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Belle Kwok Sin-ming, 33, felt a calling to take on the role of a Hong Kong auxiliary police constable even while working her day job as an engineer at the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. “At work, I am responsible for planning and managing projects related to the police force, including the electronic system of their training facilities,” Kwok said. “I could feel their professionalism in the constant contact with them, which piqued my interest in their work.” She added that she applied for the job at her mother’s encouragement, who was herself an auxiliary police constable in the past. “Growing up, she used to share stories of her experiences with me, and now I would tell her mine.” Kwok is one of 72 auxiliary police constables graduating on Saturday, after completing a 370-hour training spread across 26 to 33 weeks, covering areas such as law, police practices and Chinese foot drills as well as weapons handling and tactics. According to police, the auxiliary force could be tasked with jobs involving internal security, crowd management at major events, daily beat patrols, technology crime support, traffic team cadre, report room and others. The pay for each member of the 3,439-strong auxiliary starts from HK$115 (US$14.80) per hour or HK$920 per day, and could go up to HK$359 per hour or HK$2,872 per day, depending on their rank. Kwok hoped that the experience gained from her respective jobs could complement each other, allowing her to provide practical suggestions as a user in engineering projects for the force and to explore how police work could be made safer and more efficient with technology. She said she planned to use most of her weekends to fulfil the requirement of working at least 208 hours a year as an auxiliary police constable, and that she could balance the work with her main job as an engineer with good planning. Patrick Sin Ka-ho, a fellow auxiliary police constable graduating on Saturday, is an assistant headmaster at a secondary school in Hong Kong. The 35-year-old teaches history, geography as well as citizenship and social development. While the roles of a police officer and a teacher might seem miles apart from each other, they share a common goal of educating, Sin said. He added that the skills acquired in his police role could help better protect his students and members of the public outside his school. “The legal knowledge I gained in the auxiliary force training, as well as crisis management techniques, could be very useful in teaching and contributing towards creating a safer learning environment for my students,” Sin said. “I’ve come across many different types of students in my teaching career. In fact, we all know the younger generation faces many temptations these days. I hope I can guide them to be on the right path.”
