I refer to Dr Vivian Chien's letter defending the students who used model answers for their examination (South China Morning Post, July 23). While it is understandable that students feel a great deal of pressure to perform well in their exams, it does not give them licence to cheat and deceive - which is exactly what those 600 students did. Dr Chien claims the students 'produced their own answers on the day of the examination without any act of cheating or fraud' and that they 'were in no circumstances acting in a fraudulent manner to get the model answers'. She's right about the latter - the students did not get the model answers fraudulently but they are guilty of cheating and fraud. Fraud is defined as 'the use of false representations to gain an unjust advantage' (Concise Oxford Dictionary ). By regurgitating a model answer, the students deliberately tried to mislead the Examinations Authority with an inflated display of their abilities to gain admittance to university. Dr Chien goes on: 'If the model answer is better than their own creativity, why should one not produce the best for the examination?' The answer is simple: in most circles, that would be considered plagiarism, 'the act of taking and using the thoughts, writings, inventions, etc of another person as one's own' (Concise Oxford Dictionary ). Suppose these students were accepted by a university based on their 'demonstrated ability' and found they could not handle the work expected of them. This would be unfair not only to the students but to the others who were cheated out of a place because they did not use model answers. Dr Chien argues that the Examinations Authority should not 'put the blame on the students' and that these students 'may not be able to enter universities because of this'. This reasoning is short-sighted and damaging. The students must accept the responsibility for and consequences of their choices and actions. They tried to cheat the system but they ended up cheating themselves. If Hong Kong is to continue to thrive and prosper, it needs to encourage its young people to be articulate and to think creatively and independently. Sadly, this incident indicates a lack of confidence in one's originality, creativity and efforts. More alarmingly, it may signal a deterioration of independent thinking skills and academic integrity in our young people. CHRISTINA CHANG Happy Valley
