Ipohites, especially those in the legal profession, were in for a treat as the Honourable Michael J. Beloff QC from the Blackstone Barristers Chambers of London, gave an enlightening talk on ‘Magna Carta and its Relevance to the 21st Century’ at the award-winning Haven Resort Hotel, Ipoh.
“Very privileged to have a presentation like this, as I believe he’s one of the top legal brains in the world. He acted in the Merdeka University case,” said Chan Kok Keong, Deputy Chairman of Perak Academy.
Ipoh Echo had an exclusive one-on-one with Beloff on Saturday, May 16, his eighth time in Malaysia.
“I like coming back very much. I’ve a lot of friends, especially within the legal fraternity in Kuala Lumpur,” the amiable Beloff shared. He was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in November 1967.
Regarding the Merdeka University case, he commented: “I’ve been in the Bar for nearly 50 years now, it’s the most interesting case I’ve ever done.”
What keeps him doing what he is doing? “Foremost, I enjoy advocacy very much. I enjoy presenting arguments and the intellectual challenge. The kind of areas that I work in now, mainly are either constitutional or administrative law, which has a sort of political dimension making it rather interesting if you are keen on politics. My other great area of interest now, which I develop more and more every year, is sports law and that takes me around the world. In the last year, I’ve been in arbitrations in Dubai, Los Angeles, Sydney and Switzerland. And I work with overseas lawyers a lot, which I enjoy very much,” he enthused.
Also present were Peter Chan, the chief executive officer of the Haven Resort Hotel. “Ipoh is very fortunate to have eminent personalities like Beloff to grace our occasions. It’s the purpose of the Haven to bring more and more people here to enjoy our facilities,” he stated.
He proceeded to give the audience exclusive updates on his next project in Lagoi Bay, Bintan Island, Indonesia which is four times the size of the Haven Ipoh.
“Potentially the number one resort in Asia, it’ll be the Hawaii of the East, located in close proximity to Singapore. The 26-hectare site is surrounded by three pristine water bodies: sea, river and lake. Thus, it’s one of a kind. High capital appreciation is expected with the selling price of the Haven Bintan at only a third of a luxury Singapore condo. Our outstanding track record includes a 300 per cent increase in prices of all previous projects within five years,” Peter highlighted.
The evening concluded with a networking buffet dinner at the Cuisines.
Mei Kuan
