One of the initiatives was a workshop on "Building a Safe and Harmonious Multi-ethnic Community" held at NTS Regional Headquarters last month. The seminar sought to enable officers to gain an insight into the cultures and customs of an increasing number of members of the Indian, Pakistani and Nepali communities, who are taking up residence in NTS. Another objective was to cement the communication and mutual understanding between these communities and the police, in the interests of fighting crime and gathering intelligence.

Speaking at the seminar, Superintendent Crime NTS (A&S) Eugene Yue emphasised that he had never overlooked the non-ethnic Chinese communities in planning community policing, and constantly looked into formulating a set of strategies to cater for their needs.

The strategies include maintaining close liaison with the communities' leaders and representatives; forging partnership to enhance mutual understanding; gradually raising officers' professional skills in dealing with the communities, including those from the Regional Operations Wing, Regional Intelligence Unit and Police Community Relations Offices (PCRO); and taking care of the communities in partnership with Non-governmental Organisations and other professional bodies.

As well as the seminar, other functions would be offered to the non-ethnic Chinese communities in the coming months, including soccer training classes to be organised by PCROs, a five-a-side soccer tournament and visits to NTS Regional Headquarters.

Four speakers, comprising two social workers, a Pakistani resident and the officer-in-charge of the Patrol Sub-unit of Sha Tau Kok Division, Senior Inspector Mohammad Munir Khan, conducted the seminar.

The seminar drew an audience of 140 non-ethnic Chinese residents, uniform frontline officers and crime officers. The officers shared with the speakers their experiences of dealing with the non-ethnic communities, and gained some basic information about their ways of life and the problems they have encountered. The officers also appreciated the cultural differences between the non-ethnic Chinese communities and locals, through traditional snacks, candid dialogues and games on the "Urdu" language at the seminar.

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