Officers on recipes for exam success
Twenty-three regular officers and two auxiliary officers have scored Distinction in the 2011 Promotion to Sergeant and Sergeant (Auxiliary) Qualifying Examinations. For their exam success, four of the regular officers - Police Constables (PC) Chan Lok-sze of Tuen Mun District Special Duties Squad, Chan Chun-wai of Sham Shui Po District Patrol Sub-unit, Poon Chan-man of New Territories North Emergency Unit and Wong Wai-kuen of Tseung Kwan O Division Patrol Sub-unit - regard support by superiors and colleagues are as essential as their own efforts.
For the four officers, the qualifying exam paves the way for advancement in their career. Reaching high levels is their common aspiration, but do they have any other factors that had motivated them to attempt the exam?
PC Wong, the youngest among the four officers, pointed out that frontline job had brought him into contact with citizens in different cases. A good grasp of law would make it easier for him to handle the cases and to avoid unnecessary complaints. Therefore, he attempted the qualifying exam as "one stone for two birds", getting familiarised with law while preparing for the exam.
PC Chan Lok-sze hopes her efforts for and performance in the qualifying exam would serve as a good example for her two young sons. She noted: "Though the workload is heavy and the exam is stressful, I have done my best to strike a balance between work and family."
PC Poon hopes to know more about management while PC Chan Chun-wai wishes to upgrade his ability and put himself to the test.
Good preparation
essential
Speaking of his exam strategies, PC Wong, the most junior among the four officers, said he firstly gathered information, spending two months collecting past debriefing reports and updated law and procedures. Then he collated and analysed exam questions and answers, and classified the related information into categories such as body search, arrest and detention for revision and reference. Lastly, he familiarised himself with Police General Orders, Force Procedures Manual and Police Manual.
The strategies of PC Chan Lok-sze, PC Poon and PC Chan Chun-wai were good allocation of time for attempting exam papers, careful examination of exam questions and careful checking of answers to the questions before leaving the exam hall. Both PC Chan Chun-wai and PC Poon attributed their previous failures to get satisfactory results in the qualifying exam to their casual attitude towards the exam.
Support and
encouragement
All the four officers have to work on shifts, but in preparing for the qualifying exam, they all applied good time management. For them, support by superiors and colleagues were a big motivation for their studies. And they all agreed that hasty preparation is of little help and that it is more important to "absorb knowledge" and "pay more attention" to their daily chores.
According to PC Chan Chun-wai, many officers, while preparing for the qualifying exam, got together for discussions, paid attention to law and updated procedures, and shared information. He said he was very attentive at the daily briefing and sometimes attended courses at universities.
For PC Wong, support by his superior and colleagues were great encouragement.
PC Chan Lok-sze said the daily meetings with superiors touched on matters of law and procedures, and the superiors were forthcoming in giving officers a chance to take part in discussions. She is grateful to the superiors and colleagues for inspiring confidence in her for getting her job done as a sergeant. "The Force is a caring organisation. No matter you're a male or female officer, and no matter you're young or old, you'll be given a chance and get recognition," she noted.
Sharing and
mutual encouragement
The mottos the officers like to share with their colleagues preparing for the qualifying exam are "Never give up", "Good preparation would induce confidence", "Efforts would pay off" and "Realisation of one's shortcomings would bring improvement". In their views, personal efforts would bring other gains besides good exam results.
For
the four officers, there is no shortcut to exam success except their
own efforts plus support and encouragement by superiors and colleagues