Letters | Hong Kong’s legal sector will only benefit from more competition
- Readers discuss the re-establishment of JSM law firm after its split from Mayer Brown, the postal service’s pandemic recovery efforts, the need for good journalism on China, and how we perpetuate stereotypes of mental health conditions
Over the years, JSM has competed with major international law firms, building trusted relationships with companies operating in Hong Kong and mainland China. Embracing this competition is crucial. The dominance of US- and UK-headquartered firms in the global legal sector is apparent, but it is essential to foster the growth of local firms that can compete on an equal footing. This will contribute to a more balanced representation of global law firms, representing regions beyond the US and UK.
Firms like JSM are well-positioned to achieve this goal. Even after its merger with Mayer Brown 15 years ago, JSM has maintained its reputation as a go-to partner for multinationals seeking top-quality legal advice. The firm’s re-establishment further solidifies its position as one of the strongest players in Hong Kong’s legal sector.
At the same time, Mayer Brown’s decision to continue to do business in Hong Kong will only serve to enrich the city’s legal scene. Its presence demonstrates confidence in Hong Kong’s common law system, independent judiciary, and its status as an international financial centre.
As Hong Kong’s legal sector continues to evolve, it will support the growth of firms capable of delivering world-class legal advice. These firms will leverage their understanding of the local business and legal environment to serve companies operating in the market while also meeting the growing demand for quality legal services in high-growth regions like the Middle East and Africa.
The determination and resilience of the sector, as well as the territory itself, have carried it through challenging times in the past. These same qualities will drive it forward from here, reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as a global legal hub that will continue to connect China to the world.
Melissa Pang, immediate past president of the Law Society of Hong Kong
99 per cent of mail volume recovered since Covid
Hongkong Post aims to provide quality mail services and maintain our performance standards. Since early 2023, with the easing of the Covid-19 pandemic and continuous scaling up of air conveyance capacity, we have been working closely with air carriers to secure adequate capacity for the resumption of airmail services.
We have also been working with our postal counterparts to provide transit services to those destinations where flight capacity remains limited. As at now, we have already resumed airmail services to all major destinations, which constitute about 99 per cent of total mail volume, and are dedicated to continuing our efforts to restore services to the remaining smaller and remote destinations. Customers can find the latest updates on service availability on the Hongkong Post website.
Regarding inward airmail, we receive daily shipments from major destinations in North America and Europe, and there has been no irregularity observed recently in the handling and delivery process.
To look into why your correspondent has not been receiving journals or magazines from Europe or North America recently, we would appreciate it if he could contact Hongkong Post’s Mail Tracing Office on 2921 2211.
Oliver Wong, senior manager (public relations), Hongkong Post
Beijing should welcome good reporting on China
I attended the Foreign Correspondents’ Club’s Journalism Conference 2024 on May 4 and had the opportunity to mingle with seasoned correspondents and journalism students. One of them gave a touching keynote address, while others shared their experiences of being a journalist in Hong Kong and of covering China from Hong Kong.
Perhaps it is time for the authorities to consider extending a warmer welcome to them to allow good reporting on Chinese affairs, so that the rest of the world can see the good things that are happening in China in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ethical journalists have to see it for themselves to report on it.
Joseph Chan, chairman, Silk Road Economic Development Research Centre
Stigmatisation of mental illness is still all too common
Every year when mental health awareness month comes around in Canada in May, various mainstream media will promote the obvious: that society, collectively and as individuals, must open up our minds and encourage dialogue towards more fruitfully treating and preventing mental illness.
Needless to say, everyone will agree that stigmatising such illness and, by extension, its bearers should have ceased long ago.
But that’s as far as it goes. Unlike the loud and apparently quite effective voices lobbying the media against reinforcing stereotypes based on skin colour, sexuality and gender, there’s no comparable influential protest voice against reinforcing stereotypes based on mental illness.
When it comes to irresponsibly stereotyping and/or stigmatising people specifically living with schizophrenia, the 2008 box-office hit The Dark Knight could be a textbook example. In one scene, the Batman character recklessly grumbles to the district attorney character Harvey Dent that the murderer he has handcuffed is “a paranoid schizophrenic … the kind of mind the Joker attracts”.
Like The Dark Knight, the 2021 horror flick Old also stigmatises schizophrenia via a creepy character’s violent behaviour.
Films that demonise characters based on their mental illness can be easily found. It seems to not matter that people living with schizophrenia are generally more likely to harm themselves and/or be a victim of violence than they are to harm others.
Frank Sterle Jnr, British Columbia, Canada
