He may be timid but is eloquent when it comes to mooting. In fact, his eloquence ended up giving him the Best Oralist title.

Like the saying “a well-filled tapioca’, Mohammad Muzhaffar Omar, the youngest of three children, was an extremely timid person during his secondary school and junior college days.

Nonetheless, behind the timidity of the former Raffles Institution (RI) and Raffles Junior College (RJC) student is ‘a fighting spirit’.

This was proven when he and two of his fellow course mates from Singapore Management University (SMU) emerged champions in the LawAsia International Moot Competition.

Held recently in Bangkok, Thailand, the competition involved simulated court proceedings and a moot problem related to the management of international commercial arbitration.

The competition was organised by LawAsia, an international organisation focused on interests of the legal profession in the region, and involved up to 33 teams, including those from the United States, Australia, China, India and Hong Kong.

Even more remarkable, Mohammad Muzhaffar, 23, now placed on the dean’s list of the SMU School of Law, was named Best Oralist in the competition.

[Photo: SMU law undergradaute, Mohammad Muzhaffar Omar.]

He said, “Since my younger days till junior college, I was not at all talkative. I was also better in subjects like Mathematics and Science. As such, when I first started law studies at the university, I felt that I lacked self-confidence.” He explained that prior to studying law, he had expected to join the engineering sector.

During the competition which ran from 2 to 6 October, Mohammad Muzhaffar, together with his two friends Jillian Yeo Hui Ying, 21, and Grace Sim Hui Xian, 22, beat the team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the finals.

They managed to win all eight matches in which they participated.

This success meant that SMU had recorded its second win in five appearances in the final round of the competition.

SMU’s success in the moot competition does not end there. In the Hague Choice of Court Agreements Convention Moot 2014 held on 10 and 11 October, SMU also emerged champions.

[Photo: SMU law graduate, Md Noor E Adnaan.]

Held at the Hong Kong Supreme Court, the SMU team comprising Md Noor E Adnaan, 25, and Al-gene Tan, 25, beat the team from Wuhan University in the final round.

In all, only eight teams were invited to take part in the inaugural competition. Amongst these were teams from Australia, India, Hong Kong and Japan.

The win also meant SMU had won a total of 11 international moot competitions to date.

Md Noor, who is undergoing the practical law course for six months, said that in the final round, they were judged by two legal academic experts and a Queen’s Counsel from Britain.

He went on to say that aside from delivering a strong argument, participants also had to keep to the allocated time. He remarked, “The experience gained in such competitions would not be what you would get in class. It teaches participants to formulate their arguments based on the law, in addition to delivering a good oral argument.”

[Muzhaffar and Adnaan pictured here with their team-mates.  Photo on left: (L-R) Muzhaffar, Jillian and Grace did SMU proud at the LAWASIA International Moot Competition 2014; Photo on right: (L-R) Al-gene and Adnaan flew the SMU flag at the inaugural Hague Choice of Court Agreements Convention Moot 2014.]

[Featured photo: (L-R): SMU law undergraduate, Mohammad Muzhaffar and law graduate, Md Noor E Adnaan, victorious at two recent international moot competitions.]

The above is a translation of an article titled 'Dua penuntut SMU muncul juara dalam peraduan moot berasingan', which was first published in Berita Harian on 25 October 2014.