Superstar student from St Paul’s Co-educational College, who took year out to defeat leukaemia, scores 5** clean sweep in Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education exams

Anson Kam, 19, finishes in top six of 55,000 DSE candidates and hopes to become doctor to emulate those who treated him

Most of the highest achievers in city’s university entrance exams set sights on entering medical profession

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“Just because you are sick does not mean you have lost everything. Hard work will pay off,” star student Kam Chun-kei said. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 8:44pm, 10 Jul 2019Updated: 10:54pm, 10 Jul 2019

Anson Kam Chun-kei was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was in Primary Four, forcing him to take a year off school for treatment.

Fast forward about 10 years, not only had the 19-year-old overcome cancer, he became one of six super achievers in the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams, which are the main route into universities in Hong Kong.

The illness led the St Paul’s Co-educational College student to aspire to become a doctor, a dream profession shared by other top scorers, who along with about 55,000 other candidates received their exam results on Wednesday.

“Just because you are sick does not mean you have lost everything. Hard work will pay off,” Kam said.

Anson Kam (centre), pictured alongside other high achievers Winnie Chow (left) and Ho Tsi-lok (right), is overjoyed at coming in the top 0.01% in Hong Kong’s DSE exams. Photo: Nora Tam

Recalling how he saw doctors encouraging and supporting patients when he was ill, Kam said: “I want to be a doctor so I can help others, just like my doctors helped me.”