April Person of the Month - Ashley Tay Suet Yee

Ashley Tay Suet Yee or better known as Ashley

Ashley Tay Suet Yee, or better known to the members of the faculty as Ashley, is a final year law student at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya. Looking back on her four years in law school, Ashley is widely known as an energetic, approachable and warm individual who has had outstanding achievements. Not only is she a renowned mooter, she has a significant presence in the faculty as a member of the UM Law Society, the Director of Moot Club, and having been part of the orientation week program for three years consecutively. Ashley also loves to expand her skill set beyond activities within the faculty and has been involved in many projects outside the faculty.

Ashley started her mooting experience in her second year, where she and her team represented the university and country at the Oxford Intellectual Property Moot Competition 2016. Through rigorous training, her team’s memorial was successfully chosen among 48 teams around the world, and the UM team was among the final 24 teams that proceeded to Oxford University in England to compete. As the underdogs, Ashley’s team finished the competition on a relatively high note with the “Spirit of the Moot Award” commending their outstanding passion and capabilities. Ashley then continued her mooting journey in the Cyber Law Moot Competition 2017. Despite her busy tenure as the Moot Club Director, Ashley laboured through the moot competition and her team was crowned champion and also winner of the “Best Memorial Award”. Additionally, Ashley was named the best oralist of the competition. She has also recently been selected for the International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot Competition 2018 and will represent the University at the international rounds in Brisbane, Australia later this year.

Ashley and her Oxford IP teammates at international rounds at England

During the interview, Ashley talked about her mooting experience beyond the competition itself. She noted how she learned the value of teamwork and how different individuals have different methods of preparing. She stated that this a challenge all teams have to face, but once one embraces the differences and believes in the team, mooting teammates become family- she is extremely proud of all she and her team went through. Thus, Ashley advises that mooting is a tough journey but a worthwhile one and she encourages the culture of mooting. She added, “Mooting is beyond preparing memorials and having oral trainings, it is a gathering of students that ultimately become family”.

Ashley and her Cyber Law teammates, champions of the tournament

Apart from mooting, Ashley is a dedicated and proven leader, in her first year itself, Ashley was in the publicity bureau of the UM Law Society and spearheaded the marketing division of the Law Career Convention, one of the faculty’s biggest events. She then proceeded to advance the mooting culture in the faculty by serving as the Moot Club Director in her third year. Ashley described her tenure as one where her team tirelessly had workshops for mooting and expanded more moot competitions in the faculty. It was during her tenure that the Novice Mooting Competition was introduced. She added that she was grateful for a wonderful team and all the achievements were made possible thanks to them. Ashley was very involved in the Orientation Week program. She was Head of the Student Welfare Bureau in the 2017/2018 edition. Ashley believes that apart from exposing freshman to expectations and mechanics of law school, seniors best impact the juniors in coping with all the expectations in law school. Orientation helps juniors to approach seniors better.

Ashley as Moot Club Director with her Board

Ashely is also very passionate outside the law faculty. From the beginning, she always had an eye for education and had involved herself in many programs to help the underprivileged get better education. She took a course on Special Child Education and interned at the Wisma Harapan School where she helped facilitate education for children with autism, down syndrome and cerebral palsy. She believes that legal knowledge is an important tool to advance better educational policies that can best impact the society.

Ashley as head of Student Welfare Bureau for Orientation Week 2017/2018

Speaking of her passion for teaching, Ashley also acted as the mentor for one of the teams that participated in the 2018 Novice Arbitration Moot Competition (NAMCO). Being a mooter who started from the bottom, Ashley is very thankful to all her mentors who helped her overcome her problems with language and gave her confidence to become a good mooter. Ashley wishes to do the same for her juniors before her time in law school comes to an end- she could not be happier when her team bagged the “Best Memorial Award” in NAMCO.

Ashley with her NAMCO mentees

At the end of the interview, Ashley gave her advice on how to best maximise one’s life in law school. She said that we must expand our horizons and open up to all types of experiences. She believes the university is the best place for you to recognise that how different people can be and how important it is to embrace these differences. She added “Treat university as a platform to learn about people, go outside the faculty and maximise the experience that others can offer. You may find things that shape you into the best version of yourself”.

Ashley as best oralist for Cyber Law Moot Competition

Ashley’s time in law school had molded her into a dedicated, approachable and easygoing person. She encourages everyone to always explore outside one’s comfort zone and live through the experiences to become a better person. Four years can be short; therefore, never to let anything go to waste.
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“You won’t impact people from your achievements on paper but through your actions and how well you apply your experiences. Live to maximise your experience and unlock your potential.”