Equal to none

Child prodigy March Boedihardjo has been making headlines everywhere since he enrolled in Hong Kong Baptist University aged nine back in 2007. He was accepted after earning two As in mathematics and further mathematics in the British A-level examinations, generally taken at 18 years old, and eight English GCSEs, normally taken at 16.

Now 13, March did not disappoint. He has just completed both a bachelor's and master's degree in mathematics within four years and become the youngest university graduate in Hong Kong.

According to the university's original plan, the curriculum they tailored for him spans five years, but March started his master's thesis research early and has complied with all the requirements a year ahead of schedule.

He managed to get straight As in five of the seven courses, and A- in the other two. He will receive his graduation certificate in November.

Professor Franklin Luk Tai-cheung, acting president of Baptist University, said: 'It proves that we made the right decision to admit him to the university.'

March says he owes his success to his teachers' and classmates' support, particularly the patient guidance of his academic mentor Professor Hermann Brunner - a top mathematician who graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.

'Professor Brunner never answered my questions,' March says. 'He liked to leave me alone to mull it over until I finally solved the equations. This way of teaching enhanced my independence.'