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Stella Lee

Flower power is out for the territory's lawmen.

  The shrinking violets of the Royal Hong Kong Police do not want the bauhinia flower on their post-handover insignia, fearing it will bring bad luck.

 Instead, they are planning their own design which spurns the bauhinia - the territory's post-handover symbol - as an alternative to the force version.

 'Chinese beliefs suggest that wearing a flower is unlucky. It infers suffering from gunshots or bleeding . . . this is not good for the force,' said one officer.

 The force's draft design removes the word 'royal' from the title and features the bauhinia and a panorama of the Hong Kong shoreline.

  Among the buildings depicted are the Bank of China, the Hongkong Bank and Jardines House.

  Officers also dislike the inclusion of Jardines House because the group is no longer domiciled in the territory.

 While changes are understood to have been made to the new badge, the staff associations which objected to the original design claim they have not been told of the amendments.

 This has prompted officers to come up with their own insignia - a sort of Red Badge of Courage for Hong Kong's finest.

  The Local Inspectors' Association is planning to hold a design competition among its members if the force's final version is not to its liking.

  One of its draft designs carries the Chinese character for police at the centre of the emblem, while another features the head of a dragon.

  It is understood some officers intend to submit their ideas directly to the same mainland officials who will rule on the official force design.

  'We have not been properly consulted over the new design. We would like to tell the Chinese Government exactly what we really want,' another officer said.



Bauhinia fails to take root with the police