As quite a few senior citizens have lost their savings to confidence-tricksters in their search for potent Chinese medicine, Chief Inspector Ko Shek-cheong of RCPO KE and the School of Chinese Medicine have joined hands in teaching the elderly how to distinguish genuine Chinese herbal medicine from the fake, and how to stay alert to deception.

This joint effort between the school and RCPO KE took the form of an education session and a free medical consultation for 360 senior citizens, held at the Auxiliary Police Headquarters in Kowloon Bay at the end of last month.

Speaking at the opening of the joint project, the Dean of the school, Prof Liu Liang, said his partnership with the RCPO KE "in this meaningful project" not only promoted Chinese medicinal knowledge among the general public, but also contributed to the development of Chinese medicine in the territory.

"Chinese medicine is a regulated school subject and industry, but street scams have undermined its value and reputation. It is our wish to teach citizens how to distinguish genuine medicine from the fake. This is also the first time my university has sent Chinese medicine practitioners to give free medical consultation," he added.

By working with the School of Chinese Medicine, Mr Ko hopes that the joint project would bring scam-prevention messages direct to the elderly, given many of them seldom read newspaper or watch TV.

During the project, staff of RCPO KE staged a drama to illustrate the modus operandi of "fake medicine scam", "blessing scam" and "telephone scam", and gave a talk on Chinese herbal medicine and the ways to distinguish them from the fake.

At the same time, 30 Chinese medicine lecturers and students from the Hong Kong Baptist University provided health and blood pressure checks for the elderly audience.

Having encouraged the elderly, with free transport, refreshment and health gift packs, to come to the function, both the RCPO and the School of Chinese Medicine hope they would pass on what they had learned for the benefits of their peers.

Learning how to distinguish genuine Chinese herbal medicine from the fake