SMU yesterday celebrated the official opening of its new School of Law building and the Kwa Geok Choo Law Library. Speaking at the official opening, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (PM Lee) said that lawyers will need different skills to value add as technology is automating many routine legal tasks and law schools will have to keep their curricula up to date so they can then produce lawyers who are prepared for the demands of the new working environment. PM Lee later toured the new 23,000 sq m School of Law building, located at the junction of Armenian Street and Stamford Road. The building features a new new state-of-the-art law library, named after late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's wife and lawyer Madam Kwa Geok Choo. The Kwa Geok Choo Law Library will house a digital collection which will serve not only the SMU community, but also the legal fraternity in Singapore. The new building also boasts a moot court, named after Singapore first Chief Minister David Marshall.
SMU students shared their views about the new law school building. SMU Juris Doctor Student Saw Teng Sheng noted that the moot court helps students prepare for actual competitions. He said that students were practicing in classrooms and seminar rooms before this building came about, which does not create the atmosphere that they experience in finals. He added that the new building helps them to prepare to get into the whole momentum.