February Person of the Month – Long Mohd Noor Adman

Long Mohd Noor Adman, when he was serving on the Orientation Week Committee

One of the funniest, punniest and friendliest faces in the faculty, Long Mohd Noor Adman (commonly known as Long) was the Director of UM Moot Club for the academic year of 2015/16. Currently a final year law student, Long plays an active role in the faculty and has contributed to many projects such as the Orientation Week Committee, UM Mock Trial, and ALSA UM Tie-riffic Run among others. However, his potent feature remains to be his wit and optimism which largely contributed to the success of the UM Moot Club during his tenure.

Established in 2011, the UM Moot Club has grown by leaps and bounds under the capable leadership of 5 distinct leaders with Long himself being the fourth. He credits ex-Law Society president and friend Mohamad Zufarsyah as the inspiration behind the formulation of his own leadership style. From that, he learned to base his decisions on conscience above all other considerations. To him, a good leader should always inspire his subordinates instead of relying on orders.
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Known as one of the backbones of the faculty, the UM Moot Club has helped to facilitate student participation in an extensive variety of prestigious mooting competitions such as the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition, International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition (IHL), UM-NUS Moot Competition and Thomas Philip-Novice Arbitration Mooting Competition (NAMCO), to name a few. Besides that, the Moot Club is also active in organizing Mooting workshops such as ‘Route2Moot’ and internal competitions such as the annual Internal Moot Competition (IMC) to initiate interested members of the faculty into the world of Mooting.

‘Route2Moot’ is one of the most anticipated events held by the UM Moot Club, where accomplished mooters are invited to train young and budding mooters in the UM law faculty

During his tenure, Long and his team worked hard to expand the range of Moot Competitions available to students of the faculty. Among the new additions of Moot Competitions introduced by Long and his team during his tenure are the Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot, International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot Competition (IMLAM), International Criminal Court Moot Competition (ICC) and Tun Suffian Moot Competition (TSMC).
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This is both a significant and meaningful development to Long and his team as not only does it provide a wider platform which allows more students to try their hands at mooting and the opportunity to showcase their expertise in a diverse range of laws, but also enables the faculty to better scout fresh talents. Most importantly, the growth of UM Moot Club also promptly stimulated the mooting culture among law students in the faculty, who more often than not, deems the experience daunting and thus shy away from participation.

Caption: Ever supportive, dependable, and eager to help, the UM Moot Club is the main support system for mooters in the UM law faculty

“Work hard, play hard” is a motto Long shares fondly with his members. As a leader, he strives to create a warm environment for his team to work in, driven by passion, while personally engaging with each and every member to ensure that everyone plays an active role in the team. One of the club’s most notable achievements during his tenure was the successful  hosting of the inaugural Tun Suffian Moot Competition (TSMC) in the UM Law Faculty. A collaboration with the Tun Suffian Foundation, the Competition was regarded as a huge success and was well received by members of the legal fraternity, with its unique focus on Malaysian Constitutional Law.

Among the many challenges faced by the club, funding issues and the difficult task of securing judges for rounds as well as volunteers for competitions and events topped the list. Long recounted an episode where the team experienced sleepless nights trying to generate sufficient funds to organize not one but two back-to-back events during the earlier stages of him heading UM Moot Club. “I lost 4 kilograms just like that,” he remarked with a smirk. When asked how he coped with the pressure, he answers pep-talks with his Vice-Director and dear friend Shahira Zulkifli, who was nothing less than a fine mentor to him.

Tun Suffian Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition 2016 was the first national-level Constitutional Law themed moot competition in Malaysia and was well celebrated by members of the legal fraternity.

He also reminisced on moments of doubt, where he questioned his capability to head the club at first due to his lack of mooting experiences. However, the team pointed out to him that this fact was a boon rather than a bane as it allowed him to review the elements from a different perspective. With much encouragement from his team members (or rather, ‘family’ members) and outstanding reception from members of the faculty, Long was motivated to serve the faculty to his very best.

Long credits the success of his tenure to how close-knit his team was. This was achieved by active efforts to keep the disparity in the team to a minimum. “I made sure that there was no drama between the members. Only passion and patience.” he said. Last but not least, he would like to express gratitude to his team members and close friends Shahira Zulkifli, Benedict Ngoh, Marco Isidor Tan, Nuraini Lau, Cheong Sue Fyenn and Agnes Tan who stuck by his side through laughter and tears and for making him the person he is today.

Today Long remains actively involved in the faculty as an Ex-Officio of the current board of UM Moot Club of session 2016/17 as well as an active member of the university’s Legal Aid Clinic (KBGUM). During his leisure time, being a people person, he fancies getting to know people, most likely over a cup of coffee or two.

Long flanked by his trusted committee members, making up the Board of UM Moot Club of session 2015/16.