If you’re feeling a bit pudgy after weeks of being stuck in doors, spare a moment for chubby police in southern Myanmar who have been ordered to lose weight or else face disciplinary action.
Rotund officers in the Tanintharyi Regional Police Force were told by the Ministry of Home Affairs to shape up as part of the initial stage of a nationwide fitness drive for emergency services, according to Dawei Watch.
Officers kicked off the four-month programme with body-fat tests in mid-May, said Lieutenant Colonel Sein Win, who added that the order has been passed down throughout all districts and townships in the region.
Tubby traffic police are not slipping through the net, figuratively or literally, as Deputy Lieutenant of No. 11 Traffic Police Chief Moe Kyaw said time has been scheduled in the evening for compulsory exercise and sports.
“Around 4pm, we round up all the officers that are supposed to lose weight and give them physical activities like pushups, jogging, and playing chinlone,” he said.
A police officer said their volume of work would mean they are too busy for exercise, adding, “Of course we need to be given time, how else can we lose weight?”
Similar measures will be imposed on the Bureau of Special Investigation, the Department of Prisons, and other departments overseen by the military-controlled home affairs ministry, according to the news outlet.
The question of whether the initiative will lead to faster response times and more solved cases is yet to be answered. We’ll leave that to the officers; after all, a healthy body makes a healthy mind.
