Court Recce

Quite a few members of our litigation team have completed the Mandatory OratOry TaSk (MOOTS). However, please do remember that 3 more members of our team, myself included, have not completed MOOTS. In fact, one esteemed member of our team has secured an opportunity to perform her oratory task at the Subordinate Courts this Saturday. I suggest we all make a trip down to the courts, if not to witness her MOOTS, then to conduct a recce of the courts where they will try Tatap (poor man, have you all forgotten about him?). I know the rule of the mandatory tasks do not permit members who have not themselves completed the task to attend performances, but alas, since it is going to be held in the month of April, we are pretty sure April will be coming and is indeed upon us. Not an issue.

(p.s. We are not known collectively by any name. The term Save Tatap Litigation Team is only for ease of reference. We are 8 separate entities. And we do not like to be reduced to a cursory " ... & Co". )

Sex change?

Here's something to share. Last semester, Mr. Yam Wern Jhien discovered that he was a Ms. Yam Wern Jhien under the Law Faculty's nominal roll. Feeling very perturbed and in a bid to change his sex from Female to Male, he went to the Student Counter, the Dean's office and finally to the Office of Student Affairs at YIH. At the end of the day, Ms. Yam became Mr. Yam.

Bottom line: NUS sex change services cheaper than Thailand. No charge.

Whee.

bangkok here we come

listen up guys. i have an important announcement to make. we are going to bangkok!! and i dont mean that hypothetically. i dont mean that in the event we manage to book tickets. i mean, on plain reading of my statement, we are going to bangkok! i officially announce that we have finally waken up our idea and our air tickets are being processed as i speak! tatap wake up and smell the roses. your freedom is near.

so each person has to pay $337. which includes
return airfare by tigerairways
singapore airport tax
3 nights at arnoma.hotel
2way airport transfer
daily breakfast

oh yes we leave singapore 6th may 8.35 am and leave bangkok 9th may at 8pm! woohooo!! we maximise our time there!!

woohoo guys.. our tickets have been confirmed and you should probably realise that it is $20 cheaper than the price i gave u all because my aunt managed to get us a $20 sneaky travelagents' discount of some sort. so i went ahead to confirm and didnt wait anymore. yay!! pls get the money ready by monday. i think cheque will be the best way you can pay. which is definitely ideal because all of you should go home, curry favour with your parents, get them to write a cheque for you and then conveniently forget to return them the money. *cough* i'll give you guys more details soon. but $337 it is! to bangkok!! are you excited yet?

common intention or no common intention, please dont go rob a bank in furtherance of your object to set off in search of great bargains in bangkok. i dont want to go to jail before i get there thank you.

Joint Liability

Hypothetical:
We are a group, with a pre-arranged plan, to save Tatap (poor fella). It is presumed that we thus have a common intention; to travel to Bangkok on our limited funds to do research on the community which Tatap (poor man) originates, in order to provide a better defence of grave and sudden provocation.

Now, what if, someone in the group commits a criminal act, in furtherance of the common intention? Ange for example, could hack into travel agency's computers in order to secure a good deal. Or maybe 우찌유 could fly into a rage and go to the office of Tiger Airways and create a nuisance, asking them why processing takes so damn bloody long. Or worse still, what if i commit a robbery, in order to pay for my plane ticket and hotel room?

Would the rest of us be jointly liable for this? i know there is no primary offence, as a group we are not committing any criminal act. but what if, the courts take a brand new "Pushing New Frontiers" approach, and view our common intention of trying to provide a good defence as a crime of some sort? we are, after all, trying to help someone who killed two people get away with just a jail sentence of 10 years you know.

It sounds highly unlikely i know, and there are many more factors to consider, like participation and presence, subjective and objective foreseeability, etc. Therefore, i hereby urge all members of the Save Tatap Litigation Team to pay attention during your Criminal Law LC1001 tutorial on joint liability, and report back on your findings. meanwhile, try not to commit any criminal acts, not while we have a common intention.

Today's new word: Processing

Does anybody know how infruriating it is to stare at a computer screen for 3 hours waiting for the word "PROCESSING" to end and go away? If only we had more budget so that we do not have to succumb to a website that refuses to load. Or a phone which refuses to be picked up. Dammit.

attention people please choose

*Clears throat* May i have your attention please. If you are part of the litigation team, it is your duty to read the following and faster chop chop kalipok make a choice. If you are not part of the litigation team, then please read the following and make your donations accordingly. Tatap cannot afford to wait.

AIRFARE
Being the cheaperonis we are, we are trying to fly budget. But those sneeaaakky sneaaaakkky budget airlines, always misrepresent their prices. Upon close scrutiny of their website i have come to understand alot. Let me educate you.

Flying by jet.star.asia,

Cheapest (but least time spent there):
If we leave on Fri(6may) evening, and come back on Mon(9may) morning, we pay $121 ($38 there, $28 back, $55 airport tax)

Most expensive (but most time spent there):
If we leave on Thurs(5may) morning, and come back on Sun(8may) evening, we pay $141 ($38 there, $48 back, $55 airport tax)

These are the most optimum plans i can come up with. Dont ask me about any other dates, they either are way out of our league or dont make sense at all. Trust me, i tried every single permutation possible.

Intermediates (not so much time spent there but substantial):
Leave on thurs evening, come back sun evening - $131
Leave on thurs morning, come back sun morning - $131

Note: all the prices above are not inclusive of the sneeakkky sneakky 500baht (approx 22SGD) airport tax you have to pay just before you leave thailand airport. So cannot shopshopshop until no more money okay, otherwise you kena stuck in bangkok.

Note note: some of you might gg the fact that, most hotels only allow check-in mid-afternoon, and you must check-out by noon. So please take that into consideration if you are the kind to gg about not being able to chiong into the hotel room once you arrive.

That is for airfare. So guys please decide which plan you want, how much you want to pay. as jack says, $20 more, gei gao meh...

Oh and melanie: i think you dont have to worry that much, i checked up on jet.star.asia, its a subsidiary of q antas and t emasek holdings so it isnt as chak chak as you think it is. Depart from terminal 1 of changi airport, and seats are assigned meaning you dont have to board the plane early to chope seats. Satisfied?

HOTEL RATES
Note: All prices below are per person, for total of 3 nights, twin rooms (meaning 2 to a room so no pnf-ing). Inclusive of daily breakfast buffet (melmel take note!! You cannot oversleep and wake up late!!) and airport transfer (meaning they pick us up from airport and chauffeur us there when we have to leave)

Cheapest-but-not-so-good-location:
Baiyoke.Sky.Hotel (4 stars) http://www.baiyokehotel.com/baiyokesky/ - $132

A-bit-more-expensive-but-right-smack-in-the-middle-of-everything:
Arnoma.Hotel (4 stars) www.arnoma.com - $167

damn-friggin-expensive-but-very-shiok-to-live-in-and-location-also-alright:
Amari.Watergate.Hotel (5 stars) you go and google it urself lah i cannot be bothered to find the link - $205

So how guys? Choose between comfort and location AND most importantly PRICE!!
In my opinion, arnoma's very shiok because next door theres a big hypermart and a sneaky underground market to bargain for goods. Besides down the road is mbk the shopping heaven (can easily cab there cheapcheap). Yup.

Oh yes i forget. Of course all hotels would have business centres and computer cum internet facilities where we can correspond with our singapore counterparts in matters regarding tatap. *cough*.

In Summary
If we take the $141 jet.star.asia. tickets, and stay at arnoma hotel, then it will cost $288 total. Should not think that this amount will be any higher due to any sneaky unforeseen costs, but guys do remember the 500baht u have to set aside for airport tax at the end of your trip!!!

Alternative
For people who gg the fact that we are travelling budget, here's a more expensive alternative. Package tour 4D3N with a non-budget airline (scandinavian.airlines. not bad, i've taken quite a number of times. got cute hot swedish guys (and of course babes) to drool over. extra entertainment!) at arnoma hotel. $356. (sigh..the prices just keep going up)

Yup so something for you guys to consider.


Please chop chop make a decision okay? zhiyou needs to book plane tickets (prepare money for him!!!) and we need to settle accommodation too.

the sacrifice

our finances are in the doldrums. no correction. we do not have any finances at all. and from the looks of it we are unlikely to get any. so here's the plan. i make a deal with the divine powers out there. i'll offer my favourite trips to hawker centres, coffeeshops and small eateries by the roadside as a sacrifice in return for the abdomination in the form of a sliver spoon in my mouth and condemn myself to fine dining for the rest of my life. i'll even throw in all the unhappiness, tears, compromises, fatigue from having to work and worries resulting from situations in which im faced with a dire lack of money or when family finances threaten to go down on me. i'll give up humble lodging for landed multi-storey opulence. oh bother, the large amounts of time spent travelling from one part of the house to another. but im willing to make the sacrifice. all i ask for is the world's sympathy. at this time, this seems to be the most plausible method of getting closer to our target amount. now if the rest of the litigator's would throw in their two cents worth (literally), we'll only have to worry about the remaining hundred odd bucks or so.

Defence submitted

The defences for Tatap have been submitted at 3pm this afternoon. All that awaits right now would be the court date which would be tentatively set somewhere in early May. Possibly right after the 3rd. In any event, the courts have, in an unprecedated move, decided to let the local Thai courts settle Tatap's murder charges. As such, we will almost certainly be flying to Thailand after the 3rd.

Obviously our main problem would be the lack of funds. Sigh. If only we had $936.85 to spare.

Oh well.

Save Tatap Foundation

Our deadline is approaching and we have realised that one of the many reasons why we have zero funds, is because we didn't really provide an avenue for potential donors to pass their generositiy on to us. As such, there is now a button (cute little button, I like buttons!) on the sidebar which will allow you (yes you, the kind gentleman/lady) to part with a nominal sum and aid us in our cause to get to Thailand and do whatever we need to do...

The target that we wish to reach: $480 (JetStarAsia air tickets to Thailand, we go budget to save him, if you want to make sure we reach there in one piece, please exceed this target) + $640 (Hotel fees, as budding lawyers, we seek only $20 per person per night to stay in at least a hotel with access to the internet as we'll need Lexis and Lawnet and most important of all, Google) = $1120 (We'll absorb transport fees, airport tax and meal costs!)

Tatap's time is running out, make a donation today!

Disclaimer: Donations not tax exempted.

We know how.

It has come to our attention that rumours have been circulating, regarding a certain member of our litigation team. Said member has been allegedly linked with a couple of esteemed individuals, fellow professionals in the legal community. Such rumours disgust us, and we refuse to be distracted from the primary task at hand, saving dear Tatap.

(side-point: we are in a dilemma. should we advise the DPP to the fullest of our ability, such that he can prepare himself against the available defences? or should we try to make Tatap's case appear weaker than it really is? sigh.)

The above-mentioned rumour is grossly untrue, and we advise the originator of the rumour to refrain from continuing with said rumour. Having done our research, we now know how to commit murder and get away with it, either completely (private defence), or with a short jail term (the partial defences). We are not afraid of using our legal skills on you. This applies to those who choose to spread the rumour.

In the wise words of another member of our litigation team:

"We don't want to hang you. nor do we want to save you.
Don't make us 300a you.
We know how."

Donation dateline approaching

As the donation deadline of Monday 3pm approaches, I am suddenly compelled (from looking at our lack of funds) to fuck care Tatap.

Then again, I don't speak for the rest of my litigating team. :)

someone tell me the meaning of saving tatap

now we've all been so preoccupied with "saving" tatap that i dont tink we actually realise that we're advising the DPP. what kind of DPP actually has to depend on the advice of the law 1 cohort anyway. and whats the point of analysing and writing out a whole lot of your own idealistic reforms when the guy who runs the system like a business wont even read it anyway. realise the futility of it all? and it has suddenly dawned on me that i won't get a rest from 10am to 5pm tmr (10 am if i turn up for lecture that is) because my TG has requested for an extra class before the combined class w zy's tg. now whats the point of that when i dont have time to refine and improve on my strongest argument. and what is the point of turning up for legal theory risking being called upon when i havent prepared for it. unless u call five minutes sifting thru ramraj's required readings and without finding THE required reading for tmr's lecture preparation. someone has got to teach that guy organisation techniques. and what is the point of typing all these when i no longer have the capacity for coherent thought.now back to working on the criminal law take home which will most probably end up in the trash some 2months later.

yes. save tatap. so i don't have to save him

Yes please help to save Tatap so that I don't have to save him.

Not when I am a mere year one law student, who has never managed to obtain an A.
Not when I should be spending my time watching American Idol instead of peering over red and blue books.
Not when I have to defend another poor soul, Ng Kam Yuen.

So please give me money so I can hire a proper lawyer to defend Tatap, inter alia, amongst other things. Hur Hur HUR.

Means to an End

We seek your donations. But do not think that we are beggars. We are also brainstorming about other ways to raise funds for use to help save Tatap (poor man). Currently these plans are under wraps, but i have been given permission to divulge the discarded plans, if only to show how badly we want to help save Tatap (poor soul).

1) Tatap Social Escort Agency:
We would provide dates for bashes, dinners, weddings, old school reunions, tutorials, lunches, toilet breaks, almost anything you can think of. But we realised there wasn't a market for such services. People need to have looks to offer such services. We CMI.

2) Tatap Research Group:
We would do your homework for you, attend lectures and take notes for you, go print articles and notes for you, all for a fee of course. But then we realised we needed people to do this for US! again we CMI.

3) Tatap Limousine Services:
We would chaffeur you around, from home to school, around school, from school to hostel, for supper, for dinner, to town, anywhere you require. But... eh wait. why did we discard this? ok this one i think we MI.

4) Tatap Fashion Consultants:
We would offer a variety of styles to choose from. We have consultants in styles like the "Granddaddy", the "PIMP", the "weird man in skirts", the "Christmas-tree-perpetually-red-and-green", the "we-only-wear-Zara-girls" and the "normal university undergraduate". But if we did, then everyone would look like us and the fashion police would have a field-day in law school.

5) Tatap Moot Consultants:
We would give you advice on mooting presentation styles. We have sufficient negative examples for you to learn from, including the smarmy-ah-beng style, the over-gesticulating-spittle-spewing style, the i-use-quotation-marks-in-speech style, and many more. But we realised that people wanted to see how to do it the right way, and not the wrong way. tsk tsk. owell.

There are actually too many flawed ideas to put up here, these are only a few of the most warped ones. so you see, we are working hard, trying to help save Tatap (poor fella).

This is also not the end, helping Tatap (poor dude), we aim to venture into many more distant lands, in order to help compile a report on different cultures, so that we can help others like Tatap (poor boy) in future, who may encounter similar psycho-bisexual-violent employers.

please do your part.
help us help him, help us help them
save tatap.

Tatap is our friend.

We do not wish to see him hang. To save tatap, we need money.

Money to buy that 84-dollar criminal law textbook which in my opinion ain't of very good quality (while reading Soosay v PP the page fell off before my very eyes!). We are proud advocates of the copyright law. We don't want to do photocopies. Don't make us.

Money for laserjet printers to print out criminal law articles. Try printing from your laoyapok bubblejet printer or even worse, try printing in school and fighting with the other poor computerless exchange students at the computer terminals in the library. Tehhh. Impossible. At 4.5 cents a piece, saving tatap really requires a lot of money.

Money for clothes and funky geeky glasses. Tatap needs to be represented by respectable looking counsels. Need i say more.

Money for our bangkok trip. Tests for the defence of provocation requires that we look into the background and culture of the accused. Excuse mee?? You think very easy to travel to small remote villages on the border of Thailand and Myanmar?

Money for our australia trip. Because australia's such a beautiful place. Especially when it's winter and the weather is cold and so absofckingly shiok. But i digress...

Anyway. Save tatap! Once again, i reiterate: Tatap is our friend. We do not wish to see him hang.

And yes, ziliang jackson and zhiyou: you guys are really greatly appreciated. Awww..

Save Tatap Foundation Issues Fraud Warning

The Official Save Tatap Foundation ("STF"), is hereby issuing a donor warning regarding potential fraudsters illegally abusing the name of the STF in solicitating funds for 'saving Tatap'. The warning below will contain helpful advice on how to avoid being a victim of such a fraud and we strongly advise all prospective donors to view this warning. The STF also advises people who are considering donating to our cause to be aware that the STF has the jurisdiction to investigate and impose penalties on individuals that are unregulated and/or are committing fraudulent acts in our good name. Do read the warning below:

The STF has witnessed increasing numbers, and a growing complexity, of fraud cases in recent days, including a sharp rise in identity donation scams. A new federal law enacted on March 07 2005, called the Don't Try to Take Our Money Act of 2005 (D'TTOM), makes clear that the STF has the jurisdiction and authority to investigate and take legal action to close down a wide assortment of unregulated individuals offering or purporting to obtain donations from the general public in our good name. In addition, the STF has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute such individuals occurring in a 500m proximity around us during lecture times.

In its separate Donor Alert, the STF warns donors of individuals purporting solicitations appearing especially in MSN, touting to be the official 'sponser' or to be a member of the foundation of which they are obviously not a part of. The STF urges the public to be skeptical of such claims and suggests some "red flags" to look for, (e.g. the individual not being a part of the eight contributors here) and cautionary steps to take (only click on the paypal link from this site), before parting with your money.

We thank you for you valuable support and have a good day.

Help Us Help Him

Tatap, who comes from a small remote village on the border of Thailand and Myanmar, is illegally employed as a construction worker by Lim. Lim has two other illegal foreign workers who all stay in one room in Lim’s flat. The workers are terrified of Lim who constantly beats them and threatens to report them to the Singapore immigration authorities. Tatap has twice tried to commit suicide and once tried to run away from Lim’s flat. He was found by Lim and brought back to the flat, where Lim violently assaulted him and threw acid on his hands. Tatap was so traumatized that he kept crying in his room for two days. On the afternoon of the third day, Lim told Tatap to stop behaving like a woman or he would treat him like a woman and make him his “wife”.

That night Tatap heard Lim laughing to his wife, Sheena and telling her how he had threatened to have sex with Tatap. Tatap heard Lim’s wife replying, “Well, maybe it’s time for you to get rid of that loser.” Sheena then left the house to buy some food. Tatap was overcome by mixed emotions of fear, humiliation, anger and desperation. He went to Lim’s bedroom to confront him. Lim saw Tatap and laughed, “So my ‘little girl’ has come for some attention.” Upon hearing these words, Tatap went into a frenzy and attacked Lim violently. Lim tried to fight back, but being under the bed sheets, was unable to defend himself. After bashing Lim until he lost consciousness, Tatap left the room.

An hour later, Sheena returned. She saw Tatap sitting on the sofa and shouted at him to get up and go to his room or she would call Lim. Tatap told her that he had killed Lim. Sheena walked up to Tatap and told him to mind his language, whereupon Tatap grabbed a nearby lamp stand and smashed it on Sheena’s head, causing a severe gash along her left temple. Sheena fell backwards, her head slammed against the wall and she slid to the floor unconscious. Tatap left the flat and was found wandering around the next morning by the police, who later went to the flat and found both Lim and Sheena dead.

Medical experts agreed that the injury to Sheena’s left temple was not likely to result in death. They found that Sheena had cracked her skull against the wall and that that injury was sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to result in death. The actual cause of death was determined to be intracranial bleeding, which had caused Sheena to die shortly after cracking her skull against the wall.

Tatap made the following statement to the police:

“Lim’s taunt had made me very angry and upset, especially following the constant humiliation and abuse during my stay with Lim. Where I come from, this is a terrible insult that can be offered to a man. I never meant to kill Sheena and only hit her because I hated her and just wanted to get out. Lim and Sheena are very cruel people.”

To give Tatap a better defence, we will need to travel to Thailand and learn the cultures of his people. This will cost money. Alot of money for the 8 of us (even by Airasia). Please donate and give this poor man a right to a proper defence.