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(Enclosure in No. 107,)
HONGKONG, STRAITS SETTLEMENTS, AND FEDERATED MALAY STATES POLICE PROBATIONERS.
1. With the view of supplying the Police Service of Hongkong, the Straits Settlements, and the Federated Malay States, Probationerships have been estab- lished, the holders of which will be required to serve in either of the above meu- tioned Colonies or in the States, and to devote themselves for a certain time after their arrival in the East to learning one or more native languages. Probationers appointed to this service will in the first instance be allotted to the States or to one or other of the Colonies, and will, as a rule, look for promotion only in the States or in that Colony, but it must be distinctly understood that they will be liable to be transferred at any time from one to another, at the discretion of the Secretary of State, without being given compensation for any special local privileges or allow -
ances.
2. The Probationers will be selected by open competitive examination held by the Civil Service Commissioners, to whom all inquiries on the subject should be addressed.
The examination for these appointments will, as a rule, be held in the month of June or July, in those years in which vacancies have occurred, simultaneously with the examination for the Indian Police Force in the same subjects and the same papers. Candidates may compete for both the Indian and Colonial services at the same time.
Applications for admission to the combined examination should be addressed to the Secretary, Judicial and Public Department, India Office, in the manner laid down in the Regulations for admission to the Indian Police Force, issued by that Department. These Regulations also contain full information as to the subjects for examination.
Applications for admission to the examination of candidates for the Police Forces of the Colonies and Federated Malay States only should be addressed to the Eastern Department of the Colonial Office. They must reach that Department not later than the 1st of May.
3. Candidates must be between the ages of 19 and 21 on the first day of June in the year in which the examination is held. They must be unmarried, and if they marry before reaching the East they will forfeit their appointments.
Every Candidate must be a British subject of European descent, and at the time of his birth his father must have been a British subject, either natural-born or naturalized in the United Kingdom. He must satisfy the Civil Service Commis- sioners that he is duly qualified in respect of health and character, must be of sound constitution, possessed of good sight and physically qualified for service in a trop- ical climate. Successful candidates will be called upon to undergo a strict medical examination, similar, to that required in the case of Indian Police appointments, to test these points.
4. The successful Candidates will be allotted, as and when opportunity offers, to one of the Colonies or to the States upon a consideration of all the circumstances, including their own wishes but the requirements of the Public Service will rank
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* In reckoning age for competition, members of the Militia, the Imperial Yeomanry, the Honourable Artil- lery Company, the Volunteers, or the South African Constabulary (whether commissioned or non-com- missioned), may deduct from their actual age any time (not exceeding 18 months) spent on actual military service in connection with the war in South Africa, such time being reckoned by the number of days for which they received Army Pay.