You have no guts to do my job.

I hate it when people think that my job is unimportant.

Sure, I get to go home at 530pm sharp everyday.
So what? Does that mean my job is probably not as important as say, someone who slogs it out in the office til 10pm every night?

I have a friend who likes to exclaim :-

"oh, you're SO lucky to be able to go home early."
"Oh, I HAVE to work this weekend."
" Oh my gawd, I am SO busy."
"Oh I do not know how you find time to do your Masters in Law! I have no time to even go to the gym!"

Which is usually said with a snide snicker, as if staying in the office til wee hours of the morning makes her job more important. or makes HER more important and wanted by her firm.

I usually retort, so what time do you get in for work every morning? 10am?
I make it to my office by 8am everyday. And if I were going to court, I am out of the house by 645am. And I do not have long lunches. I have one brief hour for lunch.

And perhaps, just perhaps, the reason why you are still stuck in the office at 10pm everyday its probably because you have bad time management. That you are perhaps working hard, but not working smart. And perhaps you're foolish enough to venture into corporate and conveyancing. Or civil litigation. Sorry, to me, that is just plain boring. It is all about paperwork. So, half the time you're seated in your office, reading through hundreds if not thousands of pieces of paper.
Interesting? Exciting? Important?

Sorry. Not for me. Paper work does not interest me. That is why I LEFT civil/conveyancing law.

To all those haters and snide remark-ers of how unimportant my job is :-

Have you ever stepped foot in a prison? Seen the prisoners? I have. And it is an experience worth redoing over and over again.

Have you ever consoled a family member whose husband/wife/sister/brother has been charged in court? Petrified that he or she will be imprisoned? I have. And it takes a lot of strength to do that.

Have you ever argued a case before a court about whether a man should be in jail for a few months instead of a few years? I have. And it takes a heck lot of research and persuasion.

Have you ever seen your clients in handcuffs and try to avoid the press for fear that he may be shamed? I have. And it is not an easy job trying to whisk him to another place.

Have you ever sat in the court for 7 hours sorting out your client's bail so that he does not need to spend a night in lock up? I have. And it is exhausting.

Have you ever talked to policemen who are trying to intimidate you into not doing something? I have. And it takes a lot of confidence and shamelessness to do so.

Have you ever spent a whole day taking pictures in KLIA, looking at the check in counters, baggage areas, officers and etc because your client may be hanged for allegedly trafficking in drugs? I have. And it is hard work.

Have you ever pored through pictures and statements to find inconsistencies because your client allegedly raped someone? I have. And I cannot afford to make a mistake.

As for making the decision to do my LLM self funded and self study, yes, I MAKE time for that. I make time because I do not want to be stuck in this country forever, working at 70% of what I am capable of. I want to venture out and be better.

Seriously, have you ever left the comforts of your office, and ventured out into the unknown? Criminal law is exciting because it is not about sitting in the office and reading through documents. It is not about helping someone buy a house, transfer a land, sue for money or help merge a company.

It is about life and death. Freedom and incarceration.

So if you think your job is SO important because you stay til 10pm every day in the office, then sure. I will let you have that.

Because I know what I do. And is it better and more exciting than yours?

HELL YEAH.