Monday, January 17, 2022

Revealed: Senior lawyer took Chin Peng’s son under his wing



Revealed: Senior lawyer took Chin Peng’s son under his wing


Mahadev Shankar, seen here during his book launch on Saturday, says he found Ong Boo Kok to be a person of impeccable character and responsibility.


KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyer Mahadev Shankar had recruited several pupils, including some notables, to be under his wing as the volume of work coming his way in a legal firm here was unceasing.

However, one escaped his radar for he did not do a thorough background check. He is none other than Ong Boo Kok, the son of then Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) secretary-general Chin Peng, also known as Ong Boon Hua.

“My discovery of who he really was came about in a surprising way,” said the 90-year Shankar in his book, Summum Bonum (The Ultimate Good).

He said he had to appear before Justice SS Gill on a Monday morning, but had another matter before Justice HT Ong.

He briefed Boo Kok to hold fort for him in Gill’s court while he finished his matter before Ong.

“To my horror, Boo Kok failed to appear in Gill’s court, and I was forced to beg Gill to hold over my matter until I had finished my business in the other court.

“My excuse that my assistant had not shown up was a lame one and I was lucky to get away with it,” he said, adding that he returned to the office determined to give Boo Kok the sack.

However, Shankar said, the office could not find him.


The cover of Mahadev Shankar’s book.


The following morning, the firm’s chief clerk, Chin Kong Sieu, turned up in Shankar’s room with a Chinese newspaper where on the front page, under the banner headline, was a big photograph of Boo Kok.

“Chin Peng’s son discovered as a lawyer in Shearn Delamore & Co”, screamed the headline.

Shankar, who had also served as a judge for 14 years until his retirement in 1997, said Chin told him that all attempts to locate Boo Kok had failed – Chin Peng’s son had disappeared.

“I could not even serve notice of dismissal on him,” said Shankar, who was called to the Bar in 1956 and was now the second most senior lawyer on the rolls.

A month later, a handwritten letter from Boo Kok arrived in the post and he extended his profuse apologies and revealed that he decided to disappear when he found a group of press photographers waiting in ambush at the office that Monday morning, all waiting to get him.

“He ran away to save me the embarrassment of being publicly exposed as the employer of the son of Malaysia’s leading communist and our nation’s public enemy number one,” he said.

Shankar said as the pupil master, perhaps he should have been more careful.

“Had I known he was Chin Peng’s son, I do not think he would have had any prospect whatsoever of joining the firm,” he said.

However, in retrospect, he found Boo Kok to be a person of impeccable character and responsibility in the manner he fulfilled his duties.

“I never saw him again,” he said.

(The legal directory revealed that Boo Kok is still in practice and running his own firm in the city.)

In his book, Shankar said Bok Kok read law at the University of Singapore where he had also gained a powerful reputation for being able to drink vast quantities of beer within a short time.

He said Boo Kok had won bets against the British army personnel who frequented the bar at the Cathay Cinema in Singapore.

Despite his diminutive size, Boo Kok ‘s reputation was such that none of them would dare take him on, he said.

“This insatiable capacity was a plus point when he joined our firm because he was the only one who could keep S Woodhull (another prominent Singapore lawyer and politician) in check,” he said.

Shankar also revealed that among the others he was instrumental in bringing into the firm were VL Kandan, Cecil Abraham, Ronald Khoo and Woodhull, all of whom subsequently became partners.

He said some others rose to fame, including Daim Zainuddin, who became a businessman and later the finance minister.

Lawyer Santhi Latha had been collating and editing the 408-page book since 2013 after listening and putting Shankar’s thoughts and views in writing due to his failing eyesight.

The book, now available at major bookstores, presents Shankar’s life, experiences and reflections in the form of stories that are absorbing, some even tantalising, as readers travel with the author from early Malaya until his elevation as a judge and after retirement.

Former Federal Court judge Zainun Ali launched the book on Saturday. It is published by Sweet & Maxwell.

4 comments:

  1. It is a credit to Malaysia's system of governance that Chin Peng's son could live his life without official systemic or legal discrimination.

    Discrimination by private individuals , if they found out that he was Chin Peng's son is a separate matter.

    I doubt I would willingly carry out dealings with such a person. ...wakakaka..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wakakakaka… DON'T lie!

      "willingly carry out dealings with such a person. ..."

      U did, as with yr devoted support with a known bully.

      Delete
  2. Let's see what would have happened if the table had been turned.

    In the "Socialist Paradise" that his father, Chin Peng was fighting to create through violent insurgency, the son of a declared Enemy of the People would have been sent to a Reeducation Camp.
    If he still could not be Reeducated to love the Communist Party, a bullet in the Head would have been his fate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wakakakakaka…

      Proving once again yr f*cked know nothingness!

      "In the "Socialist Paradise" that his father, Chin Peng was fighting to create through violent insurgency, the son of a declared Enemy of the People would have been sent to a Reeducation Camp.
      If he still could not be Reeducated to love the Communist Party, a bullet in the Head would have been his fate."

      Care to quote known examples & the circumstances?

      Or AGAIN u just farted with yr own secret ingredients ketchup to dress up yr rant?

      Delete