SINGAPORE: Members of Singapore’s legal fraternity on Sunday (Jul 9) paid tribute to the late law professor Tan Yock Lin, describing the 70-year-old as a learned mentor always generous with his time for others.
“We are profoundly saddened by Professor Tan Yock Lin’s passing, and our deepest condolences go out to his family at this difficult time,” said the National University of Singapore’s law faculty.
“He was not just a dedicated colleague but also a mentor, especially to those starting out on their careers. He gave of his time to others cheerfully and without reservation. Yock Lin will be sorely missed.”
Prof Tan joined NUS Law in 1982 and was appointed Emeritus Professor in 2021.
He served on the Singapore Academy of Law’s Law Reform Committee, said NUS in a previous news release, adding that he was awarded a Public Service Medal for his work on the committee.
CNA understands that Prof Tan died on Friday morning following a road accident along Upper Thomson Road.
The accident involved his car, a bus, a lorry and a van, with the Singapore Civil Defence Force needing hydraulic rescue equipment to free him from his vehicle.
He was conscious when taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where he subsequently died.
The police have arrested the 26-year-old lorry driver for careless driving causing death, and investigations are ongoing.
“GENTLE LEGAL GIANT”
NUS Law Professor Kelvin Low said he was grateful for the opportunity to be taught by Prof Tan as a student and to be mentored by him when he first joined academia.
“Singapore loses a gentle legal giant,” Prof Low wrote on social media platform LinkedIn.
“He took such great care that he wouldn’t meet up for dinner as he didn’t want to drive in poor lighting conditions so it is maddening to learn that his life was cut short by a careless driver.”
Director at law firm Covenant Chambers Ronald Wong recalled Prof Tan as an “erudite yet humble man” with an intellectual curiosity that was “contagious”.
“He taught and wrote on multiple areas of law, from evidence and criminal law to constitutional and administrative law to professional discipline to equity and trusts and personal property law. And he was happy to teach whatever the faculty required. Because he had the intellectual wherewithal to master any new area and teach and rationalise it.”
The Singapore Academy of Law also recounted Prof Tan’s various contributions, including his textbooks which “greatly enriched the development of local case law”.
Another of his students, lawyer and Member of Parliament Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, mourned the passing of both Prof Tan and fellow legal titan Adrian Tan.
“Erudite, eccentric but most of all generous in sharing his vast knowledge,” he said of his former law school professor. “Indeed a sad day of loss.”