head: Bertrice Hsu

Students 4 Migrants (S4M)

Co-Head: Cai Xiaohan

Co-Head: Phoebe Tan

International Affairs Division (IAD)

Head: Josephine Yip

Vice-Head: Rebecca Koh

After consultation with the PBG Exco of AY14/15, several changes were made to the PBG Exco structure. The PBG Executive Committee has been streamlined and now comprise seven members who will focus on developing PBG as an organization while the Project Directors manage their individual projects. Several roles, such as that of the Events Directors and the Project Development Directors, have been subsumed into existing roles. The Executive Committee will be responsible for helming key PBG events, such as Cohesion, with the support of the Project Directors. Project development will also be led by the Project Directors in collaboration with their respective partners.

The new PBG Exco and Project Directors welcome the challenge they face in the upcoming year and have identified key areas of focus, including fostering a more cohesive PBG identity, strengthening existing projects and providing a more significant value-add to PBG members. Key developments are already underway, including the development of an application process to select new PBG members. Several projects such as University Court Friends (UCF) and the Legal Education and Awareness Programme (LEAP) have kickstarted their summer runs.

The next time PBG convenes will be during Cohesion on Saturday, 29 August, where we welcome new members. The PBG Exco and Project Directors for AY15/16 look forward to serving you and continuing the good work of our seniors in contributing to the pro bono scene in Singapore.