Issue #46: Don’t be TOO Sassy!
Welcome to the 46th edition of OIA!
Here are the latest 🌶 headlines in APAC:
Ling Yah
P/S: Know of any interesting seminars happening? Drop us a note at editor@overheard.asia!
A Judicial Crisis?
Is Hong Kong’s judicial system in crisis?
🍿 What Happened?
Senior foreign judges have been resigning from the Court of Final Appeal - Hong Kong’s highest court. The latest two include Lord Sumption and Lord Collins, with the former citing the “impossible political environment created by China”.
For context: Hong Kong retained many attributes of the British justice system after the 1997 British handover to China, including its common law legal system.
However, China’s imposition of a major national security law in 2020 and recent prosecution of pro-democracy activists have raised alarm over the city’s guaranteed freedoms.
Lord Sumption stated that he had hoped that “the presence of overseas judges would help sustain the rule of law” and “it’s taken a long time to conclude that that is not realistic.”
👀 What now?
Will this compromise Hong Kong’s reputation for judicial independence and status as a global financial centre?
Only time will tell.
Railway Dispute
Delays are common in major constructions, but do they tend to be 4,124 days long?!
🍿 What Happened?
Japanese firm Hitachi is the main contractor of the Ben Thanh - Sui Tien line aka Ho Chi Minh City's much-awaited Metro Line No. 1.
The construction hit a major snag, resulting in delays adding up to 4,124 days which Hitachi is now seeking additional costs for.
However, NJPT, the line’s consultant and a consortium led by Japan’s Nippon Koei, disagrees and insists that Hitachi is only entitled to compensation up to 2,161 days as under the agreement, only delays caused by the investor and due to no fault of the contractor are entitled to compensation.
Unhappy, Hitachi filed a suit against NJPT at the Vietnam International Arbitration Center.
Hitachi has assessed its losses at 23.72 billion yen (VND4 trillion).
👀 What Now?
As Vietnam continues its infrastructure development journey, this case is a good reminder of the importance of robust project management, clear accountability frameworks, and effective dispute resolution mechanisms – elements that are crucial for the successful execution of mega-projects that shape a nation's economic future.
Blasphemy!
Should comedians be jailed for their jokes?
Well, it's just happened in Indonesia.
🍿 What Happened?
Aulia Rakhman, a comedian from Lampung Province on Sumatra island, recently poked fun at the name Mohammed, joking that the name had lost their positive connotations due to the sheer number of badly behaved Indonesians who share them.
This joke was shared in a cafe in provincial capital Bandar Lampung.
For context, Mohammed is one of the most common male names in Indonesia, and Indonesia also has laws forbidding anyone from making statements at odds with one of Indonesia’s six official religions or trying to prevent someone from adhering to one of those religions.
👀 What Now?
Aulia was found guilty and sentenced to 7 months in prison.
Spotlight: May Tai
What is your current role?
I've recently retired from 23 stressful but exhilarating years in private practice at Herbert Smith Freehills including 13 years as a Partner, three years as China Managing Partner and three years as Asia Managing Partner. Now, I'm still a Consultant at the firm but this means I have time to take on other roles I've always wanted to do but didn't have time. My current roles are:
1. Sitting as an arbitrator, I'm currently sitting in a few HKIAC, SIAC and CIETAC cases.
2. Independent Director for ANZ Bank (China)
3. Helping other arbitration institutes and initiatives – e.g. the ICCA Programming Committee as Hong Kong is hosting this year, the ERA Pledge APAC subcommittee (as diversity in arbitration is a very important goal), the LCIA Board (I'm finishing my term there this year), the ICC Institute (where I'm co-chairing their annual conference this year) etc.
I also plan to use some of my time pursuing something creative and artistic.
What is your proudest achievement?
I'm lucky to have had many career highlights. If I am permitted two, one from the start of my career as to appear as advocate at the Peace Palace representing a Malaysian client (I'm Malaysian) in a BIT arbitration when I was two years PQE. It was an incredible experience and showed me at a young age that the sky is the limit in this profession (if you are prepared to work very very hard).
A second very recent highlight happened just a few days ago. Two lawyers who I worked closely with (one was my trainee and one worked with me on one of our longest running cases) were told that they would be promoted to partner. I received lovely messages from them even though it should have been me thanking them for hanging in there through thick and thin. There are many difficult moments in our profession but when amazing people get recognised, it all feels worth it.
If you had 25 hours in a day, what would you do with the extra hour?
Meditate – so important and necessary but people have so little time to do this.
If you weren't a lawyer, what would you be?
I would write screen plays for movies. There are many brilliant stories out there but only a narrow selection get turned into film. This is not to say I'm not a superhero movie fan (I really like the X-Men movies) but there is not enough variety out there.
Your favourite food haunt is...?
Like a lawyer, my first reaction to this question was "which jurisdiction are we talking about??" I could write a whole column for you on this but here are some suggestions:
- In Hong Kong, I love Kiu Heung Yun Nan Rice Noodles on Wellington Street. You can also see me at Yat Lok on Stanley Street for Roast Goose. If you want something fancy, try Grand Majestic. Sorry, its all close to the office to save time!
- In KL, Assam Laksa and Chow Kuey Teow are my favourite because they are the two dishes that cannot be reproduced well outside of Malaysia (if anyone disagrees, pls email me).
- When I'm in Singapore for hearings and want something healthy but delicious, I have Thunder Tea Rice in Lau Pa Sat.
Generally, I like spicy food. I was told by a CTM doctor once that its because my job is very stressful and I eat spicy food to counter the stress. I liked that explanation.
Food Feature
Fancy a good Italian meal in the heart of Kuala Lumpur?
Look no further than Bottega. It’s situated in a refurbished old home along Changkat (near a street full of bars!) and serves a great pasta and pizza. Simple, hearty and good.
Who can say no to that?
Address: Website, Google Maps
Are you a student or young lawyer?
Want to get involved in helping to run Overheard? Meet senior practitioners? Do legal research with real world impact?
We're always looking for bright, young talent like yourself so if you're interested, give us a holler at editor@overheard.asia!
Special thanks to Overheard in Asia's sponsor:
David Grief was described as "the Law's Middleman" (Business Times, 2021). You can reach out to him at dg@davidgrief.com if you need help identifying the right lawyer, arbitrator or expert for your matters, or even if you just want to grab a drink 🍵🍺 with someone who has managed and mentored lawyers for almost 5️⃣0️⃣ years!