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Amanda Chong

Deputy Senior State Counsel (International Affairs Division) at Attorney-General's Chambers, Singapore

Amanda Chong is a lawyer with a strong background in international law, criminal justice, and public policy.

She specialized in international human rights during her time at Harvard Law School, focusing on trafficking in persons and gender justice.

Amanda has served as an expert at the UN Expert Group Meeting on the international legal definition of trafficking in persons in November 2016.

Apart from her legal career, Amanda is also a published poet, with her collection 'Professions' being shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize in 2018.

She is actively involved in community work and is the co-founder of ReadAble, a non-profit organization that provides weekly English literacy classes for children and migrant women in a low-income neighborhood.

Amanda holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from Harvard Law School and a Master of Arts (MA) in Law from the University of Cambridge.

Her professional experience includes roles as Deputy Senior State Counsel in the International Affairs Division and Deputy Public Prosecutor/State Counsel in the Criminal Justice Division at the Attorney-General's Chambers in Singapore.

She also has experience as the President of Cambridge University Lawyers without Borders and as an English Language and Literature Teacher at Raffles Girls' Secondary School.

Highlights

Sep 1 · linkedin

I had the honour of being the Guest of Honour at Raffles Girls'​ School Founder’s Day last week. 18 years after I graduated, I was greeted with big hugs from Deputy Principals Ms May Tan (in photo), my chemistry teacher who gave me my first zero on a test 😆, and Mrs Mary George Cheriyan my history teacher who indulged me by allowing me to write plays about women in history, instead of essays, as my graded assignments. 🥲

I wasn’t sure what to speak about as teenage girls face a huge deal of pressure, much more so than in my day. But a recent experience taking my first exam in a decade unlocked all the inspiration I needed. I decided to speak on 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗷𝗼𝘆:

“…There is a tendency for perfectionism in us RGS girls. We make excellence an extreme sport. 100% is never enough, we’re always giving 200%. Our toxic perfectionism manifests in a range of ways. Perfectionism can look like not being satisfied with an A-grade and berating yourself that you didn’t write “the perfect exam”. Perfectionism can also look like deciding that you won’t even bother trying because deep inside you are so afraid of failing.

It is a wonderful and worthy thing to pursue excellence. But our desire to be excellent can enslave us when it turns into perfectionism. It can make us feel anxious and hopelessly inadequate. Is there a way that we can pursue excellence with joy?

As I found myself hyperventilating over my own A-grade exam paper at the age of 34, I knew what I needed to tell you today. I did not want to tell you to be “better”, or to “strive for a brighter future”. I want to tell you that you are worthy, just as you are.

Much has been said about RGS girls as “Daughters of a Better Age”. But let’s put the “Better Age” aside for today, because I want to focus on your identity as 𝘋𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. Understanding you are a daughter is the key to pursuing excellence with joy. There are three reasons for this…”

Read my full speech here: https://lnkd.in/gjazfVkX 💫

Amanda Chong
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Location

Singapore