At the risk of sounding somewhat naïve, and in spite of considerable exposure to Western films and literature at home in Shanghai, the fact of arriving in England after having spent all of my adult life in communist China was, to say the least, something of an eye-opening experience.

On a day-to-day basis, Modern China is very different from the ideologically isolated Middle Kingdom of my parents. Western consumer goods, fast-food chains and films are everywhere in China; but even today it is generally accepted that the surest way to progress socially is to be a card carrying member of the Communist Party.

Moreover, at home it would not be considered strange that a permit from the authorities be required to change one’s place of residence from the equivalent of, say, Birmingham to London, or to be forbidden from having more than one child or indeed to be required to make a small gift to a minor civil servant to ensure that one’s application reaches the appropriate desk in a reasonable amount of time.

That said, upon arriving in London, a sense of absolute freedom did not however hit me like a bolt from heaven. Instead, over the almost two years I have been here, multiple “little freedoms” (the concept sounds better in Chinese) have come to my attention as I have gone about my daily life.

The newspapers and the television here are free to broadcast whatever they wish; some would say, however irresponsible their views or opinions may be.

Individuals are free to say exactly what they wish without fear of being arrested or simply being regularly bothered by the authorities if their views are contrary to those of the state.

Any UK resident could up sticks from London and go to live in Edinburgh tomorrow without needing any form of authorisation if he or she so wished.

And yet, it is these little freedoms taken together which bring about the pervading sense of freedom and liberty one senses in the UK; or at least which most foreigners will immediately recognise.

I say ‘most foreigners’ because many of my English friends apparently do not realise that the situation here is any different from anywhere else in the world, or if they do, they take the advantages for granted; as if they were some sort of birthright.

If I were to attempt to explain the provenance of these little freedoms, I believe that they flow essentially from the respect shown, consciously or otherwise, in the United Kingdom for the legal system and for the rule of Law.

I have also come to believe that they were hard won, over many centuries; and that members of the legal profession have played a considerable part not only in obtaining these little freedoms but also in protecting them against the constant and insidious assaults by those of a more dirigiste disposition.

This therefore is the principal reason which motivates my desire to commence studying law and to become a lawyer. I understand that it will be hard, particularly as English is not my mother tongue and the concepts involved are not necessarily self evident, even to those brought up in the West.

But in Chinese we say “ 有志者事竟成” which roughly translated means “where there is a will there is a way”.