KUALA LUMPUR: Perhaps it isn’t too far-fetched to imagine that the Gan family would greet each other with a salute.

Deputy Supt (Rtd) Gan Kim Chon, who comes from a family of 11 siblings, was the first to join the police force. Then younger sister Asst Comm (Rtd) Gan Choon Hong, now 62, followed suit. These days, younger brother ACP Gan Tack Guan, 59, is still serving faithfully after 39 years.

To mark Police Day today, Kim Chon, 71, and his siblings shared their experience being the men and women in blue,

“From an early age, I had been interested in the uniform.

“Life was difficult in the early days, so whenever there was a government post, we would give it a shot,” said Kim Chon.

His mother was the sole breadwinner, so Kim Chon stepped up to help put food on the table.

“I applied three times (to be a policeman). The first two times, I retracted it because of the pay. I was making more as an office boy then!” he said.

He tried his luck again in 1974 for the post of inspector.

“And I got in,” said Kim Chon, adding that the post came with an allowance that was enough for him to support the family.

Not long after, Choon Hong and ACP Gan made the same career choice.

Choon Hong recalled that when she became a cop in 1976, it was during the communist insurgency and the police force had actively sought out family members of existing personnel to bolster their ranks.

“I grabbed the opportunity without any hesitation. Now after my retirement, I still can say that I have no regrets at all,” said Choon Hong.

“It’s a noble job,” ACP Gan chimed in, adding that there was also the prospect for promotion.

“Work hard enough and you can even go from inspector to IGP.”

He is now with the Bukit Aman Special Task Force for Anti-Vice, Gaming and Gangsterism as the assistant director (intelligence) of Special Tactical Squad 3.

It isn’t just the siblings who have worked with the police force.

Choon Hong’s daughter was inspired to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Heng Yee Leng, 35, is an assistant superintendent and her younger brother, Heng Shun Ling, 27, sporting a shaven head, is a recruit undergoing training to be a police inspector.

The list of crime busters in the family does not end there.

Both Choon Hong and ASP Heng are married to cops – ACP (Rtd) Heng Hing Peng, 66, and Insp Tham Mau Yee, 34, respectively.

On Chinese participation, or the lack of it, in the police force, Choon Hong, who was temporarily attached to the recruitment wing in 2014, said that she was aware of this.

“We noticed a decline in Chinese recruits. It is only about 11% (in total). So I went around Malaysia in campaigns to drive up recruitment. Many still think that there is no future in the force and that the pay is low. But that is the wrong perception,” said Choon Hong.

ASP Heng had this to say: “When I was a child, my friends were amazed that I had policemen as parents. Today though, many people prefer to believe the negative news that goes viral on social media.”

Her husband, Insp Tham, said that the public was generally not exposed to the real duties of a policeman.

The newest recruit in the family, Shun Ling, said: “A lot of people from my generation say all kinds of bad things about the police. They have the wrong idea, even worse than those from my sister’s generation. I hope I can change their minds.”