Michelle Sunita Kummar
⚒️ What do you do?
I am currently Head of Disputes and Litigation at CelcomDigi, Malaysia’s largest telecommunications company. I’ve just marked a year in this role and whilst the transition from my last position as Head of Legal at the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AAIC) has been steep given the technical nature of the telco industry, it has been nothing short of exciting and rewarding. I’m also a member of the Results Management Committee of the Anti-Doping Agency of Malaysia (ADAMAS) under the auspices of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), hearing cases involving doping violations and fueling my passion for sports law and arbitration.
What is your proudest achievement?
I’ve been very fortunate and blessed to have had some fulfilling moments in my career as well as personal life, and it would be remiss to mention one without acknowledging the other. This year particularly, I’ve been quite pleased with how I’ve been intentional with my time and showing up for myself by pursuing activities that I’ve kept putting off for want of company and time. I embarked on my first solo travel this year – to Vietnam, and took the phrase “jump off a cliff” literally when I went cliff-diving off Pulau Kapas! It’s come with a lot of practice, but seeing myself deal with inconveniences and challenges in stride with the same enthusiasm as when I savour happy moments has been a proud feat.
The work I did with the AIAC saw me achieve some incredible and key milestones in my career. But I always look back to the work I did in public interest litigation as Junior Counsel in practice with great fondness and pride – working on some of the country’s high profile and notable constitutional cases including acting for the (then) opposition parties of Malaysia in the massive 1MDB-linked scheme against the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, against members of the Election Commission of Malaysia for the misuse and failure of the indelible ink in Malaysia’s 2013 General Elections, acting for the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) in successfully resisting a claim in damages by the municipal authorities for alleged property damage, and against the Government of Malaysia in challenging the validity of the Government’s abolition of local government elections, to name some. Working on these cases with the Managing Partner, whom I still consider a mentor, is a marked one, shaping the way I think and approach work today.
If you had 25 hours in a day, what would you do with the extra hour?
Cooking! I thoroughly enjoy spending time in the kitchen cooking up a meal for myself and hosting friends and family with a home-cooked meal. It’s my favourite and go-to mindful practice, and I suppose no one’s complaining when you get a good meal out of it. So that extra hour would be spent cooking and provisioning an additional meal for the day – though on reflection, divesting 10-minutes of that hour to my yoga practice may be necessary to accommodate all that extra eating.
If you weren't a lawyer, what would you be?
I’ve always had an interest in journalism and if the opportunity presented itself, I think I could see myself as a news anchor. There’s a degree of intuition and people skill that I find is unmatched and often goes underappreciated in this role. Can’t say that my penchant for story-telling would rise to the occasion but it’s definitely a role I would have pursued, but alas, “the road not taken”.
Your favourite food haunt is...?
This one’s a tough ask for a foodie like me, but if I had to pick one out for being sheer comfort food – it would be Moon Kee Fish Head Noodles in Petaling Jaya. The kicker being, my order is limited to just fish maw and noodles in the milky fish bone broth – no fish head or slices! The dish is everything that warms the soul (and tummy!) and my friends know to never patronize this quaint spot without me.