An interview with Wadham alumnus and Rhodes Scholar, Geoffrey Yeung.

After graduating, I moved home to Hong Kong. I was called to the Bar in 2018 and have practised for a few years, mainly in public law. In 2022, I came back to Oxford and started a DPhil in Law at Harris Manchester College.

Much of my work has been in constitutional and administrative law, or cases with some kind of public law dimension. This would include, for example, judicial review cases against the government on various issues, such as emergency powers, restrictions on freedom of expression, and equality and non-discrimination, including LGBTQ+ cases. I am most passionate about cases with an element of human rights. I also work on commercial law and civil litigation, including cases about regulatory powers.

When I first applied to Oxford, I had very little idea about what the different colleges were like but I did hear that Wadham was known for its progressive ethos. To my delight, this turned out to be true. I was involved in LGBTQ+ advocacy before coming to Oxford, but the culture of the UK was and still is very different to that of Hong Kong, which is at a different stage of progress in terms of LGBTQ+ issues. So being in Oxford was an interesting experience in a positive sense.

The celebrations and all the fun stuff helped to create a welcoming environment. The Middle Common Room was very welcoming in a way that I don’t think I’ve seen back home. The University in general is a welcoming place. For example, seeing all the rainbow flags flying in Pride Month helps to create a welcoming atmosphere and is an extra step that shows the University’s inclusiveness. It may seem like just a gesture, but it meant something to me as someone who came from a different background. And it helped that I was at a college that is especially progressive. It is hard to imagine seeing this at a university at home.

I didn’t live on the main College site because graduate accommodation is in Summertown, so I got to see different things there. When I was in College, I mainly spent time in the Graduate Centre, which was quite new and a very good facility. It was a great studying and socialising space and it was possible to do both there!

Being a graduate student, I didn’t take classes in College but I spent a lot of time in the Graduate Centre. Rhodes House was also very nearby. I had different networks and friends from different communities: the College, Rhodes Trust, and my Department. So, the Rhodes community, which is a very strong one, enriched my time at Wadham.

Equality is still a core theme of my work. There is a case that we’re still awaiting the verdict on. It’s about same-sex couples’ right to obtain public housing in Hong Kong. There are basically two queues for public housing in Hong Kong, one for families and one for single applicants. The one for families is open to heterosexual couples but not to same-sex couples, and is much quicker and the applicants get to live together. So, the question is whether same-sex couples can obtain public housing in the same way that heterosexual couples do. I worked on this case against the Hong Kong Housing Authority with another counsel. We won in the first instance, in 2020. The verdict has been appealed and we’re still waiting for the judgment from the Court of Appeal. This is part of the equality work that I’m still doing and is one case that stands out at present.

One reason is just an intellectual interest in the subject. Also, maybe because there is potential for change in the area of law that I'm interested in. The result of a case can sometimes have an immediate impact. It doesn't happen often, but that there are times when this can happen and that's quite exciting. It also has to do with, I suppose, the education I experienced. Oxford helped a lot because I think the two years that I spent there really made a difference to my legal education. It also made a qualitative difference to the way I think about the law and the way I understand the law. Also, in in a softer sense, the people I met also kind of had an influence. The experience helped a lot and not just in terms of credentials. It made a very real difference to the way I think and work.

It's a bit difficult because obviously the environment is different everywhere. I suppose that as with every field of work, there's a difference between what you believe a legal career will be like and the realities of the actual day-to-day work. So, I suppose my advice is to try it out in the actual setting. What interests you? Do you like the work? For example, in the work that I do, I love seeing the change that could result from a case but in reality, it happens maybe one in 50 cases. It doesn't happen every time. So someone who's starting out and hoping that they will be able to achieve real change in no time would be disappointed. So, I’d advise trying it out and getting a sense of how it really is. I think that would help to adjust expectations and actually make for a more fulfilling career.

Well, I moved back to Hong Kong in 2017 so that was after I finished the MPhil and then I started pupillage. Now I want to try something new, so the move back to Oxford for my DPhil was partly to explore new opportunities.

The difference between Hong Kong and the UK is not just a cultural difference. There was also a difference between being in a work setting and in an educational setting, particularly in Oxford University.

In an educational setting, you can kind of expect that the environment will be welcoming. If it’s not, at the very least people would mostly agree that this is a problem that needs to be addressed. At least that was the feeling that I've had in educational circles more than in professional environments. Once you're in the work setting, this is something you might have to navigate more than you would in education. Fortunately, I was in a set of chambers that was very welcoming to me. But there will be times when you will have to pause and think how do you navigate these kinds of scenarios?

So, when I moved back to Hong Kong there was both a cultural change and the change between school and work.

There is a week of queer events and celebrations that happens in Michaelmas term, which includes Queerfest. It was quite new and interesting to me. So, there's the queer culture in Oxford and especially in Wadham. The College is especially known for this, and the events of Queer Week really do demonstrate Wadham’s ethos. For me, it was exciting as it was something I had not seen before.