More Than a Scholarship
When his father was given three months to live, the NUS community and a scholarship kept Leon Ngiam’s dreams and family afloat.
Leon Ngiam, together with his parents, commemorated his graduation from NUS Law at the historic Bukit Timah Campus.
Today, a young man who once struggled to keep up in English class is a lawyer-in-training at one of London’s most prestigious law firms. Yet not long ago, Leon Ngiam (Law ’23) had to grapple with an unexpected curveball in the pursuit of his dream career.
In 2022, Leon was in his final year of study at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Law (NUS Law). He had completed three years of study at NUS Law and was reading his Master of Laws at King’s College London (KCL) under an NUS-KCL collaboration, fulfilling his lifelong ambition to study in London.
However, in September the following year, while Leon was wrapping up his studies in London, his father was diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer, one of the rarest and deadliest forms of the disease. Doctors gave him three months to live.
Suddenly, the 10 months till Leon’s graduation felt like an eternity.
He flew home from London the next day, heart heavy with the prospect of imminent loss. Leon knew that his father’s greatest wish was to see him graduate, but he did not know how to make this possible in time.
In this state of turmoil and uncertainty, he reached out to one of his personal mentors in NUS Law, Professor Eleanor Wong (Law ’85), asking if she could hold a private graduation ceremony just for him and his parents. She said yes.
Prof Eleanor Wong (left) made it possible for Leon and his family to celebrate his graduation at a private ceremony at NUS Law.
A heartfelt embrace between father and son at Leon’s private graduation ceremony.
“At a time when my life was uncertain and my family was going through one of its most difficult seasons, the University and its people had my back,” Leon shared.
This was the NUS Law community, where Leon found people who would show up for him again and again, in ways both big and small.
Prof Wong was one of them. The private ceremony that she had set up allowed Leon’s father to witness this incredibly special moment for the family.
After the private graduation ceremony, Leon was faced with a stark choice: to pursue a career in London or to care for his aged parents, especially his mother, should his father inevitably pass on from the disease. One of his tutors from NUS Law reached out and advised Leon to qualify as a lawyer in Singapore in case he had to come home to care for his mother if she were widowed.
By then, training contract applications in Singapore were long closed. Nevertheless, a pre-eminent Singapore law firm offered to train Leon and gave him the opportunity to qualify as a lawyer in Singapore. This gave Leon and his family the assurance that he could always come home when duty calls.
A proud moment for Leon and his parents when he was called to the Singapore Bar in May 2025.
Months later in July 2024, against all odds, his father celebrated once again, this time with an entire cohort of proud parents and graduates at Leon’s official commencement ceremony.A Hard-Earned Success Story
For his parents, Leon’s graduation was more than a touching memory. It was built on every sacrifice they had made so Leon could have the chances they never did.
Leon’s mother was one of 13 children raised on a Malaysian rubber plantation estate. Owing to the dire financial circumstances at home, she dropped out of school at 15 to support her family. Subsequently, she came to Singapore as a young 21-year-old in the 1980s to work in a garment factory. His father grew up in a kampong in Yishun and spent 33 years working as a technician.
Neither ever had the chance to set foot in a university, but their son had a shot. Growing up in a Mandarin-speaking household, Leon found that English did not come easily to him. When he was in Secondary 2, he was ranked at the bottom of his cohort for the English examinations. Yet, Leon was determined not to let English hold him back. At the end of his secondary education, he graduated as valedictorian of Presbyterian High School and went on to read his A Levels at Raffles Institution. On achieving outstanding results for his A Levels, Leon earned his place at NUS Law with a full scholarship supported by Shook Lin & Bok LLP.
At first, the Shook Lin & Bok LLP Scholarship was a welcome avenue of support and allowed him to focus fully on his studies at NUS Law without worrying about student debt. It also made possible his Master of Laws at KCL, through the NUS-King’s College London LLB-LLM Exchange Plus Programme.
Leon with classmates representing King’s College London at the 2023 Day of Crisis Competition organised by The Hague Academy of International Law.
Leon graduated with a Master of Laws (International Financial Law) from King’s College London under an NUS-KCL collaboration.
But during his family’s time of crisis in September 2023, the Scholarship became so much more. It was a lifeline that made all the difference.
“In hindsight, without the Scholarship, I would have struggled under crippling debt from my father's medical expenses as the sole breadwinner for the family,” Leon said.
This crucial financial support freed him from having to choose between chasing his ambitions and providing care for his family. But more importantly, the Scholarship gave him access to the mentorship and friendships formed at NUS Law, which held him in good stead in the Singapore legal fraternity.
A Practice of Gratitude
Looking back now, Leon is grateful for how it all came together. His family’s sacrifice, the NUS community that stood by him, and the Scholarship made possible by generous donors were all pieces of the story that have led him to where he is today.
At the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher UK LLP, where Leon is currently training as a solicitor.
Leon is now a trainee at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher UK LLP and is set to qualify in London in September 2027. He is also qualified as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore.
“Being a qualified Singapore lawyer allows me to stay firmly rooted in my identity as a Singaporean in a cosmopolitan environment. It also reminds me to do good where I can and to learn the best traditions of the Bars to which I am called”, Leon remarked.
Above all, he is grateful for his time at NUS Law and for the precious relationships formed there. “It allowed me to become a living example of what education, mentorship and generosity can do when they come together,” he concluded.
“Being a qualified Singapore lawyer allows me to stay firmly rooted in my identity as a Singaporean in a cosmopolitan environment. It also reminds me to do good where I can and to learn the best traditions of the Bars to which I am called”, Leon remarked.
Above all, he is grateful for his time at NUS Law and for the precious relationships formed there. “It allowed me to become a living example of what education, mentorship and generosity can do when they come together,” he concluded.
The University and its people had Leon's back when he needed it most. Your generosity can make that same support possible for the next student. Support Annual Giving Scholarships at https://give.nus.edu.sg/ags.
