THE Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival concluded recently with numerous stories of success, and one of them, the winner of the South China Morning Post Trophy, was an example of how hard work truly pays off.
Delia Memorial School (Hip Wo) started participating in the festival only last year.
Although inexperienced, its debut performance won the first runner-up prize for the Best Choral Group, Boys (non-open).
This year, the school championed in the same class and won the SCMP Trophy, besides having another team chosen Best Secondary Solo Choral Group, Mixed Voice (non-open).
'We are a lower band school and every participant was a green horn. But it doesn't matter which school you come from. What really counts is hard work,' said the students' English teacher, Chan Mei-hing.
'It took serious practice,' fifth-former Benadette Briva said. 'We practised every day for two months.' The teams, made up of Indian, Filipino and Chinese pupils, achieved a 'unity between the poem and themselves', Ms Chan said.