Philip Jeyaretnam

Infobox Person
name = Philip Antony Jeyaretnam


image_size = 220px
birth_date = 1964
birth_place = SIN
death_date =
death_place =
death_cause =
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nationality = Singapore
known_for = Young Artist Award (1993)
South-East Asian Write Award (2003)
education = Corpus Christi College, Cambridge;
Charterhouse School;
United World College of South East Asia;
Raeburn Park School
employer = Rodyk & Davidson LLP
occupation = Senior Counsel
religion = Anglican
spouse =
partner =
children = 3
parents = J.B. Jeyaretnam (deceased);
Margaret Jeyaretnam (deceased)
relatives = Kenneth Jeyaretnam;
Harold Walker (former chairman AFC Bournemouth)

Philip Antony Jeyaretnam (born 1964) is a lawyer from Singapore. He is a Senior Counsel in Singapore, and President of the Singapore Law Society. He is also well known as a fiction writer. He is the younger son of the late veteran Singaporean opposition politician J.B. Jeyaretnam and Margaret Walker, and is of Sri Lankan Tamil and English descent.

The young Philip received his early education at Raeburn Park School and the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore, and the Charterhouse School in Surrey, United Kingdom. He read law, and graduated with First Class Honours from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 1986. He was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1987, and was conferred the title Senior Counsel in 2003. In 1991, he was a Fulbright Fellowship visitor to the University of Iowa International Writers' Program, and the Harvard Law School. He is an avid reader on subjects pertaining to history, science, anthropology and of course, literature.'Council Member – Philip Jeyaretnam', "INSTEP" Nov - Dec '05. Singapore : National Arts Council.]

In spite of his busy work and family schedules, Philip still makes time to contribute to various roles in the society. As a tradesperson, he sits on the position as current President of the Singapore Law Society, and was Chairman of the Society of Construction Law from 2002 to 2004. He is also a member of the SIAC Regional Panel of Arbitrators. He was an Adjunct Professor with the Department of Building at the National University of Singapore between 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007. On 20 July 2005, Jeyaretnam was appointed as a board member of the Singapore National Kidney Foundation.

As an artist, Philip is a prolific fiction writer with several publications under his belt. His book "First Loves" first introduced in the Singapore market in 1987, reached its fourth reprint by February 1988. The book title also claimed record sales on the Sunday Times bestseller book list - and garnered him a compliment as Singapore's "home-grown Maugham".cite news|title=Makings of a home-grown Maugham|location=Singapore|publisher=Business Times Weekend Edition|date=28-29 May, 1988|page=9] Philip was presented with the 'Young Artist of the Year' award in 1993, and a South-East Asian Write Award in 2003.

As a patron of the arts, he chairs the Board of Trustees for the nonprofit arts group the Practice Performing Arts School, founded by the late theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun. In his point of view, the arts are as important as any other elements contributing to the growth of a society. Writers, artists, composers, directors – what he terms ‘ideas people’ – are needed for a lively arts scene and that more should be done to enable new ideas to grow from artists. He also called for greater support from the private sector for “the serious arts”, since the popular arts are commonly “funded by the market and community organisations”.

Books and articles written by Philip Jeyaretnam

Book titles

* "Campfire" (1985)
* "Evening Under Frangipani" (1986)
* "First Loves" (1987)
* "Raffles Place Ragtime" (1988)
* "Abraham’s Promise" (1995)
* "Tigers in paradise : the collected works of Philip Jeyaretnam" (2004)

Articles (Non-Professional)

* "Inheritance" (1991) - English-written essay, subsequently translated into German in 1993.

Articles (Professional)

* Building and Construction Law, "Singapore Academy of Law Annual Reviews" (vols. 2000 - 2004; co-author)

External links

* http://www.postcolonialweb.org/singapore/literature/jeyaretnam/jeyaretnamov.html
* http://www.asean-coci.gov.sg/philip.htm
* http://www.bdg.nus.edu.sg/staff_bdgpj.htm

References