A lifelong marathon
Shatin District Station Sergeant Mr Siu Chun-ming runs at least six kilometres a day, four times a week during his lunchtimes. He has taken part in half-marathon contests since 2000. In 2002, he was ranked 590th out of more than 2,000 runners in the Men's Veteran category at the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, after finishing 21 km in two hours and 22 minutes. Next year, he will challenge himself by taking part in the 41-km marathon.
From outward appearances you would never guess that he once suffered a stroke that left him paralysed down the left side of his body.
"I don't think that the stroke was necessarily a setback," he said. "It was just an experience after all. I have a positive attitude towards the future."
Now 52, Mr Siu joined the Force as a Police Constable in November 1970. He was promoted to the ranks of Sergeant and Station Sergeant in 1984 and 1990, respectively. He is now the officer-in-charge of the District Intelligence Gathering Team in Shatin District.
Disability overcome
It all happened around noon on September 8, 1995. Mr Siu was on his way to his son's school when he fainted outside the Caritas Medical Centre. After emergency medical treatment, his life was saved but his bodily movements were seriously impaired. He could not walk on his own.
"At the time, I was quite depressed and had many questions in mind: Would I become a handicapped person? Would I be a hemiplegic?
"Five days after I was admitted to the hospital, I really wanted to leave. I knew that exercise rehabilitation was the key to recovery for stroke patients. Hence, I asked my doctor to allow me to leave the hospital as soon as possible. My doctor told me that I could leave the hospital if I could walk straight for 10 steps. I tried, but failed. On the sixth day, no matter how hard I tried, I could only walk seven or eight steps at most."
Eventually, he was discharged and, soon after, he started exercising with the help of his wife. "Four times a day, I walked slowly and in pain up and down 16 floors."
Three months later, he had successfully overcome his disability and returned to work. "In the very beginning, I was a little bit worried about doing exercises. But my colleagues encouraged me to jog - usually one or two kilometres - during lunchtimes. They even escorted me doing the exercise."
Two years later, he took up the challenge offered by the Dowman Road Races and his results were better year by year.
"I seemed to have suffered some setbacks during my illness. But, in fact, I gained a lot. Although my nerves on the left side of my body still react slowly, I have on the whole recovered with the help of my family and colleagues," said Mr Siu.
Becoming computer savvy
Mr Siu had to adopt a healthier lifestyle after the illness. On the bright side, it provided him with an excellent opportunity to learn something new. At that time, Mr Siu was a computer 'idiot' - he knew nothing about it. So, to grow with the times, he enrolled in computer courses in private schools and at the Hong Kong Productivity Council to learn computer software and network design. Now, he can perfectly write down computer instructions in HTML and can discuss with you the pros and cons of different software packages such as Flash and Java.
"Most of my classmates at the Hong Kong Productivity Council were young men aged between 20 and 30 and they were sponsored by their companies to take the courses. But, I didn't let my age worry me. I was only concerned with learning."
Apart from setting up his personal homepage, Mr Siu has also designed a number of web pages for the Force. He applied what he had learned, and helped create the Intranet Homepage for Tsuen Wan District and the 'Healthy Life Style' Homepage for the Personnel Services Branch.
"The more you learn, the more you realise how little you know," said Mr Siu. "That's why I continue my studies."
First batch of SDU, ASU members
During his 32 years of service in the Force, Mr Siu spent more than a decade in different posts relating to organised and serious crime. He is a Triad Expert in the Force and has given evidence in court in more than 30 cases since 1998 on a wide range of triad matters, including the history and development of triad societies, rituals, oaths, hand signs, poetry, triad slang, etc.
Looking back, Mr Siu recalled that he was among the first 32 officers joining the Special Duties Unit (SDU) when it was established in April 1974. At that time, he had to meet demanding physical training for at least four hours a day and devote the rest of his time to weapons training.
He said: "The accoutrements of SDU officers have improved a lot. At that time, members were trained to be an all-round officer. Members rotated every six months to take up assault and sniper duties."
Mr Siu said he was lucky that nothing really big happened in those days. After one-and-a-half years, Mr Siu had to reluctantly quit the SDU because of leg injuries.
When the Force planned to set up its Airport Security Unit (ASU) in 1977, it invited former SDU members serving on the Kowloon side to come forward to help establish the ASU. It was against this background that Mr Siu, who worked as a crime investigator in Wong Tai Sin District, was tasked with the important job of helping to train officers to take up the airport security work.
What he remembered most during his career was the shooting case in Oi Man Commercial Complex, Ho Man Tin, on September 7, 1981. At that time, Mr Siu was a crime investigator in the Kowloon West Regional Headquarters.
"In that case, the Criminal Intelligence Unit had received an intelligence report that some gangsters were plotting to rob a goldsmith shop in Ho Man Tin, but the exact location of the shop remained unknown.
"The gang's target turned out to be the goldsmith shop opposite to my lookout post. The gangsters opened fire on us and we exchanged fire. I, myself, fired three shots. All the six gangsters were arrested before they could carry out their plans. It's lucky that no member of the public was harmed," he said.
Following the incident, Mr Siu received a Commissioner's Commendation for his 'courage and devotion of duty of an exceptionally high order displayed during an exchange of fire with armed criminals'. The then Commissioner, Mr Roy Henry, also presented him with a Commissioner's lanyard.
Even a stroke cannot keep an ambitious man down