Press Release

(Hong Kong – 15 August 2014) Under the examination system of Hong Kong, those students who can be called “top-notchers” have to achieve excellent results in every single subject. Nevertheless, those who can go beyond the confines of examinations, pursuing their interests and dreams by dedicating themselves to studying their favourite subjects and winning honours in international competitions for Hong Kong are extraordinary top-notch students. The Hong Kong representative teams comprising student members of the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) have recently delivered noteworthy performance in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) respectively with their own talents.

A team of 6 HKAGE student members collaboratively supported by the Education Bureau (EDB), the International Mathematical Olympiad (Hong Kong) Committee (IMOHKC) and the HKAGE has just represented Hong Kong to compete in the 55th IMO held in South Africa, winning four silver and two bronze medals. The four Hong Kong Team silver medallists were Hui Pak Nam (S6) and Wong Hing Shing (S6) from La Salle College, Wong Sze Nga (S6) from Diocesan Girls' School and Cheung Wai Lam (S4) from Queen Elizabeth School. The two bronze medallists were Yu Hoi Wai (S3) from La Salle College and Lau Chun Ting (S5) from Diocesan Boys' School.

Hui Pak Nam disclosed that he was surprised to have won a silver medal and delighted to have put in satisfactory performance. Hui, who has actively participated in the HKAGE’s programmes, said that the Academy provides special mathematic courses which can act as a bridge to university programmes. He added that the HKAGE’s programmes, which were taught by experienced instructors, had significantly improved his problem-solving skills. Wong Hing Shing, Hui’s teammate, has also expressed satisfaction with his performance. He reminded fellow students not to give up their own interests for the sake of an examination and stressed that dreams were more important than examinations. In the sharing session, he encouraged the students who were facing the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) examination, saying, “As a DSE student, I understand that this examination system has placed us under enormous pressure. However, no matter if you are interested in maths, art, or something else, I hope you will not give up your own interests in the coming few years. Don’t give up anything you want to do for this DSE exam. Instead, you should endeavour to realise your childhood dreams or current aspirations that have not yet been fulfilled.”

A Hong Kong representative team of 5 HKAGE student members collaboratively supported by the EDB, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and the HKAGE has also achieved great success in the 45th IPhO held in Kazakhstan, collecting four silver and one bronze medals. The four silver medallists were Chan Wing Kin (Grade 12) from G.T. (Ellen Yeung) College, Cheng Ho Ching Justin (S6) from Queen’s College, Tam Pok Man (S6) from Sing Yin Secondary School and Wong Chun Yui (Grade 12) from Diocesan Boys’ School. The bronze medallist was Chang Yi Hua (S6) from St. Joseph’s College.

As Chan Wing Kin pointed out, the biggest difference between the DSE exam and IPhO is that the former focuses only on rote learning but the latter emphasises critical thinking, and the key to succeed in both of them is good time management. Tam Pok Man, Chan’s teammate, said in the sharing session, “If you want to be outstanding, doing better than others, you have to put in more hard effort and it requires you to work more and see more every day. Secondary school teachers give us a lot of assignments but what we need to do is only finishing them. In contrast, the university professors who teach the training programmes at the HKAGE may not give students many assignments, so if you want

to get better result, you have to assign more tasks to yourself. When asked about the key to be called into the Hong Kong representative team, he replied, “Those who are selected to be members of the Hong Kong Team do not give up easily. We should not avoid repeated failure. Like doing physics research, we fail 99% of the time; however, that 1% of success rate can make you persevere.”

The student members who competed in the two Olympiads had been provided with a series of training. Despite not excelling in every subject, they can still enjoy success in studies and have become extraordinary top-notch students by delving into the subjects they like.

Members of the Hong Kong team for IMO(from left to right: Lau Chun Ting, Cheung Wai Lam, Yu Hoi Wai, Hui Pak Nam, Wong Sze Nga and Wong Hing Shing) posed for a photograph at the competition venue in South Africa.

Mrs Cherry Tse Ling Kit Ching, the Permanent Secretary for Education and members of the Hong Kong team for IPhO Wong Chun Yui, Tam Pok Man, Chang Yi Hua and Chan Wing Kin (from left to right)