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  Penang policemen, who join a Hokkien course, stages a Hokkien sketch. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily.

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  Penang policemen, who join a Hokkien course, stages a Hokkien sketch. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily.

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  Penang policemen, who join a Hokkien course, stages a Hokkien sketch. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily.

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  Penang policemen, who join a Hokkien course, stages a Hokkien sketch. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily.

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  Penang policemen, who join a Hokkien course, stages a Hokkien sketch. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily.

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  State Secretary Datuk Zainal Rahim Seman (right), Penang CPO Datuk Ayub Yaakob (centre) and others have a great time when watching the sketch. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily.

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PENANG, Wednesday 4 August 2010 – Through a Hokkien sketch, the Penang police made a great effort to advise Penang residents to stay away from gambling and other crimes.

As 80% of Penang residents spoke Hokkien, Penang policemen were keen to learn Hokkien.

The aim of the sketch was to convey an anti-crime message and let the public understand the efforts of the force. It was also to strengthen the bond between the public and police officers to prevent crimes.

A total of 25 police officers and employees from the Penang state secretary’s office joined the Hokkien course six months ago and the sketch, which would also mark their graduation from the course, had been staged at the Penang marine police base at Batu Uban.

Winnie Yap, who conductor the classes, said that the script was completed within a day. However, it took them about three months to practice.

She was satisfied with the sketch and hoped that the it had conveyed a message that criminal prevention was a mutual responsibility.

Penang CPO: Convince the public through friendliness

Penang CPO Datuk Ayub Yaakob said that he proposed the idea of speaking Hokkien to curb crimes two years ago when he first came to the office.

He emphasised that even though policemen were able to communicate with the public in Bahasa Malaysia, the connection and cooperation could be strengthen if they could communicate in the widely used dialect.

He said that the efforts of Penang police were not wasted, as the crime rate had dropped by 17.3% for the first six months of this year.

Meanwhile, traffic policeman Hamidi Ahmad, who won the best actor award, said that he could not understand a word of Hokkien six months ago but was now able to speak in the Chinese dialect.

Sin Chew Daily