Choor Singh

Choor Singh Sidhu (19 January 1911 – 31 March 2009), known professionally as Choor Singh, was a Singaporean lawyer who served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore and, particularly after his retirement from the bench, a philanthropist and writer of books about Sikhism.

Born to a family of modest means in Punjab, India, he came to Singapore at four years of age.

Choor Singh Sidhu was born in Kotteh, Punjab, in India, on 19 January 1911.

He came to Singapore at the age of four years with his mother and sister to join his father, who was already employed there as a night watchman in a godown near Boat Quay by the Singapore River.

He attended Pearl's Hill Primary School and Outram Road School, at various stages walking 5 km to school, sleeping along a five-foot way, bathing at a roadside pump and studying at night under a street lamp.

He completed his secondary education in the top class at Raffles Institution in 1929, then worked as a clerk in a law firm before becoming a civil servant in the Official Assignee's office.

Encouraged by the Assistant Official Assignee, James Walter Davy Ambrose (who was later appointed a High Court Judge), to study law, Choor Singh enrolled as an external student at the University of London, passing the matriculation examination and intermediate LL.B. examination.

He completed his secondary education and took the Senior Cambridge examination at Raffles Institution in the top class in 1929.

There, he was a classmate of David Marshall, the first Chief Minister of Singapore; they became good friends.

Initially unemployed between 1930 and 1934 due to the Great Depression, he subsequently worked for three years as a clerk in the law firm of Mallal & Namazie for a monthly salary of 20 Straits dollars.

Thereafter, he joined the Government Clerical Services for 60 Straits dollars a month and was posted to the Official Assignee's office, which was in charge of administering the estates of bankrupt persons.

The Assistant Official Assignee, James Walter Davy Ambrose (later a High Court Judge), advised Choor Singh to study law.

Singh read law books in his leisure time and began saving money to study law in England.

One of the young Sikhs who founded the Singapore Khalsa Association in 1931, he served as its patron and honorary chairman of its board of trustees.

He also contributed to educational charities and causes, both Sikh and non-Sikh, and wrote several books on Sikhism.

In 1948 he was appointed a coroner, and the following year was elevated to the post of magistrate, becoming the first Indian to hold such a position in colonial Malaya.

This proved to be unnecessary; following a change in the rules, he was able to enrol as an external student at the University of London and passed the matriculation examination and, in 1948, the intermediate LL.B. examination.

However, he could not be called to the Bar as a barrister as he did not have time to keep the required dining terms.

On 20 May 1948, he was appointed a coroner.

In December 1949, Singh was elevated to the post of magistrate, becoming the first Indian to hold such a position in colonial Malaya.

He continued his law studies at Gray's Inn, and in 1953 was granted leave on a government scholarship to dine at Gray's Inn.

Choor Singh was one of the founding members of the Sri Guru Nanak Sat Sang Sabha (the Congregation of Sri Guru Nanak's Company), registered on 26 June 1953.

Following law studies at Gray's Inn on a government scholarship, he became a Barrister-at-Law in 1955.

After making four trips in two years, he became a Barrister-at-Law in 1955.

In 1958, he was appointed a member of the Appeal Tribunal under the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance.

He was appointed a district judge in 1960 and a judge of the Supreme Court in 1963.

Especially noted for his criminal judgments, Singh was the first Singapore judge to impose the death penalty on a woman.

On 11 July 1960, Choor Singh became a district judge.

In that year, he also published a book called Gaming in Malaya on the Common Gaming Houses Ordinances of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore.

On 28 August 1963, he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court.

During Singh's 17-year career on the bench, 105 of his judgments were reported in the law reports.

Particularly noted for his criminal judgments, he was known as "the Hanging Judge" for handing down a large number of capital sentences.

The Gurdwara Sri Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha in Katong was built for this congregation in 1969.

He was the first judge in Singapore to impose the death penalty on a woman, Mimi Wong, a cabaret singer who murdered her Japanese lover's wife in 1970.

Her husband Sim Woh Kum was also executed for helping Wong to kill the woman.

Following his retirement in 1980, Choor Singh continued his close involvement in Indian and Sikh affairs.

In 1994, the Sikh community bestowed on him its highest honour by inviting him to lay the foundation stone for the new Gurdwara Sahib building at the Gurdwara Khalsa Dharmak Sabha at 18 Niven Road.

In a 1996 interview with The Straits Times, he said: "I'm satisfied that I've made no mistake and that I've done my duty according to the law."

All the five judgments he wrote as a member of the Court of Criminal Appeal were upheld by the Privy Council, then Singapore's highest appellate court.

Other cases like the Gold Bars triple murders, the Lee Kim Lai murder case and Pulau Ubin murder were also heard by Singh, who, in all three cases, also found the defendants guilty and sentenced them to death.