Joseph Agassi taught in the Department of Philosophy of the University of Hong Kong from 1960 to 1963. He later contributed to a volume of papers edited by Ian C. Jarvie entitled Hong Kong: A Society in Transition. His reputation stayed on after his departure. In 1971, I sought out Agassi in Boston University to study with him. I returned to Hong Kong in 1975, after completing a somewhat unorthodox doctorate. I never held a teaching post in a university, and have no significant academic publication in philosophy. My chief occupation was, at different times, in journalism, law and politics. Yet Agassi's teaching has profound influence on my work as a practicing barrister, and as a member of the Legislative Council – Hong Kong's mini parliament known as "LegCo" – in the transitional years from British colony to special administrative region of China, and particularly in relation to defending the rule of law and fighting for democracy under the promise of a sovereign state which believed in neither.