S1E101: Singapore lawyers are facing bullying and burnout, why hasn’t anything changed in 30 years?

Are Singapore’s lawyers doing ok? The Legal Profession Sustainability Study, which was released on June 23, suggests that lawyers were leaving the profession because of toxic bosses, inflexible court timelines, punishing deadlines and the constant need to be available 24/7. These are just some of the grievances aired in the study, which had 31 in-depth interviews with former judges, legal academics and lawyers from diverse types of firms. There was also a survey done with 855 practising and former lawyers. What is the cost of becoming a lawyer in Singapore, and is it worth it any more? If these issues have been raised for more than 30 years, will this study change anything? In this episode, I speak with: • Zhang Yu Fu, a junior lawyer at Dentons Rodyk, who was called to the bar in April 2026 and took part in the study, and • Wong Yi, the General Counsel for construction company Lum Chang Holdings, and previously worked for one of Singapore’s Big Four law firms. He was also the chairman of the Young Lawyers Committee for The Law Society of Singapore from 2014 to 2019. Highlights (click/tap above): 2:23 A decades-old problem that hasn’t changed 4:50 “What’s so wrong with being a strawberry?”: Yu Fu 10:28 Trained through “sheer obedience” 15:08 How young lawyers navigate bad bosses 17:06 Any incentive for senior lawyers to change? 21:13 Generational gap between older and younger lawyers 28:34 Judge wants lawyers to drink from a straw 32:55 “Role models” for working through childbirth 34:44 No real consequences for workplace bullying 37:18 Why lawyers leaving the profession matters 40:40 “Why can’t we do better?”: Yu Fu Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah ([email protected]) Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str.sg/8KNT Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/v6DN Filmed by: Studio+65 Edited by: Eden Soh & Natasha Liew Executive producer: Danson Cheong Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law & Zachary Lim Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday: Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast Feedback to: [email protected] --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX -- #tup #tuptrfSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.