Conference Speakers' Profiles

(In order of appearance)

	The Honourable Justice Debbie Ong – Presiding Judge, Family Justice Courts Justice Debbie Ong was appointed Judicial Commissioner in 2014 and High Court Judge on 30 September 2017. She was appointed Presiding Judge of the Family Justice Courts on 1 October 2017. Justice Ong was appointed a Judge of the Appellate Division on 1 November 2022. Justice Ong earned her Bachelor of Laws from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1989 and Master of Laws at the University of Cambridge in 1991. She was admitted as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore in 1990. Her legal career began as an academic at NUS’s Faculty of Law in 1989, specialising in family law. While teaching, she also assisted the Family Courts as a court mediator and the Supreme Court as amicus curiae. In addition, she served as Chairperson of the Centre Governance Committee of the Tampines Family Service Centre, and Resource Consultant for the Law Society’s Family Law Practice Committee. She was a member to various boards and councils, such as the Review Board constituted under the Children and Young Persons Act and the Advisory Board of “Marriage Central” constituted under the National Family Council. Her accolades include winning the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) Merit Award and Legal Aid Bureau Amicus Award in 2013. Justice Ong is presently a member of the International Advisory Board of the Child and Family Quarterly Journal (United Kingdom), the Family Justice Rules Working Party, the Family Law Reform Working Group and the SAL’s Publications Committee. She currently chairs the SAL's Learning and Professional Development Committee. As Presiding Judge of the Family Justice Courts, Justice Ong is a specialist judge responsible for much of the recent legal jurisprudence in family law. Justice Ong co-chaired the inter-agency Committee to Review and Enhance Reforms in the Family Justice System and currently oversees the implementation of various reforms and the building of a problem-solving family justice system.
	Registrar Kenneth Yap - Family Justice Courts Mr Kenneth Yap joined the Singapore Legal Service in 2001. Mr Yap read law at University College, Oxford, and received his Master of Laws from the University of Cambridge as well as at the Harvard University. He was appointed to his current appointment as Registrar of the Family Justice Courts on 1 March 2019. Prior to this, he had served as a District Judge in the Criminal Justice Division of the State Courts, a Senior Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court and a Justice’s Law Clerk. He had also served in the Legal Branch of the Singapore Legal Service as the Chief Executive of ACRA, the Divisional Director of the Legal Services Division at the Ministry of Manpower, and as a Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Mr Yap was also previously seconded to an Administrative Service post as the Deputy Director of the Workplace Policy and Strategy Division of the Ministry of Manpower. Mr Yap also serves as a Member of the Appeal Board of the Commission of Foreign Manpower under the Ministry of Manpower. He also served as the Chairman of the Goods & Services Tax Board of Review from 1 January 2018 to 30 June 2023.
	Poonam Mirchandani – Partner, Mirchandani & Partners Poonam Mirchandani is the precedent partner of Mirchandani & Partners and has been in private legal practice for over 30 years. Her areas of practice include cross-border family matters, advisory work on marital agreements, private client assets and wealth management, estate and succession planning, property related matters, immigration disputes, etc. She has wide experience in handling expatriate divorces, separation & divorces involving high net worth individuals, children’s issues including custody, relocation and child abduction. She has specialized knowledge in Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, having appeared before the Court of Appeal on Hague matters. Poonam is an accredited Family Mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) and is on the SMC Family Panel and on the Law Society Mediation Scheme Panel of Mediators. She is also a Volunteer Family Mediator with the Singapore Family Justice Courts and is a Cross-Border Family Mediator trained by Mediation Internationalen Kindschaftskonflikten (MiKK), Berlin, Germany. She is also a Collaborative Family Practitioner, a Parenting Coordinator and a Child Representative with the Family Justice Courts. Poonam is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and is a regular presenter at international conferences on international family law issues.
	Judge Edmund Chew – District Judge, Family Justice Courts Edmund graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2013 with an LL.B. (Hons) and a minor in Psychology. He has always been passionate about family law and started his career in the Legal Aid Bureau, where he represented the underprivileged before the courts. He then served as a Legal Counsel in the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, where he advised on a broad range of policy, legislative and international issues. Edmund also holds a Master of Counselling (Advanced) from the Swinburne University of Technology and is an accredited mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre. He joined the Family Justice Courts in 2020 as a District Judge and an Assistant Registrar.
	Judge Yarni Loi – District Judge, Family Justice Courts Yarni earned her LLB (Hons) from the London School of Economics and Political Science and obtained her Postgraduate Diploma in Singapore Law from the National University of Singapore. After being called to the Singapore Bar, she spent the bulk of her career in private practice as a corporate litigation lawyer in Drew & Napier LLC, where she was a Director. In 2011, whilst still working in Drew, she started pursuing part-time studies in counselling at TCA College, a college affiliated with Trinity Christian Centre. She was awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling by TCA College (accredited by the University of Wales) in 2013. As part of her counselling studies, she did a full-time counselling internship at Tampines Family Service Centre for 6 months where she was actively involved in providing social work and counselling services. She joined the Legal Service and was appointed District Judge in the family justice division of the State Courts, now Family Justice Courts, in March 2014.
	Kee Lay Lian – Co-chairperson (Conference Organising Committee and Family Law Practice Committee), The Law Society of Singapore; Partner, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP Lay Lian graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1985 and is called to the bar in 1986. She is on the panel of associate mediators and the panel of collaborative family lawyers with the Singapore Mediation Centre. She is also on the panel of Parenting Coordinators of the Family Justice Courts. She is currently the co-chair of the Law Society of Singapore of Singapore Family Law Practice Committee as well as the Probate and Succession Practice Committee. She has been also actively involved in teaching young lawyers and was a facilitator of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education in the Family Law and Wills, Probate and Administration courses for many years. Lay Lian is also a member of the Legal Information Committee of the Singapore Armed Forces Reservist Association (SAFRA) offering pro bono legal information / advice to the SAFRA members. She is also a member of the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners.
	Linda Ong – Deputy Managing Director, Engelin Teh Practice LLC Linda is the Deputy Managing Director of Engelin Teh Practice LLC. She specializes in contentious civil litigation and oversees its family and matrimonial practice. Linda has an active practice in family litigation. She handles all aspect of family and matrimonial practice, including divorce and child-related disputes, division of matrimonial assets, spousal and child maintenance, family violence, child abduction as well as cross-border child and financial related matters She is a trained parenting coordinator and an accredited mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre SMC, the Singapore International Mediation Institute and the International Mediation Institute. She is also a member of the Law Society Family Law Practice Committee.
	Keziah Simon – Magistrate, Family Justice Courts Ms Keziah Simon was appointed Assistant Registrar of the Family Justice Courts and Magistrate in 2023. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (summa cum laude) from the Singapore Management University. Ms Simon began her legal career as State Counsel in the Civil Division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers in 2020. Ms Simon thereafter served as a Justices’ Law Clerk from 2021 to 2022.
	Tan Zhi Xiang – Magistrate, Family Justice Courts Mr Tan Zhi Xiang joined the Singapore Legal Service in July 2017. He has been serving as a Magistrate and Assistant Registrar of the Family Justice Courts since 2 January 2020. Prior to that, he served as a Justices’ Law Clerk at the Supreme Court.
	Lim Hui Min - Director of Legal Aid, Legal Aid Bureau Ms Lim Hui Min started work in a private law firm before joining the Singapore Legal Service, doing stints in the Civil Registry of the then Subordinate Courts of Singapore and the Family and Juvenile Court. She has also worked in the then Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports (now Ministry of Social and Family Development), designing programmes to deliver social and work assistance to the less-privileged, and later, as the head of their legal department. She is currently the Director of the Legal Aid Bureau, which helps the less privileged get access to justice. The Bureau has launched a number of significant legal technology initiatives under Ms Lim’s leadership. Ms Lim has also authored and edited numerous publications on legal aid, civil and family procedure and family law. This includes the only book on the youth justice system in Singapore entitled "Youth Justice - Rehabilitation, Reintegration, Restoration".
	Tan Hui Qing – Associate Director, T L Yap Law Chambers LLC Tan Hui Qing graduated from the National University of Singapore and is called to the Singapore Bar. She currently practices Family Law in a boutique family law specialist firm, T L Yap Law Chambers LLC. In the course of her practice, Hui Qing has dealt with divorces, annulments, adoptions, custody issues and financial issues such as the division of matrimonial assets and maintenance. These include complex cases which involved cross-border jurisdiction and forum issues, relocation, and foreign assets. She has also advised and drafted Separation Deeds, Pre-Nuptial Agreements and agreements relating to matrimonial proceedings and financial issues, represented clients in trials involving family violence and maintenance matters. Hui Qing had also been involved in a number of international child abduction cases under The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Apart from litigation, Hui Qing’s practice also substantially involves other forms of dispute resolution, including mediation and Collaborative Family Practice, amongst others. Hui Qing believes that there is no one size fits all and would explore the various dispute resolution options to find the one that is most suitable for each client. Hui Qing is also an accredited mediator who sits on the Family Panel of Singapore Mediation Centre and Law Society Family Law Mediation and Neutral Evaluation Scheme, and a Collaborative Family Practitioner with the Singapore Mediation Centre.
	Judge Adriene Cheong – District Judge, Family Justice Courts Adriene received her graduated from National University of Singapore in 2005 and dedicated her decade of private practice as a family law specialist. She was part of the inaugural group of Court appointed Child Representatives and is an accredited mediator on the Family Panel of the Singapore Mediation Centre. She served as Vice President of the Singapore Association of Women’s Lawyers before joining the Family Court in 2017.
	Judge Christine Lee – District Judge, Family Justice Courts District Judge Christine Lee graduated from NUS, LLB (Hons) and obtained her Master of Law from the University College of London England. She has been serving as a District Judge and Assistant Registrar of Family Justice Courts since 2016. Prior to her joining the Family Justice Courts, she had a distinguished career beginning from private practice (1984 to 1986) to stints as Deputy Public Prosecutor with the Attorney-General’s Chambers (1986 to 1995), Deputy Director and later Director, International Organisations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1997 to 1999). She also served as Deputy Permanent Representative, Singapore Mission to the UN in New York from 1999 to 2002. Later, as Senior Legal Officer, Public Utilities Board, Water Department (2003 to 2004), she assisted in the preparations for the Pedra Branca case at the ICJ. She then took up various appointments in the UNSC's Al-Qaida & Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Team based in New York and other ad hoc projects with the UN (2004 to 2014). Finally, she was appointed as Consultant and then Senior Director of the International Cooperation and Partnerships Directorate at the Ministry of Home Affairs (2014 to 2016) before joining the Family Justice Courts.
	Loh Wai Mooi – Managing Partner, Bih Li & Lee LLP Loh Wai Mooi is the Managing Partner of BIH LI & LEE LLP. She heads the Private Client Practice Group. Wai Mooi graduated from National University of Singapore in 1984 and was called to the Singapore Bar in February 1985. She started practice with M/s Allen & Gledhill in February 1985. On 1 October 1992, Wai Mooi and 4 others founded BIH LI & LEE. Wai Mooi has advised and acted in many matters involving custody, guardianship, adoption, matrimonial disputes, mental capacity and estate and probate issues. She has advised clients in family settlements, testamentary guardianship, testamentary trusts and wills and special needs trusts. Wai Mooi facilitates resolution of family disputes as a Mediator and she was appointed a Child Representative to safeguard the best interest of children in high conflict custody cases. Wai Mooi was a member of the Committee for Family Justice that led to the formulation of the Recommendations for Family Justice on the framework of the family justice system dated 4 July 2014. She continues to contribute as a member of the Family Justice Rules Working Party. Wai Mooi is active in the special school and social service sectors. Wai Mooi was conferred The Public Service Medal (Pingat Bakti Masyarakat) in 2014. In October 2015, Singapore, through the Ministry of Social and Family Development, issued its 5th Report to the United Nations for Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and listed Wai Mooi as one of the “illustrious women lawyers in Singapore”. Between 2014 and 2020, Wai Mooi served as a Volunteer Family Mediator, Family Justice Courts, Singapore.
	Guy Ghazali – Senior President, Syariah Court Guy Ghazali is Senior President of the Syariah Court. She graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2005 and was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2006. Prior to joining the Singapore Legal Service as a Legal Service Officer in 2015, Guy was a Partner in private practice. She spent many of her practice years in civil and commercial litigation, and eventually developed a principal practice in both civil and Muslim family law. She also advised on probate and administration matters, and succession planning. She was a member of the Law Society of Singapore’s Family Law Practice Committee, Muslim Law Practice Committee and Probate Practice Committee. Prior to her present posting to the Syariah Court, she was a District Judge and Assistant Registrar in the Family Justice Courts from 2015 until 2020. She served as a member of the MUIS Appeal Board, which hears appeals from the Syariah Court, from 2018 until 2020. Guy is an accredited mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre. She also co-authored the chapter, A Practical Guide to the Administration of Divorce Proceedings in the Syariah Court of Singapore, in the book, Law and Practice of Family Law in Singapore (2^nd edition) (Sweet & Maxwell Asia, December 2022).
	Leong Wai Kum – Professor, SUSS School of Law, Emeritus Professor NUS Law Professor Leong retired from NUS Law as Emeritus Professor and joined the SUSS School of Law in mid-2020. The School of Law is a niche faculty established to train family and criminal law practitioners for Singapore. Professor Leong and her team offer the core courses on Family Law and the Family Law Courts that guide students through an integrated study of the regulation of family relationships by substantive family law and its enforcement by the Family Justice Courts. Such integrated study encourages the students to appreciate the common underlying philosophy where substantive law inspires family members to their best behaviour while controlling their worst and the courts respond with judgments that heal the rift rather than exacerbate it. Professor Leong relishes guiding students at this niche faculty that includes many who are making mid-career switches towards the kind of legal practice where they invest both their brains and hearts. Professor Leong has been teaching, researching and writing on the family law in Singapore since 1976. She has contributed to several family law reform exercises including making personal representations to the Select Committees of Parliament in 1979 and 1985.
	Hoon Shu Mei – Director, Drew & Napier LLC As a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), Shu Mei is a sought-after international speaker, advisor, and advocate. She runs a unique international private client and family practice for high net worth clients which is collaborative in nature – she provides lasting legal solutions for her clients, and works closely with international counsel, tax & trusts experts, financial experts and psychologists to ensure that any legal solutions for her clients’ problems are holistic, sustainable and address their complex needs. In addition to her collaborative practice, she has acted for clients as advocate at all levels of the Singapore Courts, mediation, and negotiations to achieve client-centric outcomes. Her clients include UHNW individuals and known public figures, who appreciate her ability to solve their problems in a manner which is discreet. She has been ranked in various publications and rankings tables including the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023, Chambers High Net Worth guide (2022,2023), Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific (2022, 2023), Doyle’s Guide (2022, 2023), and Citywealth Leaders’ List UK. Shu Mei is part of the Family Law team that won the Matrimonial and Family Law Firm of the Year Award for handling some of the most complex, cross-border and intricate matrimonial and family law matters for three years in a row.
	Judge Nicole Loh – District Judge, Family Justice Courts Ms Nicole Loh joined the then Family and Juvenile Justice Division of the Subordinate Courts in 2009 as a Magistrate and Deputy Registrar. In 2010, she was appointed as a District Judge and continues to serve in the Family Justice Courts in that capacity. In addition, she currently case manages appeals and hears applications filed in the Family Division of the High Court as an Assistant Registrar. Ms Loh earned her LLB (Hons) at the National University of Singapore in 2000. She was in private practice, mainly focusing on family law, and also served as a lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic before joining legal service.
	Yap Teong Liang – Director, T L Yap Law Chambers LLC Yap Teong Liang was called to the Bar of England and Wales (Middle Temple) in 1991 and admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in June 1992. On 10 June 2002, he set up his boutique law firm specialising in Family Law. Teong Liang has been engaged as leading counsel in both first instance and at appellate levels in the Family Division of the High Court and the Court of Appeal. He is listed as a Preeminent and Leading Family & Divorce Lawyer in the Doyle’s Guide and Litigation Star for Family and Matrimonial Disputes in Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2023. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, the firm was ranked one of Singapore’s Best Law Firms in Family Law in the Straits Times/Statista survey. Teong Liang also practices as a Collaborative Family Practitioner, Parenting Coordinator and is an Associate Mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre and an Accredited Mediator with the Family Justice Courts and Regent’s University, London (Mediation and Psychology) and appointed onto the panel of Child Representatives by the Family Justice Courts since October 2014. Teong Liang has presented papers at both local and overseas family law conferences over the years and authored the chapter on Maintenance of Wife and Children in the book “The Art of Family Lawyering”, a publication of the Law Society of Singapore in 2005. He authored the chapter on Ancillary Relief: Orders That Can be Made in the book “The Law and Practice of Family Law in Singapore” published in 2016 and recently co-authored the Chapter on Dispute Resolution Options in the book “The Art of Family Lawyering” (2019 Special Edition) and co-authored the Chapter on Relocation of Children in the 2^nd Edition of the book “”The Law and Practice of Family Law in Singapore” published in 2022.
	Wong Kai Yun - Co-chairperson (Conference Organising Committee and Family Law Practice Committee), The Law Society of Singapore; Co-Managing Director, Chia Wong Chambers LLC Having been in practice for over 20 years, Ms Wong maintains a niche focus on private wealth and family matters. Ms Wong’s family law clients comprise largely high net worth individuals with especial concerns over financial settlements, as well as cross-jurisdictional issues. Ms Wong is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), as well as a registered practitioner of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). She is an accredited Singapore Mediation Centre Associate Mediator, an accredited Mediator on their Family Panel, and sits on the panel of their Collaborative Family Practice and is also a Mediator on the panel of Cross-Border Family Mediators of Mediation bei Internationalen Kindschaftskonflikten (MiKK), Germany. She is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb) and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). She is also the Executive Editor of the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies (SJLS), the flagship law journal of the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. In addition to being the Co-Chair of the Family Law Practice Committee, she is also the Co-Chairperson of the Family Law and Children’s Rights Working Group of the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) as well as the President-Elect of the Asia-Pacific Chapter of the IAFL.
	The Honourable Justice Russell Coleman – High Court, Hong Kong Russell prepared for practice as a Barrister through a short stint as a cavalry officer in the British Army, developing a reputation as a natural leader whom soldiers would follow anywhere, albeit mostly out of curiosity. He also fell off several horses. After three years at the Bar in London, Russell moved to the Bar in Hong Kong in 1990, taking ‘Silk’ in 2006. His practice spanned many civil/commercial fields, including matrimonial finance (think ‘Jack of all trades …’). In 2009 and 2010, Russell was twice elected unopposed to the post of Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar. It seems no-one else wanted the job. Russell was appointed to the High Court in April 2019. He hopes to have more success in deciding cases than he enjoyed in arguing them. He is now the Judge in charge of the Constitutional and Administrative Law List in Hong Kong.
	Jason Chan, SC – President, The Law Society of Singapore Jason Chan SC is the President of the Law Society of Singapore. He is a Partner in Allen & Gledhill’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice, and is the Co-Head of the firm’s White Collar and Investigations practice.