Slave labour

Last week my brother worked a 40-hour day. Yes, you read that right. He went into the office on Tuesday morning and did not emerge until Wednesday night, and this without virtually any shuteye. (Yes, the coffee machine was put to good use). Apparently, some client - who btw, happens to be a well-known Malaysian corporate figure - decided that he wanted a certain deal to be done in some crazy timeframe and so the underlings were put to work after signing the obligatory waiver. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, slavery still exists, and not only in the seedy underbelly of Third World countries, but within the glittering glass-walls of the City.

Be a lawyer, they said. As I told my brother yesterday, it's almost enough to make me embrace a new calling: trade unionist.