As its Chairman, Chief Inspector Wyman Lee, has put it, the club is "going from strength to strength". He noted: "We are all very excited that our club has turned two this year. By the beginning of the third year, the initial rush of interest in most new organisations has already begun to wane. As the novelty wears off, they often wither away until they exist in name only. However, the Police English Club is going from strength to strength. We now have more than 405 members and the level of interest just seems to keep on climbing. In fact, I would guess that we are probably the fastest growing of all the Police clubs. That's a very nice position to be in and we are very proud of it."

Several like-minded officers, both local and overseas, formally registered the Police English Club at the end of October 2004. The club was born when Director of Management Services Mike Dowie kindly agreed to be its Honorary Chairman.

Mr Dowie commented: "I have been a great supporter of the club's aims right from the start. Improvement of the English skills of our Regular, Auxiliary and civilian officers and their families makes good sense from an organisational perspective. Furthermore, there is no need for expensive equipment or special skills to participate in the club's activities. All that's required is the willingness to have a go and speak. There is truly something for all the family to enjoy."

The club's Vice Chairman (Internal), Senior Inspector Paul Lewis, explained the idea behind the club's formation: "Rightly or wrongly, back in mid 2004, there was a strong perception amongst professionals, parents and employers that the standards of spoken English were falling across the board in Hong Kong. A number of us felt that we could either sit back and complain about declining standards or step forward and try to put something back into the system ourselves. We could not solve all of Hong Kong's language education problems. However, by giving up a little of our own free time, we could try to create a framework within which at least our own officers and their families could get a real opportunity to practise using English together in a relaxed environment."

The club's Executive Committee realises that different people have different needs when it comes to using English. Chief Inspector Gilbert Wong, the Vice-Chairman (External), shared his thoughts on this with OffBeat: "Some members are purely interested in self-development while others are looking forward to upgrading their language skills. Some are worried that their own English may not be good enough to help their children with homework. For many, just finding something full of fun, inexpensive and family-oriented to do together with their kids at weekend is a top priority. With these objectives in mind, the club offered an attractive basket of different activities to suit every taste over the last two years."

The activities included regular free English Conversation Circle, English poetry recital competition for children, "cooking evening" for adults, English communication and experience-sharing programme for Potential Officers, workshops on the use of the international phonetic system for parents to teach their children to pronounce unfamiliar new words correctly, Christmas cookie making class, English book fairs and even English language activity days for young children with virtually no knowledge of English. All these activities attracted members' keen interest.

To stay in touch between activities, members can log onto an English Discussion Forum to share linguistic knowledge, learn about the origins of unusual and funny expressions or even get some tips from their native English-speaking colleagues.

"Among our members are Form 5 students, retired officers, serving Regulars and Auxies, civilian staff and their families. We have something for everyone. At $50 for life membership, we have to be one of the best value clubs around. If any of your readers is interested in knowing more about us or even joining us, they may check out our website by clicking "POINT/Index/Police English Club" or by emailing us at police.englishclub@gmail.com. All are welcome," said CIP Lee.

The club will hold another English Conversation Circle session at 6:30 pm on March 14 in the G/F Conference Room of PSRC. Come along and show your support.

Training in poetry recital begins at early age

Club Chairman, CIP Wyman Lee, with slogan competition winners

Potential Officers attending an experience-sharing session