We are proud to share that the awardees for the inaugural National SMU-SIMI CDR Award 2020 are:
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| Ms. Levin LIN |
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Mr. FOO Chuan He |
Learn more about each of the recipients from a short interview below:
"My interest in collaborative dispute resolution (“CDR”) began 2 years ago when I auditioned for the International Negotiation Competition (“INC”). I had the honour of representing Singapore at the INC 2019 after months of training. The whole process was very enlightening, propelling my interest in CDR. The communication skills taught was hard to master and the mindset shift that was necessary was not easy to make. Yet, this set of skills and mindset was what made CDR so attractive to me, it had changed my perspective towards various aspects of my life.
Wanting to play a bigger role in the CDR community, I joined the NUS Collaborative Dispute Resolution Club (“CDRC”). As president of CDRC, I had the privilege of working closely with SIMI, co-organised the inaugural International Mediation Competition in Singapore (“IMSG”) in 2019. Graduating from law school earlier this year, I am glad to have been a part of IMSG 2020 as well.
I am very fortunate to have learnt so much about CDR and to be given an award on top of all the invaluable experiences I had. Receiving the award has been nothing less than encouraging for me and I am extremely humbled to have been awarded.
As I continue my journey in law, CDR will always be where it started, and I look forward to contributing back to the community in more ways. One thing I would have changed – to join the CDR community when I was a Year 1 Law student."
Ms Levin Lin, December 2020
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My foray into CDR started when one of my Professors, Madam Eunice Chua suggested that I participate in the trial rounds for certain CDR competitions. Intrigued, I took that leap of faith and I never looked back.
My passion took many forms and my actions followed suit. It developed from self-improvement to propagating CDR within the legal fraternity and finally, impacting wider society. Beyond CDR competitions, I founded SMU’s Mediation and Negotiation club to raise awareness about CDR in SMU. For the local community, my teammates and I worked diligently to set up the SMU Pro Bono Mediation Clinic so that the disadvantaged can access CDR platforms.
To me, this award represents the efforts of my predecessors who have laid the groundwork and consistently supported me throughout my journey. Moving forward, I will continue to cultivate the CDR community as my predecessors have done and ensure that it is strengthened with each generation. Moreover, I sincerely hope that this award can serve to inspire my peers, juniors, and those around me to get further involved with CDR and develop it in the community.
Ultimately, my vision is for CDR to become the norm in the global community. I believe it to be key in reducing conflict and aligning common interests internationally. To those who are considering this path, I find it apt to share the quote that spurred me on in the beginning – “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)"
Mr Foo Chuan He, December 2020
Congratulations to both awardees on being joint recipients!