The Good Citizen Award (GCA) Presentation Ceremony 2021 (Phase II) organised by the Hong Kong Police Force was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre today (August 28). Forty citizens were commended for assisting the Force in fighting crime and safeguarding the rule of law. Besides, a total of six organisations were awarded with Good Organisation Award to recognise their efforts in supporting the Police’s child protection works.

      

     Noting that the GCA scheme had proven to be a great success since its establishment in 1973, the Acting Commissioner of Police, Ms Lau Chi-wai, in her welcoming speech, thanked for the support of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Fight Crime Committee, every citizen and different stakeholders in the society. She added that the scheme had moved with the times and introduced the “Good Organisation Award” last year, so as to extend the synergy effect in promoting crime prevention at both individual and organisational levels.

      

     Featuring the theme of “Inheritance” and “Child Protection”, Ms Lau said she hoped that the Award could promote the inheritance of “Good Citizen” spirit amongst the younger generation.  She also stressed that the Force has been attaching great importance to the development and well-being of teenagers. With the establishment of Public Relations Wing, the Police will further strengthen communication with young people and cultivate youths’ law-abiding awareness, positive values and sense of national identity. In the meantime, the Police will organise various promotional and educational activities to help the community to recognise the importance of child protection.

 

     Also officiating at the ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Mr George Leung commended the GCA awardees as role models for citizens. He said he hoped that the Police, business sector and members of the public could join hands to make Hong Kong one of the best cities to live and do business. Mr Frankie Ngan Man-yu, a member of the Fight Crime Committee, praised the awardees for their courage, alertness and sense of civic responsibility.

      

     The 40 good citizens were awarded for assisting the Police in preventing or detecting cases involving fraud, theft, robbery, wounding, indecent assault and animal abuse.  There were also awardees who made their contributions in life-saving, in which Ms Yeung Sui-lin was honoured the “Good Citizen of the Year Award” (GCYA). Being a chief building supervisor of a housing estate, Ms Yeung detected residents were at risk in their flats during patrol duty in three occassions. She made a report to the Police immediately and successfully saved their lives.

      

     The GCA Scheme is organised by the Public Relations Wing, sponsored by Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and supported by the Fight Crime Committee. Each of the awardees received a certificate and $3,000. The GCYA recipient would also be presented a plaque and $4,000. More than 4,500 citizens have been commended over the years.

      

     In addition, an exhibition was set up onsite to enable the participants to have a better understanding of the GCA scheme. The exhibition will be moved to Ma On Shan Plaza starting from tomorrow (August 29) to September 4, showcasing the history of GCA scheme and the GCA comic book. There will also be a photo booth with “Good Citizen Alliance” figures to promote righteousness in the community. The Force’s anti-scam mascot “Little Grape” will also appear in the exhibition from 3pm to 6pm on September 3 and 4 to distribute souvenirs and promote anti-scam messages to the public.

     Forty citizens who helped the Police fight crime were commended at the Good Citizen Award (GCA) Presentation Ceremony today (August 14).
 
     Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Siu Chak-yee, praised the GCA recipients for their law-abiding consciousness, sense of commitment and courage. Mr Siu pointed out that this GCA Ceremony is different from the previous ones, not only does it first adopt a theme of “Anti-deception”, but also launches the “Good Corporate Award” to commend corporates which have been proactively assisting the police in the prevention and investigation of scams. The Force also encourages corporates to provide training for their employees to enhance their capacities to guard against fraud, so that reports and interceptions on fraud can be made earlier at corporate level.
 
     Also officiating at the ceremony, Mr Pang Wing-seng, a member of the Fight Crime Committee, said that with the development of information technology, the Police are facing greater challenges. He added that the “Anti-deception” theme this year could enhance public awareness on fraud and crime prevention, especially the recent increase in scams targeting elderly.
 
     Mr Watson Chan, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Policy and Business Development of Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said the newly launched “Good Corporate Award” recognised the contributions of the corporates. He also commended the GCA recipients as role models for citizens.
 
     With the help of the 40 awardees, the Police detected dozens of cases related to fraud, burglary, animal abuse and wounding. There were also awardees who made their contributions in life-saving. 
 
     The youngest awardee, Ms Liu Wing-yan, aged 14, immediately alerted the victim to make a report to Police once she spotted a man secretly taking upskirt photos of the victim on a Light Rail train. The man was later convicted of outraging public decency and sentenced to fourteen weeks’ imprisonment with two years’ suspended sentence.
 
     The GCA is organised by the Police Public Relations Branch, sponsored by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, and supported by the Fight Crime Committee. The GCA Ceremony this time has injected three new ideas: the adoption of the “Anti-deception” theme, the launch of the “Good Corporate Award” and the debut of the Force’s anti-scam mascot, “The Little Grape”. Besides, the GCA this year introduced a new concept of “Good Citizen Alliance”, which good citizens form an alliance to give play to their role as “good citizens” in different corners of the society, joining hands in fighting crimes, helping each other, and promoting righteousness in the community.