Ng Hoi-lai (L) and Ng Kong-naat (R)
Forty Hong Kong citizens who helped the police fight crime were given the Good Citizen Award yesterday – and no, none of them are Batman. (Unless he wasn’t in uniform, in which case, we wouldn’t know.)
At the presentation ceremony, the responsible members of society were given a certificate (yawn) and a cheque for HKD3,000 (what?!). It seems the authorities are hoping a little cash incentive will do the trick in case your moral compass is not so well calibrated.
Thanks to these 40 heroes, 30 people were arrested for crimes ranging from robbery and burglary to indecent assault and wounding.
Two of the awardees, Ng Kong-naat and Ng Hoi-lai, both employees at the same money exchange shop, prevented six elderly people from falling victim to a telephone scam. The old people had been tricked into remitting money to rescue “relatives” in the mainland.
Lau Kam-ping, a taxi driver, was also awarded for tattling on two passengers who snagged some of the cash that was spilled onto a Wan Chai road in the Great Christmas Eve Mad Dash For Cash.
(Of course, we assume he did this out of the goodness out of his heart, and not because he wanted to avoid getting in trouble for stopping the taxi in the first place and for driving their getaway vehicle.)
Chan Mei-yee, who saw those passengers board the taxi, also gave the police information that helped them arrest the cash-grabbing opportunists.
Together, Lau and Chan helped to recover HKD160,000, and one of the passengers was sentenced to five months in prison.
Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Au Chi-kwong said that the city’s law and order is improving continuously thanks to the “indispensable contribution” of a law-abiding community, an effective police, and a close relationship between the authorities and citizens.
Since the inception of the biannual Good Citizen Awards 42 years ago, more than 4,000 people have been commended.
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