OTGV #33 - Law-Med Debate
Broadcast Date: 21/07/03
What do lawyers and doctors do when they want to get more familiar with each other?
They have a debate!
Chong Ching Liang attended the first-ever Law-Medical debate and found that it was a more comical than cerebral affair.
===========================
One of the biggest red herrings of the year for the media was an innocuous invite to a debate on whether lawyers make better politicians than doctors.
As it turned out, the motion and the location of the debate in Parliament House, were the only things that were serious.
Hi, I'm Chong Ching Liang. Come share my enjoyment in re-visiting the first-ever Law-Medical Debate on this week's On the Grapevine.
Lawyers and doctors are people from professions that by nature, are meticulous and fastidious.
So there was little doubt that the combative lawyers would leave nothing to chance.
Their first speaker, Christopher Ong on his team's secret weapon to gain victory.
"Before I actually move on to the definition is the... well, more or less or white attire that the male members of the lawyer team has adopted. When we got together, we turn our minds to important strategic issues such as what to wear. And, what we settle on is that the team that wear all-white in this parliament normally wins the debate. [laughters]"
That, and a supreme sense of self-awareness.
"We know where we are coming from. When it comes to politics, we are certainly the better team for the simple reasons that we ... don't ... have.. ETHICS! Whereas these.. [laughters] whereas these noble SARS fighters over hear [laughter] don't stand a chance in the game of politics. These doctors even have, as part of their profession something called the Hippocratic Oath which is to do no harm. We have on our side of the floor we have what you would call, the Hypocritical Oath."
The first speaker from the medical team, Dr Lee Chung Horn, unfazed by the crowd pleasing routine that had preceded him, gamely tried to wrestle some seriousness back into the debate.
"Our stand is simply this, we do not believe that lawyers make better politicians than doctors. To win tonight's debate, ladies and gentlemen, the proposition has to establish superiority that clearly one profession is more gifted than the other, for politics!"
But the lawyers would not be so easily subdued!
Adrian Tan says his task isn't to establish superiority, not at all!
"We are here to say that we are inferior to them. In every moral respect! [Laughters] And that is why our last speaker IS, Mr Chelva Rajah! [laughters] I challenge you to find among the medical community, ANYONE with the moral calibre [Laughters] of the learned gentleman."
In fact, tongue firmly in-cheek, it is this inferiority in character that would make lawyers better politicians!
"To sum up what we have been saying before. We are very good at covering our asses. [laughters] And doctors are very poor at that.... in fact all they do is uncover our asses.[laughters]"
But undaunted, the medical side's Dr Sreedharan tried another tack to engage his opponent, ridicule and shame...
"Actually I left the first minute for rebuttals but no real points were made. In order to make a rebuttal [laughters] so I am sorry about that. Yeah"
He gamely soldiered on bringing up examples of medical doctors made good in the global political world such as Drs Gro Harlem Brundtland and Mahathir Mohamed.
The lawyers came back with their femme-fatale, Leong Wai Kum, who illustrated the quintessential lawyering skill of winning over a jury.
"Now it may well be that it is not our training whether as lawyers or doctors that will make us better politicians. I think it may well be our gender that make us better politicians. [laughter] I mean my dear honorable FEMALE judges. [laughters]"
Momentarily seduced by the limelight, Professor Leong went on a 3 minute spiel on the benefits of being female.
But despite meandering, she brought out her point.
"I think I have the connection -- Our government, in its infinite wisdom has really dealt the medical profession, a rather bad hand. Because of course we know, for ever so long, medical faculty in NUS has not been allowed to take their fair share of women. Honourable members of the judges, I repeat, we have more women, women are better in every thing. Obviously! It's lawyers that make better politicians in Singapore.[laughters]"
By now, the doctors had given up on their hope of ever having a serious debate.
Such emotional duress forged an unexpected comedic gem in their third speaker Dr Umapathi.
"Let me start off with a story. The story about Humpty Dumpty. You know, the silly egg that sat on the wall, fell off and all the kingsmen couldn't put him together again. Of course this is a very old story. Kingsmen in old English is actually politicians. So among the Kingsmen were lawyer-politicians, and doctor-politicians. Of course the majority were SAF scholars! [laughters]"
Using this story, he illustrated what separated lawyers from doctors in the profession of politics.
"What do you think the lawyer-politicians' first instinctive response. What... is... the .. liability? [laughters] Who's liable for this. Is it the parents of the egg, who didn't supervise the egg? Is it the local council that didn't put up signs and railings and then the egg fall off? Now what do you think the doctor-politician is going to do? Of course the first is going to do is "mouth-to-shell" resuscitation. After which, his first response would be what went wrong? What would be a happy egg get up on the wall. Was he suicidal? [laughters] Is he another victim of the Singapore education system?! [Laughters]"
So who won in the end?
The judges gave the prize to the lawyers.
But most in the audience didn't care about the victory as they were left in stitches.
If this much laughter and harmless rip-roaring self-deprecation dominated world politics, maybe conflicts would be obsolete.
This is Chong Ching Liang for Newsradio 938.
==========================
Related Links:
Newsradio 938 (now 938Live)
http://www.938live.sg/
Law Society Society
http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/
Singapore Medical Association
http://www.sma.org.sg/
What do lawyers and doctors do when they want to get more familiar with each other?
They have a debate!
Chong Ching Liang attended the first-ever Law-Medical debate and found that it was a more comical than cerebral affair.
===========================
One of the biggest red herrings of the year for the media was an innocuous invite to a debate on whether lawyers make better politicians than doctors.
As it turned out, the motion and the location of the debate in Parliament House, were the only things that were serious.
Hi, I'm Chong Ching Liang. Come share my enjoyment in re-visiting the first-ever Law-Medical Debate on this week's On the Grapevine.
Lawyers and doctors are people from professions that by nature, are meticulous and fastidious.
So there was little doubt that the combative lawyers would leave nothing to chance.
Their first speaker, Christopher Ong on his team's secret weapon to gain victory.
"Before I actually move on to the definition is the... well, more or less or white attire that the male members of the lawyer team has adopted. When we got together, we turn our minds to important strategic issues such as what to wear. And, what we settle on is that the team that wear all-white in this parliament normally wins the debate. [laughters]"
That, and a supreme sense of self-awareness.
"We know where we are coming from. When it comes to politics, we are certainly the better team for the simple reasons that we ... don't ... have.. ETHICS! Whereas these.. [laughters] whereas these noble SARS fighters over hear [laughter] don't stand a chance in the game of politics. These doctors even have, as part of their profession something called the Hippocratic Oath which is to do no harm. We have on our side of the floor we have what you would call, the Hypocritical Oath."
The first speaker from the medical team, Dr Lee Chung Horn, unfazed by the crowd pleasing routine that had preceded him, gamely tried to wrestle some seriousness back into the debate.
"Our stand is simply this, we do not believe that lawyers make better politicians than doctors. To win tonight's debate, ladies and gentlemen, the proposition has to establish superiority that clearly one profession is more gifted than the other, for politics!"
But the lawyers would not be so easily subdued!
Adrian Tan says his task isn't to establish superiority, not at all!
"We are here to say that we are inferior to them. In every moral respect! [Laughters] And that is why our last speaker IS, Mr Chelva Rajah! [laughters] I challenge you to find among the medical community, ANYONE with the moral calibre [Laughters] of the learned gentleman."
In fact, tongue firmly in-cheek, it is this inferiority in character that would make lawyers better politicians!
"To sum up what we have been saying before. We are very good at covering our asses. [laughters] And doctors are very poor at that.... in fact all they do is uncover our asses.[laughters]"
But undaunted, the medical side's Dr Sreedharan tried another tack to engage his opponent, ridicule and shame...
"Actually I left the first minute for rebuttals but no real points were made. In order to make a rebuttal [laughters] so I am sorry about that. Yeah"
He gamely soldiered on bringing up examples of medical doctors made good in the global political world such as Drs Gro Harlem Brundtland and Mahathir Mohamed.
The lawyers came back with their femme-fatale, Leong Wai Kum, who illustrated the quintessential lawyering skill of winning over a jury.
"Now it may well be that it is not our training whether as lawyers or doctors that will make us better politicians. I think it may well be our gender that make us better politicians. [laughter] I mean my dear honorable FEMALE judges. [laughters]"
Momentarily seduced by the limelight, Professor Leong went on a 3 minute spiel on the benefits of being female.
But despite meandering, she brought out her point.
"I think I have the connection -- Our government, in its infinite wisdom has really dealt the medical profession, a rather bad hand. Because of course we know, for ever so long, medical faculty in NUS has not been allowed to take their fair share of women. Honourable members of the judges, I repeat, we have more women, women are better in every thing. Obviously! It's lawyers that make better politicians in Singapore.[laughters]"
By now, the doctors had given up on their hope of ever having a serious debate.
Such emotional duress forged an unexpected comedic gem in their third speaker Dr Umapathi.
"Let me start off with a story. The story about Humpty Dumpty. You know, the silly egg that sat on the wall, fell off and all the kingsmen couldn't put him together again. Of course this is a very old story. Kingsmen in old English is actually politicians. So among the Kingsmen were lawyer-politicians, and doctor-politicians. Of course the majority were SAF scholars! [laughters]"
Using this story, he illustrated what separated lawyers from doctors in the profession of politics.
"What do you think the lawyer-politicians' first instinctive response. What... is... the .. liability? [laughters] Who's liable for this. Is it the parents of the egg, who didn't supervise the egg? Is it the local council that didn't put up signs and railings and then the egg fall off? Now what do you think the doctor-politician is going to do? Of course the first is going to do is "mouth-to-shell" resuscitation. After which, his first response would be what went wrong? What would be a happy egg get up on the wall. Was he suicidal? [laughters] Is he another victim of the Singapore education system?! [Laughters]"
So who won in the end?
The judges gave the prize to the lawyers.
But most in the audience didn't care about the victory as they were left in stitches.
If this much laughter and harmless rip-roaring self-deprecation dominated world politics, maybe conflicts would be obsolete.
This is Chong Ching Liang for Newsradio 938.
==========================
Related Links:
Newsradio 938 (now 938Live)
http://www.938live.sg/
Law Society Society
http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/
Singapore Medical Association
http://www.sma.org.sg/
posted by CHONG Ching-liang | 2:50 PM
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