NUS senior law professor dies in car accident

SINGAPORE – Emeritus Professor Tan Yock Lin, a senior law professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS), died Friday morning in a car accident. he was 70 years old.

His death was confirmed in an email sent to staff by NUS law dean Andrew Simster on Saturday and confirmed by The Straits Times.

“Yock Lin was and still is an important part of our history,” Professor Simster said.

“He taught me just about everything… His willingness to serve reflected the breadth of his intellectual interests. None had breadth and depth.

“He has been an advisor and mentor to many of us, especially those just beginning their careers. I know.”

Professor Tan is a member of the Legal Reform Commission of the Singapore Law Society and has been the longest-serving member of the Commission for most of its existence since its inception in 1989.

He has contributed the most papers on law reform, either alone or jointly, and has made an impact in various areas of law reform.

NUS Vice Chancellor for Educational Innovation Simon Chesterman, who served as Dean of the School of Law from 2012 to 2022, said he was shocked and saddened to hear of Professor Tan’s passing.

He described Professor Tan as a passionate teacher and a diligent researcher who constantly innovated and tried new things throughout his career.

Professor Chesterman said: “He devoted his professional life to NUS law for over 40 years…holding himself to exacting standards, yet always being generous in spirit and to others. , left behind generations of students he taught.”

NUS law professor Hans Chio called Professor Tan a “legal giant who acts like the smallest of us.”

“He was a jack-of-all-trades who mastered more legal disciplines than any modern scholar,” said Professor Tio.

“He constantly pushed us to look at things in a different way in ways we didn’t always understand. His contrarian spirit lives on and will be commemorated every time we trust what he taught us. .”

Singapore Management University Law Professor Tan Soo Hong shared fond memories of being a former student of Prof. Tan.

she said: “My contemporaries highly appreciated Yock Lin’s intellectual ability. I was.

“He was also one of the most eloquent teachers. His monographs were not only very profound and written with a peculiar flair, but he was able to cram a lot of points into each sentence. Evidence I remember how his opening lines in his first lecture on law stunned some of us and scrambled for dictionaries.”

She added that Professor Tang was very generous with his time and ideas.

“I admired his analytical skills and his incredible memory,” she said. “Whether it was a legal question or a theological question, he had the ability to answer comprehensively and deeply.

“Many will remember him for his intellectual ability, but I am most remembered for his gentle kindness, humility and generosity.”