Pirates and Death Row with Wong Siew Hong of Eldan Law - Episode 16

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In Episode 16 of the Legal Genie Podcast, your host, Lara Quie, is in conversation with prominent Singapore lawyer, Wong Siew Hong, Partner at Eldan Law LLP in Singapore.

Siew Hong read law at the National University of Singapore and was called to the Bar in 1988. Three years later, he heard the call of the wild and became a private investigator, chasing pirates who made and sold fake products - not only in Singapore but all over Asia. It was the greatest time of his life. Sadly, he was urged to give it up and get a ‘respectable job’ and so he returned to legal practice in 1993 and has been putting his nose to the grindstone ever since.

As a partner at Eldan Law, Siew Hong’s work against the fake goods trade continues to this day as he still practices Intellectual Property law whenever he can, specialising in product security and anti-counterfeiting.

He also practices criminal litigation work, and it was a chance encounter with an elderly lady in the then Subordinate Courts in 1989 that ignited his passion to fight for the underdog, the disadvantaged and the disenfranchised.

Siew Hong has appeared in over 30 capital cases in the High Court and scored a few wins, including the recent landmark Beh Chew Boo case in the Singapore Court of Appeal involving the acquittal of a Malaysian accused of drug trafficking.

He has received a long service award for his work as a member of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Criminal Law Advisory Committee.

In his spare time, Siew Hong is an orchid enthusiast who has discovered several new orchid species, including one named after him, and is an internationally accredited orchid judge.

Siew Hong shares:

· His humble beginnings in Singapore and less than stellar academic record.

· His switch from engineering to the arts, which gave him the grades he needed to read law at NUS.

· His early days as a private investigator chasing counterfeiters.

· His return to a sensible job as a lawyer doing IP work for Louis Vuitton.

· How an old lady inspired him to fight for the underdog.

· The interesting case of a man who had Darier Disease.

· The recent case of Mr. Beh Chew Boo and his lucky escape from the death penalty.

To learn more about Wong Siew Hong, you can find him on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/siew-hong-wong-8abb391/

And on his firm’s website:

http://www.eldanlaw.com/our-people/partners/siew-hong-wong/

You can also read more about the Beh Chew Boo case here: https://www.straitstimes.

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