Interview:

Your father represented Singapore in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games in water polo. You were a national junior tennis player and an under-18s champ. What made you give up sporting glory to don the robes?

My dad said this to me when I was 16: “Shen, you don’t have the best (tennis) strokes, but you can out-think your opponent”. He taught me to be strategic and to play to my strengths. As it turns out, I’m better in the High Court than on the tennis court.

Is that competitive streak why you decided on litigation?

Not many people see litigation as a blood sport, but for me, every case is a cause to be championed in a gladiatorial arena. I love the intellectual challenge of legal debate; but more than that, I like having a part to play in shaping the law. My mother inculcated in me a sense of social justice very early on in life. I guess, at its core, that principle still drives what I do.

What’s your take on the role of the Lawyer-Statesman in the contemporary legal landscape?

The law does not exist in a silo. Our world is increasingly complex and inter-dependent: we have to battle fake news, grapple with the growing influence of intelligent technology and social media, and navigate a legal landscape that is moving from domestic to global. Lawyers have been given the privilege of understanding, interpreting and advancing laws. We have a responsibility to build a legal framework that fosters innovation and rewards success, but also leaves no one behind.

When you are not arguing in court, you are known to share your encyclopaedic knowledge of just about anything under the sun. What drives that thirst for knowledge?

I am insatiably curious and have a boundless appetite for trivia, which I am known to share at the slightest provocation. It’s a character flaw, I know.

Accolades: