Balances in Law Enforcement Series IV -
Bring Comfort and Wisdom to Others
A dedicated trainer and counsellor
Superintendent Patrick Kung Pak-sing has spent nearly half of his 32-year service with the Force in the field of training. Through his training jobs, he has also nurtured a big heart for caring, and acquired considerable skills of counselling.
Long association with training has also made Mr Kung more sensitive to the feelings, problems and needs of his colleagues. He would listen, advise and offer help whenever and wherever possible.
Mr Kung's training experiences span nearly 16 years, comprising eight years in Training Wing as Assistant Force Training Officer (AFTO) and Force Training Officer (FTO), six years in Police Training School as Recruit Police Constable Instructor, Senior Inspector (Staff) and Chief Inspector (Continuation and Promotion Courses for Sergeants and Station Sergeants), and nearly one year in the former Police Cadet School in Fanling as Cadet Housemaster.
Since Training Days were put on a more organised basis in November 1998, Mr Kung, as a FTO in the Learning Development Support Centre (formerly the Training Development Bureau), has been coordinating training materials and manuals, as well as videos for "Train-the-Trainer"programmes for Training and Staff Relations Officers and Formation Training Teams. The training programmes have covered some 36 different subjects, of which the notable ones were handling scenes of disasters, managing critical incident stress, child abuse, other forms of domestic violence, sensitivity to counselling, and peer support.
Mr Kung pointed out that Training Days had been quite successful. "The various specialist units have given me a lot of valuable advice and assistance, which have contributed to the success. The trainees in general welcome the programmes' inter-active format. Their feedback and views are always taken into consideration and adopted wherever possible,"he said.
Although training programmes covered a great variety of subjects, Mr Kung continued, officers are anxious to acquire more professional knowledge, knowledge of forensics and psychology, as well as "anything related directly to their jobs."
"As a coordinator for training programmes, I've been trying my best to get up-to-date information and the services of professionals both inside and outside the Force to meet trainees' needs,"he noted.
Mr Kung realises that to get his job done, he has to equip himself. He therefore has attained more relevant academic qualifications in his spare time. The qualifications include a Higher Diploma in Public and Social Administration, a BA Degree in Public Policy and Management, a Postgraduate Diploma in Training Management, and a Master Degree of Social Science in Counselling.
Mr Kung took a two-year course of counselling in 1998 to brush up his skills of "listening and caring"- an attribute he gradually developed over years of association with training and caring for his colleagues and peers at the Hong Kong Enoch Christian Fellowship. His interest in interviews and counselling skills originated from a Diploma Course of Christian Studies he took at the China Graduate School of Theology in 1990. To perfect his counselling skills, Mr Kung has been studying for two years a three-year Master Course of Social Science in Marriage and Family Therapy at the University of Hong Kong.
Mr Kung sees listening and counselling as essential skills for "everyone in the service sector". "As police officers, we've to master these skills and possess the knowledge of empathetic listening and counselling,"he emphasised.
Citing an example, he recalled that a couple of years ago, complaints against a certain EU team dropped substantially after he, along with his colleagues, had trained the team's NCOs on the skills of empathetic listening. "While there were other factors contributing to the substantial drop, I believe empathetic listening skills helped the NCOs better understand the day-to-day problems and feelings of their subordinates,"Mr Kung noted.
Apart from the satisfaction he got from applying empathetic listening and counselling at work, Mr Kung regards himself as the one who has benefited most from mastering the skills of listening and counselling. "With these skills, I'm more capable of understanding others' feelings and wishes, and this has brought me more harmonious relationships with my family, colleagues and friends."
Mr Kung regards continuing learning as a very important process of life but stresses the need of striking a balance between studies and work and family life. He said he always made adjustments to ensure that studies would not take precedence over family, career and religion. "For my continuing studies, I've never aimed at getting A grades in exams; I'm only concerned with acquiring knowledge and satisfying my spiritual needs!"he noted.
Mr Kung proceeded on his pre-retirement leave last month. After taking a break, he will pass on what he has learned from his career to officers. "I've grown up and made many friends within the Force, and acquired a lot of job satisfaction and valuable experiences. It's only right for me to pay something back to the Force,"he noted.
He advises officers "never stop learning and remain modest and open-minded to learning because nobody can embrace all wisdoms".
As an active member of the Enoch Christian Fellowship, Mr Kung will provide counselling at the congregation and assist it in developing and promoting training and counselling work.
Those who know Mr Kung are probably impressed by his optimism, modesty and realise that everyone had a story to tell, and enhanced his ability to accommodate different views. He actively cared and helped others because of his religious belief, and discovered his own inadequacy during this process, which further enhanced his personal growth. He developed his own life wisdom by staying open-minded to everyday experiences.
There are consistent findings in different psychological research studies on helping behaviour: happy people are helpful people, regardless of age and sex, and helping is conducive to positive thoughts and high self-esteem. Mr Kung is a life example of these findings.
Seek advice and help from the PSG: 2866-6206 (5th floor, 111 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay). psg@police.gov.hk
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Services Group (PSG)
A dedicated trainer and counsellor