His larger than life 'most famous criminal lawyer since David Marshall' public persona to the man-in-the-street is further highlighted by this article :
surviving 3 heart attacks already,
on at least 17 pills daily,
diabetic, operating on 1 kidney with heart at 20% efficiency by his own accounts,
collector of swords,
drinks whisky, vodka,
smokes 70 ciggies daily in his heyday,
Jaguars & BMWs, EPL lover & jam band singer,
'Live life to the fullest' type etc etc ....
Pray tell how all these make him a credible candidate to be the next SAA President - other than he is Loh Lin Kok's good buddy since law school days & used to be 2nd in RI cross country races ...
<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td class="txt-label" align="right"><nobr>Title:</nobr> </td> <td class="txt-body">Many talents, many hats: Subhas Anandan</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td class="txt-label" align="right"><nobr>Source:</nobr> </td> <td class="txt-body">Straits Times</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td class="txt-label" align="right"><nobr>Author:</nobr> </td> <td class="txt-body">Leonard Lim</td> </tr></tbody></table>
<!--EndNoIndex--> Legal News Archive
<!--lglcntbegin-->The apartment's oak door is opened by a maid as soon as the doorbell is pressed, and the first glimpse of Subhas Anandan is a back view of his wavy hair and bristly sideburns.
Switching off the television, the prominent lawyer rises from the couch, rubs his paunch, and waves you into the Leonie Hill unit.
The man who has defended notorious murderers like Anthony Ler and 'One-Eyed Dragon' Tan Chor Jin is not in his trademark black suit and tie ensemble, but in a rarely seen get-up of a plain blue T-shirt and black bermudas.
And gone are the piercing stares and stern demeanour that accompany his courtroom ripostes. Instead, the fan of American comedies like Seinfeld and Frasier gives off a relaxed vibe and quickly asks if he can get you a beer.
In the corner, a bottle of Absolut vodka sits in a wine fridge stocked with over 50 vintages, but he cradles a mixture of lime and orange juice during the interview.
Anandan has a litany of health problems that include the loss of a kidney to cancer in 2001 and a weak heart, which required having a defibrillator fitted last year.
He takes about 17 different pills daily, 20 last week because he was nursing a flu. All these, he says, are the results of his hedonistic lifestyle as a brash young lawyer. Every day, he smoked close to 70 cigarettes. And when he entertained clients, copious amounts of brandy were consumed.
But those days of 'living without responsibilities' are long gone.
Unfortunately, they have been replaced by stress, long work hours and leading roles as president of the Association of Criminal Lawyers and Cuesports Singapore. And these too have taken their toll. Intermittent coughing punctuates the diabetic's words every few minutes.
To his wife Vimala's dismay, Anandan, who turns 63 on Christmas Day, is considering wearing yet another hat - head of the troubled Singapore Athletic Association.
If he does take over from Loh Lin Kok, who has been at the forefront of the SAA since 1981 - except for a two-year gap from 2004 to 2006 - it would mark a return to a sport in which he enjoyed a distinguished career as a schoolboy.
Few are aware and even fewer would believe it given his current state of health, but Anandan was a keen, and exemplary, sportsman.
As a student at Naval Base Secondary and then Raffles Institution in his pre-university days, he was on the Combined Schools' football, cross-country and hockey teams.
He regales you with tales of how his teammates used to stop at Mandai during running sessions to steal durians, and how he used to jog between 16km and 24km every day.
'I once ran from my house in Sembawang to RI at Bras Basah to save on bus fare. But there were no showers at RI, so I had to stop.'
But his football memories are the fondest. The former national Under-20 striker once broke the shin bone of a Monk's Hill Secondary player, and the RI football master had to call the police to escort his team off the pitch for fear of reprisals.
Then there was the game at Farrer Park where he scored a decisive penalty for RI, despite a few hundred Beatty Secondary supporters jeering and throwing shoes and bottles at him from behind the goal.
'I scored, ran back to the centre, and two fellows hit my legs. Bloody hell. I had to be carried off with seven minutes left.'
In 1978, he suffered his first heart attack - while playing his favourite sport. He was turning out for the then-University of Singapore Graduate team at the time.
He spent 12 days, including his 31st birthday, in the Intensive Care Unit. Doctors told him that being a former sportsman made his heart used to 'tremendous pressure'. He said: 'That's what saved me. A normal fellow would have died.'
Most people do not take a light view of death, but Anandan lets out a long, loud guffaw as he makes the statement. It is typical of his attitude to most things in life, despite suffering further heart attacks in 1993 and 1997.
He said matter-of-factly: 'My heart muscles are working at only 20 to 22 per cent capacity.'
Ask whether he exercises and the response is swift. 'You want me to jog? Even if I walk I have to walk slowly.'
He still enjoys the odd cigar and glass of wine after a good meal though. Currently the head of KhattarWong's criminal law department, Anandan, who was born in 1947 in Kerala, India, and came here with his parents when he was five months old, admits he has other indulgences.
Swords of various lengths adorn the walls of his 3,250 sq m apartment - he has a collection of over 20. Smiling and pretending to unsheath one, he mouths the word 'power' when asked why he has such an unusual hobby.
'I had two in my office at (law firm) Harry Elias. People said I could use them to intimidate clients if they didn't pay their legal fees.'
Fast cars are another love. He drives a Jaguar, but used to own makes like the BMW 6 and 7 series; and the iconic MGB GT in the 1960s.
He may have been a hell-raiser in his youth, but he was, at heart, a mama's boy. Back in the 1970s, he owned a sleek Jaguar E-type - for just one day.
'I drove the car home after paying the deposit. But my mother looked at it and said, 'This one, sure accident, so powerful.'
'The next day, I returned it. I lost $200.'
Family remains a top priority. He insists on having dinner with Vimala, 52, and their only child Sujesh, a 20-year-old polytechnic student, on weekends. They usually head to Chinese restaurants such as Imperial Treasure at Great World City.
Saturday nights are also spent catching English Premier League football matches with Sujesh, who roots for Liverpool.
'I just support the winning team, my son says I have no sense of loyalty. One day, it could be Man U, tomorrow Chelsea.'
Despite his allegiance-switching in football, after chatting about the law fraternity, you sense that Anandan is fiercely loyal to those close to him.
He says the same of Loh, whom he has known since their law school days. 'If you're his friend, he'll be there for you.'
And it is helping an old friend who wants to relinquish his SAA post to someone he trusts, plus fond memories of those durian-stealing days, that could see Anandan throw his hat into the fray.
'I'm very busy, my health's bad, and my wife will be very upset if I stand. My friends and all in the office tell me to mind my own business.'
But then he pauses, lets out a deep sigh, and adds: 'But my nature is if I feel I can be of some use, I want to help.'
[email protected]
<hr size="1" width="50%">
<Anandan on medals
'They're all rusty already, they're not in the house.'
Asked where he keeps his running medals. He finished second in RI's annual cross-country championships in 1964 and 1965
Not having a cellphone
'If I carry one, I will be losing them like nobody's business.
When I used to smoke, I paid nearly $700 for a Cartier lacquer lighter, bought it on an impulse. I lost it and other nice ones, always, so much so I stopped buying expensive ones, just cheap $1 ones.'
Singing
'In 1962, when we were doing our O levels, the Russians just sent a Sputnik up (to space) so we called ourselves the Sputniks. Four of us. I and three others sang, and one guy played the guitar. The song that won us the talentime for our school was by the Blue Diamonds, called Little Ship Keep Sailing.'
'I still go to karaoke sometimes. Looking at the fellows sitting with me, if you sing any song, you will be better than them.'
Swords
'I had two in my office at (law firm) Harry Elias. People said I could use them to intimidate clients if they didn't pay their legal fees.'
He has a collection of over 20. He mouths the word 'power' when asked why he has such an unusual hobby
SSC v SAA
'They (SSC) are supposed to be helping national sports associations, not competing against them. What SSC is doing is wrong.'
On the Singapore Sports Council holding a rival marathon to the Singapore Athletic Association's annual event
surviving 3 heart attacks already,
on at least 17 pills daily,
diabetic, operating on 1 kidney with heart at 20% efficiency by his own accounts,
collector of swords,
drinks whisky, vodka,
smokes 70 ciggies daily in his heyday,
Jaguars & BMWs, EPL lover & jam band singer,
'Live life to the fullest' type etc etc ....
Pray tell how all these make him a credible candidate to be the next SAA President - other than he is Loh Lin Kok's good buddy since law school days & used to be 2nd in RI cross country races ...
<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td class="txt-label" align="right"><nobr>Title:</nobr> </td> <td class="txt-body">Many talents, many hats: Subhas Anandan</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td class="txt-label" align="right"><nobr>Source:</nobr> </td> <td class="txt-body">Straits Times</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td class="txt-label" align="right"><nobr>Author:</nobr> </td> <td class="txt-body">Leonard Lim</td> </tr></tbody></table>
<!--EndNoIndex--> Legal News Archive
<!--lglcntbegin-->The apartment's oak door is opened by a maid as soon as the doorbell is pressed, and the first glimpse of Subhas Anandan is a back view of his wavy hair and bristly sideburns.
Switching off the television, the prominent lawyer rises from the couch, rubs his paunch, and waves you into the Leonie Hill unit.
The man who has defended notorious murderers like Anthony Ler and 'One-Eyed Dragon' Tan Chor Jin is not in his trademark black suit and tie ensemble, but in a rarely seen get-up of a plain blue T-shirt and black bermudas.
And gone are the piercing stares and stern demeanour that accompany his courtroom ripostes. Instead, the fan of American comedies like Seinfeld and Frasier gives off a relaxed vibe and quickly asks if he can get you a beer.
In the corner, a bottle of Absolut vodka sits in a wine fridge stocked with over 50 vintages, but he cradles a mixture of lime and orange juice during the interview.
Anandan has a litany of health problems that include the loss of a kidney to cancer in 2001 and a weak heart, which required having a defibrillator fitted last year.
He takes about 17 different pills daily, 20 last week because he was nursing a flu. All these, he says, are the results of his hedonistic lifestyle as a brash young lawyer. Every day, he smoked close to 70 cigarettes. And when he entertained clients, copious amounts of brandy were consumed.
But those days of 'living without responsibilities' are long gone.
Unfortunately, they have been replaced by stress, long work hours and leading roles as president of the Association of Criminal Lawyers and Cuesports Singapore. And these too have taken their toll. Intermittent coughing punctuates the diabetic's words every few minutes.
To his wife Vimala's dismay, Anandan, who turns 63 on Christmas Day, is considering wearing yet another hat - head of the troubled Singapore Athletic Association.
If he does take over from Loh Lin Kok, who has been at the forefront of the SAA since 1981 - except for a two-year gap from 2004 to 2006 - it would mark a return to a sport in which he enjoyed a distinguished career as a schoolboy.
Few are aware and even fewer would believe it given his current state of health, but Anandan was a keen, and exemplary, sportsman.
As a student at Naval Base Secondary and then Raffles Institution in his pre-university days, he was on the Combined Schools' football, cross-country and hockey teams.
He regales you with tales of how his teammates used to stop at Mandai during running sessions to steal durians, and how he used to jog between 16km and 24km every day.
'I once ran from my house in Sembawang to RI at Bras Basah to save on bus fare. But there were no showers at RI, so I had to stop.'
But his football memories are the fondest. The former national Under-20 striker once broke the shin bone of a Monk's Hill Secondary player, and the RI football master had to call the police to escort his team off the pitch for fear of reprisals.
Then there was the game at Farrer Park where he scored a decisive penalty for RI, despite a few hundred Beatty Secondary supporters jeering and throwing shoes and bottles at him from behind the goal.
'I scored, ran back to the centre, and two fellows hit my legs. Bloody hell. I had to be carried off with seven minutes left.'
In 1978, he suffered his first heart attack - while playing his favourite sport. He was turning out for the then-University of Singapore Graduate team at the time.
He spent 12 days, including his 31st birthday, in the Intensive Care Unit. Doctors told him that being a former sportsman made his heart used to 'tremendous pressure'. He said: 'That's what saved me. A normal fellow would have died.'
Most people do not take a light view of death, but Anandan lets out a long, loud guffaw as he makes the statement. It is typical of his attitude to most things in life, despite suffering further heart attacks in 1993 and 1997.
He said matter-of-factly: 'My heart muscles are working at only 20 to 22 per cent capacity.'
Ask whether he exercises and the response is swift. 'You want me to jog? Even if I walk I have to walk slowly.'
He still enjoys the odd cigar and glass of wine after a good meal though. Currently the head of KhattarWong's criminal law department, Anandan, who was born in 1947 in Kerala, India, and came here with his parents when he was five months old, admits he has other indulgences.
Swords of various lengths adorn the walls of his 3,250 sq m apartment - he has a collection of over 20. Smiling and pretending to unsheath one, he mouths the word 'power' when asked why he has such an unusual hobby.
'I had two in my office at (law firm) Harry Elias. People said I could use them to intimidate clients if they didn't pay their legal fees.'
Fast cars are another love. He drives a Jaguar, but used to own makes like the BMW 6 and 7 series; and the iconic MGB GT in the 1960s.
He may have been a hell-raiser in his youth, but he was, at heart, a mama's boy. Back in the 1970s, he owned a sleek Jaguar E-type - for just one day.
'I drove the car home after paying the deposit. But my mother looked at it and said, 'This one, sure accident, so powerful.'
'The next day, I returned it. I lost $200.'
Family remains a top priority. He insists on having dinner with Vimala, 52, and their only child Sujesh, a 20-year-old polytechnic student, on weekends. They usually head to Chinese restaurants such as Imperial Treasure at Great World City.
Saturday nights are also spent catching English Premier League football matches with Sujesh, who roots for Liverpool.
'I just support the winning team, my son says I have no sense of loyalty. One day, it could be Man U, tomorrow Chelsea.'
Despite his allegiance-switching in football, after chatting about the law fraternity, you sense that Anandan is fiercely loyal to those close to him.
He says the same of Loh, whom he has known since their law school days. 'If you're his friend, he'll be there for you.'
And it is helping an old friend who wants to relinquish his SAA post to someone he trusts, plus fond memories of those durian-stealing days, that could see Anandan throw his hat into the fray.
'I'm very busy, my health's bad, and my wife will be very upset if I stand. My friends and all in the office tell me to mind my own business.'
But then he pauses, lets out a deep sigh, and adds: 'But my nature is if I feel I can be of some use, I want to help.'
[email protected]
<hr size="1" width="50%">
<Anandan on medals
'They're all rusty already, they're not in the house.'
Asked where he keeps his running medals. He finished second in RI's annual cross-country championships in 1964 and 1965
Not having a cellphone
'If I carry one, I will be losing them like nobody's business.
When I used to smoke, I paid nearly $700 for a Cartier lacquer lighter, bought it on an impulse. I lost it and other nice ones, always, so much so I stopped buying expensive ones, just cheap $1 ones.'
Singing
'In 1962, when we were doing our O levels, the Russians just sent a Sputnik up (to space) so we called ourselves the Sputniks. Four of us. I and three others sang, and one guy played the guitar. The song that won us the talentime for our school was by the Blue Diamonds, called Little Ship Keep Sailing.'
'I still go to karaoke sometimes. Looking at the fellows sitting with me, if you sing any song, you will be better than them.'
Swords
'I had two in my office at (law firm) Harry Elias. People said I could use them to intimidate clients if they didn't pay their legal fees.'
He has a collection of over 20. He mouths the word 'power' when asked why he has such an unusual hobby
SSC v SAA
'They (SSC) are supposed to be helping national sports associations, not competing against them. What SSC is doing is wrong.'
On the Singapore Sports Council holding a rival marathon to the Singapore Athletic Association's annual event
aiya, wishing him well too.... but not as SAA President...
