Henry, now working in Yuen Long Division, immediately put pen to paper, and Mr Dowie later passed on Henry's letter to OffBeat. The following is the abridged version of the letter:

"I am writing this letter in tribute to those who have helped me through the toughest time of my life. Without you guys, I would have never been able to do this. Here is my story.

In 2007, I was at a crossroads in my life regarding my career and future. I had a comfortable job, easy hours, decent pay, but deep down in my heart I knew it was not what I wanted to do even for a few years, let alone for the rest of my life.

I had two choices. I could either follow my family 'tradition' or go into the finance world, or I could go on a path no one in my family has gone before and become a police officer...

It is a well-known fact that the recruitment process for the Hong Kong Police Force is one of the toughest amongst any government services. For me, more difficult and more dreaded than any physical test were the Chinese written examinations. I have lived in Australia my whole life; attended my primary, secondary and university education there. In the year 2007, my Chinese was, at most, elementary. I couldn't write anything more than my name and a few simple characters.

Biggest obstacle

In the end I chose to follow the only path I could. Once this decision was made, the rest followed; I quit my full time job and went part-time. I cut my leisure and social time to basically zero. Knowing that if I had any chance of passing these papers I would need 200 per cent effort as I was starting from such a low level. I found a tutor, a 70-year-old ex-English and Chinese language teacher who tutored me for three hours daily, five days a week. At the beginning, it was a nightmare - a complete nightmare!!

I remember the first lesson I had; this old man thought I was being polite when I told him I knew very little Chinese. He made me do a 'screening' dictation from a newspaper article of about 300 words. Five minutes into the dictation, he stopped me and just said, "Ok, you lied to me, you don't know a little Chinese, you know zero Chinese!"

That was how it began and no words can express how grateful I am to my tutor who didn't give up on me. Every day he would sit by my side hours on end and I could tell he was tired and exhausted, and his back was hurting from sitting down for so many hours. Without him, I would have never been able to pass the examinations.

For two years, I have sweated blood and tears and I can honestly say this was the darkest and most painful time I have endured so far. I often refer to these two years as the Dark Ages.

On May 5 last year, I received an email inviting me to go to the next stage of the selection. I was ecstatic. No words can express how I felt at that moment. I was certain that they had made a mistake. I was excited and certainly wanted to find out my scores but I didn't dare to, in case they really did make a mistake. (I got 51 per cent and 52 per cent for the papers. Pass mark was 50 per cent).

Strike and go for it

The point I would like to bring out is simple. Don't be afraid. If you set your heart and soul into what you want to achieve, then STRIKE! Go for it.

If you don't even take the first step, you will never know if there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Your determination will lead you the rest of the way.

I truly believe that if you keep your eyes on your goal, every obstacle you come across can become a speed bump in the rear view mirror. I have lived with the following motto ever since the day I started studying for the Chinese papers, and it has helped me through some of the hard times I have faced.

Nothing can resist the human will that will stake even its existence on its stated purpose...

So as promised, this is my story, I am sending the message out there because I know there are some great people out there who are passionate and driven and would like to become police officers. Not because of the decent salary or welfare but because they are truly passionate about what we do. To you people, I want to say don't be afraid, act! Set your eyes on your goal and never look back! The Force awaits you."