Mervyn Tong Ho-wang cut his teeth in the stock market when he was in Primary Three. That was when his father gave him HK$64,000 to buy Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing shares at HK$129.90.
The share price is over HK$150 today, but the 10-year-old knows that's only part of the story of his investment. 'It's much lower than the peak before the economic crisis hit,' the Primary Five student said. 'It sold for HK$268.60 per share then.'
His recall of such data doesn't surprise his lawyer father, Anthony Tong Tat-hay, who says the maths prodigy - who has just become the youngest student to attempt a maths test for secondary school students - showed exceptional talent with numbers from the age of two. 'He has very high sensitivity to numbers,' Tong said, recalling how Mervin could remember the numbers on a lamp post when he was a toddler.
The boy was among students receiving awards yesterday for their accomplishments in the third annual World Class Tests in Mathematics and Problem Solving run by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
The event drew 2,273 secondary and primary entrants in the 8-11 and 12-14 age groups.
Mervyn scored distinctions in mathematics and problem solving. 'I took the primary one last year. But it was too easy,' he said.