A convict faced with a 12-year jail term found hope by studying engineering behind bars.
The man, 27, was awarded a mechanical engineering diploma from the City & Guilds learning institute yesterday, seven years after he was first locked up in Shek Pik Prison on Lantau.
'I am studying for my mother's sake. She was completely shattered when she first learned I was charged with murder,' Leung said of his 70-year-old mother.
He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years' jail, from which he is due to be released in six months for good behaviour.
'It's hard to study from scratch, and you can't even make a phone call to your tutor without going through all the hassle of application,' he said.
More than 80 inmates in the maximum security prison studied for certified examinations last year, achieving 38 distinctions and 79 passes.