Peak Performance

Sunday 26 March 2006 saw the Young Solicitors’ Group (‘YSG’) of the Law Society of Hong Kong organising a Charity Walk with the aim to collect donations to rebuild a primary school in a rural area in Szechuan in the Mainland. Both the turn-out and amount raised far exceeded the organisers’ expectations. All present agreed it was a delightful way to spend a Sunday morning walking up Hong Kong’s scenic Victoria Peak, along the morning trail which guides one past the skyline with the harbour and Kowloon in the distance; and then loops south with a view toward Lantau Island and its satellites, the southern Hong Kong island and the South China Sea.

Marriage Made in Heaven, Divorce in Dreams

A Muslim couple in India have been told by local Islamic leaders they must separate after the husband ‘divorced’ his wife in his sleep. The wife told friends that her husband had uttered the word ‘talaq’, or divorce, three times in his sleep.

When local Islamic leaders got to hear of it, they said his words constituted a divorce under an Islamic procedure known as ‘triple Talaq’. The couple, who have been married for 11 years and have three children, were told they had to split. The religious leaders ruled that if the couple wanted to remarry, they would have to wait at least 100 days. The wife would also have to spend a night with another man and be divorced by him in turn.

Laptop Distraction

A University of Memphis law professor has banned laptop computers from her classroom and her students are passing a petition against it. The professor says her main concern is that students are so busy keyboarding they can’t think and analyse what she’s telling them. Students have begun collecting signatures on petitions and tried unsuccessfully to file a complaint with the American Bar Association. One student says if he must continue without his laptop, he’ll transfer to another school as he claims that he won’t be able to keep up if he has to rely on handwritten notes, which are incomplete and less organised.

Puppy Love

A juvenile court judge in Ohio, United States, has come up with a way to help children who come into his chambers feel more comfortable – he brings his yellow Labrador retriever, Buckeye, to work with him.

Buckeye helps ease the concerns and tension for upset youngsters who come to talk about grown-up things such as custody battles or child abuse. She has her own court ID badge and wears a blue halter, embroidered with ‘Juvenile Court Dog’ and her name. She spends her break-time napping on a blanket under the judge’s desk and sometimes strolls the hallways.