THE winner of the South China Morning Post 1992 Student of the Year competition was on top form yesterday - with five straight 'A's in his A-level exams.
But like many other students who heard they received straight 'A's, 19-year-old William Woo Chun-fai will be leaving Hongkong to continue his studies overseas.
William will go to Cambridge University in England this autumn to study law, even though he was offered a place at Hongkong University.
The $15,000 Morning Post scholarship he won in December had helped pay for text books for his A-level studies at Wak Yan College in Kowloon, and William said he would use the Cathay Pacific return tickets to Europe which came with the scholarship to travel with his mother this summer.
William took Physics, Chemistry, Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Use of English at A-Level.
He was confident of Hongkong's future and would return here when he had finished his course, but he was determined to continue his studies overseas.
''It is not that I am not happy with local education, but I think it is a good opportunity to go abroad after studying in Hongkong for more than 10 years,'' he said.