Press Release

(Hong Kong – 13 August 2012) Five student members of the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) achieved outstanding performance at the 43rd International Physics Olympiad (IPhO). To celebrate their achievements, the HKAGE and Education Bureau (EDB) jointly organised a toasting ceremony to give commendation to the Hong Kong Team for winning two gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal.

Gold medalist Lam Ho Tat, a Secondary Five student from Pui Shing Catholic Secondary School, achieved an encouraging score that ranked him among the top 5% of contestants in this year’s IPhO. Another Gold Medalist is Secondary Six student Fung Tsz Chai from Po Leung Kuk Centenary Li Shiu Chung Memorial College. The Silver medalists are Secondary Six students Chan Cheuk Lun from La Salle College and Lai Kwun Hang from Shatin Pui Ying College; while the Bronze medalist is Secondary Six student Lo Hei Chun from Chan Sui Ki (La Salle) College.

The toasting ceremony was highly supported by the students, parents and the IPhO trainers. Dr Stephen Tommis, Executive Director of the HKAGE, delivered his speech and said the contest marked the improvement of the students. He used big fishes and small fishes in the pond as a metaphor to encourage students to benchmark and strive for being the big fishes so as to maintain the motivation to achieve the goals. He appreciated the hard work of the students and gave special thanks to parents for their dedication to nurturing and supporting their children to develop interests.

Most of the team members had to sit for the HKDSE Examination this year but they managed to achieve remarkable results in IPhO. Their skills of time and stress management were praised by Mr Chan Pui Tin, Chief Curriculum Development Officer, Gifted Education Section, Curriculum Development Institute, EDB and Professor TK Ng and Professor Yang Zhi Yu from Physics Department of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), who facilitated the IPhO training programmes.

Lam Ho Tat shared that he put lots of efforts in preparing for the competition but he still made various mistakes in the competition so he was not satisfied with his own performance. Yet, he chose to be positive, “No one will be content with being a small fish in the pond. It is also inevitable to compare ourselves to others. This contest is a good platform for us to make improvement.” He believed no one could stay at the top forever, so working hard was more important than anything.

Another gold medalist Fung Tsz Chai said that through the competition, not only could he compete with talents in Physics but also could make lots of friends, “Although they are enthusiastic about Physics, they were not always concentrating on solving Physics problems. Instead, they enjoyed playing various kinds of games with us.” He said the competition problems this year were extremely difficult. Different types of problem-solving skills were required to solve a problem. Yet, he said he was able to solve most of the problems thanks to the trainers’ guidance and his parents’ encouragement

The silver medalist Chan Cheuk Lun said the competition was a wonderful experience and he would continue his study in physics, especially on topics that he had never studied in details before. He said the contest was very challenging, since it required in-depth knowledge in physics and critical thinking skills to tackle the problems. Luckily, he and other members successfully overcame the difficulties and won the prizes. Besides, he said he had experienced the Estonian culture, which was quite different from that of Hong Kong. However, as citizens of an international city, they tried their best to learn and accept the local culture. They also met brilliant physics students from around the world, and it was an invaluable experience to exchange ideas with them.

The IPhO this year was held from July 15 to 24 in Tallinn, Estonia, with 378 contestants from 81 countries/regions. The event aims at promoting education in physics while strengthening interaction and co-operation among experts in physics worldwide. Another purpose of the contest is to train and inspire teenagers who have academic potential in physics. The delegates’ trip was funded by the EDB.

The good results this year mark the success of collaboration among the HKAGE, HKUST and the EDB. With outstanding performances in the Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2011, they were selected to take part in a series of enhancement courses before taking part in the IPhO 2012. The students are trainees of the Physics Enhancement Programme commissioned to HKUST by the HKAGE.

Leader of the Hong Kong Team was Prof. Wong Kwok Yee Michael of HKUST, and deputy leader was Mr. Dik Wai Yin, a Physics teacher of Law Ting Pong Secondary School. Dr. Ng Shiu Cho, a Physics teacher of Fukian Secondary School and Dr. Sun Ke, a research associate of HKUST, served as the observers.

Dr Tommis (left) and Mr Chan (right) encouraged the Hong Kong Team to continue to work hard. The Team included (from second left): Chan Cheuk Lun, Lai Kwun Hang, Fung Tsz Chai, Lam Ho Tat and Lo Hei Chun.
Two gold medalists received the token of appreciation from Dr Tommis.