Private Takings of Land for Urban Redevelopment: A Tale of Two Cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-334
Author(s):  
Kelvin F K Low ◽  
Wai Yee Wan ◽  
Alwin Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Mergers And Acquisitions ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Urban Redevelopment ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Two Cities ◽  
British Colonies

Abstract In 1999, both Hong Kong and Singapore brought into force legislation that permitted a supermajority of apartment owners within a building development that met certain statutory criteria to force a minority of dissenters to sell the development as a whole. Both territories did so because, as land-scarce cities, it was considered that the redevelopment of aging buildings was an urgent imperative. In so doing, although they claimed to be following other jurisdictions, both Hong Kong and Singapore broke new ground in pioneering the private takings of land among common law jurisdictions. These developments have proven controversial in both territories, although the controversies have differed because of differences in implementation and historical background in both cities, despite their shared past as British colonies in Asia. This Article compares the two regimes to each other as well as to a more mature regime permitting private takings of shares in mergers and acquisitions law to highlight the lessons to be learned in order to prevent abuse.

Policing the British Empire on the Bund: The Origin of the Sikh Police Unit in Shanghai

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-73
Author(s):  
Cao Yin
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Police Force ◽  
Imperial History ◽  
Municipal Police ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
British Colonies ◽  
Modern Shanghai

Red-turbaned Sikh policemen have long been viewed as symbols of the cosmopolitan feature of modern Shanghai. However, the origin of the Sikh police unit in the Shanghai Municipal Police has not been seriously investigated. This article argues that the circulation of police officers, policing knowledge, and information in the British colonial network and the circulation of the idea of taking Hong Kong as the reference point amongst Shanghailanders from the 1850s to the 1880s played important role in the establishment of the Sikh police force in the International Settlement of Shanghai. Furthermore, by highlighting the translocal connections and interactions amongst British colonies and settlements, this study tries to break the metropole-colony binary in imperial history studies.

Contract Formation in Hong Kong

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lusina HO
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Common Law ◽  
General Rule ◽  
Good Faith ◽  
Local Context ◽  
General Duty ◽  
Contract Formation ◽  
Formal Requirement ◽  
The Law

This chapter examines the law on contract formation in Hong Kong which is closely modelled on the English common law but adapts the English solutions to the local context if and when required. The test for ascertaining the parties’ meeting of the minds is objective, the agreement (an offer with a matching acceptance) must be certain, complete, and made with the intention to create legal relations—the latter being presumed to be present in a commercial context and absent in a familial or social context. Offers are freely revocable although the reliance of the offeree is protected in exceptional circumstances. Acceptances become effective as soon as they are dispatched. In the ‘battle of forms’ scenario, the Hong Kong courts follow the traditional ‘last-shot’ rule. There is no general duty to negotiate in good faith, and even agreements to negotiate in good faith are normally unenforceable for lack of certainty. As a general rule, contracts can be validly made without adhering to any formal requirement. Online contracts will normally be valid and enforceable; the formation of such contracts is governed by common law as supplemented by legislation.

scholarly journals Today in Guangzhou, Tomorrow in Hong Kong? A Comparative Study of the Language Situation in Two Cities

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-232
Author(s):  
Barry Sautman ◽  
Xinyi Xie
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
General Public ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Sociocultural Context ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Cities ◽  
And Migration

Many in Hong Kong voice concerns about the fate of Cantonese, including nativists (“localists”) and the general public. Guangzhou is seen as a harbinger of diminishing Cantonese in Hong Kong. News and commentaries paint a gloomy picture of Cantonese in Guangzhou. Yet rarely do we read about surveys on the range of Cantonese use and identity in Guangzhou. Neither do we see analyses on how the social context differences between Hong Kong and Guangzhou may have contributed to the two cities’ unique language situations. Our study delineates the Guangzhou and Hong Kong language situations, comparing mother tongues, ordinary languages, and language attitudes. Cantonese is unrivalled in Hong Kong and remains vital in Guangzhou. We put the two cities’ different use frequency and proficiency of Cantonese and Putonghua (“Mandarin”) in the sociocultural context of motivation and migration. We conclude that some claims of diminishing Cantonese are unsupported. We also address how likely it is that Cantonese will diminish or even be replaced in Hong Kong.

On the Property Management Services Ordinance of Hong Kong: concerns and implications

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Wong ◽  
Joseph Lai
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Property Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Freedom Of Contract ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Potential Problems ◽  
Management Services

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the concerns and implications of the recently enacted Property Management Services Ordinance (Cap. 626) (PMSO) of Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachA review was undertaken to identify the characteristics of the property management-related legislation of common law jurisdictions similar to Hong Kong, which include Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Then, the development of the property management-related ordinances in Hong Kong and the key features of the PMSO were examined. Finally, a case study was conducted to demonstrate the potential problems of the PMSO.FindingsThere are various kinds of legislative controls on property management services in the above common law jurisdictions. The PMSO, which is the first to regulate property management services providers through a licencing system and introduce control on training and professional development, imposes limits on freedom of contract and self-regulation of professionals. Potential problems with the implementation of the PMSO are also revealed.Research limitations/implicationsThis research analyses four common law jurisdictions. Property management services contracts in these jurisdictions are subject to governance by their case laws and market operations.Practical implicationsBy virtue of the new licencing system of the PMSO, property management services contracts in Hong Kong become a new kind of specific contracts.Originality/valueThis paper illustrates the relationship between freedom of contract and public benefit. It contributes knowledge to the area of government policy formulation in property management.

The Introduction of Common Law to Hong Kong

2019 ◽  
pp. 7-19
Author(s):  
Berry Fong-Chung Hsu ◽  
Roger B.M. Cotterrell
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Common Law

Part 2 Specific Issues of Arbitration in Brazil, 15 Post M&A Arbitration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferro Marcelo Roberto ◽  
de Souza Antonio Pedro Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Mergers And Acquisitions ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Legal Regimes ◽  
Target Company ◽  
The Common

This chapter addresses post-mergers and acquisitions (M&A) arbitration. M&A transactions provide fertile ground for litigation. These complex transactions usually give rise to a significant level of information asymmetry between the parties regarding the target company. Buyer and seller harbour opposing interests concerning the sale value. Representations and warranties, as well as the allocation of risk among parties, although aimed at facilitating the closing of the transaction, also frequently create tension and give rise to dissonant expectations during the post-closing phase. Cross-border M&A transactions add even more layers of complexity given the different business cultures and legal regimes involved. Even though M&A deals have established standard global commercial practices, which follow the common law framework, they still raise a series of challenges for parties, stakeholders, and legal advisors, generating all types of post-closing disputes. Although there are several means of dispute resolution, M&A parties have reliably chosen arbitration as a method for resolving their disputes in Brazil. The chapter then looks at the issues that most frequently feature in the arbitration of international M&A disputes in Brazil.

scholarly journals Queer vernacularism: Minor transnationalism across Hong Kong and Singapore

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 49-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvin K Wong
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Coming Of Age ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Literary Modernism ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Postcolonial State ◽  
Two Cities ◽  
Finance Capitalism

This essay explores the queer literary modernism of Hong Kong and Singapore since the 1990s to make several interventions. While the two cities have been studied as exemplars of postcolonial state formation in which finance capitalism contributes to the rise of modernity, their queer modernism in the literary and cultural spheres has largely escaped comparative studies. To address this blind spot, I examine two literary texts of gay male urbanism, namely Bryan Yip’s 2003 Hong Kong queer novel, Suddenly Single and Johann S. Lee’s 1992 coming-of-age queer Singaporean novel, Peculiar Chris, as cases of “queer vernacularism.” Specifically, Yip and Lee’s queer vernacular modernism—especially their references to Hong Kong and Singaporean popular culture, urban space, and soundscapes of modernity—altogether exceeds the familiar boundary of queer transnationalism and actualizes other modes of minor transnational desire. This essay concludes with a brief analysis of Yonfan’s 1995 Hong Kong film Bugis Street, which visualizes the bygone past of Singapore’s 1950–1970s sexual utopia and transgender imaginary.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document