Long-time volunteer with Pro Bono SG, Cai Chengying, knows the charity’s main office in the State Courts can be inaccessible and intimidating for some clients. So, as the organisation’s new Head of Strategy and Impact Evaluation, she plans to build more community law centres in the heartlands to improve access to justice for all.
When former litigator Cai Chengying left her full-time job in private practice for full-time motherhood, she didn’t imagine her new office when she returned to the workforce to be in a small container at a temple in a sleepy Hougang estate – a stark difference from her previous swanky workplaces in Raffles Place.
The community law centre at Tian De Temple along Hougang Avenue 5 is the first such facility of Pro Bono SG – a registered charity and wholly owned subsidiary under the Law Society of Singapore that provides legal advice and representation for the underprivileged.
And Cai, as the first Head of Community Lawyering for the charity, oversaw the centre’s launch in January last year.
Beside the 36-year-old’s desk, a tiny window overlooks a public car park and a void deck coffee shop opposite the temple – which has served as an “informal waiting lobby” for clients due to the cramped space and lack of privacy in the two containers. In turn, the coffee shop has also told several customers about the services provided by the centre.
“This was something that wasn’t apparent to me in private practice, but in solving a legal problem, it’s not just the lawyer that’s the greatest asset,” Cai said.
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