This month marks the 13th year of my admission to the Malaysian Bar.

On paper, my journey has been rather linear.

However, it was a journey I almost didn’t take.

My journey brought me from a small town to the capital of Malaysia for my A-levels, to Sheffield, UK for my law degree and then London for Bar Vocational Course and back again in Kuala Lumpur for my law practice. It was probably quite similar to other Malaysian lawyers who studied in the UK.

However, studying for a law degree in the UK was not part of my plan. It was not something my financial background could afford.

There was no lawyer in my working-class family and at that time, none of us could imagine having a lawyer in the family.

I submitted the UCAS application late. I just wanted to see which universities I could gain admission into.

With the currency exchange rate, I did not think it would be possible to study in the UK.

Studying in the UK and becoming a lawyer seemed like a dream.

My alma mater offered me a place and sent me the university admission handbook which contained information on available scholarships.

I took my seemingly impossible dream one step further. I applied for a scholarship. I had to write a personal statement for the scholarship application. The application form was in hard copy. I remember trying to squeeze in handwritten words into the limited space on the application form to tell my story.

Serendipity played a large part in deciding where I did my law degree. I got the scholarship I applied for.

For anyone who aspires to be a lawyer but is limited by personal circumstances, Malcolm Gladwell said this in his book “Outliers”:

“A lesson crucial to those who wanted to tackle the upper reaches of a profession like law or medicine: if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.”

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This post was first posted on Linkedin on 22 October 2021.