Passion is the Superpower that Makes Nuclear Time Possible: Mr. Francis Xavier (Singapore)

Have you ever wondered how some people find the time and energy to pack so many experiences and accomplishments into their impossibly busy lives?

Join Dr. Ramesh as she chats with a true polymath Mr. Francis Xavier, a leading lawyer and Senior Counsel, who recently ranked among Asia's Top 15 Litigators by Asian Legal Business.

Listen and find out how Francis taps into his heart to live life to the fullest. His secret Superpower? Passion! That's what makes 'nuclear time' possible and Francis compresses lifetimes into one exhilarating blend of demanding commercial practice in one of Singapore's largest law firms, playing with his rock band, climbing mountains, racing cars, starting businesses, saving tigers and above all, finding love and God.

To learn more about Entrepreneurship with Dr. Ramesh, get your copy of The Big Jump into Entrepreneurship 2.0 on Amazon.com or www.Dr-Ramesh.com.

Host: Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra, Author, Podcast Host and Founder of Talent Leadership Crucible

Guest Speaker: Mr. Francis Xavier, Regional Head, Dispute Resolution Group, Rajah & Tann Singapore

#EntrepreneurialMindset #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneur #Singapore #Success #SeniorCounsel #Lawyer #Solicitor #Arbitrator #Litigation #Arbitration #Rajah&Tann #DisputeResolution #Dr.RameshRamachandra #TheBigJumpintoEntrepreneurship2.0 #CrisisReadyMindset #TalentLeadershipCrucible #Thriving #AgeofDisruption

To learn more about Entrepreneurship with Dr. Ramesh, get your copy of The Big Jump into Entrepreneurship 2.0 on Amazon.com or www.Dr-Ramesh.com.

Host: Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra, Author, Podcast Host and Founder of Talent Leadership Crucible

Ho Lai Yun 00:00

Hello, and welcome to Thriving in the Age of Disruption. Have you ever wondered how some people find the time and energy to pack so many experiences and accomplishments into their impossibly busy lives? Today, Dr. Ramesh chats with a true polymath, Mr. Francis Xavier, who is a leading lawyer and senior counsel in one of Singapore's largest law firms. Francis recently ranked among Asia's Top 15 Litigators by Asian Legal Business and Aviation Lawyer of the Year by Global Awards. Interestingly, Francis also taps into his heart to live life to the fullest. In this episode, he shares with us his secret superpower. Join Dr. Ramesh to explore how "Passion" allows Francis to make "nuclear time" possible so he can compress lifetimes into one exhilarating blend of demanding legal practice, playing with his rock band, climbing mountains, racing cars, starting businesses, saving tigers and above all, finding love and God.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 01:02

Good morning, Francis and welcome to the Thriving in the Age of Disruption Podcast Series. We're excited to have you. It's going to be a ride, I'm sure, sharing with you and debating even sometimes. Francis, I've always respected you and your ideas about how to pursue as well as to enhance human potential so I'm excited to talk to you today. Well, start off by asking you to introduce yourself to the listeners.

Francis Xavier 01:30

Well, Ramesh, morning, I'm just a boy from Seremban. I used to be really into catching spiders and guppies from the drain. I've been practising as a litigation lawyer for some 34 years now. I love my job and life is great. Thank you.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 01:45

Wonderful. My father is also from Seremban, he passed away in 2016. I'm sure you have a passion around food, do you?

Francis Xavier 01:51

Of course, everyone does.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 01:52

Must be the food there. But anyway, tell us a little bit more about yourself. When did you move to Singapore and what brought you here? And in your course of work, what is it that you do?

Francis Xavier 02:06

I was having a pretty good time in Seremban, right. Being involved in anything but work or studies, running around, fishing stuff from the local supermarket, getting away with it, bullying other kids, basically trying to be a gangster, and I was very happy. And then one day, I had a very good friend, his name was Paul, his father was a civil servant. I was then doing my form fine, I was just happy as ever, I was turning out as best as I can, not right at the bottom of the class, maybe like just one away from the bottom of the class. And he called me and said, "Tell me son, what do you want to be in a few years’ time when you finish your A levels?" And then I said, "I'm going to be a doctor." And he says, "Can your father afford to send you?" He knew very well my father couldn't and I said, "Of course not." Then he said, "How are you going to do it?" I said, "I'm going to get a scholarship, what's the problem?" And then he said, "Son, I want you to take a few days. Come back to me and tell me which scholarship you're going to go for."

And so I took a few days and I was aghast, this was in 1980. I discovered there were no scholarships for a non-Bumiputra citizen unless he was a civil servant, so my best friend Paul had access to a scholarship. I was completely blown away. And then when I went to see him a few days later, I was crestfallen. And then he took out an advertisement and he says, "Son, this is your only hope." It was an advertisement for an ASEAN scholarship. And he told me it's very hard to get because in the last four or five years, all of the scholars have been from Selangor or Penang, but none from Seremban. That was a wakeup call, Ramesh. I temporarily halted all guppy fishing and spider catching. And I really studied and I had to go back to the previous year’s studies because it's all original. My father got a shock, what has happened to my son? He is now single-mindedly focused on school. And I just about scraped through and made it through that one scholarship. It was the only guy from my state to get it. And that's how I got to where I am.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 03:52

Very nice. I can hear two interesting things already. One is how you leverage on mentors; your best friend's father was an early mentor in your life. And number two is that you're someone who takes up big challenges. So when he posted as a challenge for you, you're interested and you generated all the rest in producing that result. It's interesting that you shared this because today, I wanted to talk about entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 04:27

I define entrepreneurial mindset as a mindset which allows people to be resourceful in life, to be able to deal with setbacks. And I feel that in today's world of disruption, that's a key mindset that we all have to develop, to look at uncertainty, to manage the risks, and to create value. What you did with getting that scholarship is exactly that kind of mindset and entrepreneurial mindset. So yes, you're a very well respected and admired lawyer in Singapore.

Francis Xavier 05:01

I hope so.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 05:02

Yes, of course, you're actually a Senior Counsel, as well as a heading up the Arbitration Centre, is it?

Francis Xavier 05:08

Well, I used to be President of the Global Chartered Institute a couple of years ago. But yes, I'm in the Arbitration space. Yes.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 05:14

Right. How do you see that entrepreneurial mindset of yours pan out in the different areas, not just in your career, but you're someone who has also gone into doing a lot of community work as well as philanthropic work, you have the eco-friendly hospitality business that you run as well. So share a little bit more?

Francis Xavier 05:35

Ramesh, I've never quite looked at that scholarship event that way but it's interesting that you say that. You know, all of us, right? And I'm no exception. I've stumbled many, many times. Looking back on the journey, I think you're quite right. What's at the base of it is- What is driving you? What is making your clock tick? What's right next to your heart beating away? And many of us, we are never free of it. It's a question of degree, many of us are plagued by the demons of self-doubt of not being good enough, or not having enough, of lacking, everything that we think is needed to be what we really aspire to be. And so sometimes we act, we get into new businesses, we get into projects out of that fear, the fear that we're not good enough. So what is driving us is the fear. And if we don't get to the bottom of it, then we are not going to be powerful. Because when you're driven by fear, it's like people who start a small entrepreneurship, they start buying stocks. When the stock prices go up, it's great. But when the stock prices goes down, they don't know what to do. They don't know how to cut their loss, because it's not greed in its own sense because you're so scared that you become greedy, right? The greed is being driven by the fear. It's just the flip side of fear, greed. So you don't want to let it go, you're still optimistic that the price will go up again, and then can lose really big time. So you act irrationally.

Francis Xavier 06:57

So when you're running a business, you don't take rational decisions, you can't be objective, this thing called 'failure'. You can't accept failure, you can't face failure, you can't deal with it, you can only deal with success. And that puts you up for failure in a big way. Because the decisions that you take are not going to be rational, are not going to be the best decisions. So I think it's very important that we get close to our gut as to what is driving us at a different level. Even if you succeed, driven by fear, you can. You're going to be terribly unhappy, right, because you are just not joyful. Being an entrepreneur to me, I now choose very carefully. I mean, if it just means more money, I'm not interested. Because again, it's being driven by a mentality of lack. There have been a number of things, we've gotten into it with a bunch of friends, one of the things we decided early on was starting a business, property business in Iskandar. It represented an opportunity for me to spend time with my best friends. Who cares if you make money, you know? And good enough, we have actually made money. But the biggest gift was that we've been spending a lot of time together. We have to have AGM. We have to sit around. We'll have the formal stuff for half an hour. And then we spend the rest of the afternoon walking around some foreign city because we've had a retreat. So I think you need to ask yourself and trying out new things is really an opportunity for you to grow, to expand, to experience, and be with the people you want to be with. And I think that way you can never lose even if the business fails.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 08:20

That's right. It's really great that you're now sharing about entrepreneurship. And from your perspective, that whole piece of being plagued by self-doubt and fear, and getting to the bottom of it to be able to own that, so that you can then be free. Because if you're not free, all you're going to do is make decisions because you fear failing, rather than making decisions which can actually propel you to success. And I love that whole philosophy that you had about getting into business with your friends, because it gave you an opportunity to spend time with them. A lot of us fear getting into business with friends, because we think that if the business goes wrong, then we are not friends anymore. And that has happened to me very early in my business career. But I guess it depends on how you come into that whole conversation and how you create that whole business itself.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 09:20

So let's move on to your social entrepreneurship because you've also got an aspect where you're doing work where you can't monetise it in terms of a dollar value, but you can definitely monetise it in terms of impact. And what had you start on that?

Francis Xavier 09:34

Ramesh, that's very interesting, the way you put it. The NGO journey for me started when I made one single paradigm shift in my life. So you've got your head, which is screaming at you, you want to do something, you want to take on something, you want to take on a new challenge, you want to learn a new skill, you want to learn a new language, and then there is this voice screaming at you from upstairs, "You don't have time. You're too busy. You can't do this. It's just too difficult. You're being selfish. Why are you focusing on this? Do something else! And you've already got enough cases on your table? What are you doing this for?" So the paradigm shift came about when, you know, the ancient philosophers say in one voice, right. In Asia, the way they say is, "Mind is Maya". In Sanskrit, mind is illusion. So, there is this illusion that's screaming at you and most of us take heed and we toe the line.

Francis Xavier 10:25

The paradigm shift for me occurred when I started putting both hands on my heart and listening to what's there. You know, I love the jungle, I spent a lot of time in the jungle in Malaysia alone. And I came to know the plight, I mean, it's staring you in the face, the tigers were getting wiped out, everything living in the forest. The forest itself was getting wiped out. And of course, there was WWF, there was all these NGOs. But who knows what is happening because obviously, they weren't successful. I put my hand on my heart, and it was very strong. And something there told me, "Get in there, whether you succeed or not, it doesn't matter. But every pair of hands help." And I found that there is a reluctance amongst people generally to start something anew. They're quite happy to tag on, maybe call up WWF and be a volunteer. But to start a brand new NGO, it's like too big a task but my heart was saying, "Just do it." So I just listened to my heart again, you know, upstairs, right. Very loud, maximum decibels on, "You've got no time. You've got too many cases, blah, blah, blah." So I say, "Thank you for your contribution," and I followed my heart.

Francis Xavier 11:26

And that's something I do with every aspect of my life. Now, I just follow my heart. And you know what, the voice upstairs has come down a great, great deal. Sometimes I have to strain to listen to it now. And that's how I started. There was a crying need. And I'll be very frank, I researched it and went up to the Ministry of Tourism officials and ministers and all, gave them a presentation. This was like 13 years ago and I told them how the tiger numbers were really dying out, they got shocked. The Tourism officials in Malaysia didn't know that the tiger numbers then was about 250 estimated. After 13 years of toiling, Ramesh, I can tell you, we've had some success, we've removed hundreds, if not 1000s of snares. But have we really dented poaching in Malaysia? No! But you know what, we just can't give up. I don't want to go to my deathbed, knowing that I gave up on the tigers or the crab-eating macaques, or anything that lives in the forest. It's worth knowing that I did my level best. Failure, who cares? Did you do your best?

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 12:25

Yeah, can you put your money where it counts, because what I can hear is that it's beyond the passion. It's like, you're there in the jungle, you enjoy being there. And you were engaged with life, and you started to observe what was really missing. And then you took on that whole thing where I can make a difference. You got people together, and you started. So deciding that you can do it, and deciding also that you're going to do whatever you can to the best ability that you can, was the only thing that you needed to do. You might not have dented the entire culture of poaching. But at least you started to make visible changes and improvements in terms of removing the snares so that the tigers are not entrapped and making the officials know what a serious problem it was. And probably now you have also young people who are part of that whole journey and who are being educated, maybe a generation from now, we'll see even more changes.

Francis Xavier 13:26

What has happened is that I've grown as a person and the NGO has now like 14 projects. We have preschool tuition centres, computer skills upgrading, seamstress training, and it's been fantastic. But you're right, the greatest beneficiary has been we who have been toiling. Next month, we've actually got a high powered European delegation coming, we're hoping to raise big money. And all we need is something to succeed, and we raise money, then we will be rocking. So it's like never giving up, looking at the next big thing that might happen. Don't worry about the 15 that never happened in the past. Just keep going.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 14:01

That's right. And that's what entrepreneurs do. They adapt, pivot, and keep looking for Plan B and Plan C, and they keep that vision alive. So thank you for sharing with us the various and different entrepreneurial journeys that you have taken, whether it's in your career or with your business or in property development, or even with the social enterprise.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 14:24

Francis, I'd like to move on to a new topic about crisis. And I define crisis as a setback. And I'm sure you've had to deal with setbacks. But what is it that has you look at a setback in a way that you're not going to give up, and to look at moving forward from that moment?

Francis Xavier 14:40

Ramesh, I'm sure you have a long, long list of setbacks. And so I've had my long list. Very recently, just prior to the pandemic. I wanted to help a couple. They were in the car business. And then you know, some years ago, their car business went bankrupt, and I wanted to help them. They came to me and said, "Look, now there's a great opportunity for a rental car business." So we started business, I funded it completely. And just before the pandemic, it went completely belly up, Uber pulled out. And then there was, like 600 cars on the island doing nothing because Uber pulled out. So I lost a million bucks. The more on the personal side, I've had someone I was in love with betrayed me. I've had a dear colleague in a previous firm who betrayed me. You have to move on. The first thing is to accept that you can try your best. And sometimes your best is not good enough, right, because we are imperfect. But even if you were perfect, and you could do everything and be bright, without failing, which we don't. Many times we fail because we take the wrong action and all that. Many, many things are beyond your purview, your power, your control. And so you will fail not because you haven't tried your best, you could have even done better, but it wouldn't have made a difference because others would act in a certain way, the business climate will change. So you will have to accept that people will let you down, forgive them, accept it, move on. You need to embrace life.

Francis Xavier 16:00

The second thing I think we all come to confront with is, when we are hurt, a wall comes up, we shrink.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 16:06

Yeah.

Francis Xavier 16:06

We become much smaller. And now we are wearing the dark sunglasses and looking around who is going to screw us up. We are no longer young so we've learned that that is the perfect recipe for disaster, if you live life with a small mind, with a shrunken mentality. The challenge has been, go to the next person that you fall in love with, and to trust them fully, and to put your well being completely in their hands, even though you will never know whether they're going to let you down. But that's the only way that relationship is going to grow and thrive and be great if you are in it completely. So I think the challenge with failure is to go past it and still give it your all even though you could fail the second time. Somebody could betray you a second time. So what? I'm gonna die knowing that I live fully, embrace fully, trusted fully, love fully. And you know what, fell painfully. The greatest growth, the greatest joy we felt came from a deep pain that we felt in the past. Someone one put it beautifully, "The hand of fate that gouges a deep hole in your heart when you get hurt is that same deep hole that fills up with so much of joy when you meet it." So there's nothing like it.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 16:16

That's right. I'm completing my book on Crisis Ready Mindset. And I have four steps. And I talk about step number one being 'awareness' that you know that you are in a setback situation. Number two is actually 'acceptance'. And acceptance is the hardest piece, like you highlighted here because it's about taking responsibility for that role that you had in that situation and being able to let go, and being able to forgive yourself and the other. And the third step I talk about is taking 'action'. And this is where the piece that you pointed out about how when you fail, a wall comes up, and you lack the confidence and you don't want to move forward and your world shuts down and it becomes small. But then how do you actually take that action? Because that's the critical moment, are you going to just stay on the mat being down? Or are you going to get back into the fight into the game? And when you start taking the first action, then you move on to over time into the last step, which I call as actualisation, which is that now you've actually created a new future. Because that whole crisis has become an opportunity to do something new, to embrace life, and most importantly, to learn something about yourself. So thank you for sharing that whole journey that you've taken with all the different crises that you've had.

Francis Xavier 18:52

Ramesh, it is a very simple equation, it comes down to the heart paradigm. So you know, when this girl I was in love with almost married, broke my heart, you move on. And then you fall in love with someone else, you could. One point of view says I don't want to be hurt again. But you see, at the end of the day, I'm answerable to me. And I asked myself the simple question, "When I die, do I want to look back saying I gave this girl that I'm now in love with my all? Or was I a bloody coward?" And the answer was clear and so you move on.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 19:21

That's right.

Francis Xavier 19:22

Who cares if she breaks my heart, it's okay. In fact, I'll embrace it, because that's something I choose. Fortunately, she hasn't and I hope she never will. But who cares?

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 19:29

Yeah, that's really great. Because in some ways, it's almost like you are naive. You're willing for yourself to be out there in the world. And it's okay because that's what you have to do. You have to trust it. I've had my share of crisis as well. But I'm happy to trust a new person, a new experience, because I think that's the only thing that we can do to be engaged in life. But I want to talk a little bit about this whole distinction between the heart and the head, and how despite all the training that you've had as a lawyer to be logical and analytical, you've had over the years the ability to start trusting your heart. I can see a lot of your life and your action, the results are coming from that space, the heart.

Francis Xavier 20:15

Yeah, I've always had the love of drumming in my heart. Ever since I was a kid, I'll go to a music store, and I'll stare at the drums. But it's too expensive. It's out of reach. But even when I was a busy trial lawyer, I was working like 14-15 hours a day and I would dream about learning the drums. And one day, I just said, "To heck with! I know it doesn't make sense." I just stopped listening to this screaming voice in my head. I went out and bought a drum set that cost a few thousand dollars. You've got no choice. You've got to sign up for lessons. So I signed up for lessons. And one day many years later, I was a crazy guy, performed a band called 'The Illegals', all the performers were lawyers. And we got invited even though I'm sure our music wasn't great because people said "Hey, this band are all lawyers, let's see how bad it sounds." We got invited to this event at Hospice Annual Dinner and Dance, it was maybe about 8 years ago and I was driving back. We had broken our record for raising the most amount of money with one song.

Francis Xavier 21:11

We raised something like $250,000 because the current Chief Justice, he was Attorney-General then, I had goaded him into singing a song on stage. The Prime Minister was there, Ho Ching was there, a lot of the top ministers, Teo Chee Hean and all were there, and we raised $250,000 because Sundaresh Menon who was there; Attorney-General sang 'Knocking on Heaven's Door'. I called him a few days ago and told him, "You'd better be familiar." Because I knew he likes to sing, he sings Delilah at karaoke's. So I told him, "You better learn the lyrics to the song, 'Knocking on Heaven's Door'." He said, "No, no, no!" I put down the phone quickly. And on that day, we ambushed him. Fortunately, he was familiar with the lyrics, he came up and he sang. That journey started because I listened to my heart. And you know what, being a drummer made me a better lawyer because I had to learn how to segregate my limbs to work independently. That actually created different pathways in my brain. I don't know how to explain it. But my speed, my computer speed doubled, trebled, quadrupled because of my drumming, when I could work on polyrhythmic harmonies, where I could split my brain into four. I still haven't got to fours, split to two, like when you're playing piano, you got to split your brain into... your bass, your leg is doing the tempo, right? And then when I just split it into three because maybe my left leg was doing special offbeat, and my left hand will be doing a clave. And every time I broke through that poly harmonic hurdle, I realised that my reading speed, my comprehension speed jumped up. It was like getting an upgrade for my computer. So strangely, being a better drummer made me a better lawyer. It's amazing, Ramesh, and it gives time for me to do other things in life. It's crazy. I would never have known this.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 22:53

That's right. So you followed your heart and discovered that you were able to improve the processing speed of your head. This whole thing about following the heart versus being somebody who is very much coming from the headspace. The bottom line is you kept practising that and it got validated that it was the right thing to do and so you could trust yourself 100%. Would that be accurate?

Francis Xavier 23:21

Yeah, very baby steps, right.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 23:22

Yeah.

Francis Xavier 23:23

How do you put your trust in your heart when, you know, we are all logic-driven? How do you ignore this voice in the head, which you identify with? But I discovered something else, Ramesh, which I still can't understand. I can't. It's like the proverbial ant trying to understand the Internet. What I discovered is that when you follow your heart, like you go into a time wall.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 23:45

Yes.

Francis Xavier 23:45

And then I can't understand the 24 hours anymore. Because I now have so many boxes being juggled on the average. It's all heart-driven. I really don't know where the time to do all of it comes from. But it all gets done. There's something mysterious about it. Because I've learned that time is not like a pandan cake, you take 20% out, there's 80% left. And I think the experience of it, the only way I can explain it. So right now, Ramesh, everything that comes onto my table or in front of me, if my heart says "Yes, I will do it." I'll never say a "No". And I just ignore the screams in my head, right. And strangely, for the last decade or more, everything that my heart wants gets done!

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 24:28

Right. And so you're pointing to something very interesting. And that's almost like you're being able to tap onto the willpower, which is beyond that whole logical frame of how you do things in a linear timeframe because you have engaged your heart now there's something greater, which is actually driving you to get this done.

Francis Xavier 24:53

It's like inside us, there is a nuclear energy tap. And most of us grew up, we can switch on the nuclear energy when there's a big stake, threatening to send us to jail or kicking us out of school, like the last day before the assignment is due, you got it done. You can't explain to me how you got all that work, thinking, writing, and all that analysis done in the last day, you can't. You'll never understand it but you got it done. It's like you tapped on to a switch deep inside yourself and unleashed a vast store of nuclear energy. And I have found that you can unleash that energy through passion. Let's say you're in your mid 20s, you have a date with someone you dream of spending your life with. And that's a very difficult day, and you've got five difficult tasks, let me assure you, you will get it all done and make it to the date, half an hour in advance.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 25:42

That's true.

Francis Xavier 25:43

That's unleashing something that the Creator has put inside you.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 25:47

Yeah. So we're tapping into a conversation here, which is really exciting. And it's about that human potential, what each one of us actually owns beyond the technology, beyond the education that if we can engage our heart and tap into that inner willpower, so to speak, we can make things happen.

Francis Xavier 26:06

And it requires you, Ramesh, to be unstoppable, to be so single-minded. The mind will say, "There's a brick wall in front of you", and you will say, "I'm going to keep going until my nose caves in." And then you will find lo and behold, there is no wall. It was all a construct of your mind. In order to follow your heart fully, you need to ignore all the screaming voices of self-doubt, anything that will hold you back.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 26:31

That's what a lot of people can learn, right? This would be your advice to young people to start following their heart.

Francis Xavier 26:37

Right. Right.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 26:39

100%.

Francis Xavier 26:40

You may not understand what's going on, let me tell you, you will never understand what's going on. I still don't understand what's going on. And I'm scratching on the doors of 60. But just keep going.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 26:49

Yeah. But the only danger I can see is that if you follow your heart for some financial or material pursuit, that's where you sort of trip up because it's a different ballgame. It's not driven by the passion. Can money just be your passion?

Francis Xavier 27:07

The challenge, Ramesh, is that are you listening to your heart properly? Many of us are out of touch with the heart. Many people I meet, I ask them a single question, "If there's one thing you want to do before you die, what would it be?" And most people will be like, "I need to think about it. Not sure." You know, that's crazy! You're just out of touch with yourself. I don't think the heart is capable of greed in the sense of "I want this because I fear lack'" you know.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 27:30

Yes.

Francis Xavier 27:30

That's really the language of the mind.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 27:32

Yes. That's really great as a distinction, the heart is going to be very feeling-based, connecting to the bigger purpose, maybe the bigger impact, or maybe it doesn't even have anything beyond just wanting to express compassion or love. That's what it is, or being connected because heart is all about connections and compassion and love.

Francis Xavier 27:55

The heart doesn't move out of a lack, you know,

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 27:59

Like there is no abundance. For the heart, it's abundance and infinity and all those things.

Francis Xavier 28:05

And distinguishing the voice of the head and the heart is actually a big journey. All the philosophers say the biggest journey you will ever make is not to the North Pole, or to the Himalayas, to climb an Eight-Thousander, but just inwards into yourself. That is where you learn to distinguish your heart from your head.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 28:22

It's interesting that you talk about the head and the heart. I have my recent book on entrepreneurship, The Big Jump into Entrepreneurship 2.0, I do talk about the fact that to become an entrepreneur who starts and runs a business, you've got to have passion because there are going to be days when you would hate to go back to work. And you've got to have that passion beyond just wanting to make money to get into entrepreneurship. Of course, if you are talking about entrepreneurial mindset, it doesn't matter because you can apply it in any area. But if you're going to be an entrepreneur, then I think you've got to also be able to use the head aspects of yourself in the sense that you've got to do a little bit of analysis, you've got to do a little bit of planning. Because if things don't go according to plan, you've got to pivot, adapt, work with the resources that you have or sometimes you don't even have it and you've got to solve problems. So I want to make this distinction at this point, because it can be a very costly affair. If one was to just go and start and run a business without having done all this planning, just doing it on the basis of following our heart or our passion. There was some statistics that I read about that almost 90% of people who start a business would fail within the first year because they were just pursuing it, following their heart.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 29:47

Where are you in your spiritual journey, and what has it been like?

Francis Xavier 29:51

Ramesh, I don't know how to put this, from the logic-driven scientific perspective as a star Bio student, I almost became a doctor. Now, you can approach life, thinking God may be out there, or maybe I'm an accident of evolution. But just assume for a moment that you are not an accident of evolution, that you were made wonderfully and fearfully, you have a purpose. And there is a Creator, who is there with a purpose for your life. And if you don't have a relationship with the Creator, you can understand that your life is going to be so much paler, less rich, less colourful, less joyful, than it would be if you had a relationship with the Creator. And I can tell you for me, today, I stumbled and went down the wrong path, and I finally found it. And I can tell you now the one thing that I can't lose is that relationship. I can lose my money, I can lose this lovely house that I built behind me, I can lose my career, I can even think of losing the great relationship I have with the girl I'm in love with, even though it's hard, right. But I can't imagine losing this relationship with God because it's like the master key that unlocks everything. I have a great relationship now. I have a great career; I have a great relationship with money. I have a great relationship with friends. I'm just so in love with life, all because I have a great relationship with the Creator. Before when I was restless when I was always seeking when life was just beyond my reach, everything was just beyond my reach, I was having a good job, I had all the material trappings but it was a facade. I wasn't rich inside; I was empty inside. I don't know how to explain it, and it all changed. So today, I'm filled with a piece I can't explain. And if I were to die today, it wouldn't matter. I would go smiling, you know. But I think that's at the heart of everything. Many people today are agnostic, they think God is an option, at least not for me, it's not an option.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 31:01

Great. So this relationship with God, if I had to describe it, do you say that it's a connection like that now you have this connection where you can communicate, or you can be reminded or you know that there is God? And before you might have known it, but you didn't engage in connect, would that be the difference?

Francis Xavier 32:15

Yeah, now it's very, okay. So if you entertain for a moment, the thought that there is life, there is good, there is light, that is God, then you also have to accept that there is darkness, there are demons, there is the kingdom of the filth of darkness. And so if you accept that for a moment, then you will know that the job of the Dark Kingdom is to deceive you, is to suck you down the wrong paths. So they will have messages like, "Don't worry, all roads lead to God." But it is the path down a dark hole. So it was only when I learned to separate the wheat from the chaff, that I could stay away from the tendrils of darkness. And that's when I got closer to God and found him. Because if you're deceived, and you're going down a dark rabbit hole, you will never experience God because you went down the wrong path and you've been deceived. But once you find God, it's amazing. Before people used to tell me, you know, some people are close to God will tell me they prayed and they were told this, and they'll come and tell me for you, you need to do this. And I did that. I'm like, "Does God have a DID?" I also want this, you know.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 33:22

Yeah.

Francis Xavier 33:23

Yeah, I understand it.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 33:24

Yeah. So now you have your DID with God.

Francis Xavier 33:28

I'll come back soon. Call this guy now. And then, whoa, amazing things happen. Yeah.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 33:32

Great. Before we move on to the next topic, I want to ask you a question. You talked about if you died today, you will be happy. You will be filled with peace, right because you're connected. So now what is that one thing that you may want to do before you die?

Francis Xavier 33:46

Ramesh when I followed my heart, you know the movie The Bucket List. So I have my bucket list years before they came out with this movie. When I followed my heart, every year I'll have 1, 2, 3 items on my bucket list. Typically now I have eight items.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 33:59

Oh wow.

Francis Xavier 34:00

So I have been feverishly knocking out, like planning an Eight-Thousander, diving with the bull sharks in the Beqa Lagoon in Fiji, and believe you and me, Ramesh, this shouldn't be on most people's bucket list, climbing on live volcano as it is erupting.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 34:14

Wow.

Francis Xavier 34:15

Going to the southernmost tip and climbing in Tierra del Fuego, you know, spending days with the silverback gorillas in the wild. I've ticked all of that off, now I still have things, which have been interrupted by the pandemic, by the way. Thanks to the pandemic, climbing this volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Yeah, I'm crazy about volcanoes, climbing down this shield volcano at Tat Ali in Ethiopia, which has a permanent lava lake, having a Boa constrictor as a pet. They're all still on my list. I realised that so long as you keep fulfilling your dreams, it doesn't matter if some of them you don't fulfil because you're in a state where you're so alive that nothing matters anymore. I think Ramesh, you'd be an expert on this, not having a sometime conversation about all the things you love to do.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 34:57

Yeah, so maybe what you're saying is that it's not that one thing that you have to do or even the things that you want to pursue. It's just giving your 100% in whatever that you're doing right now.

Francis Xavier 35:11

Yeah.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 35:12

Right, awesome.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 35:17

So is it possible to live a simple life?

Francis Xavier 35:20

I think that the life that we have, we are bombarded by marketing.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 35:25

That's true.

Francis Xavier 35:26

So, a simple life, I think, for me represents clearing of physical clutter. We use 20% or 15% of our 80 or 90% of the time, so we are filled with so much of clutter. We are bogged down by clutter, then we have the mental clutter. And this is something that I'm battling with, right. So recently, I made a discovery, Ramesh, let's talk about time clutter. I realised I wanted to do so many things. And I was constantly struggling. I'll finish the day. And I'm like, rest, I didn't get into my studio to practice this song. We have a performance coming up, my band, we are performing a song called 'Venus', new song that the band chose. And last night when I went to sleep, I didn't have time to practice that song or I didn't get a chance to read a chapter of this book that I'm wanting to read "Life Force" by Tony Robbins. And we are constantly trying to make time but the thing is this, there are many, many things that we do that suck up our time. So I realised one victim, I fell in love with the series on Netflix, and I realised I was sacrificing on average two hours a day of valuable, precious, irreplaceable time on Netflix, Prime Video, on Disney, watching all sorts of series, and I've now cut it. For two weeks I've cut it. And you know what, magically, I'm reading my books, I'm practising my drums, I'm still struggling because there's so much that I still want to do. But all of a sudden, the time has expanded. We have the stories, right, I really need to watch Netflix to clear my head and all those. A lot of cases. But it's killing you. It's robbing you of real life, of all the things that you need to be doing, experiencing, feeling.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 37:06

That's an interesting way of looking at time. I remember growing up, in my early teens, my mother would have a TV at home for six months, and then she will send the TV off. And the four of us would have no TV for entertainment for one year at least. And then the TV will come back. And it was in those months that we learned actually to pick up other hobbies, and to do things that we didn't normally want to do when the TV was at home. And so today, you're right, I have a kind of a detached relationship with the TV. Because if it is there, then I might switch it on. But I can do away without watching something. That's a discipline. So we can have a simple life and it starts with decluttering our physical, our mental, and maybe even our time spaces.

Francis Xavier 37:55

You need to distil your life into a couple of things that you're attached to. One of the things that drives me that I learned from my parents, from my dad in particular, was always to put people first. That has helped me make life very simple. When I'm doing a case and I get really upset with my opposing counsel, I'm reminded, "Put people first". And I will then act as best as I can, even though I'm upset, I'm angry, out of respect, and honour for my learned counsel or opposing counsel even though I want to tear his eyeballs out. And so life has become a lot simpler that way.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 38:33

So in some ways, this is almost like the core values. Right?

Francis Xavier 38:37

Right.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 38:38

You use that to simplify your life, to make decisions, and to live your life. And that is always "Put people first".

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 38:51

Is there anything that you sort of regret having done in the past?

Francis Xavier 38:55

Ramesh, I've not regretted, every person that I wanted to meet that I walked up to and got slapped in the face, I don't regret it. Everything that I did and failed fabulously; I don't regret it. All my disappointments and embarrassment, I don't regret it. The only things I've regretted are the things that I did not do, out of fear, out of just not wanting to be embarrassed, not wanting to fail. So I regret the things I never did when I had the chance to. Fortunately that ended at some point.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 39:24

Yes, that's good. And how would you describe 'Thriving'?

Francis Xavier 39:28

One speaks about the spokes of a wheel. I think you need to watch out for everything. I see a lot of colleagues, a lot of dear friends who are so successful, and so they are materially well-endowed, they take care of the family, they put everyone first but they are right at the bottom of the list, if at all. And so they neglect their own needs. They're running on empty. How can you be serving others if you're running on empty? I find a lot of people don't try to the extent that they can because they are not- You don't look at them and say "Wow, you're a ball of fire." So at some level, the mitochondrial output is limited. God made them a 650 horsepower car, but their output now is 110 horsepower, and at most when they push themselves. So that's a pity. So I'm a vegan today because I've tested it out with my own body. And my mitochondrial output is tremendous. So if you give me a bike, now I can cycle 160 kilometres. So if I neglected, then I won't have the energy to do all that I want to do. If I decide to tackle a very difficult assignment at 10 o'clock at night, I want to know that I'm sparkling, right. I need my mitochondria to be firing. So I think 'Thriving' means you look after yourself in every aspect, but your heart says, "I really want to do that Silk Road trip. And you might think, "Look, look, look, that's been very selfish", but it's not. That's the reason why your heart is screaming at you to do it. And when you do it, and when you come back, you're so powerful that you can help so many people and help yourself, and you're going to be so creative that you won't be able to recognise yourself. So 'Thriving' means, I think, taking care of yourself at a level where most people don't. Sometimes you're unstoppable in your career in serving your spouse, in seventh your kids but you completely neglect yourself.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 39:35

That's right, the two things that you talked about was, don't run on empty for yourself. And more importantly, whatever that you want to do, test it out, try it out. Why not?

Francis Xavier 41:29

It's easy to say, "Oh, my God, I want to do this Silk Road. But because I got to do this at work and do this for my wife and for my kids. I can't." Go past that wall. Ask yourself, "How am I going to get the Silk Road trip done in style, and yet get this case done with aplomb, and yet fulfil all of my wife's and my kids' needs?"

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 41:50

That's right. I think that Poorani is going to drop you an email to ask you how to do that. She's been talking about doing that for years now. I should as a boss encourage her to take that trip. It's been so inspiring listening to you providing us some alternative ways to think about our life success and crisis. I've enjoyed having you here. I've learned something. Thank you so much, Francis.

Francis Xavier 42:13

Thank you, Ramesh. You know you are a walking epitome of all that spoken about. I've learned many things from you in the past so I've been very happy to be here. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. God bless you.

Dr. Ramesh Ramachandra 42:25

Thank you.

Ho Lai Yun 42:26

Thank you, Dr. Ramesh, and Francis, for the inspiring reminder that we might all be capable of powers. We've never dreamt possible that each of us can listen to our hearts and tap into a special source of energy to become unstoppable.

Ho Lai Yun 42:40

Next up, Dr. Ramesh chats with another unstoppable individual, the Vietnamese elite athlete, Ms. Thanh Vu. Congratulations to Thanh who has become the world champion and first Vietnamese to win the Swiss Ultra Deca Triathlon, the toughest competition on the planet. In Switzerland this August, Thanh was swimming, cycling, and running for over 300 hours covering a total distance of more than 2,000 kilometers, which is 10 times the triathlon long distance or further than the distance from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. So be sure to join us again here on our next Thriving in the Age of Disruption podcast episode to hear directly from Thanh on what pushes her to top global level in these superhuman endurance sports.

Bio
Mr. Francis Xavier, SC, PBM, FCIArb, C.Arb
Regional Head, Dispute Resolution Group
Rajah & Tann Singapore

Practice Area:
International Arbitration
Treaty Arbitration
Commercial Litigation
Banking & Finance Disputes
Energy & Resources
Aviation

LLB (Hons), National University of Singapore
Senior Counsel, Supreme Court of Singapore
Solicitor, Supreme Court of England and Wales
Chartered Arbitrator, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK
Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK
Fellow, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators
Fellow, Singapore Academy of Law
Fellow, The Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators
Panel of Arbitrators, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators
Panel of Arbitrators, Asian International Arbitration Centre (formerly KLRCA)
Panel of International Arbitrators, Kigali International Arbitration Centre, Rwanda
Panel of Arbitrators, Russian Arbitration Centre of the Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration, Moscow
Panel of Arbitrators, Vietnam International Arbitration Center
Panel of Arbitrators, Center for International Investment and Commercial Arbitration, Pakistan
Panel of Arbitrators, Thailand Arbitration Center
Panel of Arbitrators, Beihai Asia International Arbitration Centre
Panel of Arbitrators, Maldives International Arbitration Centre
Specialist Mediator of Singapore International Mediation Centre

Francis is Rajah & Tann Singapore's Regional Head of Dispute Resolution Group, and he practices international and treaty arbitration and cross-border commercial litigation.

A veteran in the field, Francis has 33 years of legal practice and is actively involved in cross-border commercial disputes in the areas of corporate, banking, property, financial and investment related claims. With his substantial experience in dispute resolution, Francis has a track record of being involved in novel and unprecedented cases.

Francis is recognised as a leading disputes lawyer – Asia Law Profiles (2017-2021); Asia Pacific Legal 500 (2014-2019, 2021); Ranked Lawyers Chambers Global (2016-2021); Dispute Resolution Chambers Asia-Pacific (2016-2022); Best Lawyer in Litigation Practice, Best Lawyers International (2013-2021); Global Arbitration Review (2010); Best Litigation Lawyers in Singapore (2013); Asia Law Leading Lawyers (2009).

He was recently named as one of Asia’s Top 15 Litigators by Asian Legal Business (2021).

Francis is the winner of a Business Excellence Award (2019) issued by Corporate Insider, the Gateway to the World of Business and named as a dispute resolution star by Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific (2019-2020). He was ranked as a leading disputes lawyer by Chambers Asia Pacific (2020); Labour, Employment & Benefits, Who’s Who Legal (2016, 2018, 2019); Who’s Who Legal : Thought Leaders – Labour & Employment (2020); Who’s Who Legal : Arbitration (2020, 2021); The Best Lawyers Global Business (2020, 2021) Singapore; Who’s Who Legal : Litigation (2020); Who’s Who Legal : Commercial Litigation (2021).

He has appeared as counsel and has acted as arbitrator (both party appointed and presiding) in a large number of arbitrations (both ad hoc and administered including by ICSID, ICC, SIAC, AIAC, ICA, HKIAC, BANI and the Permanent Court of Arbitration).

Francis is a Chartered Arbitrator and has acted for a number of parties in treaty disputes (including several Asian governments). He is currently sitting as party-nominated arbitrator of a Mauritius investor in a bilateral investment treaty (ICSID) dispute with the government of India. He is presently assisting several governments in setting up their international arbitration framework.

He is the immediate past global President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and also the immediate Past President of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association.

He is the General Editor of two major publications - “Civil Litigation in Singapore” (Sweet & Maxwell, 2017) and “Arbitration in Singapore: A Practical Guide” (2nd Edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2018).

He is the Chairman of the Listings Appeals Committee, Singapore Stock Exchange. He is also the Chairman of the Inquiry Panel of the Law Society of Singapore. He has been recently re-appointed as a member of the Rules Committee, Singapore Academy of Law for a further 2-year term (from January 2020).

Other Appointments

Referee, under Section 43 of The Industrial Relations Act for a further 2-year term (from April 2022), Industrial Arbitration Court, Singapore
Board member, Russian Arbitration Center at the Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration, Moscow; and Chair, International Arbitration Committee, RAC
Member, Asia Advisory Committee, American Arbitration Association, International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR)
Member, Advisory Committee of the Centre for International Alternative Dispute Resolution (CIAdr), Bangladesh
Member, Indian Council of Arbitration, New Delhi
Member, Advisory Board, Kovise Foundation Conflict Resolution International, Chennai
Member, Global Advisory Board, Hyderabad Arbitration Centre
Member, Users’ Council, Singapore International Arbitration Centre
Member, Council of Law Reporting, Singapore Academy of Law
Member, Professional Affairs Committee, Professional Values Chapter, Singapore Academy of Law
Regional Pathway Leader and Faculty member, Approved Faculty of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK)
Member, CIArb Global Professional Development Advisory Group
Member, Panel of Neutrals - Law Society Neutral Evaluation and Determination Scheme (Singapore)
Member, Panel of Arbitrators, Law Society Arbitration Scheme (Singapore)
Chairman, Junior College Law Conference Organising Committee, Singapore Academy of Law (since 2009)
Founder and Chairman, Persatuan Kebajikan dan Pendidikin Bumi Alam (NGO, Malaysia)
Patron – MyCulture (NGO, Malaysia)

Previous Appointments

He was appointed to the Singapore Appeal Advisory Panels (constituted under the Business Trusts Act, Financial Advisers Act, Insurance Act, Securities and Futures Act and Trust Companies Act) by then Deputy PM Tharman Shanmugaratnam for two consecutive 2-year terms (1 October 2017 to 30 September 2021)
Chairman, IPBA Committee promulgating guidelines to the arbitration community on Confidentiality and Privilege (2016-2020); released in 2019
Vice Chairman, Committee on Legal Education and Studies, Singapore Academy of Law (2015)
Member, International Promotion of Singapore Law Committee, Singapore Academy of Law
Member, Complaints Panel of the Singapore Pharmacy Council
Jurisdictional Council Member (Singapore), Inter Pacific Bar Association
Chairman, Entrapment Practice Review Committee of the Law Society of Singapore (2007 to 2009)
Appointed by the Minister for Law (pursuant to s 48 of the Legal Profession Act) to serve on the Council, Law Society of Singapore -January 2005 - December 2008
Member, Executive Committee of the Council of the Law Society (2008)
Chairman, Law Society Regulatory Oversight Committee (2008)
Member, Ad Hoc Committee to Review Rule 31, Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules (PCR) (2008)
Member, Law Society Finance Committee (2008)
Law Society Council Representative, Civil Practice Committee (2008)
Chairman, Motor Insurance Practice Review Committee of the Law Society of Singapore (2006/2007)
Member, Sub-Committee to the Corporate Practice Committee of the Law Society to Review Proposed Legal Changes on Insider Dealing (2001)
Member, Continuing Legal Education Committee of the Law Society of Singapore (1999 to 2001)
Member, Advocacy Committee of the Law Society of Singapore (1995 to 2006)
Member, Criminal Law Special Assignments Committee of the Law Society of Singapore (1989 to 2001)
Member, Independent Committee of Investigation, National Technological University (2004)
Member, Law Society Audit Committee (2009)

Awards

Amongst Asia’s Top 15 Litigators, Asian Legal Business (2021)
Aviation Lawyer of the Year – Global Awards 2020, 11 November 2020
Public Service Medal Award, National Day Awards, 23 November 2014 (for his role in the Singapore Academy of Law Committee on Legal Education and Studies)
Merit Award, Singapore Academy of Law, November 2013
Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, Volunteer Award, Law Society of Singapore (2007)

Notable Cases & Transactions

A. Reported Judgments

Esben Finance Limited v Neil Wong Hou-Lianq [2022] SGCA(I) 1
CLQ v CLR [2021] SGHC(I) 15
Esben Finance Limited V Neil Wong Hou-Lianq [2020] SGHC (1) 25
CBX and another v CBZ and others [2020] SGHC (I) 21.
CBX and another v CBZ and others [2020] SGHC(I) 17.
ST Group Co Ltd and others vs Sanum Investment Limited [2019] SGCA 65
BXY and others v BXX and others [2019] SGHC (I) 11.
PT Bayan Resources TBK and another v BCBC Singapore Ltd and another [2019] SGHC(I)[01].
Sanum Investments Limited v ST Group Co, Ltd and others [2018] SGHC 141.
PT Bayan Resources TBK and another v BCBC Singapore Pte Ltd and another [2018] SGCA (I) 6
PT Bayan Resources TBK and another v BCBC Singapore Pte Ltd and another [2018] SGCA(I) 6, Civil Appeal No 154 of 2017.
Shi Ka Yee v Nasraf Lucas Muzayyin & Anor (OS 682 of 2016) [2016] SGHC 138.
Marty Limited v Hualon Corporation (Malaysia)) Sdn Bhd (OS 501 of 2016) [2017] SGHC 127.
Abdul Rashid bin Abdul Manaf v Hii Yii Ann (Suit No. 930 of 2015) [2016] SGHCR 1.
Koh Heng Chew and ors. v Liew Kit Fah and ors (Suit No. 125 of 2014) [2016] SGHC 140.
Alliance Concrete Singapore Pte Ltd and Sato Kogyo (S) Pte Ltd [2014] SGCA 35.
TMTA Asia Limited v BHP Billiton Marketing AG (Singapore Branch) and BHP Billiton Marketing Asia Pte Ltd (Suit 580 of 2013) [2015] SGHC 21.
Law Society of Singapore v Udeh Kumar s/o Sethuraju [2013] SGHC 121.
Kraze Entertainment (S) Ptd Ltd v Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd [2013] SGHC 39.
Rafat Ali Rizvi v. The Republic of Indonesia (ICSID Case No. ARB/11/13).
Energenics Holdings Pte Ltd v Ronendra Nath Hazarika and 4 others (Suit No. 78 of 2012/G).
Teleoptik-Ziroskopi and others v Westacre Investments Inc and other appeals [2012] SGCA 8.
Griffin Travel Pte Ltd v Nagender Rao Chilkuri and 6 others (Suit No. 835 of 2011).
MDIS and MDIS Pte Ltd v Edith Cowan University and 2 others (Suit No. 158 of 2011).
Law Society of Singapore v Andre Ravindran Saravanapavan Arul [2011] SGHC 224.
Holcim (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Precise Development Pte Ltd [2011] SGCA 1.
Ng Swee Hua v Auston International Group Ltd and another [2010] SGHC 362.
Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No. 301 of Grange Heights v Lee Tat Development Pte Ltd [2010] SGCA 39.
The Law Society of Singapore v Jasmine Gowrimani d/o Daniel [2010] SGHC 143.
The Law Society of Singapore v Aqbal Singh s/o Kuldip Singh and Another [2009] SGDT5.
Sports Connection Private Limited v Deuter Sports GmbH [2009] SGCA 22.
Susilawati v American Express Bank Limited [2009] SGCA 8.
Susilawati v American Express Bank Ltd [2007] SGHC 179.
Ting Sing Ning (alias Malcolm Ding) v Ting Chek Swee (alias Ting Chik Sui) and others [2007] SGCA 49.
Ting Sing Ning (alias Malcolm Ding) v Ting Chek Swee (alias Ting Chik Sui) and others [2006] SGHC 192.
ECRC Land Pte Ltd (in liquidation) v 1. Christopher Wing On Ho 2. Shum Sze Keong 3. Lee Yen Kee Ruby 4. Paul Law Kwok Fai 5. E-Zone (Plaza) Pte Ltd 6. The Grande Group Limited 7. East Coast Works Pte Ltd 8. Hong Kong Aberdeen Seafood Restaurant Pte Ltd 9. Nakamichi Pte Ltd 10. Café A1 Fresco Pte Ltd [2006] SGCA 25.
CHS CPO GmbH and Another v Vikas Goel and Others [2006] SGHC 49.
CHS CPO GmbH (in bankruptcy) and Another v Vikas Goel and Others [2005] 3 SLR 202; [2005] SGHC 74.
ECRC Land Pte Ltd (in liquidation) v 1. Christopher Wing On Ho 2. Shum Sze Keong 3. Lee Yen Kee Ruby 4. Paul Law Kwok Fai 5. E-Zone (Plaza) Pte Ltd 6. The Grande Group Limited 7. East Coast Works Pte Ltd 8. Hong Kong Aberdeen Seafood Restaurant Pte Ltd 9. Nakamichi Pte Ltd 10. Café A1 Fresco Pte Ltd [2004] 1 SLR 105.
Westacre Investments Inc v The State-Owned Company Yugoimport SDPR and 5 others (OS No. 1311 of 2004).
Leow Tiak Cheow & Anor v Pan-United Industries Pte Ltd [2003] 1 SLR 569.
1. Irawan Darsono 2. Arhawishanto International Holdings Pte Ltd v Ong Soon Kiat [2002] 4 SLR 84.
Flaris Technology Corporation Limited & Anor v Gan Huan Kee & Ors [2002] SGHC 116.
Sim Yew Thong v Ng Loy Nam Thomas and other appeals [2000] 4 SLR 193.
Chan Chim Yee v Public Prosecutor [2000] 2 SLR 1.
The Law Society of Singapore v Khushvinder Singh Chopra [1999] 4 SLR 775.
Niranjan M. Lilani v Devadas Naidu & Anor [1999] 4 SLR 418.
R. Mahendran & Anor v R. Arumuganathan [1999] 2 SLR 579.
Lau Song Seng & Ors v Public Prosecutor [1998] 1 SLR 663.
Mooka Pillai Rajagopal & Ors v Khushvinder Singh Chopra [1998] 1 SLR 186.
Sundara Moorthy Lankatharan v Public Prosecutor [1997] 3 SLR 464.
Sumitomo Bank Ltd v Kartika Ratna Thahir [1997] 1 SLR 690.
Essen System Builders (S) Pte Ltd & Anor v Chew Boon Hee [1997] 1 SLR 671.
Mookka Pillai Rajagopal & Ors v Khushvinder Singh Chopra [1996] 3 SLR 457.
Khushvinder Singh Chopra v Mookka Pillai Rajagopal & Ors [1996] 2 SLR 379.
Alrich Development Pte Ltd v Rafiq Jumabhoy [1995] 2 SLR 401.
Ramond Selva Clement v Public Prosecutor [1994] 3 SLR 515.
Kartika Ratna Thahir v PT Pertambangan Minyak dan Gas Bumi Negara (Pertamina) [1994] 3 SLR 257.
Public Prosecutor v Lee Twe Jeat [1994] 3 SLR 219.
Alrich Development Pte Ltd v Rafiq Jumabhoy [1994] 3 SLR 1.
Sumitomo Bank Ltd v Kartika Ratna Thahir & Ors and another matter [1993] 1 SLR 735.

B. Unreported Judgments

Gavin James Millar v 1. Lee Hsien Loong 2. Lee Kuan Yew, judgment dated 9 July 2007 in Civil Appeal No. 70 of 2007.
1. Flairis Technology Corporation Limited 2. Flairis Advanced Manufacturing Pte Ltd v 1. Gan Huan Kee 2. Chan Tien Seng 3. Khong Soo Har @ Khong Fan Kee 4. Wong Kwok Ping, judgment dated 29 May 2002 of J Lai Siu Chiu in Suit No. 723 of 2001/A.
Sutjiawang Johanis Alias Tjia Eng Liong v Tjia Eng Soei, judgment dated 30 April 2002 of J Rubin in Suit No. 600025 of 2000.
Finnian Tseng Cheng Yao & anor v Tan Kah Imm, judgment dated 15 November 1999 of JC Amarjeet Singh in OS No. 735 of 1998.
Ismail Bin Sumali v Public Prosecutor, judgment dated 23 September 1994 of J Chao Hick Tin in CRA16 of 1994.
Re Arthur Leolin Price, QC, judgment dated 21 December 1994 of JC K S Rajah in OM 109 of 1994.
Boldward Enterprises Pte Ltd v Hitachi Zosen Singapore Limited, judgment dated 9 July 1997 of J Rubin in Suit No 865 of 1994.
Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No. 964 v Gordon Industrial Land Pte Ltd & Anor, judgment dated 19 April 1995 of J Goh Joon Seng in Suit No. 258 of 1994 (RA 222 of 1994).
Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No. 964 v Gordon Industrial Land Pte Ltd & Anor, judgment dated 19 April 1995 of J Goh Joon Seng in Suit No. 258 of 1994 (RA 222 of 1994).
Fritz Karl Schnell & Anor v Thomas Edward Dorn & Ors, judgment dated 30 May 1997 of J Lai Siu Chiu in Suit No 2140 of 1993.
Public Prosecutor v Supramaniam A/L P Palani And Anor, judgment dated 27 April 1994 of JC Amarjeet Singh in Criminal Case No. 19 of 1992.
Public Prosecutor v 1. Yacob S/O Rusmatullah 2. Mohamad Jaffar Bin Abidin, judgment dated 17 July 1993 of JC Amarjeet Singh in Criminal Case No. 15 of 1992.
Public Prosecutor v 1) Tan Chee Hwee 2) Soon Kin Liang Joseph @ Sun Jianliang Joseph, judgment dated 31 October 1992 of JC Rubin in Criminal Case No 12 of 1991.

Publications

Articles

“A Multilateral Investment Court – A Mirage in the Horizon”, IPBA Journal, June 2021
“A Presumption in the Implied Choice of Law Governing Arbitration Agreements? Sulamerica Reconsidered in Singapore” published in 2016 Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre 5th Anniversary book.
“When is recourse available to the Singapore Courts for an anti-arbitration injunction?” Thought Leadership Experts published on 30 September 2015 Expert Guides.
“The Issue of Extra-Territoriality in Securities Litigation: A Comparative View” published in 2011 Bloomberg Finance L.P. in the Vol. 4, No. 6 edition of the Bloomberg Law Reports – Asia Pacific.
“The Rome Convention Dealing with Damages Caused By Foreign Aircraft to Third Parties” published in Lawlines, (Volume 9, Issue 2), June 2007.
“The Impact of Free Trade Agreements on Labour Mobility”, published in the Law Gazette, December 2006.
“Workplace Influenza Pandemic – Legal Boundaries and Best Practice” published in Lawlines, (Volume 8 Issue 1), March 2006.
The Singapore perspective – “Pandemics and the Workplace, A Regional Analysis”, being part of an Asian-wide publication coordinated by Johnson Stokes and Masters, January 2006.
“Recent Developments In the Garnishment of Retention Monies” published in Lawlines, (Volume 7 Issue 3), September 2005.
“Drafting of Charges in Disciplinary Proceedings” published in Lawlines, (Volume 4 Issue 2), May 2002.
“The Domestic and International Arbitration Regimes in Singapore”’ published in Lawlines, (Volume 3 Issue 3), September 2001.
“An Overview of Arbitration Internationally and in Singapore” published in the Singapore Law Gazette, August 2001.
“Arbitration as a Method of Dispute Resolution” published in Lawlines (Vol 3, Issue 1), December 2000.
“Disciplinary Proceedings in the Medical Profession” published in the Singapore Law Gazette, May 2000.
Author, article on “Disciplinary Proceedings in the Medical Profession” published in the Singapore Law Gazette, May 2000.

Books

Contributor on the Chapter on “The Rise of International Commercial Courts” in Legal Research on Investment and Financing of Chinese Enterprises in the Singapore, Switzerland and Germany, the fifth series of Legal Research on overseas Investment and Financing for Chinese Enterprises (2019).
General Editor, “Civil Litigation in Singapore” Sweet & Maxwell (2018).
General Editor, “Arbitration in Singapore: A Practical Guide” (2nd Edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2018).
Contributor on the Chapter on Advocacy in the SICC in “Modern Advocacy – More Perspectives from Singapore” SAL Academy Publishing (2019).
Contributor, report on “Women, Business and the Law 2018” (published by the World Bank Group).
The Singapore Chapter, Women, Business and the Law 2014 and 2015: Removing Restrictions to Enhance Gender Equality (published by World Bank, IFC).
The Singapore Chapter, the International Comparative Legal Guide: Enforcement of Foreign Judgments, Global Legal Group (2016).
“Perspectives on Preserving Electronic Evidence when Litigation is Contemplated or has Commenced” published in “International Conference on Electronic Litigation” (2012).
2nd Edition of the report entitled Women, Business and the Law 2012: Removing Barriers to Economic Inclusion (World Bank).
Contributor, Singapore Precedents of Pleadings (Sweet & Maxwell Asia, 2006 Edition).
Contributor, Business Torts and Business Crimes in the Law of Rights and Obligations of Business in Singapore, Singapore Business Development Series (1996 Edition, Addison –Wesley).
25th Anniversary Publication on the Historical Development of the Law Society of Singapore, 1995.
Specialist Editor – Mallal’s Digest of Malaysian and Singapore Case Law (Fourth Edition – 1991) – Volume 5 (Criminal Procedure).

Talks Delivered

Speaker, “Effective Submissions in the Age of Virtual Hearings”, webinar hosted by The Law Society of Singapore, 11 November 2021.
Panelist, Public International Law Webinar Series – “New Horizons for Investor – States Disputes, Singapore, 13 October 2021.
Speaker, “Spanish Arbitration Day In Beijing – Sixth Edition : ESG and Arbitration. A Global Perspective”, webinar hosted by Club Espanol del Arbitraje and China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, 16 September 2021.
Panelist, “Arbitration in Litigation: First Hand Experience at the Singapore International Commercial Court”, Singapore Convention Week 2021), webinar hosted by SICC, 6 September 2021.
Speaker, “ADR goes online! Changes and Innovations demanded by the new global situation”, webinar hosted by Thailand Arbitration Center (THAC) and ADR ODR International, 4 August 2021.
Speaker, “Rethinking Dispute Resolution amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic”, ICC event, Singapore, 23 July 2021.
Moderator, “Turbulence in the Airlines Industry – Issues in Debt Restructuring”, Singapore, 9 June 2021.
Speaker, “The SIAC Advantage for Russia-related Projects and Transactions”, webinar hosted by SIAC, 6 August 2021.
Speaker, “International co-operation and government guidelines on dispute resolution during the COVID-19 pandemic”, London International Disputes Week, United Kingdom, 13 May 2021.
Plenary Address on (Webinar) ‘Treaty Arbitration and the Future of ISDS’, IPBA Annual Conference, Shanghai, 19 April 2021.
Lead Trainer, “Treaty Arbitration – Substantive Obligations and Key Developments” in Partnership with SIAC, Jakarta, 9 April 2021.
Speaker, “The Sphere of Justice”, conference hosted by Moscow State Law Academy, 7-8 April 2021.
Lead Trainer, “Time and Cost Savers at SIAC : Emergency Arbitration, Expedited Procedure and Early Dismissal (Virtual Edition)”, SIAC Academy for the Middle-East, 7-8 April 2021
Panelist, “CIArb Student Open Day on Career Choices” webinar hosted by CIArb UK, 18 February 2021.
Keynote Speaker, “Role of CiArb in Tackling Key Challenges faced by ADR Practitioners Globally”, Ecuador Arbitration Day, Quito, 10 February 2021.
Panelist, “Roundtable Discussion on Singapore’s implementation of the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement,”, hosted by ASEAN Law Association, Singapore, 9 February 2021.
Speaker, “Arbitrability of Disputes – a cornerstone for Arbitration”, webinar hosted by Maadhyam International Council for Conflict Resolution, India, 19 December 2020.
Moderator, “2020 Annual Summit on Commercial Dispute Resolution in China” webinar hosted by CIARB & Beijing International Arbitration Center, Beijing, 27 November 2020.

Career Accolades

“Francis Xavier SC has been recognised by Who’s Who Legal Arbitration 2020 for his expertise in resolving complect international disputes and excellence across a wide range of matters. Through nomination from peers and clients, he has been highlighted as a leading name in the field.” - Whos’ Who Legal Arbitration 2020
Named as part of India Business Law Journal’s International A-List – the top 100 India-focused legal experts 2019, 2020
Named as Who’s Who Legal: Thought leaders – Labour & Employment 2019.
Named as Dispute Resolution Star for Commercial Disputes International in Leading Lawyers in Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific 2019 Edition.
“Francis Xavier SC is “tenacious, innovative and has a well-prepared team,” say market commentators. Another source praises his “fair-minded, honourable way of presenting the case.” He is best known for representing clients on banking, property and investment disputes”.
- Chambers Global, 2019
Francis Xavier SC is “very experienced and well regarded.”
- The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2019
“The “excellent” Francis Xavier SC provides clients with expert advice on a broad range of commercial litigation matters in sectors including banking and real estate. Lately this has included acting for the majority shareholders of the Samwoh Group against claims brought by minority shareholders seeking an order to buy out their shares, valued at approximately S$300 million”
- Chambers Global, 2018
Named as Singapore’s top 100 lawyers by Asia Business Law Journal 17 September 2018
“John Fellas, a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed in the US, has this to say about Francis Xavier, senior counsel at Rajah & Tann in Singapore: “I have worked directly with Francis and he is a brilliant strategist in international litigation.”
Named as Dispute Resolution Star for Commercial Disputes International in Leading Lawyers in Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific, 2018
Dispute Resolution - “Francis Xavier SC has a ‘strong legal mind’ and ‘a good rapport with the bench’.
- The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2018
Rajah & Tann acts for clients such as Hewlett – Packard and Procter & Gamble. The sizable team includes Francis Xavier SC, who heads the contentious side of the practice, and Desmond Wee, who leads in non-contentious work.
- The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2018
“Market-leading lawyer Francis Xavier, regional leader of the dispute resolution Practice, is defending several majority shareholders of Samwoh, a construction and infrastructure company, against minority shareholders in an important minority oppression case.”
- Asialaw Profiles, 2018
“Francis Xavier SC handles a range of commercial disputes, regularly instructed to appear on banking, real estate and financial cases. Peers acknowledged him as ‘a good lawyer who is well liked by clients’.”
- Chambers Asia Pacific, 2017
“Head of the regional disputes practice, Francis Xavier SC is recognised as an "excellent lawyer." He recently represented the original claimants in an Indonesian coal upgrading plant dispute with multi-jurisdictional elements, including concurrent Australian litigation”.
- Chambers Asia Pacific, 2015
“Francis Xavier SC heads the dispute resolution team and is particularly well honed where banking and finance matters are concerned. He recently acted for Standard Chartered Bank, defending it against claims of alleged misrepresentation brought by customers whose money had been invested in funds associated with disgraced financier Bernie Madoff. Clients extol him as "savvy, charismatic and a superb problem solver. He understands the roots of problems, sees our objectives and figures out a way to reach them".
- Chambers Asia Pacific, 2014
“Head of the dispute practice Francis Xavier SC focuses on issues arising in the corporate, banking and finance, investment and property spheres and is praised by clients for his "excellent relationship with the bench." He recently acted for White Energy and its subsidiary BCBC Singapore in a dispute with Bayan Resources and Bayan International, relating to a joint venture for processing coal in Indonesia”.
- Chambers Global, 2014
[Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP] - “ a ‘high level of expertise’, and is noted for its ‘depth and work ethic’. Its very busy practice acts not only for a range of multinationals, but also across sectors from shipping to telecommunications. Andre Yeap SC leads the department and Francis Xavier SC ‘speaks with authority’.”
- The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2014

Thriving in the Age of Disruption

Passion is the Superpower that Makes Nuclear Time Possible: Mr. Francis Xavier (Singapore)

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