Carol Pang Wai-yung is a star. The 17-year-old Form Six student excels at everything she takes up: she is an ex-Hong Kong rhythmic gymnastics team member, a Grade Eight violinist, and has a scholarship at a prestigious university.
She is blessed with talents but has struggled hard because of her disability - she is severely hearing-impaired.
Carol speaks like most people. The only indication of the effort she has to make are the occasional pronunciation mistakes. It is only after a few minutes' conversation that you notice how hard she concentrates on your mouth.
'When I listen, half of my understanding comes from lip-reading,' she explains. 'Listening to the radio or talking on the telephone is far more difficult. During Sars, when everybody was wearing mask, I had to put a lot more effort into communicating,' she adds.
The SKH Tang Shiu Kin Secondary School student was diagnosed as hearing-impaired at the age of five, three years after her mother first noticed her silence as a toddler.
She lives in a virtually silent world even now when not wearing a hearing aid.
It is very difficult for people born with a hearing disorder to learn to pronounce accurately but Carol has a supportive family who are determined to help. 'My mother keeps correcting my pronunciation, even if it takes a dozen times. My sisters read textbooks out loud and record tapes. They never complain,' she says.