SAC Wong Ing Fung in her CID office at IPK Sarawak.
KUCHING: Taking in long strides with her head up heading towards our table, SAC Wong Ing Fung clad neatly in a polka dot blouse and donning long dark trousers with black shining police shoes cuts as a no-nonsense person with an air of confidence.
She should, after all, she is the first Malaysian woman to head a State Crime Investigation Department (CID). And the first ever Chinese Foochow from Sibu to hold such a senior post.
Working in a male dominated organization is not for the faint-hearted as her job at times puts her in a “life and death” situation. Standing tall at 168 cm, Wong, 55, who started as a cadet ASP to be where she is now, work hard to clear hurdles and obstacles along the way.
Since her first posting after passing out as a policewoman, Wong finally gets home to serve her beloved Sarawak…. after 32 years.
In a job where she is outnumbered by the men, working doubly-hard, honestly and diligently than her male contemporary is a must to earn her trust and respect.
Way back in 1995, Wong was not even in the list of cadet police when she applied for the job.
She was rejected after her interview and when the person who got the job failed to turn up, Wong who was in the reserve list was accepted.
Thus, she was late for a week when she joined her squad mate in Malaysia Police Training Centre (Pulapol KL).
Educated in Sibu in one of the best ‘all girls’ schools, St Elizabeth, Wong went on to complete Form Six in Sacred Heart secondary school, a all-male school except for those in the sixth form.
Always interested in sports and physical activities (she represented Sarawak in the netball competition) thus, it was not a surprise that she ended up as a cadet police officer in the school.
“At that time cadet police, part of the school extracurricular activity, was only available in St. Elizabeth and Methodist schools. As I was always interested in sport events, I naturally signed up. It was only after I joined the force did I realise that being a police cadet in school is a far cry from the nature of the job,” she said.
Her first posting was in Alor Setar headquarters where she served in the CID for three years.
Then she was transferred to Kedah in D7 and was promoted to head Anti-vice (a new department) to Kedah Headquarters in 2004.
Her next posting was to head Commercial crime (a new department again) in Perlis as a DSP.
Ten years later, she was promoted to Superintendent, that was after she had moved around in Perlis and Kedah and completed her Master degree offered by the force.
For the third time, she was moved to head another new department, “Crime Prevention and Community Safety department” in Kedah.
Two years later, she was transferred to Bukit Aman in the same department and then to Perak for a year.
In April 2022, she was called to head home.
Not bothered by all the postings and transfers from all the years.
Wong said matter of fact, it’s all part of a police job.
“Every time I got transferred, I got two pieces of luggage only. We need to adapt to make life simple and easy.”
Even when her two girls were young, Wong still moved to any new posting with two luggage. When she returned back to Sarawak last April, she again dragged her two luggage with her.
Growing up in Tong Sang Road with two brothers and four sisters and being a middle child (she is the 5th in the family), Wong learned to accept life as it is.
When her father passed on at the age of 48 in 1986 in a work accident, they all had their mother who was a housewife at that time to fend for them.
She drew strength from her mother who brought them up well and with discipline and she was grateful that all of her siblings turned out fine.
After her Form Six, she did a short stint in a local bank, Kong Ming bank in Sibu and then went for further study in UPM.
She was accepted as a teacher in Methodist school but at the eleventh hour, she opted out. She changed her destiny to become a policewoman.
Wong said her mother played an important role in what she is. Her mother, now 88 never interfered in her or her siblings from choosing their careers to life partners. As long as they do an honest job, her mother was fine with that.
Wong loves her job despite the danger that comes along with it and surrounded by male comrades.
She did notice a difference between the way males and females handle issues.
“Women tend to be more meticulous, want everything down to a T but for the men, they look at the big picture. They are not interested in details. Whatever, it is when it comes to decision making, there is no gender. Whether you are a female or a male, you just come to a situation where you need to make a firm decision to ensure the best result,” she said.
Climbing her way up, Wong herself had been put in dangerous complicated operations which she cannot go into details due to the confidentiality of her job.
She has seen all sorts of characters in criminals. Escorting criminals for her is one of the dangerous jobs of a police officer.
“You are accountable for your own safety, for their safety and in some situations, it is just not easy,” she said.
In all her years in the force, Wong said one of the most important lessons taught to her was how careful she must be in handling her weapon, a tip she learned from her father-in-law who was also a policeman.
Her husband was also in the force and has since retired.
After being in the force for over 30 years, Wong said it is natural that the force has changed, the people’s perception of the police has changed.
“The people, especially those in cities and towns know more about their rights. Unfortunately, in the rural areas, things are more or less the same. Victims are taken advantage of especially young underage girls who were unaware of their rights when they were raped. Thus education plays an important role to these youngsters,” she said.
Fortunately, she said in Sarawak, crime rate is manageable. Violent crimes have gone down but commercial crimes have gone up. The highest crime rate is property crimes especially motorcycle and vehicle theft. That contributes a lot to the index crime, she added.
For her, every day is a learning process in the force. It is a job she would never change for another.
Despite working in the Federal for so many years, Wong said it was a different feeling working back home. She has always protected other states and doing it in her home base was a different ball game altogether.
Her Commissioner Dato Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri, her superiors and colleagues in the force have always been supportive and she was pleased that Sarawakian harmony among all the races has not changed at all.
Catching up with one of Wong’s classmates, John Lee, he said he and his classmates were never surprised Wong ended up in the force.
“She was a very active and sporty student with a sense of strong leadership, focus and very determined in what she wanted to do. She was one of the few girls who got along well with everyone. Oh, her beautiful long eyelashes, everyone falls in love with that. But Wong being Wong, she is not easily swayed by sweet talks. She is just one of us lads,” Lee said with a laugh.
By Connie Chieng