Peace Marshal •Patrol the strategic areas and •Good communication skills in

facilities of Cantonese, Putonghua and

the Student Residence to English 
ensure    •Tactful interaction with others
     proper operation and a and conveying right messages
peaceful living and leaving •Outgoing and interest in talking
environment with strangers
•Provide support on run "Multi- 　
Leisure Time" at Multi-function
Hall B, e.g.
    venue set-up and registration
•Night work hours : 1-2 nights in
a week from 11pm - 2am

PEACE
MARSHA  
L
Main Duties of Peace Marshals 2008: 
Peace Marshals perform duties together with security guards every
   
night from 11:00pm to 2:00am to maintain a peaceful and
harmonious environment for our residence community.
     
   
     
  Their duties include:  
 assisting security guards in handling noise issues,
cases of suspected smoking and drunken residents
in public areas;
 reminding residents to speak softly;
 ensuring that all the residence entrances and hall
  access points comply with the access control policy
after 12:00 midnight;
 reporting any damage of facilities (e.g. pipe leakage
and damage to light bulbs) or irregular site operation;
 assisting in handling emergency cases.
   
   
Peace Marshal- Like a School Prefect?

This is my second year in the CityU Student Residence. I wanted to know

more about real working environments and get some work experience, so I
applied for the jobs of the On-Campus Service Learning Scheme offered by
the Student Residence Office.  At the interview, I said I enjoyed
communicating with others and was assigned to the post of Peace Marshal.
After one month of work experience, I find the experience very interesting
and wonderful.

When I first came to the Student Residence, it was a brand new experience
for me and I hung out a lot downstairs on the lawn.  At that time, I knew that
there were some students patrolling around and trying to keep everybody
quiet. They were Peace Marshals. At first, I did not have a very good
impression of them; it seemed that they were just like school prefects in high
schools checking everybody. But when I was assigned to this job, I found it
a lot more than patrolling.

This year, our Peace Marshal Team is going to use a more friendly
approach, so that we can be friends with the residents and hope that they can
work with us to maintain a peaceful and harmonious residence community
for the common good. Most residents hanging out on the lawn are exchange
students. When I chat with them in performing our “peaceful” duties and
delivering friendly messages, I get some unexpected rewards. I can improve
my English communication skills and learn more about other foreign
cultures. And through our conversations, I have found that exchange
students have their own reasons for hanging out on the lawn at night making
noise. They told me that drinking is a way for them to socialize. They are all
foreign to Hong Kong, so it is easier for them to stay together. But since
they cannot visit friends in other Halls after visiting hours (12:00 midnight)
and there are no other places where they can chat, they go to the lawn.
Indeed, the exchange students are very nice and friendly to our Peace
Marshals; sometimes they even offer us food and drinks.
 The second thing that I have learnt but still need to improve is being tactful
in communicating with others. When some residents are not doing the right
thing, for example, when they are making noise or going to places where
they should not go, we cannot simply be friendly towards them but have to
stop them doing it. This is very challenging when they are having a good
time and they think that we are over-reacting to their behavior. We try to
stop them with explanations. We invite them to think from the “common
good” perspective and give them constructive suggestions. Most of the
time, this works and the residents are cooperative. I find that friendliness and
assertiveness are really useful approaches for communication and bridging
different opinions.

Being a Peace Marshal is lot more that just patrolling. It’s challenging but
we can learn a lot from that. If you want to have some work experience and
train your communication skills, becoming a Peace Marshal is one of the
smartest choices.

Ng Cheuk-yin Billy 
Jockey Club Academy Hall
BSocSc E & SE Asian Studies, Year 2
October 2008

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和平大使

住了宿舍兩年，想在第三個宿年來點改變。在 2008 年暑假申請了

SRO 的工作，數十人參與的面試中，我按著個人意願和興趣，提示
了對和平大使(Pease Marshal)工作感興趣，最後選出六位和平大使，
我便是其中一位。

在同學眼中和平大使可能沒有多特別。其實，我們的角色舉足輕
重，同學們在晚上可否安睡，跟我們可有直接關係呢！我們就是在
晚上出動，維持宿舍寧靜和平的大使。當保安接到噪音投訴，我們
就會擔當「親善大使」，無論是交流生、本地生或內地生，都一視
同仁，為他們營造一個舒適的居住環境。因此，我們在入宿初期，
會「埋堆」，跟同學打好關係。由於部份同學剛到這裡，我們更加
有責任向他們介紹宿舍，向他們宣傳作為宿生的責任，顧及他人需
要，維持寧靜休息的空間。在剛開始接觸外國交換生時，心裡是有
點害怕的，但踏出第一步後，他們友善地對我們表達理解，而我們
都自然地與他們熟絡起來，閒時說笑，閒談中進行著文化的交流。

有時當同學玩得得意忘形，就會忘記了作為宿生的責任了。這時候
我們就會「出動」，給他們溫馨的提醒，但大部份同學都很自律及
合作。記得在聯舍中秋晚會過後，同學在禮堂外的草地繼續他們的
餘興活動，不願離去。我心裡正煩惱著，「今晚是中秋節，同學玩
得高興，在另一邊廂，宿舍的規則又不可漠視不理……怎辦呢？」
後來請了保安來調解，同學說：「我們會離開的。」但卻不見他們
有任何離去的行動，經大家協商，保安便說在半小時後回來，最後
同學真的很合作，轉到別的地方去。想不到退一步反而就是解決問
題的方法，用不著每次都「硬碰硬」，巧妙地實現了一種學生大使
的「親和力」。

我在這方面經驗尚淺，但我是讀心理學的，當和平大使工作時會用
到課本上的知識。實在很好！見的人多了，觀察細微了，如何去說
服人，透過親和力去解決問題等等技巧，在一晚又一晚的經驗中，
慢慢地累積了起來。

除了擔任「親善大使」，我們還得留意四週環境，遇有不尋常的地
方，便要報告，以便跟進。這工作是很重要的，宿舍範圍很大，不
常規的地方未必會留意。我們晚上當值時就會走遍宿舍每個角落，
連宿舍的後巷，我們也會查察。此外，我們帶著「學生」這中間人
身份，可以從學生角度出發，為宿舍的政策提供意見，令學校和學
生達至雙贏。舉一個例，每晚兩點會關上天台門這個規例其實訂立
了很久，但同學未必依從，最後學校為安全起見決定安裝門鎖，每
晚兩點鎖上，如果門鎖遭強行打開，就會引發鳴聲。開學已久，都
好像沒有在半夜被這個聲音吵醒，廣泛的宣傳功不可沒。我們幾位
和平大使聽到在快要執行時，表達出我們的憂慮。同學未知學校嚴
謹執時，同學會如常在深夜進出天台觸動鳴聲。故此，我們與學生
宿舍處職員一同商量，廣泛地以不同形式向宿生宣傳，包括：電郵
通知、張貼告示、派發傳單，保安口述、宿生會支持等。於是，正
式推行時至現今，都沒有發生警鐘大鳴的事。

最後，不得不提我的隊友。和平大使是團隊工作的，加上保安員，
「陣容強大」。每天晚上隊友們一起工作，在有需要時才請保安給
予支援。但到目前為止，都未遇有危險情況。所以說，當 Peace
Marshal 真的很 “Peace”，但別具義意。希望同學有機會能一試，
加入我們的行列。

陳慕貞
匯豐業昕堂
心理學系三年級
2008 年 9 月