ANNOUNCEMENT
September 23, 2014
KLRCA Soft Launch and Welcoming of 39 Essex Street Chambers @ Bangunan Sulaiman
23 September 2014 – It was an evening to remember as the Bangunan Sulaiman, a gazetted heritage building located in the historical enclave of Kuala Lumpur; illuminated its surroundings with its bright lights, crisp and well manicured landscape and resplendent decorative ornaments to set the ideal tone for ‘The Soft Launch of KLRCA’s new premises’.
A group of around four hundred esteemed professionals from the arbitral and legal fraternity, locally and internationally attended the launch which also coincided with the opening of the 39 Essex Street Chamber’s Malaysia Office in Bangunan Sulaiman. Guests were brought for a building tour to showcase the array of facilities that the newly refurbished 1920’s Art Deco state-of-the-art building has to offer.
To signify the soft opening of the building and kick off proceedings for the evening, the Chief Justice of Malaysia, The Right Honourable Tun Arifin Bin Zakaria accompanied by other judges of the Federal Court, Court of Appeal and High Court of Malaya had gathered at the entrance to the lobby of Bangunan Sulaiman to cut a ribbon to mark the occasion. The dignitaries comprising of both judges and high officials from 39 Essex Street Chamber’s were then taken for a personal tour by KLRCA’s Director Professor Datuk Sundra Rajoo before being led to the newly constructed roof top pavillion which houses two fully functional seminar rooms accompanied by a lush garden themed courtyard.
With the courtyard filled, Datuk Sundra soon took stage to present his welcoming remarks before handing over the microphone to the Right Honourable Tun Arifin Bin Zakaria to deliver his keynote address for the evening. Upon sharing with the guests his admiration of the facilities and his hopes of seeing KLRCA becoming a central hub for arbitration in the region, Tun Arifin then handed the stage to 39 Essex Street’s Joint Head of Chambers, Stephen Tromans QC to share a few words. With the opening of the Chambers’ office in Bangunan Sulaiman, 39 Essex Street officially becomes the first British chambers to have a presence in Malaysia. Tromans expressed his delight at this historic landmark and went on to advocate continuous co-operation between all parties involved by saying, “We are here to show our commitment to Malaysia and to continue to work ever more closely with our friends in the Malaysian legal community. That may be by way of co-counselling, and by offering what we believe is a good range of highly skilled and experienced arbitrators, adjudicators and mediators”.
The evening’s joyous proceedings continued well into the night as dignitaries and guests took the opportunity to catch up with familiar faces and expand their network through the many eminent arbitral and legal personalities who attended the launch. It was certainly an occasion to celebrate as the alternative dispute resolution scene in the country shapes up to play a larger role within the Asia region and subsequently beyond.
