Malaysians starting new ventures in Silicon Valley are nothing unusual, and as such, not newsworthy. But the recent opening of the law office of Aisha Othman, attorney-at-law, is remarkable for many reasons.

I first met Aisha many years ago when she was a struggling law student. And 'struggling' is the appropriate operative word. No, I do not mean that she was not up to the rigorous intellectual challenge and academic load of law school.

After all she had graduated from a top university with a degree in computer science and had worked for many years in the hi-tech field in America. Rather it was the circumstances leading to her becoming a lawyer.

Here was a mother of eight, including three pre-schoolers, in the midst of an ugly custody battle for her children. This followed an earlier drawn out and equally messy divorce trial. Juggling court appearances and attending classes took some doing.

To add insult to injury, this being California, the land of equal opportunity and gender equality, she ended up having to pay child support to her ex-husband!

It was her protracted legal battles that prompted her to study law in the first place. Therein lay her future problems. Partly because of necessity (short of funds), she had to battle her way alone, dispensing with expensive lawyers.

Vexatious litigant

The end result of her valiant efforts was to be labeled a 'vexatious litigant', that is, a pest to the court. The harder she fought to discard this unfair label the more the tag stuck. Her subsequent court appeals were unsuccessful despite support from various prominent feminist leaders.

Amidst all the turmoil she managed to complete her studies and secure her JD, the American law degree. That wasn't all. Her youngest decided to be born the day after she sat her finals. Imagine analysing a case in between contractions!

Then of course there was the Bar examination. Such examinations in America generally, and in California specifically, are meant less to weed out incompetent lawyer wannabes but more of a sophisticated way of controlling the supply of new competitors.

No surprise then that with a passing rate of less than half, even graduates of Harvard and Stanford have trepidations facing the test. Many feel compelled to enroll for additional, expensive coaching.

Aisha dispensed with the extra help, not because she could not use it but simply because she could ill afford it. And despite all the distractions, she passed her Bar.

Did this bumiputra, daughter of the soil (to modify a hackneyed phrase), ever thought during her long struggle to turn tail and give up? Why not be content with being a housewife?

It did not occur to this diminutive but determined Asian lady to return home and plead her case to some government bureaucrats, going back to 'mother' as it were.

Nor did the battle end with her passing the Bar. There was still that obnoxious label of 'vexatious litigant' to get rid off before she could be called to the Bar and begin practicing. In the end she prevailed. And after working in a legal firm, she decided that being an associate was not her bag.

She wanted to chart her own course.

Starting a new practice in the hyper-competitive environment of Silicon Valley is indeed daunting. California does not lack for lawyers! And with real estate rentals among the highest, and salaries for support staff way above the national average, it is not an endeavour for the faint of heart.

Indeed many law graduates seek the comfort and safety of joining established firms or the government.

Pioneering spirit

Alas for Aisha, there is no local equivalent of UDA or Mara where she could demand her right as a 'bumi' to discounted rents and other privileges.

Nor could she join the local division of the political party ala Umno and hope to hit a jackpot with juicy legal assignments from the government and public corporations flowing her way.

She will have to get her clients like how all the other lawyers do - earn them.

Perhaps Aisha is not canny or 'street smart' enough to return home and ingratiate herself to some local Umno functionaries. Then she would be hailed right away as an expert in corporate law, contracts, etc., and all those lucrative legal work would miraculously begin coming her way.

Aisha is expressing her pioneering spirit in other subtle ways. Instead of pursuing the traditional areas of a general law practice, she decided to concentrate on the interface of modern finance and law.

Experienced in both financial planning and the securities industry, she is uniquely qualified to capture this new and growing consumer market niche.

There is something remarkable about the independent enterprising spirit; once ignited it cannot be easily doused.

Long journey

Not too long ago, Aisha and I, together with others, were invited to a meeting with a visiting Malaysian cabinet minister. As usual, the minister exhorted us to be enterprising, not be dependent on the government, and the other usual blarney.

There was something hypocritical in the whole affair. Here was a minister whose own children were on government scholarships, plus a son-in-law receiving millions worth of company shares courtesy of being a favoured 'bumi', telling us not to be dependent on public dole!

I felt like yelling to that minister that she should be listening to Aisha instead. Aisha would be better able to tell that minister a thing or two about being self-sufficient. Alas, this is the prevailing Malaysian etho - special rules for the favoured.

For Aisha, it has indeed been a long journey with many a turbulence, but she is now on the right trajectory. May it take her high and land her far.