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A team of six secondary school students representing Hong Kong has obtained outstanding results at the 51st International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) held in Kazakhstan, grabbing one gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
The gold medallist, Ching Tak-wing, was also the winner at last year's IMO and at the China Mathematical Olympiad earlier this year. He netted three golds in a row within one year in these three cross-border mathematical contests.
The IMO was held from July 5 to 14 in Astana. Among the 97 teams in the IMO this year, the Hong Kong team, sent by the Education Bureau (EDB), ranked 20th. The China team scored the highest overall marks while the Russian team and the United States team ranked second and third respectively.
To make the 51st IMO even more memorable for Hong Kong, a mathematical problem proposed by Tai Wai-ming, a student member of the Hong Kong team for IMO 2008, was selected for use in this year's IMO.
Noting that it was the first time the IMO had accepted questions from Hong Kong, the Chairman of the IMO Hong Kong Committee (IMOHKC), Professor Shum Kar-ping, said it was a great honour for the student who had initiated the question. Professor Lee Kin Yin, an IMOHKC member, said the IMO usually accepts questions initiated by university academics, college students or IMO gold medallists and it was rare that it had chosen one from a secondary student.
The main objective of the IMO is to promote mathematics education, foster friendly relationships among mathematicians all over the world, and nurture and stimulate the development of mathematically gifted young people. The success of the Hong Kong team this year once again demonstrated the fruitful collaboration among the EDB, HKAGE and IMOHKC in nurturing the mathematically gifted.
Members of the Hong Kong team had performed outstandingly in the 2009 Selection Contest and received nine months of training in a series of enhancement programmes jointly organised by the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) and the IMOHKC.
The HKAGE will continue to hold a large variety of challenging programmes for the gifted while the EDB will continue to provide sponsorship of other Hong Kong teams to join cross-border mathematical competitions. The Fung Hon Chu Gifted Education Fund has also set up scholarships for local students who win gold, silver or bronze medals in international Olympiads in mathematics, physics and science. The sponsorships are $3,000 for gold, $2,000 for silver and $1,000 for bronze.
This year, the Hong Kong team leader was Dr Lau Yuk Kam, Assistant Professor of the Mathematics Department of the University of Hong Kong, and the deputy leader was Mr Cesar Jose C Alaban Jr, trainer of the above training programmes and IMOHKC member. The observer was Mr Lee Chun-yue, Curriculum Development Officer of the EDB.
For details about the Olympiad, please refer to the websites of the HKAGE (www.hkage.org.hk) and EDB (gifted.hkedcity.net).
Ends/Thursday, July 15, 2010
Issued at HKT 11:00
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