Tan Shang Neng

What is your current role?
My current primary role is father to a 3.5-year-old little girl.

I also moonlight as a civil litigation lawyer. I currently lead my humble civil disputes resolution practice at Tan Shang Neng Advocates & Solicitors. The practice manages a variety of corporate and commercial disputes, with a special focus on disputes involving duties of directors and the rights of shareholders.

Having said that, my toughest client to date remains my little girl. Thankfully, she is also the most rewarding.

What is your proudest achievement?
Helping individual clients successfully navigate tragedies come to mind, and acting for the MH17 and MH370 families in local Courts and the ECtHR was especially memorable. Against my better judgment, I usually end up investing a little piece of myself in these kinds of briefs. So, the successes tend be sweeter and a little more personal. It is however difficult to pick one.

So perhaps my proudest single, easily identifiable professional achievement thus far would be to somehow getting my 3-year-old practice ranked by one of the leading legal directories. I still think somebody somewhere made a mistake, but I’ll take it.

If you had 25 hours in a day, what would you do with the extra hour?
The smart and responsible answer is to get more sleep, but the only correct answer to this question is “to start gaming again”. My gaming console has been in storage for the last 3.5 years. It will be nice to be able to take it out and give it a spin again.

If you weren't a lawyer, what would you be?
Growing up, I have always had this notion that when I retire from whatever professional job I had, I would open a shop to sells books, flowers and coffee. Between customers, I would write that fictional novel that I thought I would always write one day. So, maybe that.

Your favourite food haunt is...?
I do enjoy the quintessential Malaysian kopitiam. I grew up in Klang, and like most other Chinese households in Klang, we had our own go-to. Unless when abroad, I’ve been going to a kopitiam every week as far back as my memory can go. When I moved from Klang to Kuala Lumpur 10 years ago, I had to find a local haunt near my apartment. I’ve been going to Chun Heong Kopitiam in Lucky Garden ever since.

For me, it is equal parts the comfort of nostalgia and diversity in breakfast choices that makes kopitiams one of my favourite haunts.