The Force has been striving to promote racial inclusion and encourage Non-ethnic Chinese (NEC) to serve as police officers. So the graduation of two Pakistani recruits, Inspector (IP) Abdul Faisal and Police Constable (PC) Mohammad Mujeeb, in the passing-out parade on April 22 is very much welcome.

Mr Abdul first joined the Force as a Recruit Police Constable in 2010. He applied for an inspector's position last year and was then admitted to the Police College for further training. On the other hand, Mr Mohammad learned about the work and missions of the Force through Project Go Front of Kwai Tsing District (KWTDIST) and was enrolled to the Force last October.

Outstanding trainee becomes first NEC PI

Being the first NEC Probationary Inspector (PI) after the reunification of Hong Kong with the Mainland, Mr Abdul was presented with three awards, namely the Commissioner's Certificate of Academic Merit, the Baton of Honour and the Brian Slevin Trophy, in the Police College.

Chief Inspector of Probation Inspector Training Hung Oi-man explained to OffBeat the criteria of the awards. "The Commissioner's Certificate of Academic Merit is given to the PI who obtains the highest average score in six written tests and the Inspectorate Standard One Professional Examinations in the Police College. For each PI squad, the Baton of Honour is presented to the best all-round PI who excelled in the field of academic studies, overall effort and attitude, physical training, leadership training, discipline & foot drill, revolver training and resistance control training. Furthermore, the Brian Slevin Trophy is awarded to the best all-round PI in each batch of PI graduates. In other words, the awardee is the top PI among all the recipients of the Baton of Honour for the batch."

Ms Hung praised Mr Abdul for his outstanding performance, humble and polite manner as well as his willingness to assist other fellow trainees. "Mr Abdul has received police training before but this is not the main reason of his commendation. He has obviously showed excellent leadership ability and charisma that made him stand out during the inspectorate training and win the awards."

Enrol as IP to contribute to society

During Mr Abdul's days as a PC, he has been posted to Yuen Long District (YLDIST), the Police Tactical Unit and the Emergency Unit. His remarkable work performance has earned him the Commanding Officer's Commendation. He said, "IPs will have to take up more responsibilities in respect of leadership and command work. The six-year frontline work has enriched my experience and built up my determination to contribute to the community while the 36-week inspectorate training has enhanced my leadership skills and professional knowledge to face the upcoming policing challenges. After the completion of the passing-out parade, all graduates will start a new page of the police career and I shall turn the pressure into a driving force and try my best to do my job."

First member of Project Go Front joins the Force

Mr Mohammad was the first member of the Project Go Front of KWTDIST to join the Force. The project was launched in 2014 with an aim to developing a sense of belonging among NEC youngsters, as well as encouraging them to learn more about the Force and join hands with the Force to combat crime. After Mr Mohammad joined the project last year, he cultivated team spirit and improved his communication skills, and eventually he passed the police interview and joined the Force.

Dedicated to fostering Force's ties with NEC

Both Mr Abdul and Mr Mohammad have been living in Hong Kong for many years. As they are proficient in Cantonese and English and speak simple Urdu language, they could help officers to better communicate with other ethnic groups. Mr Abdul hopes to be a role model for ethnic minorities in his capacity as the first NEC IP. "Do not underestimate yourself because of your skin color. I hope to convince the NEC that we are members of the Hong Kong community. As long as we make our efforts, we could develop our potential and serve the community."

Mr Mohammad recalled that he was discriminated against during childhood because of his skin color. He has thought of giving up but his father encouraged him to rise up again. "I am prepared to start working in the lowest rank of the Force, and then continue pursuing further studies to enhance my criminal investigation knowledge to strive for promotion," he said.

After graduation, Mr Abdul and Mr Mohammad have been posted to YLDIST and KWTDIST respectively. Both of them are committed to acting as a bridge among the Force, the general public and the ethnic minorities.