There can be no more important task for the Asian Journal of Comparative Law than to devote its efforts to understanding the current state of the field of comparative law in Asia and how it is taught. These were the two goals of the conference on the State of Comparative Law and its Teaching in Asia, which was organized by Professor Gary Bell from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Faculty of Law, financed by the Asian Law Institute (ASLI) and NUS Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS), and supported by the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL).
Gary is the Special Editor for this Issue and concisely describes its objectives and contents in the Introduction. As such, in this Preface, I have only one seemingly simple task: to express my thanks to Gary. This task is ‘seemingly’ simple because sometimes words are insufficient to convey one's gratitude. This is one of those times.
This Special Issue is emblematic of the countless contributions that Gary has made to comparative law in Asia over his twenty-three years at NUS Law. As the founding Director of ASLI, the Journal owes a debt of gratitude to Gary. Indeed, Gary was a driving force behind the creation of this Journal as ASLI's flagship scholarly outlet. It was Gary, as three-time Director of ASLI, who ensured that ASLI and the Journal would be high quality scholarly outlets from Asia, for Asia, and with an important message for the world. On a personal note, no one has been more supportive of my development as a comparative law and Asian law scholar than Gary – for which I am eternally grateful.
Finally, as always, I am grateful for the skill, hard work and dedication of the Journal's Executive Editors (Kevin Y.L. Tan and Wang Jiangyu), Deputy Editor (Dian A.H. Shah), Associate Editors (Lance W.P. Ang, Chong Siew Men, Alan K.Y. Koh, Muhammad Nurshazny B Ramlan, Samantha S. Tang, Bryan Dennis Gabito Tiojanco, and Ayesha Wijayalath) and Assistant Editor (Wilson T.V. Tay) and our administrative team (Margaret Ang and Khairiyah Binte Abu). We are also grateful to our twenty-six Subject Editors who are primarily based in leading law schools across Asia, which distinguishes the Journal in its ability to deliver an authentic Asian voice in a way that influences the leading international literature. We would also like to thank our Advisory Board, made up of prominent members of the Asian law fraternity from around the world, for their continued support and guidance.
We hope that you enjoy reading this Issue as much as we enjoyed working on it.
