It is with great pleasure that I get this opportunity to welcome you all to the 41st edition of the SCL(S) Newsletter.

 

By the time this newsletter hits your respective desks, we would have just held our AGM & Annual Dinner and I hope that we would have all recovered from any post-Annual Dinner hangovers!  As we continue into a busy and exciting period of the year for the Society, with our flagship event coming up in the form of the 2^nd Focus on Asia Conference 2019 (11-12 September 2019), I would like to urge those that haven’t yet, to register for the event to avoid any disappointment of missing out.  

 

In this edition of the newsletter, you will find an informative article contributed by Joanna Seetoh and Jason Yong from Pinsent Masons MPillay LLP, titled ‘Only Speak When Necessary – Clarification of the Duty to Speak Under the Building and Construction industry (Security of Payment) Act’.  The article reviews the recent case of Far East Square v Yau Lee Construction (Singapore) [2019] SGCA 36, before the Singapore Court of Appeal, in which:

 

Since the last edition of the SCL(S) Newsletter, a seminar was held on Cost and Time Blowouts (and Major Disputes) on Large Construction Projects, which was delivered by Simon Bellas and John Cooper of Jones Day and chaired by Kelvin Teo.  To cover off what was an engaging, well-attended and well-received session, Kelvin has contributed a post-event update, in which he declared it to be a “top 3” talk of this year! 

 

Shortly following the aforementioned seminar, a similarly well-attended seminar on Collaborative Contracting was held on 17 July 2019, featuring the esteemed John Battersby of BKAsiaPacific Limited and chaired by Adrian Wong.  You will also find a post-event update from Adrian Wong recollecting on a particularly interactive Q&A session.

 

Before I wrap up this covering message and give away anymore spoilers on the substantive contents of this newsletter, we would like to thank those that have contributed so far to the Survey on Expert Joint Statements in International Arbitration.  Kelvin Teo has provided an interim update on this endeavour to facilitate research and thought-leadership in this area.

 

On behalf of the SCL(S) council, thank you for your continued support and participation at our events.  We hope you enjoy this newsletter.

 

Trevor Lam
Assistant Treasurer, SCL (Singapore)