Help from the Professionals

SIDREC Panel of Mediators & Adjudicators

In-House & External

Independent, professional and expert help

SIDREC ensures that investors and Members have access to mediators and adjudicators who are qualified and experts in their respective fields which are crucial to providing guidance and resolution to both parties to a dispute.

Shanti Abraham Mathew

Shanti Abraham of Messrs Shanti Abraham & Associates has been called to the Singapore and Malaysian Bars and has been in practice for over 25 years. She is a litigator, arbitrator, adjudicator and mediator. Her areas of practice include corporate and restructuring work, contractual, commercial and construction disputes as well as healthcare and private wealth management.

Shanti is the chair of the International Mediation Institute Investor-State Mediation Taskforce and a mediator of the Global Mediation Panel at the Office of the Ombudsman for United Nations Funds and Programmes.

She is a SIMI (Singapore International Mediation Institute) Certified Mediator (Level 4) and has a public profile on the SIMI Mediator website. She is a mediator on the panels of SIDREC, Malaysian Mediation Centre (MMC) and the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) and is an ambassador of Singapore International Mediation Centre. She is also on the panel of arbitrators, adjudicators and mediators with AIAC and the American Arbitrators Association (AAA) – ICDR (inaugural panel of International Mediators).

She completed the Programme on Mediation and Advanced Mediation training – Mediating Complex Disputes at Harvard Law School and Investor-State Mediation by the Department of Justice of Hong Kong and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

She has trained a broad range of professionals in mediation skills including the Brunei and Myanmar judiciary. She regularly mediates both in Malaysia and in Singapore in many industries and has conducted technology-enabled crossborder / online mediations.

Nahendran Navaratnam

Nahendran Navaratnam is the principal partner at Navaratnam Chambers. He is a Chartered Arbitrator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators. He is also a trained and accredited mediator and adjudicator.

Nahendran has over 30 years of experience as a trial and appellate lawyer. He currently handles only advocacy work in corporate, commercial and administrative law disputes for private and public listed companies, major international and Malaysian financial institutions, multinational corporations and professional practices. He also acts in professional liability, tax, and securities case and in commercial arbitration disputes.

Nahendran holds a BSc (Materials Science) and LLB from Australia’s Monash University. He was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1988.

Wong Lu Peen

Wong Lu Peen is a Consultant practising at Wong Lu Peen & Tunku Alina. Her practice areas include mergers, acquisitions and investments by foreign parties into and out of Malaysia. She sits on the Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the Bar Council. She also sits as chairperson of the disciplinary committee for disciplinary proceedings brought by the Bar Council Disciplinary Board.

Wong is an Accredited Mediator on the panel of Malaysian Mediation Center (MMC) and trains and assesses candidates for accreditation with the MMC. Additionally, she is an associate accredited mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC). She has trained judges, lawyers and other professionals in mediation and has been invited to assess students for their mediation credits in University Malaya. Wong obtained her LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Reading in 1978, was called to the English Bar in 1979 and admitted to the Malaysian Bar in 1983. She obtained a Master’s in Business Administration from University Malaya in 2014.

Dato' Lim Chee Wee

Dato’ Lim Chee Wee is the Senior Partner of Lim Chee Wee Partnership and has been in practice for over 26 years. He was a partner of Skrine from 2001 to 2020 and President of the Malaysian Bar from 2011 to 2013. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Lim has a broad commercial, corporate and regulatory disputes practice with experience in a wide variety of high-value and high profile cases, including international arbitrations in Asia and Europe. He acts primarily as counsel appearing at all tiers of the Malaysian courts and his portfolio of litigation work has a particular focus towards corporate litigation.

Lim also has an established public and administrative law practice, regularly advising and acting for the Malaysian stock exchange (Bursa Malaysia Bhd), Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC), Energy Commission, SIDREC and the SC. He is consistently listed in various international legal directories as a leading legal practitioner. These directories include Chambers Asia-Pacific, Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, Who’s Who Legal, Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific, and Asialaw Profiles.

Lim graduated with LLB and BComm (Accounting) degrees from Australia’s University of New South Wales. He was called to the Malaysian Bar as an advocate and solicitor in 1993.

Christopher Leong

Christopher is a Partner at Chooi & Company + Cheang & Ariff (CCA). Christopher has more than 30 years of experience in corporate and commercial litigation, shareholders’ disputes, and banking and securities litigation. In addition, he acts as counsel in domestic and international arbitrations, both locally and overseas, and presides as an arbitrator in arbitrations. Christopher has been inducted into the Dispute Resolution Hall of Fame in Malaysia by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific. More recently, he has been ranked by Chambers Asia Pacific in the 2022 Edition; named an Elite Practitioner by Asialaw Leading Lawyers for Dispute Resolution in the 2022 Edition; named as one of Malaysia’s Top 100 Lawyers of 2022 by Asia Business Law Journal; and as a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2022. Christopher has also been included in the inaugural The Legal 500 The Arbitration Powerlist: Southeast Asia 2022.

Christopher was the 30th President of the Malaysian Bar (2013-2015) and was the President of LAWASIA, the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (2017-2019).

Christopher is empanelled as an arbitrator of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC). He is a member of the Panel of Mediators and Adjudicators of the Securities Industry Dispute Resolution Center (SIDREC). He has previously served on the Advisory Council of the AIAC.

He is a member of the Taylor’s University Law School Legal Profession Advisory Panel; a member of the Industry Advisory Board Monash University Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE); and a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), a non-profit public policy research institute in Malaysia.

Christopher is the recipient of the University of Nottingham Alumni Laureate Lifetime Achievement Award 2018.

Jas Bir Kaur

Jas Bir Kaur has over 30 years of financial services and capital market experience through her work at the SC.

While with the SC, Jas Bir was involved in many areas of oversight including supervision, authorisation and licensing, product development and the formulation of policies for the capital market, particularly in investment management and stockbroking. Her last position at the SC was as Deputy Director.

Jas Bir holds a BEcons (Business Administration) degree from University of Malaya and an MSc in Finance degree from Scotland’s University of Strathclyde. In addition, she has a Master’s degree in Managerial Psychology from HELP University College. She is an accredited mediator on the panel of MMC.

Foo Joon Liang

Foo Joon Liang spent the past 20 years building upon an active dispute resolution practice in arbitration, litigation and more recently in adjudication. He regularly appears as counsel in arbitration as well as at all levels of the Malaysian courts. He has advised and acted in a broad spectrum of disputes, from engineering, construction, power, contract, securities, to company and shareholder disputes.

Foo spent a significant number of years of his practice in advisory, defense and recovery dispute resolution work in the securities and banking industries, and continues to maintain this portfolio as part of his broader practice. He was also involved in the mergers of financial and insurance institutions.

In the past several years, Foo’s focus has increasingly been in engineering related incidents in construction projects. Amongst the more notable matters that he was involved in include the highly publicised failure of a hill slope in Penang, Malaysia, a bridge collapse in the Klang Valley where bridge experts from Asia and Europe testified, the first Construction Industry Payment & Adjudication Act 2012 (CIPAA) matter heard at the Federal Court in Malaysia, the first constitutional challenge to the adjudication regime under CIPAA and AIAC in Malaysia which is now pending before the Court of Appeal in Malaysia.

Tan Sri David Wong Dak Wah

Tan Sri David Wong Dak Wah has had an illustrious legal and judicial career. He graduated with degrees in accountancy and law from Australia’s University of New South Wales in 1976 and 1977 respectively. Prior to being admitted as a barrister-at-law of the New South Wales Supreme Court in 1979, he was attached to a public accounting firm in Sydney as a qualified auditor. He was admitted to the Sabah Bar in 1980 and practised as an advocate and solicitor in Sandakan until 1992 before returning to Sydney to practise law there until 1996. Upon his return to Sandakan in 1997, Wong continued practising as an advocate and solicitor until 2005 when he was appointed as Judicial Commissioner of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in Kuching.

Tan Sri Wong was elevated as a Judge of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in 2007, Court of Appeal in 2013 and the Federal Court of Malaysia in 2018. On 18 July 2018, he was sworn in by Yang Di-Pertuan Agong as the fifth Chief Judge of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak, a position he held until he officially retired on 19 February 2020 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age. A firm believer that the legal fraternity must embrace technology in its work, Wong was largely credited for his role in the digitisation of the courts in Sabah and Sarawak.

Presently, Tan Sri Wong is a consultant in the legal firm of Chang and Wong Partners, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. He is a CIPAA qualified adjudicator and a member of AIAC panel of arbitrators. He is a fellow member of the Malaysia Institute of Chartered Arbitrators.

Datuk Joy Appukuttan

Datuk Joy is a partner at Messrs KH Lim & Co. He has over 31 years of legal experience having been called to the English Bar (Middle Temple) in 1989, the Malaysian Bar in 1990 and the Singapore Bar in 1996. He is an accredited mediator with the Malaysian Mediation Centre and a member of the AA-ADR Chambers (Arbitration and Mediation Centre). He appears and conducts matters at all levels of the courts in Peninsular Malaysia as well as in arbitration and mediation.

His areas of practice include, civil, banking, corporate and commercial litigation and securities law. He also represents the Malaysian Bar in various disciplinary matters.

Datuk Joy has appeared both locally and internationally, as a speaker, moderator and panellist in various seminars/forums held by institutions of higher learning as well as other institutions. He has written various articles that have been published in inter alia law journals. More recently, he has been the review author of the Law of Evidence, Advocacy & Professional Ethics and editor of inter alia Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Practical Conveyancing & Islamic Banking & Law Practice, Legal Remedies, Company Law, Constitution Law & University Cum Court Annexed Arbitration of Janab Law Books series.

Goh Keng Tat

Goh Keng Tat is the principal partner of Messrs Goh Keng Tat & Co. He obtained his LLB with Honours from the University of London in 1998 and his Certificate in Legal Practice in 1999 and was called to the Malaysian Bar in August, 2000 and has been in practice since then.

The core focus of Keng Tat’s practice is in the areas of corporate and commercial litigation. He also handles 3 specific areas of litigation, that is, industrial relations disputes, defamation and matrimonial disputes.

Keng Tat has appeared at all levels in the West Malaysian Courts, leading trials and interlocutory applications in both the High Court and Subordinate Courts and leading appeals and motions in the Federal Court and in the Court of Appeal. He has also appeared as Counsel for various other law firms in the Appellate and High Courts of West Malaysia and has also appeared as instructing counsel for various other law firms and as solicitor for matters in the High Courts of Sabah and Sarawak.

Apart from dispute resolution, Keng Tat has also been invited to provide lectures to various government linked agencies including the Royal Malaysian Navy and the combined armed forces. He has also conducted training for news and media agencies including Oriental Daily News, The Borneo Post and See Hua Daily News in respect of the laws of defamation. Keng Tat is also an Independent Director of a public listed company and is also a Committee Member of the Legal, Regulatory & Dispute Resolution Committee of the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM).

Louise Azmi

Louise Azmi was a Barrister in the UK from 2004 until she relocated to Malaysia in 2015. Louise was subsequently called to the Malaysian Bar, and now has her own practice in Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, and is a door tenant at 2 King’s Bench Walk, London. Louise is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators. She is also a qualified adjudicator and mediator.

Louise has extensive experience as a trial and appellate lawyer in both Malaysia and the UK. She undertakes work across a broad range of specialisms, including cases involving constitutional and administrative law, environmental law, construction, including oil and gas, and general civil litigation.

Louise is the co-author of Practice and Procedure of Mediation (Thompson Reuters 2020), and a contributor to Practice and Law of Construction Law Malaysia (Sweet and Maxwell 2021).

Petra B.A. Oon

Petra B.A. Oon is a partner at Petra B.A. Oon Advocated & Solicitors and has been in active legal practice for more than 30 years. She obtained her B.A. (Hons) degree in Law & Economics from Bournemouth University, UK and was called to the English Bar in 1985, and admitted to the Malaysian Bar in 1986 and to the Singapore Bar in 1994.

She is an accredited mediator and empanelled with the Malaysian Mediation Centre (MMC) and the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC), Malaysia since 2002 and 2013 respectively. She currently sits in the Bar Council’s Mediation Committee and is also an accredited mediation trainer.

She has been in mediation practice since 2002 and has gained much experience in mediating in the areas of Contractual, Joint Ventures, Partnerships, Land and Estate & Probate disputes.

Her other notable achievements include being elected to serve as Chairman of the Penang Bar (2002-2004), Penang Bar’s Representative to the Bar Council (2004-2006), President of the National Council of Women’s Organisation (NCWO) Penang Branch (2007-2009) and President of the Federation of Women Lawyers, Penang (1994-2000; 2006-2010, 2012-2021).

Samrith Kaur

Samrith Kaur, is an advocate and solicitor and the Managing Partner at Messrs. Samrith Sanjiv & Partners in Kuala Lumpur. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Coventry, United Kingdom and secured her Certificate of Legal Practice at the University of Malaya. She also holds a Master degree in Law from University of Malaya where one of her areas of interest was in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom and with the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators. She was past Vice Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Kuala Lumpur Branch (2012-2014) and currently the President of Sports Law Association Malaysia (SLAM) (2020-2023). She was appointed as a panel of three-member arbitrators for the first time in the history of the SEA Games during the 29th SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur in 2017.

Samrith is a Certified Mediator and is on the panel of Bar Council Malaysian Mediation Centre (MMC) and as Arbitrator, Mediator and Adjudicator on the panel of Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (AIADR) and Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC). She is also a Domain Name Dispute Resolution Panellist with AIAC and Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre in Hong Kong and recently a Panellist with SIDREC and Thai Arbitration Centre.

Besides actively employing her mediation skills in her legal practise, Samrith frequently delivers talks and lectures to professional bodies and at international conferences. She is also actively involved in providing training to several professional bodies on ADR. She has co-authored a handbook on Practice & Procedure of Mediation and published several articles in law journals.