Knowledge Cafe Series
Knowing a bit more about NEC groups
Where seeing is believing, knowing will always engender better understanding", remarked Knowledge Cafe Facilitator Superintendent Eric Cheng in the opening of the 7th Knowledge Cafe Session on November 11. The sizeable Non-ethnic Chinese (NEC) groups in Hong Kong boast a respectable culture, language, custom, and religion of their own, which are as diverse and distinct as those of the local Chinese. It will be useful to discharging of duties if frontline police officers know more about the NEC groups.
With a view to enhancing awareness and understanding of NEC, Chief Inspector Mohammad Khan (an NEC born in Hong Kong and the son of a police officer) and Chief Inspector Ade Lam were invited to share their invaluable personal and experiences of engaging NEC communities in their police work. This sharing session kicked off with an introductory session on NEC cultures, religions and customs, followed by a quick language tutorial on the common greeting words used by the major NEC groups in Hong Kong.
CIP Khan then reviewed his personal experience of NEC work and noted that NEC communities face such difficulties as language and education. He recalled: "Language was one of the main barriers in my childhood, but with the encouragement of my father, I learned Chinese and always provided interpretation for my classmates. Through participation in Junior Police Call activities in the old days, I interacted with other local kids as I can speak fluent Cantonese."
CIP Lam, former Yau Tsim District (YTDIST) Police Community Relations Officer (PCRO), fully agreed with CIP Khan's views. "One of the strategic directions of the Force is to engage the community. It should not be the duty of PCRO officers alone but is incumbent upon all police officers to engage our communities, for the purposes of preventing crime, enhancing school participation and raising officers' professionalism and their capabilities of gathering intelligence," she noted.
She also shared her experiences of setting up special task force teams to cultivate and develop relationships with the NEC communities in YTDIST through regular meetings and visits.
In conclusion, CIP Lam highlighted some useful information available on POINT and also drew officers' attention to the webpages of some local Non-governmental Organisations, which introduce lots of relevant knowledge.
Six NEC youngsters also attended the sharing session by invitation to recount their experiences of dealing with police officers and express their feelings about the Force. Finally, the Knowledge Cafe ended with sampling of some NEC snacks and a photo-taking session.
Six NEC youngsters express their feelings about the police at the sharing session