It all began with a lot of puffing and panting. A Hong Kong police constable who was not in the best physical shape failed his annual fitness test last year, as he was not up to the relatively modest benchmark requiring male officers to complete a 2.4km run in less than 121/2 minutes for those under the age of 35 and 131/2 minutes for those aged over 35.
Failing the fitness test, while embarrassing, was hardly a career-ending matter. Normally in such a case the officer would be ordered to sort their health out and perhaps packed off for a few days to what is jokingly referred to within the force as a 'fatties' camp' for some basic training and guidance on healthier living habits.
Unlike hundreds before him, however, this police constable was not going to accept either the result of the test or the prospect of an enforced diet under the force's direction.
Instead, he complained to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), saying it was unfair and discriminatory that under the rules of the test, policewomen had a whole minute more than their male counterparts in which to complete the run.
The EOC apparently supported that view, advising the police that they had to apply the same standards to all of force's more than 27,000 male and female officers. Partly as a result of that case, the annual fitness test used since 1985 to make sure officers were up to the rigours of their job has been abolished.
In its place - controversially as far as some police officers are concerned - is what management describes as a holistic approach to fitness within the force, titled rather grandly 'An Integrated Approach to Physical Fitness and Health Management (PHM)', although the police insist they were working on this new approach long before the EOC case arose.
The difference between the two systems is breathtaking. Above all, PHM is a voluntary programme that takes an overview of officers' health and well-being. There are no tests or benchmarks. There is no mandatory annual 2.4km run, although even in the days of the annual fitness test officers could opt to do a 4.8km walk or a 2km row using a rowing machine, if they preferred.