Morning shift 22/08/06

Yesterday.i was assigned to perform counter duties for the morning shift. It may seem just like another day at counter but i had an experience that i felt was really rewarding. In the morning, an old man in his late 70's had came in to inform that he had wanted to lodge a report regarding some of his personal belongings being discovered missing. Seems like a normal report huh? Here comes the interesting part. Firstly,he does not understand a single word of english and secondly,he is deaf. This is a problem to me as i would not be able to gather the proper facts of the case from him to help facilitate my report lodging. As he had his purpose for being in the police centre clearly defined,he started telling me about the items he had found missing as well as other details without me even asking and he kept on going on,nevermind the fact that at certain points of time,i was trying to ask him to repeat some of the details as i couldn't really get him. His dialect is cantonese u see and i am really horrible at it despite my mum being one as well. I am more hokkien inclined,haha. Back to the issue,i could see that he was struggling to converse with me in chinese as earlier he had asked if i understood cantonese and i had shook my head. At the end of it all,i had managed to make a note of the items that he had mentioned were missing. I even managed to get hold of the time he had discovered the items missing. Then came one big problem. I was not able to proceed with the report if i did not have details like his place of work where the items were believed to have been missing from. Also,the items which he listed as missing were all very vague.He simply told me what they were but made no mention of their brand and estimated value which were necessary to make the report more detailed. I then tried to obtain these information from him by penning down my questions in chinese and thereafter asking him to read whatever i had written. Perhaps of the generation gap and the difference in olden writing as well as modern writing,he could not really make out some parts of what i was trying to tell him but nevertheless,he managed to get the gist of it right. However,to my despair,he had no idea as to the brand and value of the items and he informed that there were all given to him by his children. Thankfully he managed to keep a notebook containing their contact numbers in his bag and he then showed it to me. I tried all the 3 numbers that he had provided me with but all except one were not in use,that was the contact number to his son.I called up his son and briefed him about the matter and i told him that i had trouble obtaining the facts from his father as such i informed that i would still be lodging the report but it will be brief and simplified and if there is a need,he could relodge the report at any other police post.He acknowledged it. I was also able to obtain details of his father's work place and contact number from him.I was then finally able to proceed with the report but there were still several instances that i had to converse with him in written chinese. Finally the report was completed and there was a huge feeling of satisfaction in me because not only had i managed to help this uncle lodge a report against all odds,i had also managed to write in chinese despite me being so weak in it and having not touched it for almost 2 years.Haha! All in a days' work.=)