Let me begin by expressing my profound gratitude to Law Asia for their unflinching support for the cause of justice and the rule of law.

May I take this opportunity again to commend my legal team represented here today by Chris Fernando for their sacrifice and dedication.

If I could manage such legal luminaries in my legal team, with all their idiosyncrasies, I believe I've passed a very important acid test.

But still when I walked in just now I was struck by a certain sense of dj vu. The last time I addressed a gathering of lawyers as big as this was in Kuala Lumpur 10 years ago. On that occasion, I had said in passing that there were only two kinds of lawyers: those who know the law and those who know the judge.