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Elaine Yau

On the day after the release of the public exam results, newspapers all over the city are splashed with pictures of high-flyers holding their straight-A result slips.
The  results of Ho Tsz-yuen and Yau Tak-chi may not be brilliant enough to enshrine them on the front pages of the city's newspapers, but the top two students from CCC Tam Lee Lai Fun Memorial Secondary School were heroes on their Tuen Mun campus yesterday.
Because  both come from underprivileged families, their stories are of remarkable achievements against all odds.
Ho Tsz-yuen scored a B in Business Studies, D in Economics and C in Chinese. Living with his parents and younger brother  in a public housing estate in Tuen Mun, Tsz-yuen had to scrimp and save to get himself through his matriculation.
'I envied other students from well-off families who could afford to go to tutorial schools. They at least got all the exam tips,' the 20-year-old said.
Instead of defeating him, the scarce resources were a powerful incentive to strive harder. 'I see my father toil away day and night, as a construction worker, just to put food on our plates. He wakes up at 4am every day.
'Education is the only way through which people can break out of the vicious  circle of poverty. I want to study hard to earn good money to take good care of my parents,' Tsz-yuen said.
Tak-chi, another top student from the school, scored Ds in Physics and Pure Mathematics and a B in Chinese. He lives with his parents and elder brother  in a 500 sq ft public housing flat in Tuen Mun. The whole family subsists on the HK$6,000 income of his father, who works in a factory.
Studying is a constant struggle for the 18-year-old. 'My house doesn't have any rooms,' Tak Chi said. 'All four of us eat and sleep in the same space. Because my parents watched TV at night, I went to a nearby self-study centre to prepare for the exams.'
In spite of his humble origins, the shortage of resources has not dampened his fervent interest in inventing.
Tak-chi, together with his then classmate Chan Yik-hei, who went on to get an asteroid named after him in recognition of his ingenious inventions, won the third prize in an invention competition organised by the Innovation and Technology Commission in 2006.
'I love computer engineering. We designed a visual imaging system for automobiles that can alert drivers who doze off while driving,' Tak-chi said.
'I don't have any pocket money. I seldom go out on holidays. To me, staying indoors doing computer projects is entertaining enough.'
Another hero whose story inspired countless students yesterday is 19-year-old Leung Chung-ming, who is one of the 11 students who scooped up five As in the A-levels.
It may sound like the expected cliche when a straight-A student thanks her parents for their love and support, but, for Chung-ming, the words held a special meaning.
The student  from Hang Seng School of Commerce scored five  As in Business, Economics, Mathematics and Statistics, Liberal Studies, Chinese and English. Behind her extraordinary achievement lies an unfortunate tragedy that has kept the Leungs under tremendous stress for 15 years - her younger brother is mentally challenged.
Chung-ming said her brother had suffered a lack of oxygen during his birth and that had damaged him mentally. With the intelligence of a four-month-old,  her brother, now 15, cannot stand, speak or eat by himself and  needs special care from  their parents.
'I have never blamed my parents for paying less attention to me. I understand it,' Chung-ming said.
'All this has turned me into a mature and tolerant person.'
She said years of enduring severe pressure from having to take care of her brother had toughened her up.
'I have learned to face adversities with a positive attitude,' Chung-ming said.
'I want to become a clinical psychologist. I want to help people who suffer from psychological problems, probably, under similar circumstances to mine.'
Austin is an SCMP intern



Success against all odds