"It's an enormous undertaking. I have been planning and preparing for this for the last 18 months. Frankly this has taken all my determination to get off the ground, but it has been worth every bit of effort."

Mark's involvement in charity work for the disabled in Cambodia was quite accidental. He arrived in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, on September 11, 2001 to carry out some research for a degree he was studying.

"I was there to study the Khmer Rouge genocide of the 1970s. That was sobering enough, but with the terrorist attacks going on in the United States, a deeper impression was made on me. I was very moved by the concern that was shown to me by the Cambodians - most of whom mistook me for an American - but what struck me the most was the concern shown by the desperately poor, the beggars, people who should have been more concerned about finding their next meal."

There are now around 40,000 amputees in Cambodia, most of whom have lost a leg to landmines. After 30 years of war, genocide and civil conflict, there are still an estimated four million 'silent killers' in the ground across the country.

"It's not just landmine survivors. A high proportion of the population has birth defects, both naturally occurring, and as a result of defoliants sprayed over the jungles during the Vietnam War. Then there are the victims of polio and other diseases. The list goes on and on.

"Basically every Khmer family either has a family member who is disabled, or knows a Khmer with a disability. If you can imagine that situation in Hong Kong, but without the medical and rehabilitation facilities, then you're starting to get an idea of the size of the problem."

To develop disability sports

Mr Duncan has teamed up with the organisers of the Cambodian National Volleyball League (Disabled) Program. They are trying to develop disability sports in the country, and raise awareness of the issues facing landmine survivors.

"Sport has the ability to effect positive social change, particularly in countries recovering from wars or civil conflicts. In Cambodia there is a significant lack of social structures at grass-root level, and little understanding of how to go about improving individual or community life.

"The Volleyball League for the disabled is raising public awareness that the disabled are normal and useful persons, and is slowly removing their stigma as a social outcast.

"We are creating sporting heroes - it's a wonderful thing to see able-bodied kids asking for autographs from disabled players," he noted.

Mr Duncan has recently teamed up with a Hong Kong airline to send a 16-member Cambodian national team of disabled athletes to the Disabled Volleyball World Cup in Greece.

"It cost me a small fortune, and they didn't win a medal, but the fact that they played there at all is an enormous step forward. I am tremendously proud of the team."

Mr Duncan's goal is to raise funds to build a sports centre in Cambodia for staging international sport competitions for the disabled that would not only benefit disabled sports, but also have a positive impact on the local economy.

Mountaineering ventures

Mark's mountaineering ventures have focused international attention to not only the plight of the disabled in Cambodia, but also Hong Kong as Asia's World City.

In January this year, he scaled the 19,340-foot Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and the 18,481-foot Mt Elbrus in Russia in July. On both occasions, he carried the Asia's World City flag to the summit on behalf of Hong Kong.

"It's a special privilege to be representing Hong Kong like this. I am also wearing the Force cloth badge on my gear when I climb, so that people around the world can see that officers from the Hong Kong Police are going out of their way to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

In December he will be travelling to Australia for an afternoon hike up the 7,310-foot Mt Kosciusko, and then on to Argentina for a three-week ascent of 22,840-foot Mt Aconcagua.

RTHK will be filming a 10-part documentary about his project, the first part of which is expected to be broadcast in March 2004.

In August 2002, he spent a month in the Cascade Mountains in the Washington State, and British Columbia undergoing specialist training in high-altitude mountaineering in order to minimise the risks he will face in the coming years.

"Seven people died on Elbrus in the first six months of 2003, and that's one of the smaller mountains. The statistics for Mount Everest are worse - for every seven climbers that have reached the summit, one has died. This is taking me to a whole new level of commitment."

Next year, he will travel to Alaska to climb the 20,320-foot Mt McKinley, and then he will go down to Antarctica to attempt Mt Vinson. From there he will shift his focus on the Himalayas, attempting Cho-Oyu (26,906 feet), and then Mt Everest (29,035 feet).

"The climbs are getting increasingly difficult as the project progresses, and will consequently require an increasing amount of preparation."

Mr Duncan is very grateful to the support that he has received from the Commissioner and his senior officers, and added that he could not do volunteer work without their support.

He hopes that this will inspire other colleagues to get involved with volunteer work, and the healthy lifestyles campaign.

"Just find something and get involved!"said Mr Duncan, who spent last Christmas distributing toys to disabled kids and orphans in Phnom Penh, "It won't cost you anything, and it will be more rewarding than you can possibly imagine," he concluded.

Mark is approaching the summit of the 18, 481-foot Mt Elbrus in Russia

Mark poses with a recent landmine victim in Phnom Penh