Partner

Muhendaran Suppiah

Muhendaran Suppiah (he/him) is a law graduate of the University of Lancaster, England and was admitted to the Malaysian Bar in 1991.

He is a partner of Messrs. Muhendaran Sri, a boutique law firm in the Zhongshan Building in Kuala Lumpur. Muhendaran is an employment lawyer expert in the field of employment and industrial relations law, and routinely trains and delivers papers on employment law and industrial relations law at conferences (both local and international), seminars and professional courses conducted by the Bar Council and other private bodies.

Muhendaran generally advises and acts for Trade Unions, law firms, non-profit organisations, public interest groups and individuals seeking top notch legal representation who want his perspective of the law.

His expertise in employment law and trade union matters has rendered him highly sought after to act as counsel and/or advise on employment law appeals to the Federal Court and the Court of Appeal, where he advises extensively on matters relating to dismissal and employment issues arising from both business re-organisations and mergers and acquisitions of corporations.

He also drafts and advises on Redundancy and Retrenchment exercises as well as Corporate Frameworks, policies and Code of Conduct on Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Harassment in the Workplace.

Muhendaran has been a member of the Industrial Court Practice Committee, Bar Council since 1999 and continuing. He was a member of the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee from 2009 to 2013. He held the position of Secretary to the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee from 2017 to 2018.  Muhendaran was a member of the Pro-Tem Committee to form the Malaysian Chapter of the International Society for Labour & Social Security Law (ISLSSL).

Muhendaran was also a part of the team of Bar Council representatives who were involved with the discussions with the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Human Resources Ministry from 2006 to 2007 on the recent amendments to the Industrial Relations Act, and actively advocates for law reform.

He is the Chairman of Malaysian Indian Business Co-operative Society, a member of Toastmasters, the past president for the Bangsar Toastmaster’s Club from 2005 to 2006, and the Area Governor for the period 2004 to 2005. He has been holding the position of Honorary Secretary for Malaysian Hockey Foundation since 2015 and currently sits in the Asian Sports Tribunal. Muhendaran is an active member of the Hash House Harriers, Petaling Jaya chapter.

He has always been a champion of workers’ rights, and his work in pushing the boundaries of industrial jurisprudence in Malaysia is grounded on the right to livelihood enshrined in the Federal Constitution, and emphasises that employee/workers’ rights should be protected for a better Malaysia – whether the employee/worker is a security guard or factory worker or a CEO or COO.

Partner

Srividhya Ganapathy

Srividhya Ganapathy (she/her) has been an active litigator since 1996, and is a partner of Messrs. Muhendaran Sri, in the Zhongshan Building in Kuala Lumpur where she practices civil litigation, construction law including CIPAA; arbitration, entertainment law, family law and child law, sexual harassment and advises artists on their rights. As part of her practice, she drafts and advises on a wide array of commercial contracts including collaborations, service agreements, e-sports, movie production, e-financing, e-marketing, joint ventures, non-disclosure, software service agreements as well as Corporate Frameworks, policies and Code of Conduct on Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Sri also acts as an investigator for sexual harassment investigations by
corporate clients. Sri is the Co-chairperson of CRIB Foundation (Child Rights Innovation & Betterment) and the co-founder of the Talisman Project, which is an initiative which educates children on their rights and empowers children to become child advocates.

Sri sits on the Steering Committee of the Child Rights Coalition of Malaysia (CRCM), as well as the Policy; Advocacy Committee of the National Council of Women’s Organisation’s (NCWO). Sri was part of the special task force formed by the Government to improve child protection in Malaysia in 2016. In 2022, she was a reporting member of a team led by the Malaysian Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Women and Children, who carried out a study visit to the UK on the support and treatment of Child Victims and Witnesses in the UK Justice System. Flowing from this, Sri has worked with CRIB towards pushing Malaysia to adopt and implement positive reforms learned from the study visit. She co-authored “Our Children’s Learning Loss: A Path To Post-Covid School Recovery In Malaysia”, and was the researcher for Malaysia on the Common Protect Report (which reported on the management and protection mechanisms for child sexual exploitation and abuse cases within Commonwealth countries) published by the UK Charity “It’s a Penalty”, wherein she reported on the Malaysian systems for supporting child survivors of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.

In June 2023, Sri was a delegate for Malaysia at the Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conference 2023 in Canada. She is also an alumni of the
International Visitor Leadership Program run by the United States Department of State in 2021. Sri was part of the team that founded the Child Rights Committee of the Bar Council, which Committee she co-chaired, from its inception to April 2019. As part of the team of four trainers who put together the Elementary Training of the Ethical Representation of Children in Malaysia (“the Elementary Training”) she co-trained close to 300 lawyers throughout Malaysia on the ethical representation of children in court.

Sri graduated from the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales) in 1994, and was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1996. Sri believes that child protection should be prioritised for a better Malaysia, and that artists rights should be protected.

Associate

Chong Wan Loo

Chong Wan Loo is a law graduate of the University of London, LLB (Hons). She completed her certificate of legal practice (CLP) in 2016 and commenced her pupillage with Messrs. Muhendaran Sri in January 2017. After being admitted to the Malaysian Bar in December 2017, Wan Loo joined Messrs. Muhendaran Sri as a legal associate in January 2018.

Wan Loo conducts trials in the Industrial Court and Labour Court with the flair and skill of an experienced litigator, and further assists the partners of the firm in High Court matters for judicial review applications, and appeals at the Court of Appeal.

She has had large exposure to matters relating to industrial relations law including dismissals of employees on the issues of employee misconduct, poor performance, redundancy and retrenchment etc. and a fair bit of experience in other practice areas such as conveyancing, probate and wills.

She believes that her attention to detail, her research skills and her tenacity in achieving the best results for her clients are her strengths. Apart from her litigation skills (she is an alumni of the Bar Council’s Advocacy Training), Wan Loo excels in drafting pleadings, affidavits, legal submissions and opinions. She frequently assists the partners in drafting papers to be delivered at conferences. In her spare time, she practices yoga.

Associate

Eisyarmily Akhtar

Eisyarmily Akhtar (Mily) is an Associate of Messrs. Muhendaran Sri, and a law graduate of International Islamic University of Malaysia. She was called to the Malaysian Bar in January 2024 after completing her pupillage under the tutelage of Mr. Muhendaran Suppiah at Messrs Muhendaran Sri. The exposure she enjoyed during her pupillage to a wide range of legal matters, across diverse practice areas, from civil litigation to employment law and her creative and critical thinking skills have rendered Mily an able litigator.

Mily spins music in her spare time.