March is Magazine Month
er
... does that include bulletins and Golden News?
Birthday Boys and Girls - Nil Returns of the
Day!!
Meeting on 28th February, 2000
PP Cassidy started the official part of the meeting at
1.20 p.m. with Clarissa working hard at the fines! Guests Visiting Rotarians all
flashed by too fast including, thank goodness, Choir practice 'appy birthday
Rotn Patricia, the latest on India Nite and straight on to the introduction of
our speaker by PP Vince.
The Business of Crime
Prevention
By Chief Inspector Bob
White
Crime Prevention Bureau,
Hong Kong Police
As crime in Hong Kong has been gradually rising since 1997
causing concern in Government and among the population, no doubt fuelled by Hong
Kong's active press, I thought I owed you an explanation of recent crime
trends and an analysis of what they might mean for your and your
business.
1997 was a watershed year, the lowest crime figures for 24
years, a source of pride for the Police force and a comfort for the public,
coinciding as it did with the Handover. This satisfaction however was tinged
with apprehension for this trend was bound to reverse as has proved to be the
case. The reasons for this require explanations beyond my humble capabilities
but inferences may be drawn from the obvious factors such as the economic
downturn and rising unemployment. But I contend that Hong Kong is not a less
secure place and a closer look at trends for individual crime areas will justify
this.
Robbery with Firearms, the crime with most
publicity and public concern has shown little change and has in fact lower
figures since 1997. We have seen an increase in robbery with
Pistol Like Objects, i.e. where there is no confirmation of the use of a genuine
firearm. However of concern may be is that many of the targets were small
one-man operations. We have seen none of the headline grabbing shoot outs of the
early 90's. The daily average for all robberies is 8, an
insignificant figure for a city of this nature.
Deception, however has been steadily rising and by 2,000 was 57% more than in 1997.
There have been several reasons for this. A number of street scams, by gangs of
3-4 targeting mostly the elderly have emerged. The scam has varied from fake
gold, medicine or relief from spirit possession. The Y2K phenomenon
provided a readysupply of willing victims who were in an indecent haste to swap
their life savings for software a even pills to cure the "bug". This was a very
difficult trend to counter as victim often didn't watch TV read the papers or
otherwise expose themselves the most common media of preventative advice.
Economic circumstances have undoubtedly lent weight to the increase in these
cases with more culprits taking advantage of the trust or lax accounting
practices of their employers or business clients. On the other hand the economic
straits of recent years have also resulted in higher than usual rates of
reporting.
Shop theft, has substantially increased in the last four years. Again, economic
circumstances have contributed as evidenced by the ages of the culprits of whom
in 2,000 35% were under 20, reflecting the greater involvement of adults in this
crime. Another factor, the reduction of staff in shops as owners have sought to
minimise operating costs. One of the most effective deterrents to the thief is
alert watchful staff while premises with minimum staff level have been
shown more vulnerable.
Vehicle Theft has significantly increased in the past few years although the figure for
2,000 is just over a third of that recorded in 1992. Whilst not affecting
business directly, vehicle owners should note that high performance and sports
utility vehicles have superceded luxury cars as the prime targets.
Miscellaneous Theft,
the largest single category contributing to the
overall crime rate, has increased steadily over the past four years. Involved
are internal theft such as removing handbags in restaurants, bars and shops.
Retailers and hospitality businessmen should note the benefits of ensuring the
security of customers and their property when on their premises.
Burglary,has been left to the end as is the crime most of you will be familiar
with and may even fear. Take encouragement however from the fact that following
a sharp rise in 1998, trends for the past two years have been downwards,
particularly and more significantly for offices and shops. These trends are
no cause for complacency, however. Many of the cases were easily preventable.
There are only doors, windows or walls via which criminals can break
in.
One example: many shops and offices use glass doors which are
obviously vulnerable to attack although only in a few instances have these doors
been broken. Such extreme, noisy and dangerous measures are apparent to even the
least alert guards and are rarely necessary. Too many offices rely on the keypad
control and electric lock which is fine for daytime access but should be
supplemented by a roller shutter of pad-eye and padlock for out of hours
security. However establishments that do invest in these
devices should not neutralise them by using $50 padlock. They should invest in
proper, close shackled security padlocks.
Another point is who locks up? Often a 5'2" receptionist is
fondly imagined to be capable of locking the bolt on top of a 6'6" door. Perhaps
this, rather that the dictates of fashion gurus, has led to the resurgence of
platform shoes for the young ladies of Hong Kong.
The vulnerability of windows is self-apparent and it should
be remembered that window locks are effective and will not turn the office into
a prison.
The vulnerability of walls is often less obvious but there
are two aspects to look for. The structure of the partitions and their height.
There is little point in re-enforcing doors if the thief can simply walk through
the wall or go over it via the false ceiling.
Conclusion - In the time available it is impossible to review every possible burglary
scenario. Each premise is different and requires a specific review of its
vulnerabilities. In closing you are therefore directed to the CPB website
or Telephone 2722 6885) for further preventative advice on the range of crimes and to
the contact numbers for the crime prevention offices in your area.
Finally, an appeal to your business instincts by advising you
to cease regarding security as an item of expenditure but rather as an
investment, which, by reducing losses can make a tangible contribution to your
profits.
There followed a lively question session on Dogs, Guns, the
non-acceptance of reports (?) and finally Pyramid Selling ... which is going out
of fashion due to the enormity of the project as it has more recently been
discovered with shop lifting. Our resident criminal .... -expert Rotn Thomas
gave a warm and humorous speech of thanks ... and said he liked our speaker
too!!
(Note the editor has two tables of statistics on crime from
1997 - 2000 and burglary by premises for the same period as well as a diagram
for a Pad-Eye, a device for securing a Door from the outside with a solid
padlock and would be glad to fax or snail mail them to interested KGMers)
On Vocation! With
Rotarian Silva Yeung
Classification
- Service Organisation Administration
I was brought up in an ordinary working family like
most Hong Kong Chinese did. My father moved himself from Mainland China
before Japanese invaded Hong Kong. Luckily, he got through all the difficulties
by himself. He had no family members in Hong Kong. Thus, I learnt a lot of
things from his self-supporting, reliant behavior such as looking at positive
side and problem solving instead of waiting for help.
During sixties,
education was still hard to come by but somehow I was able to get into high
school and finis more than five years as I need to work part time as
well as study. My elder brother and sister who are much smarter than I had
no chance to get a high school education.
After two years working
and had a good chance to get aboard, and spent four years in US
studying Social Administration. Then I learned about services for the
Mentally Handicapped and soon decided to come back and developed this service in
Hong Kong.
I returned in '78 and discovered working in social service
required a degree
in social work. Fortunately, I got into this agency named
Kowloon Union
Church which had just started programme for Mentally
Handicapped adults.
Time flies, 20 years was over, so it was with my age! I
am still working in this agency, but it grew form 7 staff members to 300,
serving 15 clients to nearly 1,000. From one half day center in 16 service units
(branches), our services now cover a day activity center, sheltered
workshop, supported employment, job training, home and hostel service, respite
care , social and recreational services, counseling and finally occupational and
speech therapy.
My daily work involves a lot of administration, personnel,
and policy. As an agency representative , I need to work with government
officials from SWD, mainly. Others from Health and Welfare Bureau, Education and
Manpower Bureau. Local districts and other Non-Government sectors in particular
with rehabilitation agencies.
I strongly believe in equal opportunity.
Without having been given the opportunity I do not think I would have
been able to work my way up. Apart from this however my religion tells me
that God gave me all. It is my deep conviction that it is very important to let
others have access to opportunity. Hence, I promote Sport and Arts
for disabled people through The Hong Kong Special Olympic and Arts Association
for the Disabled People (Known as Very Special Art Interaction). It takes up
most of my spare time.
Before I forget, I had better mention I have a
wonderful and supportive wife Wacia whom I married just over 20 years ago in
early March. She is a nurse and gave up a few years for Gary our lovely son,
whom most of you have met on several occasions. He is now in Form Five,
preparing for his examinations, is much taller than me in build and is my
computer instructor at home.
Apart from going to church, we spend much time
in family activities with our
brothers and sisters and their families
especially after my parents passed
away several years ago. It is fun to have
monthly reunions, try it and you will agree with me.
Traveling is my hobby. Yet, it may take me many
year before I can rest and visit most parts of China.
Rotary has given me the impression that I should share
some of my philosophy:-
"Help those in need and give all hope to live on; share
resources whenever
possible."
Let's pray for a world in Peace.
From the
Webmaster
aka The
Phantom
OK, I know you guys are just screaming for some Rotary
Information, and I always do my best to satisfy screamers. Ahem.
Anyway, if you go the KGM web site (er, it's at
www.rckgm.org), and click on (now this is complicated)
"Rotary Info" at the very top of the page, you will be
whisked at light speed to, guess what ? YES ! The Rotary Information section.
Ta-da !!
There you will find links (ah, they're the blue underlined
bits) to everything you ever wanted to know about Rotary, but were too thirsty
to put your beer down to ask. Check out the "ABC's of
Rotary", read the KGM FAQ (um, that's
Frequently Asked Questions), see a list of all the Past
Presidents of Rotary International or find out
exactly what the Rotary Foundation does.
Some of the Rotary Information is actually part of the KGM
web site, while other parts are linked to the relevant pages on the RI or other
external web sites.
Go on. Don't be shy. Nobody is trying to pressure you. You
don't need to be a walking encyclopedia about Rotary, just because we're gonna
test you during every regular meeting from now on.
If you can't answer a question, it's only gonna cost you $50.
Cheap !
Presidential
Quotation