The officers, WSGT Gigi Wong Yuet-chi, SGT Anthony Leung Kui-foon, both of PTU D(KE), SGT Tom Lee Yau-cheung of PCRO TMDIST, SGT Andrew Yip of E&C HKI, SGT Marco Cheung Man-kwong, ADO SSDIV, and SGT London Lau Wai-kwok of PTU HQ, spent a holiday lending a hand in a 36-hour Charity Car Wash Marathon.

Teaming up with their Singapore counterparts and other volunteers, the officers enthusiastically and painstakingly rubbed, scrubbed and cleaned up a total of 97 cars at the Ang Mo Kio Car Wash Centre, raising a total of S$2,832 for the AWWA Special School in Singapore. For several hours under the scorching sun, armed with only a piece of cloth, all the volunteers worked tirelessly, passionately and systemically, cleaning up each car as it drove out from the washing bay. They were so fast and swift in getting the job done that the full-time car washer was truly impressed with their performance.

At the end of the day, the volunteers knew their little efforts had certainly made a difference for the life of those handicapped children in the special school. To them, it was truly satisfying and certainly time well spent.

The organisers were thankful to the six Sergeants for their service and love. In response, WSGT Wong said: "This activity was quite an experience for me among the different types of voluntary work I did in the past."

As one of the leaders of the Pinnacle Police Volunteers' Team in Hong Kong, WSGT Wong realises that "a flourishing life is to 'establish' others, during which we can share love, values, and life experience".

"What this fund-raising activity was so special to me was the realisation that on the one hand 'love has no boundary', and on the other hand volunteers from two police forces were whole-heartedly, and with great passion, undertaking a meaningful job," she noted.

Recommending the management developmental course to her colleagues, WSGT Wong explained: "Studying with different nationals in Singapore greatly inspired me about their way of thinking and their broad mind in seeking consensus and accommodating differences during interactive group discussions. I could not learn these from my private study of Master Degree course in Hong Kong."

Application of IT

Speaking of her attachment in Singapore, WSGT Wong pointed out that what impressed her most was their use of the technology. "The fingerprint scanner was fully utilised internally for issuing pistols to authorised officers and externally for establishing arrested persons' identities," she noted.

"The Cubicon and Mobile Data Terminals greatly strengthened communications among console, report room and scene-handling officers, thus enhancing work efficiency," she added.

Also from PTU D(KE), SGT Leung found his attachment very fruitful. "I've gained a lot from the course in terms of not only conceptual theories but also sharing of work experience and expertise. There were nearly 70 in the class from different units of the Singapore and Hong Kong Police forces. The realm and nature of their expertise and experience add up to some 800 years. We certainly have established good networking with our Singapore counterparts."

He also found the Singapore Police's IT system on fingerprint discrimination and criminal record "practical and impressive".

Speaking of the fundraiser, SGT Lee said: "It's a pleasure and privilege for us to have made a small contribution to helping the less fortunate in the Singapore community, and we would like to thank the Singapore Police for giving us an opportunity."

He also thanked the Force for giving him and his fellow officers an opportunity "to learn many new things in Singapore". "It was a very useful training course. What I've learned is very useful for my job," he noted.

The other three Sergeants also share SGT Lee's comments on the training course and fundraiser.

At the beginning of the fundraiser, SGT Yip, on behalf of his colleagues, made an appeal for support on the radio, soon after which pledges were pouring in.

For SGT Cheung, their participation in the fundraiser projected the image that the Force serves without boundary. He also appreciates the instruction modes of their training course. "The instructors adopted an interactive and open approach, with the trainees freely expressing their views during group discussions, and with the instructors giving the final summing up," he noted.

SGT Lau sees the fundraiser as "one of the happiest episodes in my life". As regards the training course, he said what he had learned about management theory will be very useful in his job at the training division of PTU.

The volunteers' efforts have certainly made a difference for the less fortunate in Singapore