PETALING JAYA, Mar 25 (Sin Chew Daily) – What motivate Datuk Dr Lee Bee Phang, the country's first ethnic Chinese female Commissioner of Police, are a strong commitment, an attitude of preparedness, and an undying spirit.

In an exclusive interview with Sin Chew Daily, Lee said she was indebted to IGP Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador for trusting her and being concerned with the well-being of policewomen such that they also get to be promoted to senior positions.

"This is not my personal achievement but the concerted effort of everyone in the police force, from top to bottom. I'm glad and honored to have received blessings from all parties."

Having served in the PDRM for 34 years, Lee admits that there are bound to be setbacks and obstacles along the way at every stage, but what have energized her to overcome all the barriers and hurdles are not only strong support from her superiors and subordinates but also an attitude of preparedness in seizing each available opportunity as well as the unyielding enthusiasm since she first joined the police force.

Alway ready yourself

"It sounds so unnatural but I really thought of serving the people whichever department I was in. And the same enthusiasm has kept me going.

"As long as we ready ourselves at all times, we will get to perform when the opportunity knocks."

Lee doesn't think her ethnicity and sex have had much impact on her work.

"I have some Chinese subordinates and of course plenty of non-Chinese. Most importantly we always maintain a good relationship and work together towards a common goal. Anyway, in the police force it is not any individual that counts but the entire team."

While working, Lee is also constantly learning new things for self-improvement, and has spent ten years to complete her Master's and doctorate degrees while serving in the police force.

In 1993, after serving for seven years, Lee felt that she needed to further her studies on a part-time basis to better understand the problems of commercial crimes and juvenile delinquency.

While pursuing a Master's degree course related to commercial crimes, Lee had to make frequent trips between Penang and Kuala Lumpur, for work and study. She almost divided all her time on these two things alone.

"It was very tough back then but I was still there. It took me five years to complete my Master's.

"In 2005, I came to realize that the juvenile delinquency problem was getting increasingly serious in this country, and decided to pursue a doctorate in this.

"The continued learning process has provided me one after another opportunity. Opportunity is for those who are prepared!

"I hope to set a good example for other people, to inspire those wish to join the force and ready themselves so that when the opportunity arrives, they will get to seize it."

Of course she hopes more Chinese Malaysians will join the police force in future.

Support from family

34 years since joining the police force in 1987, Lee started her police career while still studying at USM, Penang, where she pursued a social science course and had the opportunity to come to know the Reserve officer Training Unit (PALAPES).

She started to make more non-Chinese friends after joining PALAPES, and slowly got to know better about the disciplined life in a uniformed group. This has helped lay the foundation for her to officially join the police force later.

"I became more psychically fit through a series of training programs in PALAPES, and became increasingly drawn to the police force. So after graduation, I made up my mind to join the police force after giving it some serious thought.

Lee's mother was initially resistant to the idea of her becoming a policewoman, but eventually gave her her blessing and support. Meanwhile, her father gave her his support in action, by sending her to the police training center in KL from their hometown Salak Tinggi Sepang.

"Back then my mother said I was so thin and weak, how to catch the thief? I knew she was worried about me. We never argued, but she later made several trips to Penang to see me to show her support."

Other than her parents, Lee's sister was another staunch supporter in the family.

Malaysia saw the country's first female deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah after the 2018 general elections, and Lee believes some day there would also be a female deputy IGP and perhaps even IGP, but more importantly the entire police force must work as one team and wholeheartedly serve the rakyat.

"It's all about teamwork. We are all part and parcel of the organization, whichever unit we serve. Only with team spirit can we move ahead in unison."

Lee reveals that PDRM has embarked on an ambitious five-year plan to employ sophisticated technologies and digitization to help solve the cases while working with local universities to conduct in-depth studies on social criminology.

She has planned to publish an autobiography in near future to share her experiences in the police force in hope of encouraging more Malaysians to join the force and changing their perception of it.