Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1283521/blind-students-hkdse-results-speak-volumes-tenacity Hong Kong
Blind student’s HKDSE results speak volumes for tenacity
Blind student who reads braille with her lips among high achievers
Tsang Tsz-kwan demonstrates the study technique that saw her star in the HKDSE exams. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Tsang Tsz-kwan excelled in this year's Diploma of Secondary Education exams.
The student at Ying Wa Girls' College bagged 5** in Chinese, English and liberal studies, 5* in English and Chinese literature and a four in maths.
Her results may not compare with those of the nine top-scoring students with seven 5** marks, but then Tsang, 20, has been blind from infancy and hearing-impaired since Primary One.
Making her task even more difficult is a lack of sensitivity in her fingers, which means she reads braille with her lips.
She could have been exempted from the Chinese and English listening tests, but decided to do them.
"I have to accept I'm disadvantaged, but I decided to take the challenge whatever the results as I think the most important thing is the courage to face the challenge," Tsang said.
It paid off: she got a four in Chinese listening and 5* in English listening.
Tsang wants to study translation at Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Most top students are from traditional elite schools. Queen's College in Causeway Bay had two students achieving seven 5**. St Paul's Co-Educational College and Good Hope School each had one student with seven 5**, one of whom received a 5** for mathematics extended, the highest possible score.
Two, however, came from low-income families, including Terry Tsz Cho-ho, a student at the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Lee Shau Kee College in Tin Shui Wai.
Tsz, who lives on a public housing estate and whose father is a truck driver, hopes his success can inspire other students in the district.
"I don't think Tin Shui Wai is a city of sadness," he said of the name attached to the town because of its high rates of unemployment and suicide. "In fact it has a friendly spirit."
Tsz has applied to the University of Hong Kong's medical school and wants to be a surgeon.
Another top scorer is Tsang Yee-wai, from the CCC Heep Woh College.
"My success belongs not only to me, but also to my family, my teachers and my classmates," said the 18-year-old.