This year, more than 160,000 students had their scripts remarkedRegina Yung Wai-man from Diocesan Girls’ School has become the 12th top scorer for this year’s Diploma of Secondary Education exams after her grades for English were raised from 5* to 5** by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority.
Regina, 18, has already been accepted into the University of Hong Kong’s faculty of medicine. Besides the four core subjects of Chinese language, English language, mathematics and liberal studies, Regina took chemistry, biology, physics and Spanish. When the DSE results were announced on July 15, Regina had achieved top scores in all subjects except Chinese and English.
Regina was happy with her grades but decided to have her English papers remarked because she had always scored high marks in the subject. She also wanted her grades to be more “complete”.
Ever since she became a top scorer, Regina says the media has shown a lot of interest in her political views. “It actually isn’t that relevant, but many things in Hong Kong are becoming increasingly politicised,” she says. “I guess they just want to hear more voices ... but it shows that many students’ opinions are neglected. There’s only a small difference between those who get 5* and 5** after all.”
Regina, who says she doesn’t have a clear stance on the pro-democracy Occupy movement last year, says she hopes to help community through volunteering and becoming a good doctor.
“Some people think top scorers study medicine for the money, but I don’t agree. If they wanted to make money, studying medicine isn’t the best way,” she says.
Coming from a middle class family, with her father as a company manager and her mother a teacher, Regina says she never attended tutorial classes. Instead, she says it’s more important to pay attention in class and revise the very same day. She also suggests studying ahead of lessons if there is time. “Sleeping enough is also very important. I try to make sure I get 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night,” she says.
During her study leave period, Regina would wake up every day at 6.30am, and begin revising after breakfast until 10pm. She would take a break during lunchtime and watch documentaries while eating.
Regina lives near HKU’s Pok Fu Lam campus, so she wouldn’t have to live in a dormitory and can focus on her studies. But she wants to join clubs to do volunteer work and try out a new sport.
“I’ve been looking around [at HKU] all day today, there’s so much to see and I haven’t decided on anything yet,” she says. “But I know life here will be very different from secondary school.”