©The
Sunday Star (Used by permission)
KUALA LUMPUR: He could have been battling it out in the courtrooms, but lawyer
Hon Kah Wei gave it all up to catch criminals on the streets.
Determined to serve the Royal Malaysia Police, Hon, 27, who earned a bachelor’s
degree in law from Universiti Malaya, had no qualms about leaving the comfort of
air–conditioned courtrooms to join the force.
Yesterday, he graduated as a probationary inspector with excellent academic
results after nine months of intense training.
“I have always wanted to be in the force.
“You can become a lawyer at any time and at any age but you can’t join the force
once you reach 28,” he said after the graduation and convocation ceremony of 495
cadets as probationary inspectors at the Police Training Centre (Pulapol) in
Jalan Semarak here yesterday.
A total of 218 were graduates, 266 diploma holders and 11 were Sijil Tinggi
Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) certificate holders.
Hon said that his late father, mother and former employer had, over the years,
encouraged him to fulfil his dream.
Hon, who was born in Teluk Intan, where he later practised law, said that the
salary in the force was not the lure.
“Things have changed now. The police are paid better salaries and other
benefits. If you work hard, you will be promoted,” he said, adding that he would
still be able to make the RM250 monthly repayment on the RM12,000 education loan
he took for his law studies.
Best cadet inspector Mohd Amirul Alias, 23, who wanted to follow in his father’s
footsteps said he had wanted to be a policeman since he was seven.
“I was a cadet police in school and also in the university. I also never missed
Gerak Khas, the local police television series,” he said, adding that his father
who was a lance corporal in the General Operation Force, in Ulu Kinta, Perak,
where he was born, had encouraged him.
“I will do my best to protect the image of the force,” said Mohd Amirul who has
a UTM diploma in accounts.
Nor Ellyna Ab Rahman, 28, from Besut Terengganu who has a Marine Science degree
from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia was named the best female cadet inspector
for outdoor training while Saiful Hisham Mohd Abd Latif, 23, from Tanah Merah,
Kelantan who holds a Diploma in Entrepreneurship from Kolej Yayasan Melaka was
named the best male cadet inspector for outdoor training.