MM Khan promotes NEC to integrate into the community

The Force has all along encouraged different ethnic groups to take up police work to promote racial inclusion. Assistant District Commander (Administration) of Yau Tsim District (YTDIST) Mohammad Munir Khan (MM Khan), who is a Pakistani, joined the Force in 1990 as a probationary inspector. Being the third family member to serve the Force, Mr Khan is devoted to policing work as well as enhancing racial harmony. He was transferred to the position of Police Community Relations Officer in 2009, the first-ever Non-ethnic Chinese (NEC) to take up the post. His outstanding performance was recognised as he was promoted as a Superintendent (SP) in 2014.

Follow family footsteps to join the Force

SP Khan has been serving the Force for over 26 years. His father Amir Khan was among the first batch of Pakistani officers to join the Force in 1952. His elder brother Jawaid Khan became a police officer in 1979 and was a Chief Superintendent when he retired.

SP Khan feels much honoured as three members of his family have served in the Force. He said, "I was brought up in a police family. My father and brother shared their policing experience with me since I was young. I am proud to follow their footsteps to join the Force." In this regard, SP Khan hopes to continue the Khan's contribution to the Force. "My father and brother were dedicated to police work and performed very well. This drives me to move forward and make progress," he explained.

Assist officers in liaising with NEC

Although SP Khan was grown up in Hong Kong, his school did not offer Chinese studies. So his father encouraged him to listen and speak Cantonese more at his early age. SP Khan does not label himself as an ethnic minority. On the contrary, he is good at communication and likes to make friends with others. "I was not proficient in Chinese at the beginning but I try to remember the common Cantonese phrases and idioms in my daily conversation with colleagues. After working in the Force for 26 years, my Cantonese proficiency has improved and may be even better than my mother tongue of Urdu," he added.

Being fluent in Cantonese, English and Urdu, SP Khan assists officers to open a dialogue with different ethnic groups. "Due to differences in religion, language and cultural background, misunderstanding may arise when officers come across NEC. If both sides understand each other's needs, all problems can be resolved," he suggested. When colleagues have difficulties in speaking with NEC, SP Khan would assist to enhance bilateral communication so as to resolve the matter.

SP Khan recalled a case in which an officer had to check a bag of an NEC but the NEC did not allow anyone to touch his bag. SP Khan tried to mediate and learned from the NEC that his bag contained religious books and so he did not want any non-believer to touch his books. The case was settled with SP Khan's assistance.

Bridge between the Force and NEC

As SP Khan hopes to act as a bridge between the Force and NEC, he has made several initiatives to foster interaction of the two groups, as well as to enhance officers' understanding of NEC, such as arranging many officers to visit the Mosque in Tsim Sha Tsui, organising Nepalese and Urdu language courses for officers, and assisting the Police College in planning the first Training Day and producing e-Learning packages on the subject of NEC. He also set up a Nepalese Task Force in Yau Ma Tei Division, and has been a Peer Advisor in the domain of NEC under the Peer Adviser Scheme of the Force to enhance officers' ability to communicate with different cultural groups.

SP Khan actively motivates NEC to participate in the community. He is a co-founder of Project Gemstone, which aims to enhance the Chinese proficiency of NEC youngsters in YTDIST to enable them to meet the language requirement for joining the Force or other government departments. Since the inception of the project in 2013, it has assisted five NEC to become officers. The project has won several awards, including the Gold Prize in the category of Specialised Service Award of the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award organised by the Civil Service Bureau last year.

Furthermore, SP Khan was a core member in helping the Police Public Relations Branch to launch the Police Community Liaison Assistant Scheme, which aims to recruit NEC as community liaison assistants to promote racial inclusion.

Many community groups have presented awards to SP Khan in appreciation of his outstanding performance in encouraging NEC to participate in the community as well as fostering police-community relations. He was also given six Commanding Officer's Commendations in his career.

As SP Khan is going to retire next year, he encourages fellow officers to "devote to work and strive for excellence". He also calls on colleagues to integrate into community groups and communicate with different types of people to broaden their horizon. He believes that as long as officers uphold their identity, adhere to Force values and work hard, they can achieve their goal.