41 Facts About Josephus Tan

Josephus Tan became a gangster in his teens whose bad drinking habits often led to fights and sleeping on the streets.

Josephus Tan later found a job as a computer salesman.

Josephus Tan quit alcohol and took up an external diploma in law from the University of London at a private institution.

Shortly after his father's death, Josephus Tan had a pair of tattoos on his arms in honour of his father.

In July 2015, Josephus Tan received the Singapore Youth Award from the National Youth Council.

Josephus Tan is working to resolve his financial woes which started when he incurred huge debt in an attempt at filial piety just before his father's death.

In 2017, Josephus Tan started his own law firm, Invictus Law Corporation, with personal loans from some close friends.

Josephus Tan teaches Part B of the Singapore Bar Examination on Criminal Litigation.

Josephus Tan had taken on more than 500 cases and earned a reputation for taking on controversial cases, many a time pro bono.

Josephus Tan represented 20-year-old Soh Wee Kian, who was then charged with murdering a 32-year-old clerk Hoe Hong Lin during the night of Mid-Autumn Festival in September 2010, as well as stabbing three other women in three separate cases.

Josephus Tan represented 18-year-old youth and secret society member Ng Wei Lun, who was part of the 12-member gang attacking 19-year-old Darren Ng Wei Jie at Downtown East, resulting in the death of the student.

Josephus Tan represented another of Ng Wei Lun's gang, Chong Rui Hong, who was given 4 years' imprisonment and 3 strokes of the cane for rioting as well.

In 2015, Josephus Tan represented Ng Yao Wei, a former Singapore Polytechnic student who had killed his brother at their family home in Choa Chu Kang.

In 2016, Josephus Tan acted for Lee Wai Leong, the suspect in a case of animal abuse in Yishun.

Josephus Tan was accused of hurling a cat down from the 13th floor of a HDB block of flats.

Josephus Tan's parents have expressed disbelief and sought legal aid as they were unable to afford a lawyer.

In 2017, Josephus Tan defended the couple accused in the Annie Ee case.

Josephus Tan, who acted for the accused, said that Ee's death was "unexpected and unintended", and a case of "discipline gone wrong".

In February 2021, Josephus Tan represented 24-year-old Josephus Tan Hong Sheng, one of the seven people accused of murdering Satheesh Noel Gobidass at Orchard Towers on 2 July 2019.

In 2020, Josephus Tan was hired to represent Foo Li Ping, a divorced mother charged with murdering her four-year-old daughter and only child Megan Khung, whom she allegedly killed before burning her body.

In 2021, Josephus Tan was set to defend 29-year-old Huang Bocan, the older brother of 19-year-old Huang Baoying who was found dead in their Clementi flat after being assaulted by her brother and two other people.

From 2006 to 2007, Josephus Tan took office as the President of the United Kingdom Singapore Law Students Society during his final year in the UK.

From 2013 to 2014, Josephus Tan served in the Council of the Law Society of Singapore.

In 2016, Josephus Tan was appointed to the select panel for admissions to the Singapore University of Social Sciences School of Law.

In 2017, Tan was appointed by Law Minister K Shanmugam as a member to the National Council Against Drug Abuse.

In January 2018, Josephus Tan was appointed by Halimah Yacob, the President of Singapore, to the Youth Court as a Panel Advisor.

Josephus Tan was conferred the Pro Bono Ambassador of the Year award by the Law Society in 2013.

In 2013, Josephus Tan was awarded the Junior Chamber International's Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World Merit Award.

In July 2015, Josephus Tan received the Singapore Youth Award given out by the National Youth Council.

Josephus Tan was a past recipient of the CLAS Scheme Gold Award as well.

In July 2015, Josephus Tan gave free legal talks at Choa Chu Kang Community Club to educate the public about Singapore's penal laws, criminal procedures, sentencing principles and criminal court structures.

In February 2014, Josephus Tan was featured in the Mediacorp Channel 8 current affairs programme Tuesday Report Voices of the Heart.

In January 2015, Josephus Tan was interviewed by Channel 8 on their weekday evening news belt Hello Singapore.

In July 2015, Josephus Tan was invited by Nuyou Singapore to be featured as one of the inspirational individuals for the annual Nuyou TIME photo shoot.

In January 2016, Josephus Tan shared about the origin of his passion on Channel 8 Chinese documentary My Parents.

In December 2016, Josephus Tan was featured in the Channel NewsAsia documentary series A Fighting Chance about cyber crime situation in Singapore.

Also, Josephus Tan was invited as a guest judge on a reality TV cooking show, Eat List Star.

Josephus Tan appeared on a TV interview on Channel NewsAsia's Prime Time Asia to give his professional take on the "Appropriate Adults" scheme for juvenile accused persons.

In September 2017, Josephus Tan shared his life story on Class 95FM's Mon-SLAY on Cartunes hosted by DJ Jean Danker, on how he turned his life around from a delinquent and alcoholic to hipster lawyer who now spends a third of his time doing pro bono work.

In January 2018, Josephus Tan was featured in the Channel 8 docudrama series The Convict that based its stories on past court cases.

In March 2018, Josephus Tan appeared on Channel 8 doing Chinese calligraphy for the Thye Hwa Kwan Charity Show 2018 alongside 17 other MediaCorp artistes, politicians, social media personalities, doctors and celebrity chefs.