Hong Kong is a hustling and bustling city, where material attractions abound. But behind prosperity, many families might have their own problems. The following story tells how a Regional Missing Persons Unit officer succeeded in bringing a new Mainland immigrant home with perseverance and compassion.

 

 

One day last year, a helpless single father dashed into a report room, claiming his 15-year-old daughter had ran away during their visit to the Mainland. He had looked for her in the Mainland for several days in vain. Therefore, asking the police for help was his last resort.

 

The case was immediately referred to the Kowloon East Regional Missing Persons Unit for follow-up action. The movement record revealed that the missing girl was still in the Mainland. During investigations, the father, being very emotionally upset by his daughter's disappearance, failed to provide officers with detailed information. Fortunately, Senior Police Constable (SPC) Kwan Wai-ling, who has two daughters, fully realised that the man was  extremely worried about the safety of his daughter.  Therefore, she tried to get more information from the man with a lot of patience.

 

 

After scrutinising the information available, SPC Kwan came to know more about the case.  The missing girl came to Hong Kong to live with her father three years ago. She had a high expectation of her own academic performance. But after her parents divorced when she was young, her father had to work till late at night and seldom had time to talk to her.  Owing to lack of communication, the girl had a lot of misunderstandings about her father, eventually resulting in her running away from home.

 

After several twists and turns, SPC Kwan finally got in touch with the missing girl in the Mainland. At the beginning, the girl was cautious in talking to SPC Kwan on the phone.  She confirmed she was safe but refused to return to Hong Kong. To avoid losing contact with the girl again, SPC Kwan just talked with her about studies, family and friends, treating her like her own daughter.  With SPC Kwan's patience and care, the girl finally opened up her mind and started confiding to SPC Kwan her misunderstandings with her father.

 

When the girl started settling down emotionally, SPC Kwan told her that her father had desperately looked for her for several days. She advised the girl to face her problems bravely and finally succeeded in persuading her to reunite with her father in Hong Kong.

 

 

After their reunion, SPC Kwan still kept in touch with the father and daughter on several occasions in order to help them dispel misunderstandings.

 

On the one hand, SPC Kwan shared her parenting skills with the father and let him know about the pressure his daughter had encountered. On the other hand, SPC Kwan  helped the girl work out a plan for expanding her social circle in Hong Kong.

 

Six months later, SPC Kwan contacted the girl again and found she had become more cheerful and confident. The girl was eager to talk about the voluntary work and tutoring classes she participated.  SPC Kwan was delighted that the girl had tried to learn cooking from her father, and this indicated that the girl would not run away from home again.

 

 

Upon receiving the report of this case, SPC Kwan decided to try her best to look for the girl. In rendering assistance as an officer of the Missing Persons Unit, we have to not only fulfil our responsibilities, but also take into consideration the perspectives and needs of the people asking for help.

 

The girl has now settled down and is leading a happy life in Hong Kong. The outcome is encouraging and gives SPC Kwan the satisfaction of fulfilling one of the Force's missions.  Most importantly, she has gained a tremendous drive to continue with every effort to bring missing people home.