The Public Relations (PR) Wing launched the anti-scam mascot “The Little Grape” (the English equivalent to the contraction of the saying “Beware of Liars” in Chinese) in June 2020 and a series of relevant anti-deception publicity events. 46-year-old Sergeant Fai has been its “manager” since it was half a year old. He is responsible for organising publicity events and producing souvenirs. Fai witnessed the growth of his brainchild - from being obscure to the Force’s most popular mascot ever.

Fai joined the Force in 2003 and has worked in frontline posts, including those in Emergency Unit and Special Duties Squad. In 2021, he was transferred to the Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB) then. He said, “After the anti-extradition bill incident, I learnt from my frontline experience that although there was serious misunderstanding about the Force in society, we may eventually change their view as long as we explain to the public sincerely. That is why I wanted to contribute to the promotion of the Force’s positive image.”

Soon after joining PPRB, Fai noticed that “The Little Grape” was usually displayed statically in schools and communities. More often than not, people would leave after taking one or two photos with it. The opportunity to connect with the public was not optimised. With the support of the management, Fai’s first task was to design a puppet of “The Little Grape” played by a real person that would make vivid narration and interesting actions to interact with the public. On every campus tour of “The Little Grape”, he was very touched by the positive reactions of the students and teachers. “Fans of ‘The Little Grape’ span all ages and different backgrounds. Hence the anti-deception messages can be conveyed to all walks of life. We are on the right track.”

In about two years, he created about 40 “The Little Grape” souvenirs ranging from stationery, daily necessities to anti-scam books. They are so popular among the public that they always run out of stock when being distributed at events. “How to create a successful promotional souvenir? First of all, a souvenir must be useful to the recipient so that it will be kept around all the time. Secondly, the designs of the souvenirs must make good use of ‘The Little Grape’’s cute round shape to attract people.” QR codes for anti-deception videos or websites are also printed on the packaging boxes to ensure that the publicity goes both online and offline.

Souvenirs such as “The Little Grape” 3D Puzzle and “The Little Grape” stationery sets even won Gold and Bronze Awards respectively in ASTRID Awards 2023, an international annual design award that recognises outstanding promotional gadgets around the world. Fai wanted to thank his secret “counsellors” for having his works widely recognised, i.e. his son and daughter. He said, “I often sought my children’s opinion when I was designing the stationery set. Hence the final products and even their placement were ‘user-led’ and had gained far-reaching popularity.”

Fai was transferred to the Force Media Liaison Cadre last year. Although accompanying “The Little Grape” is no longer his essential duty, he was invited to take on the core planning role in the well-received “The Little Grape” Carnival at the beginning of this year. He points out that “The Little Grape” is now the trump card of the Force’s anti-scam promotion and is very popular among children. “I agree that anti-deception publicity should start from an early age and be done together continuously regardless of age so that it can play an all-round role in preventing and fighting crime.”