Having provided services to our crime busters for the past 32 years, Forensic Pathology Specialist, Dr H K Mong, is bowing out with the conviction that the Force has made big strides on many fronts, and Hong Kong ranks among the cities with the lowest record of homicide.
"When I started working for the police force back in 1973, there were over 100 homicides a year. At that time, the population was between three and four million people. Now we have a population of over seven million, yet there were only 43 homicides committed in 2004. For a metropolitan centre like Hong Kong, that is a very low figure - probably the lowest in the world. Obviously, the Force has done a very good job in crime prevention," he said. Now on leave prior to retirement, Dr Mong said he was also pleased to have witnessed tremendous improvements by the Force in terms of service, professional knowledge, use of IT, quality of recruits and implementation of continuous learning programmes. He has no doubt that a majority of the community shares his observation.
Dr Mong thoroughly enjoys assisting CID officers in bringing criminals to justice and in exonerating the innocent. He noted: "It's a privilege and a rewarding experience to have worked with the many CID officers that I have encountered during my career. They have shown great team spirit which is so important in cracking crimes!"
Throughout his career, Dr Mong had also encountered "many unnecessary traffic accidents that resulted in serious injuries and loss of life". He has been a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists dedicated to promoting road safety in Hong Kong since 1987. He has sat on the Road Safety Council working behind the scene to make improvements to road safety law, road safety facilities, safety of road users and driving standard. This explains why he is extremely concerned about road safety even during his free time. In the future, he will devote even more time to promoting road safety as a "full-time volunteer worker".
Commissioner Lee Ming-kwai presented a souvenir to Dr Mong in appreciation for his service to the Force.