UC Beijing Police graduates head home

Graham Robinson

3 July 2008: Traffic Officers from the Beijing Public Security Bureau are heading home after completing a Master of Management at the University of Canberra

The 21 officers were sent to the University by the Chinese government to attend the specially designed course.

Zhu Chen Lin (Bill) said: “With this course, we were able to develop skills, training and expertise to give us some chance to get a promotion and to better serve other people.

"I’m very excited to be graduating I learned a lot here. It has also been a valuable life experience. I leaned about communication between Western and Eastern students and I discovered new ways of thinking about things.

“This doesn't just mean the end of study but the beginning of the rest of our lives.

"The 310 days we spent at the University of Canberra are a small proportion of people’s lives but I believe they will be a significant part of the rest of our lives."

The first thing Bill will do when he gets home is visit his parents.

"I miss them very much as I haven’t seen them for a year. I am happy and excited to see them and they will also be excited to see me,” he said.

Beijing Public Security Officers at graduation

With more than three million vehicles in Beijing city, the officers expect to be very busy during the Olympic Games. They believe there will be plenty of opportunities for them to use their newly-acquired expertise both during and after the Olympics.

Course convener and senior lecturer Jim Hanratty said the course was an established broad management course and was modified to suit the background and needs of this particular group by including two subjects in traffic studies and a subject in English.

“Their performance was excellent - above average. This is a credit to all of them because they were learning in a language that is not native to them and they had very little time to adjust to a Western style of learning before starting,” he said.

The graduation ceremony was attended by University of Canberra Chancellor, Professor Ingrid Moses and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen Parker.