Spring 2005 - Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong

ALUMNI COLUMN
One country, two homes – life and
career of a Hong Kong lawyer in Beijing
Janet Hui (LLB 1987, PCLL 1988) made
a radical change in her career and life
by “immigrating” to Beijing in August
2004. Instead of leading an expatriate
life, she chose to live in Beijing like a
local Chinese and work in a local law
firm. In this article, Janet shares with
us her experience and reflections on life
and career in Beijing as a newcomer
from Hong Kong…
It is now over six months since I and my
kids (a boy of 9 years old and a girl of 6
years old) “immigrated” to Beijing in last
August to join my husband, who has lived
in Beijing for more than five years. I felt a
bit nervous and scary before I moved to
Beijing. I was not certain whether I could
adapt to life in China, especially as I
wished to live like a local and not an
expatriate.
My first few weeks in Beijing were not
at all pleasant. I caught a cold shortly after
my arrival in the city as a result of the
sharp temperature difference between day
and night. It was also a frustrating
A photo taken at a local
dog market as my kids
are keen to buy a dog as
their pet. Of course, we
rejected this idea as it
is not easy to keep a dog
at home.
A photo taken with my
family members and
friends from Hong Kong
in December 2004.
Janet Hui (LLB 1987, PCLL 1988)
experience to purchase the furniture and
electrical appliances for my new home.
Beijing is very big and the shops scatter
around different parts of the city. There are
very few shopping malls and they are of
smaller scale.
There is so much for me to learn as an
‘immigrant’ from Hong Kong. I have to pay
for an electricity card through depositing
money at banks before my family can use
electricity at home. I have to go to the
bank to pay for our phone bills. Mobile and
IDD calls are still expensive in comparison
to prices in Hong Kong. There are few
Hong Kong style restaurants around
though there are lots of Starbucks,
McDonalds and KFC around. There is no
Hong Kong newspaper or magazine
available in Beijing (except Ming Pao Daily
which costs RMB 20 a day). The public
transportation system is underdeveloped
and the traffic congestion problem is very
serious in Beijing.
My kids had a lot of complaints about
Beijing in the first three months: They
complained that there was no big toy shop
and most of the toy models were
outdated. They complained about the
meals as they were not accustomed to
local food. They also complained about
the school life here. As they studied in
local school and not international school,
they did not understand what the teachers
and classmates said in class and felt
frustrated. They could not read simplified
Chinese characters and had to learn them
from scratch. They missed Hong Kong so
much that they wept nearly every day in
the first few months of arrival.
After about five months, however, my
kids feel much happier and appreciate the
‘brighter’ side of Beijing. They enjoy skiing
in winter and play sports like golf,
swimming, soccer, badminton, and roller
skating in summer. They do less
homework than they did in Hong Kong.
They have some new friends and start to
exchange game cards or stationeries with
each another. The most important
attraction is, however, a better family life in
Beijing, with both dad and mum around to
play with them. While my kids still miss
Hong Kong from time to time, they start to
enjoying life in Beijing.
How about my life and work in Beijing?
Well, I am luckier than my kids. I work for a
local law firm, and not a foreign or Hong
Kong law firm. My law firm is rather
‘westernized’ as most of the partners and
lawyers have studied or worked overseas.
There are more than 45 partners and 190
lawyers (including partners) working for the
firm. Most of the partners and lawyers in
the firm are friendly, open-minded and
hard-working. The workload here is very
heavy and not as leisure as most Hong
Kong practitioners may envisage. There is
a great variety of legal works here, ranging
from foreign direct investment, merger and
acquisition transactions, entertainment,
properties, intellectual properties, litigation,
to securities, banking and anti-dumping
practices. The legal works are very
challenging and interesting to me.
My law firm also offers “free lunch” to
its staff. This is inconceivable to some
Hong Kong lawyers. There is a big
canteen inside the building where our law
firm is located offering three meals daily.
The breakfast is marvelous, with milk, soya
milk and yogurt and different kinds of
bread offered at a very low price. The
lunch is offered free-of-charge and serves
six courses of dishes, six courses of salad
with four salad dressing, fruit, rice, bread
and soups. Free dinner and transportation
are also provided if I have to work overtime
after 8pm during weekdays. The law firm
also provides a small “wardrobe” so that I
only need to change to my ‘formal’
clothing after returning to office every
morning.
The legal practice for Chinese laws is
very different from that in Hong Kong.
There are lots of uncertainties when we
give legal advice to clients wishing to do
business here. The laws and policies
develop quickly and a lot of conflicts arise
between the laws and policies issued by
the state and local governmental
authorities. As there is no precedent
system in China, each judge is entitled to
have his or her own view and it is hard to
predict the outcome of litigation. Whenever
the laws and policies contain ‘unclear’
procedures, my colleagues have to call up
local governmental authorities for
consultation from time to time. The
outcomes of such consultations are
difficult to predict, as different local
governmental authorities have different
practices and inconsistencies are virtually
unavoidable. Nevertheless, the laws and
policies have improved substantially if we
compare them with those laws and
policies adopted several years ago. The
laws and policies will definitely improve
gradually, making the works of lawyers
easier in future.
In Memory of Annabella Wong Alice Choy (LLB 1986, PCLL 1987)
Alice Choy (LLB 1986, PCLL 1987), shares with us the
memory of her good friend and classmate Annabella Wong
(LLB 1986, PCLL 1987), who passed away in September 2004.
Annabella is well known to many of our alumni graduating
in the mid-80s.
I would never have expected that the latest gathering for my old
classmates and friends in the university was the funeral of
Annabella, who passed away in September 2004 at the golden
age of 39. More than one third of the LLB classmates in my year
and others who worked closely with Annabella during her
lifetime attended the funeral, paying their last tribute and
farewell to her.
Annabella had been suffering from liver cancer for some
years. During her treatment period, she demonstrated her
enthusiasm for life. She endured the pain of the treatment and
never lost hope in her recovery. She once told me that while she
was receiving treatment in the hospital and hearing a 70-yearold
lady complaining how the pain of cancer tortured her,
Annabella replied that she hoped to live as old as 70 years and
The photo was taken in Beijing during the study tour organized by the
HKU Student Union to Beijing in our first summer vacation in 1984.
First row: In the middle, in yellow T-shirt and white skirt, Annabella Wong;
next to her, in red T-shirt and white skit, me. Second from the right, Benny
Tai. All of LLB 1986.
I enjoy living and working in Beijing
though I miss my other family members
and my friends in Hong Kong. However,
the world is becoming much smaller now
and I have friends coming to Beijing
frequently, either for business or leisure.
Given the closer relationship between
Hong Kong and Beijing in future, a ‘Hong
Kong immigrant’ like me should not feel
alone in Beijing, if he or she has the
determination to adapt to the local
environment and is more appreciative of
the ‘good’ side of living here. Both Hong
Kong and Beijing are my homes now. It is
a blessing to live in these two cities and
both of them give me this feeling of
“Home. Sweet Home”.
This photo was taken
at an outing activity
organized by my firm
in last September. The
law firm offers at least
one free of charge
outing activity for all
staff each year.
would not mind having to endure all those physical suffering.
Annabella has endured a lot, but she did not live long.
Annabella always had a clear vision ever since I knew her in
our LLB first year. She joined the “Society of China Study (
)” with a keen interest to know more about the Mainland.
She participated in many exchange visits to the Mainland and
studied a lot about China in her university days. We joined a
study tour of the Student Union to Beijing and the eastern part
of the Mainland during our first year summer vacation. That was
our first visit to Beijing. We took great interest in understanding
the legal and political systems of the Mainland. Since then,
Annabella always hoped to take part in the development of her
own country, particularly in its legal system.
In the mid-nineties, Annabella enrolled and completed the
new MBA course launched by the Zhongshan University in
Guangzhou. In 2000, she obtained a PhD in law from the Renmin
University of China. Notwithstanding her busy work and study
schedules, she traveled to different Chinese provinces and cities
to participate in seminars and conferences and share her
experience in legal practice.
Among her tight schedules, Annabella had her own way of
appreciating life. She had practised horse-riding since
graduation. Despite minor accidents in her horse-riding, she
never give up her favourite hobby. She spent many holidays in
New Zealand horse-riding in beautiful beaches. Annabella also
took great interest in tab dancing and spent nights after work
practising tab dancing whole-heartedly. Annabella showed her
strength and persistence even in her hobbies.
I still vividly remember meeting Annabella in a car park at
Admiralty years ago, when she just got off from her motorbike in
work suit, took off her helmet and tidied her long waving hair. She
used to go to office by motorbike. I would never forget the passion
and vitality glittering in her smiling eyes on that encounter.
To me, Annabella had endless energy and great interests for
life. She had clear vision of her goals and would use her best
endeavours to do everything well, both in her job and hobbies.
Annabella had also made consistent efforts to realize her
dreams. I will always remember and miss her cheerful smiles of
determination and optimism.
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