The theme of the Journey to Psychological Wellness (A.P.P.L.E.) this year is "Permission to be Human". It means accepting our limitations as a human being and facing negative emotions and challenges in life with courage.

The Commander of a Patrol Sub-unit at Aberdeen Division, Inspector (IP) Thomas Li, joined the Force in 2006 as a Police Constable. He was promoted to Probationary Inspector in 2012 and then he entered the Police College for a 36-week training programme. Unfortunately, his training was terminated one month prior to his passing out because he failed in two papers at the Standard I examination. This dealt a heavy blow to him. He spent two weeks to travel with his family to relax. Thomas made a pledge that he would apply for inspectorate position again and would complete the whole training process. He was determined to "stand up from where he fell".

Thomas did not blame anyone for the setback. He analysed the reasons for his failure. After realising that reading was his weakness, he decided to put more efforts in studying English as well as reviewing the laws and orders and training up his physical strengths for the next promotion exercise.

Learning from failure

Thomas initially found it difficult to respond to others about his failure in promotion. However, with the support and care of his family, friends and colleagues, he felt assured to share his experience. His hard work paid off when he was selected as Probationary Inspector in 2015. He entered the Police College again and tried his utmost to face up to the challenge. He finally passed all examinations and was graduated in February this year.

Thomas said frankly that he learned a lot from the setback in his first promotion exercise. In addition to getting a better understanding of his abilities, he became more resilient and realised that it is important to offer timely support to those in need. As a supervisor, he would show more empathy towards his team members, appreciate their strengths and accommodate their limitations. Thomas is also willing to share his story to colleagues at the "promotion study groups" to cheer them up.

The setback has let Thomas realise that life is full of ups and downs and failure is not dreadful. It is essential to learn from every failure, face it positively, and try one's best to overcome obstacles without obsessing with the results. Being so forthcoming in sharing his experience in the interview, we can tell that Thomas is undaunted by his failure, has accepted it as part of life, and has risen up again.