Speech by Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong SC at Pro Bono SG Awards 2026

Pro Bono SG

Chairman Mr Dinesh Dhillon

Deputy Chairman Ms Vivienne Lim

CEO Mr Tanguy Lim

Friends, colleagues

Distinguished guests

Members of the Bar

Our partners

Our donors, sponsors

Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

1. A very good evening, and thank you very much for having me here as part of your celebrations for this evening, and for the awards as well.

2. It is always a pleasure to be amongst my fellow members of the Bar, especially at a very meaningful gathering like tonight.

3. Occasions like tonight remind us of our shared commitment to upholding and advancing the rule of law – a theme that, of course, is especially prominent this year, being our bicentennial year, as we mark 200 years since the Second Charter of Justice, which laid the foundation for our legal system.

4. But tonight is one of those rare occasions, where the people doing important work, often with little visibility, are the ones being celebrated. I think that is meaningful in and of itself.

5. So I want to start with a thank you to all of you for being here and a big thank you to all of you for doing what you do – day in and day out, whether someone is watching or otherwise. You make sure that the last crack is filled and people continue to walk through the door that Dinesh spoke about freely, and with the confidence that they will be assisted. Thank you very much.

6. Last week, I spoke at several events. Two international legal conferences in Singapore stood out. My remarks there focused on the rule of law – how it has been built and strengthened over the many years through sound legislation, strong legal frameworks and robust institutions.

7. But evenings like this remind us that there is an equally important aspect to the rule of law.

8. At the end of the day, the rule of law – as a concept, as a legal system – means nothing if people cannot relate to it. That is why tonight is so important. It is about people. It is about whether someone who needs help can actually get it, and that is why tonight matters a lot.

9. Tonight, we celebrate the many lawyers, the volunteers, the law firms, the donors, the fundraising committee who work so hard behind the scenes, our community partners, and the team at Pro Bono SG who make this possible day in day out.

10. The work that all of you do is essential to the proper functioning of our legal system. I think this is the best manifestation of what we mean by a functioning rule of law.

11. Our legal system might well rank top in many international surveys, and very often, it does. Our judiciary is well-respected. Our institutions are trusted.

12. But really, a first-class legal system is only truly first-class when it is accessible to everyone in society – not just those who can afford it, but everyone who needs it.

13. That is the gap that everyone in this room, in whatever capacity that you play, is working hard at closing – one person at a time, one case at a time.

The Choice to Serve

14. So, when we talk about access to justice, we are also really talking about the choices that each of you make. Tonight, I would like to honour those choices - because just as you made a choice to be here tonight, you could just as easily make a choice not to be involved in pro bono work.

15. As someone who spent a good 25 years in practice, I know how demanding the legal profession can be. It just gets more demanding each time you look. The hours are long. The deadlines never really stop. The clients need answers – often urgently, and very often, they need them yesterday.

16. Yet, despite all of this, so many of you choose to do even more. You take on your workload in practice, and you come back for more in the form of pro bono work.

17. Every time you say “yes” to a pro bono client, you are usually also saying “no” to something else – to another piece of work that is billable, time with your family, a weekend that you have all been looking forward to, or simply a chance to take a break and rest after a long week.

18. Most people will never see those choices that you make. They will not know about the calls that you had to return late at night after a long day’s work, or the applications that you have to prepare urgently – for access, for custody, for financial support over the weekend; the meetings you squeezed in between hearings, giving up precious time to prepare for your hearings; or the conversations where a client might be quite difficult, but what they needed most is not legal advice, but just someone to listen to them. And you plug that gap by listening to them, just by being there.

19. None of this shows up in your billable hours. It does not appear in rankings, as you submit your cases and so on for publications, and it rarely makes its way onto your CV.

20. But to the person that you are helping, this means everything. I want you to know that, because I have seen that firsthand from my perspective as a policymaker, and I can tell you it makes a world of difference. This is what we mean by a system that is truly anchored on the rule of law.

What These Awards Represent

21. That is why, tonight, it is precisely these unseen efforts that we recognise, honour and celebrate.

22. We honour outstanding individuals and organisations, but I think you will agree with me that these awards really represent something bigger than any one recipient alone. They reflect the values of our noble profession.

23. We often talk about excellence in the legal profession, and by that we often refer to technical competence, sound judgement, integrity, the clients you have, the size of the firm that you have built. These are of course important. They are the foundations of good practice.

24. But there is another quality that deserves just as much recognition, and that is the willingness to use our knowledge, our experience, and the competence that we have in the service of others.

25. I often say that as all of us are advocates and solicitors, we are also counsel, and that word has a very special meaning. The word ‘counsel’ is not just the ability to represent someone and to speak on behalf of someone, but to speak up for someone – to speak to someone, to counsel them. That is the dual role, in fact the multifaceted role that all of us have.

26. That spirit, I would say, is not limited to the volunteer lawyers and sponsors receiving awards tonight. It also belongs to the law firms that have made pro bono culture very much a part of their DNA; to the many community partners who walk alongside those in need; to the fundraising committee whose efforts make much of this work possible; and to the dedicated team at Pro Bono SG who bring all of these efforts together.

27. I have seen firsthand in my capacity at the Ministry of Law, and previously in my capacity at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, how hard they work behind the scenes to make all of these come together. Looking around the room, as I have the privilege of doing so from where I stand, we see the legal profession at its best, and I could not be prouder to be a part of it.

A Shared Responsibility

28. Whilst individual commitment is essential, access to justice is ultimately a shared effort.

29. Since moving into government, I have come to appreciate even more how important this partnership with the legal profession is.

30. The Ministry of Law has continued to strengthen access to justice through the Legal Aid Bureau (LAB), the Public Defender’s Office (PDO), as well as continued support for the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS).

31. Let me give you a sense of where we are on this journey. LAB has served Singaporeans before Singapore became independent, since 1958. In that close to 70 years, LAB has seen nearly 420,000 applications. That is a staggering number given the size of Singapore and our short history. Earlier this year, we announced that we will raise the Per Capita Household Income threshold for civil legal aid by the end of this year. We did that because we recognised that there was a growing number just outside the current eligibility who were unrepresented in court. Sometimes it is by choice, and we accept and respect that. But for those who did not have a choice, we now want to give them a choice. So we will increase the threshold so that more Singaporeans would benefit from the legal aid scheme.

32. In making all of these steps, let me also be clear that what we are doing as we seek to raise thresholds, give funding, grants and so on, that it is not possible for the Government to replace the pro bono spirit. That is something that is organic, and it comes from within the profession itself. If anything, what we want to do is to catalyse it or energise it even more.

33. The partnership between PDO and PBSG, along with MinLaw’s support, is one illustration of that. It is precisely because all of us – the Government and the profession in practice – are committed to the same goals, that this works.

34. The numbers bear this out. We now have over 800 active volunteer lawyers. That is sizeable, given the size of the profession that we have. And close to 470 student volunteers.

35. Last year alone, close to 16,000 individuals and social impact organisations were reached, or touched, by this group of people. That is not a small number. That is 16,000 people whose personal situations have changed, because someone cared enough to show up for them. I think we can be very proud of this achievement.

36. At the same time, let me just underscore the fact that the government cannot do it alone. We need all your help. We need the profession to step forward with expertise, with commitment, as each of you has done, and for the community partners to continue to contribute trust, reach, and a deep understanding of the people that they serve.

37. Each part of this equation plays a different role, but I think together, we are greater than the sum of our parts.

38. To me, that is one of the quiet strengths of Singapore’s legal system. It is not just built on good laws, sound institutions, and a foundation that is anchored on the rule of law, but on people who are willing to work together in the service of others.

39. When we do that, the impact goes far beyond any single case. It strengthens confidence in our legal system. It strengthens our profession. And, more importantly, it strengthens and underscores the kind of society we want to be. Our laws, our value systems, our social compact is really reflected in our legal system. So that’s a very big indicator of the kind of Singapore that we want to see, and that we want to leave behind for successive generations.

The Difference Made

40. In the end, the impact of all this is felt most deeply by the people you help – the individuals. Many years from now, I imagine you will not remember every person you helped given that you have helped so many, but many of them will remember you. They will remember the lawyer who took their call late at night, who listened to them without judgement, who treated them with dignity, and who gave them the quiet confidence when they are perhaps at the lowest point in their lives.

41. I know this because I have, on occasion, seen this myself. Even today, I sometimes meet people I helped, or I had come across many years ago, and they remember the occasion. Some of them now volunteer with me, to pay it forward. Each time that happens, I am reminded that kindness does not stop with the person who receives it, as I am sure many of your beneficiaries would have reflected to you. It has a way of being passed on, paying it forward. One act of kindness really leads to another. So by doing what you do, you grow kindness and you pay it forward exponentially.

A Light of Hope

42. Finally, before I end, let me just say that later on, you will see me onstage, doing something with a painting. I thought I will explain to you in advance what I will be doing because those of you who know me will know that art and I do not get along so well. As I told the artist who painted it, I could not even draw a banana in school. So when you see me later, let me just tell you what I will be doing. I was invited to add the finishing touches to a painting. Earlier, I told the artist that I was so nervous because I think I will destroy her work, which you will see put up for auction later tonight. So later on, please do not let the fact that I have touched it dimmish your ability to bid for it.

43. I was told I had two choices: I could paint the roof, or I could paint the lights.

44. So of course, I asked which was easier. In the end, I chose the lights – not because they were easier, but because it felt a bit more meaningful to me. Let me explain why.

45. A roof, of course, gives shelter. It protects people from the elements and helps them when they need it most.

46. But I think in the context of tonight, light does something different. It helps people find their way.

47. In many ways, I thought it represents the work that you do. Yes, you resolve legal problems. You explain the law. You act for people in court. You protect their rights. But you also give people something much harder to measure. Through the work that you do, you give them confidence. You remind them that in Singapore, in our society, they are not alone. And you help them believe there is a way forward, when the future might look bleak. That is something that I believe they will carry on with them long after the legal matter has ended, long after the case is resolved in court.

Conclusion

48. So this evening, to every volunteer lawyer, every law firm, every donor, every member of the fundraising committee, every community partner who has worked with us, and everyone at Pro Bono SG, to every one of you in this room this evening, thank you very much.

49. Thank you for giving your time when there never seems to be enough of it to begin with. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience so generously.

50. You have not only helped individuals find justice. You have strengthened confidence in our treasured legal system, our profession and, ultimately, in one another. That is the key difference you make. That is the light that you can shine, and that is the legacy you leave behind.

51. My warmest congratulations to all our award recipients. I hope you continue to be that light – for many more people, and for many more years to come.

52. Thank you very much, and have a wonderful evening ahead.