Child abuse can take various forms and is not always easy to identify. Although physical abuse that causes injury is often prosecuted, those who psychologically abuse or molest a child can often get away with it. When, therefore, culprits are convicted, they should face condign punishment, and this was why the maximum penalty for child cruelty was raised — for offenses tried on indictment — from two to 10 years' imprisonment in 1995.

In 1982, the district councils were introduced in Hong Kong, with a very limited mandate. Barely a quarter of the seats were directly elected, and the emphasis was on allowing local communities to be more involved in district matters. The councils attracted responsible citizens, and, in conjunction with district officers, they attended to grassroots issues.

Every year, at London's historic Mansion House, the Lord Mayor of London's Easter Banquet is held for the diplomatic community. By tradition, speeches are given by the Lord Mayor of the City of London (currently Nicholas Lyons) and the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (currently James Cleverly), and they are then responded to by the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps (currently Ivan Romero-Martinez). It is invariably an opportunity for foreign secretaries to set out their stalls on a range of foreign policy issues, but not this time.

In 2023, the judiciary welcomed three new judicial officers into its ranks. On Jan 10, it announced that, on the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission (JORC), Kestrel Lam Tsz-hong, a barrister, had been appointed a permanent magistrate by the chief executive. Then, on Feb 24, an identical announcement was made regarding Vienne Luk Wai-nga, a senior government counsel. Thereafter, on April 3, it was announced that Australia's Patrick Anthony Keane would, on JORC's recommendation (and with Legislative Council endorsement.

Whenever a professional body loses its way, there are consequences. An obvious example is the Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA), which became increasingly politicized after 2018. As its credibility declined, so did its clout, at least in the places that matter.

In 2013, Lord (Peter) Carrington, who served as foreign secretary in Margaret Thatcher's government from 1979 to 1982, told the BBC "I find it very sad and humiliating that we aren't the great power we used to be".

Although Sir Winston Churchill said "democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others," he never claimed that one size fits all.

Whereas Hong Kong celebrated the 25th anniversary of its reunification with the Chinese mainland last year, Macao will celebrate its own 25th anniversary next year, and the two places obviously have much in common. They have always been intertwined historically, and today they are the only special administrative regions in China, working collaboratively in the Greater Bay Area. Their Basic Laws, or "mini-constitutions", are also very similar in many ways.

On March 3, Against Child Abuse, the NGO, will hold a forum titled "Child Sexual Abuse in Cyber World," at the Duke of Windsor Social Service Building, Wan Chai. It will be addressed by experts from the worlds of clinical psychology, education, family welfare, law enforcement and privacy protection, who will be shining a light on a huge problem.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is also having an impact around the world. In Africa, for example, which relies heavily upon imports from both countries, food security has been adversely affected. The International Monetary Fund, moreover, sees the conflict as a major factor depressing global growth prospects.

Amid the tensions between China and the United States, which have got worse with the recent alleged spy saga, and the anniversary of Russia-Ukraine war, observers and experts lament, "A narrative of clashing world orders traps us in a flawed understanding."

Although the United Kingdom's legislature is often described as the "Mother of Parliaments", it is by no means immune from abuse.

When Ferdinand E. Marcos was elected the 10th president of the Philippines in 1965, it was with the support of the United States. Laudatory articles about him appeared in the American media, and the US vice-president, Hubert Humphrey, attended his inauguration. The US saw him as an amenable politician who was also popular, although it miscalculated in considering him a puppet.

Although not widely known beyond legal circles, the London-based Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) bills itself as "the independent international human rights arm of the Bar of England and Wales". Having been around since the 1990s, it says it works "to protect the rights of advocates, judges and human rights defenders around the world," and this sounds laudable.

In Lewis Carroll's classic story, Alice in Wonderland, Alice declares, "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense," and she is by no means the only one to feel that way.