Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Legalese

Aiping was asking me to interpret a section of the Companies Act of Singapore. It didn't seem like English at all, and I concluded that even lawyers need English teachers. A sentence of over 60 words ran on without a single comma, semi-colon, colon, hyphen or whatever - it just ran on and on, conditional clauses and other sentence fragments notwithstanding. Here it is in all its glory - you make sense of it:
"Accounting records and systems of control"
4) If accounting and other records are kept by the company at a place outside Singapore there shall be sent to and kept at a place in Singapore and be at all times open to inspection by the directors such statements and returns with respect to the business dealt with in the records so kept as will enable to be prepared true and fair profit and loss accounts and balance-sheets and any documents required to be attached thereto.

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