Off Beat

The old man wrenched from the sea

Yam Chi-kwong points to where he dove in to save the drowning man

OFF DUTY Marine Police Training School instructor Station Sergeant Yam Chi-kwong put his own life on the line to save an old man who, in a reluctant attempt at suicide, had jumped into the sea after quarrelling with his family.

Ą@Station Sergeant Yam Chi-kwong was walking towards the Marine Police Training School on the morning of 7 October when he saw a group of frantic-looking people standing by the pier at the waterfront promenade adjacent the Marine Police HQs in Sai Wan Ho.

Ą@When he heard calls for help, Station Sergeant Yam ran to the pier and saw the old man floating in the sea about five metres out - then immediately jumped into the water and swam towards him.

Ą@"The current was very swift that morning and I could barely tow him back to the pier," recalls SSgt Yam, who tried to remain calm while comforting the old man as he struggled to swim while pulling him back to dry land. The rescue was nonetheless successful and the old man survived after the Station Sergeant made it to the stairs of the pier where onlookers helped to wrench them from the water.

Ą@SSgt Yam has served with the Hong Kong Police for 17 years as a launch mechanic while performing regular marine patrol duties. He is now an instructor at the Marine Police Training School, responsible for training police launch mechanics who repair and maintain the engines of the vessels.

Ą@Shrugging off his heroic act, SSgt Yam said that he and his colleagues in the Marine Police had performed their fair share of rescues at sea, but that this was the first time he had been called upon to act while off-duty.

Teaming up to fight juvenile delinquency

Regional Commander, NTN, Wong Leung Kam-shan, officiating at the opening ceremony of a seminar on youth crime prevention held at the NTN Police Headquarters

"FOR the last decade it has been the Government's policy to develop new towns in the New Territories systematically shifting the population of Hong Kong to the north. Many young families are among these new residents. Today there are more than 1.42 million people living in NTN, of which 284,000 (approximately 20 per cent of the population) are students . . . Offences committed by juveniles in New Territories North accounted for 11 per cent of the area's total crime for the first eight months of this year.Ó

Ą@So said Regional Commander, NTN, Wong Leung Kam-shan, officiating at the opening ceremony of a seminar on youth crime prevention held at the NTN Police Headquarters.

Ą@The seminar was organised by NTN Region Senior Superintendent (Crime) Tsang Wai-hung, Detective Chief Inspector Crime Intelligence Bureau, Peter Ip Pau-fak and Chinese University psychology professor Dr Tang So-kum who spoke on the trend of juvenile delinquency and measures taken by police to tackle youth gangs, the infiltration into schools by triads and a report on child gangs and runaway youths.

Ą@About 200 participants including the chairmen of the District Fight Crime Committees, school principals, teachers and school social workers as well as representatives from the police, Social Welfare Department and Education Department attended.

Ą@"The reasons for juvenile delinquency are extremely complicated, but total reliance on police to combat juvenile crime will only get half the results with twice the effort," said Mrs Wong, pointing out that the most effective means of combating the problem was through pro-active co-operation between parents, teachers and police.

Ą@Regarding police strategies on fighting juvenile crime, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Ip Pau-fak said anti-youth crime operations will be mounted on a regular basis, including operations against vice establishments as well as pharmacies and pharmaceutical outlets which supply young people with drugs easily abused. "While parental control is to be emphasised, Care and Protection Orders will be applied for when deemed necessary. For juveniles committing minor offences, the Superintendent's Discretion Scheme will be used where appropriate," he said.

Ą@In co-operation with educational institutions in the region, schools will also be visited by Police Community Relations Officers and District Anti-Triad Squad members to address students through classroom talks. In addition, police will keep school staff updated on crime trends and enforcement action being taken, and problem schools will be identified by Districts and given priority attention with a view to finding solutions.

Ą@Seminars and activities such as carnivals with fight juvenile crime themes will also continue to be arranged in conjunction with District Fight Crime Committees, the Education Department and Social Welfare Department as well as voluntary agencies. Where necessary, juvenile delinquents will be referred to other agencies for meaningful follow-up action.

Ą@At the same time, each District of NTN is looking into its unique characteristics to create joint projects between other government departments or schools with a view to helping juveniles with behavioural problems - Tuen Mun's "Project X" and Tai Po's "Child Care Scheme" being examples of such self-initiated and worthwhile projects.