The Hong Kong Police Force was created by the British government on 1st May, 1844 with just 35 men of diverse ethnicities categorized as "A" mostly white officers, "B" Indians (mostly Punjabis), "C" Chinese who spoke Cantonese, "D" for Chinese recruited from Shandong province and "E" the Russians who arrived from Siberia after the Russian Civil War.
In 1941, more military men joined the Police Force. As the war started, some of them quit the Force and went back to their own countries but they returned as soon as the war ended. However, the Force still remained under-manned.
 On 14th August, 1947 British India was partitioned into two independent countries namely Pakistan and India. Due to their excellent performance and bravery, the British government decided to recruit more personnel from the Pakistani province of Punjab to expand the Royal Hong Kong Police Force. In February 1952, a delegation which consisted of Superintendent of Police Mr. Bower, a Chief Inspector and Mr. Khushi Muhammad as the interpreter, was sent to different parts of Pakistan. Subsequently 150 candidates were selected and sailed to Hong Kong to undergo training for six months. |
Hong Kong of then was faced with a multitude of problems including street crime, drugs, triads, political instability and illegal immigration from China due to unstable political situation right after 1949. A new unit called E.U.N.T. (Emergency Unit of New Territories) was created of the new Pakistani recruits upon completion of basic training, which had to apart from staying stand by for 24 hours a day, execute various other duties such as riot control, stop illegal immigration and crime as the Force was not divided into departments to deal with different jobs. The Pakistanis displayed professionalism, courage and initiative in their duties under very difficult situations. Some of them even sacrificed their lives in the line of duty on 7th July, 1967 , like late Mr. Muhammad Nawaz (PC3033) and late Mr. Muhammad Khursheed (PC3015) in a border incident later to be known as the Sha Tau Kok Incident. |
The Chinese had a saying "HO JAI M'TONG CHAI" which really means a good boy would never become a policeman and by joining the police you were asking for your own death that's why very few Chinese were joining the Force. But with changing times and increased stability, the Force was able to recruit Chinese people to it's ranks and a more organized police force started to take shape including creation of different departments with specific duties. A second British recruitment delegation was sent to Pakistan in July 1961 which brought 47 more personnel which further lessened the pressure on the existing members and a three shift rotation was introduced. Now the E.U.N.T. was assigned with border patrol, emergency rescue operations and standby for other tasks as required from time to time. Some of the Pakistanis were promoted to high ranks and many received Colonial Service awards.
A small Pakistani community started when many married Pakistani officers brought their wives from Pakistan to live with them at  Police Married Quarters situated in Fanling, New Territories while a few married with local Chinese women. To cater to the needs of this community a small primary school called Pakistani Police Primary School (PPPS) was created where late Madam Sultana Razia and late Mr. Muhammad Iqbal did a marvelous job teaching the children English, Urdu, Mathematics, Science and Pakistani culture.  Most of these children could not follow into the footsteps of their fathers due to the new entry requirement of written Chinese, although all of them were fluent in spoken Cantonese. Most joined the private sector upon completion of their studies and a lot of them did pretty well in their respective fields and owned businesses with a few opting to emigrate to Europe and Americas. |
However, as cocoons transform into beautiful butterflies, these children no longer live in Fanling, they now have children and even grandchildren of their own. And to pursue their dreams, they are living in different parts of the world. Fortunately, WWW.FANLINK.HK is able to unite the spirits of these good friends, help them relive their memories and face the bright future together, just like old times. |
