Can a Form Three school-leaver ever become a barrister and hold a master's degree? After many years of hard work, Senior Superintendent (Crime) (Support) Mr Armond Chan Yiu-kwok proves that it is possible and he does it in exemplary style.

In an interview with OffBeat, Mr Chan said: "An academic certificate is just a key to open the door to opportunity. Failing in an examination once doesn't mean that you have lost the opportunity forever. Life is full of opportunities. The most important thing is that you avail yourself a chance to learn. Learning is a process by which you achieve self-fulfilment.

"It's easy to get the key, especially nowadays when there are many ways to access different courses and learning. However, as a mature student, I am more than happy to learn something new and to enjoy the learning process."

SSP Mr Armond Chan: "No pain, no gain!"

Mr Chan said that he was never the top student in the class at pre-primary, primary or secondary level. When he was studying in a kindergarten, he was once ranked third out of three pupils in his class!

Born into a traditional family with seven brothers and a sister, Mr Chan knew for sure that his family could not support him to continue studies beyond Form Three level.

Partly because his father was a Police Sergeant, Mr Chan had all along wanted to become a policeman. Because of this, he was only half-hearted in school exams, as he had no plans to further his studies. He was also a part-timer in a metal factory. As a result, he failed in almost all subjects except Physical Education and Music.

After finishing the junior secondary education, he worked in a garment factory for some time before he could qualify for the minimum age requirement for Recruit Police Constable (RPC). At that time, new recruits only had to attain Primary Six standard and should be at least 17 years and six months old.

Mr Chan will never forget the recruitment interview at the Police Training School (PTS). He recalled: "The Chief Inspector at the recruitment board pointed at my transcript and said, 'Your school results were even worse than the janitor here'. I had to try very hard to persuade him to let me in. At last, I succeeded."

Soon after he started receiving training at PTS, he realised that many other trainees had already attained Form Five standard or above. "When they sat together, they talked about their good old days in schools. I was so jealous. I felt that I could not compete with them because of my low academic qualification.

"At that time, there were two English classes for RPCs, one for those having a higher English standard and the other one for those having a lower standard. Of course I was assigned to the class with lower standard and hence, I realised the need to improve my English. So, I enrolled in an English course three days after passing out."

His desire to learn became stronger than ever when he started to work in a police station. "I didn't know how to write in the Occurrence Book in English. I admired those Assistant Duty Officers (ADOs) who could write down the details of different cases in English."

Vow to be a 'red tab' cop

At first, Mr Chan only wanted to become an ADO. That meant that he had to learn enough English to qualify for wearing a red tab underneath the UI number on his epaulets.

Mr Chan started to repeat Form Three and enrolled in another private school to study English at the same time. "I went to study English before work, and after work, I studied other subjects in an evening school."

His efforts paid off, and he obtained $275 cash reward after passing the Government English Intermediate I Test. He added: "I was so satisfied after becoming an ADO."

To Mr Chan, policemen should always stay on high alert and maintain high observation. That explained why he was so eager to wipe out the law offenders.

During his Police career, what he enjoyed most was the process of bringing the culprits to justice. When he was attached to the Police Tactical Unit, he was chosen as the best arresting officer in three out of six months, based on the number of arrests he had made.

He even smashed a three-person pick-pocketing syndicate all by himself. "At that time, I was off-duty and on my way to school. On the bus, I spotted three pickpockets trying to take things out of passengers' pockets. I quietly asked the bus driver to drive the bus to a nearby Police station and caught the thieves after a brief scuffle."

Identified as a Potential Officer

To his surprise, Mr Chan was recommended to attend selection interviews relating to the appointment of Junior Police Officers to the Inspectorate. After fierce competition, Mr Chan was the only one in his district who did not have the minimum academic qualification but was identified as a 'Potential Officer'. However he was included in 'List B', which implied that he had the potential but needed to acquire the academic qualification to become an Inspector.

To qualify for the promotion requirements, Mr Chan must obtain five passes in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE), including Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics.

In 1978, he sat for the HKCEE. "When I saw the result slip, I obtained either grade 'G' or 'H' in all other subjects except English Language."

Mr Chan tried even harder and changed to major in the Arts Stream and repeated Form Five again. In 1979, he obtained another four passes but failed in Mathematics.

He did not give up and applied to sit for the Mathematics exam in General Certificate of Examination (GCE). And this time, he must get a pass in Mathematics to qualify for promotion.

He said: "I took a one-month leave to study. I borrowed all exam papers for the past 10 years from the City Hall Library. Every day, I sat in the library and memorised everything bit by bit." Finally, he got a 'B' grade in Mathematics and thus qualified for an extended interview. Eventually, Mr Chan was promoted to the Inspectorate in his fifth year of service in the Force in 1981.

Studying law to boost knowledge

From the very beginning to the end, studying is only part of Mr Chan's leisure-time activities. But, whenever he found that he lacked knowledge in a certain area, he would not hesitate to acquire it.

He gradually developed an interest in law and took the GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level Examinations. He said: "I also often sat in on lectures at the Department of Extra Mural Studies of the University of Hong Kong as I wanted to understand more about the legal concepts, which would in turn help me do better in my work."

His posting to the Commercial Crime Bureau in 1989 also prompted him to study law. "In the first few months after the posting, I really didn't know what I was doing as I couldn't understand concepts like letter of credit or pledging. That explained why I enrolled to study business law to supplement my knowledge.

In the same year, he read for the Higher Diploma in Legal Studies in the City University of Hong Kong and at the same time, he read for a law degree course at London University through self-studies. After graduating with a Higher Diploma and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) Degree in 1993, he then spent his own leave and attained the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws in the University of Hong Kong and was eventually called to the bar of the Hong Kong Supreme Court.

After he was promoted to the rank of Chief Inspector, Mr Chan started to take up more managerial work. "I started to have many questions in my mind, such as Total Quality Management, Human Resources Management and organisation culture and behaviour, etc. I was interested in such concepts and hence, took up the Master of Arts in Public Policy and Management in the City University of Hong Kong."In 1998, Mr Chan has completed the course. He said: "The course in fact explains the day-to-day human behaviour and social interaction. The invaluable experience of those academic gurus has given me a better insight and understanding of office management and politics."

Unforgettable experiences

During his 27 years of service in the Force, Mr Chan had many memorable experiences. Apart from arresting numerous law offenders, he was involved in the investigation of the fur factory explosion in which 14 people died. He led his colleagues in the Police Tactical Unit to put down the riots in the Whitehead and High Island Vietnamese Refugee Camps. He also spearheaded the investigations into several fraud cases involving C.A. Pacific Securities Company and the Loco London Gold syndicates. In 2001, the Fight Crime Committee crowned him and his unit as the 'best performing fight crime officer'.

But one of the most unforgettable episodes was that when he was still a Police Constable, he was confident enough to stand up to a defending counsel in court. He remembered that in a drug trafficking case, because of his bitter exchanges with the counsel, the judge ordered him to stay in the cells for two hours to calm down. Finally, the court found the arrested person guilty.

After so many years of study, OffBeat asked if he had some 'secrets' of success to share with our readers. He said: "There is no secret at all. But you need to set a target in your studies. Every one's goal is different and not every one wants to further their academic studies."

Drawing an analogy between studying and playing cyber games, Mr Chan said people needed to enrich themselves and update their knowledge. Most importantly of all, people needed to give themselves a chance to learn and a chance to go for their targets.

"Examinations are like playing games. If you fail this time, you can give yourself another chance. Just like when you are at chess, you may lose but you can try a new game. One day you will win. Perseverance is the key to succeed in lifelong learning - no pain, no gain,"he added.

In 1994, Mr Armond Chan was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court