The level of ATC varies widely across the globe, and just as controllers at busy airports need to put up with pilots from everywhere flying anything, so do we need to make adjustments to cater to the place we happen to be operating in at that point in time. As an example, i went into HKG once (747-400) and was told to maintain 320 kts on the descent until further advised. The controller passed us on to the next guy, who proceeded to turn us onto a base leg heading and issue a descent clearance from 6000' to the glideslope intercept altitude without saying a word about speed. I asked - with a hint of sarcasm, admittedly - if he still wanted 320 kts, to which he sheepishly replied "speed at your discretion". Surprising, coming from HKG, but it's an example of some of the things we need to put up with too.