HK team achieves excellent results at Asian Physics Olympiad

A team of eight students representing Hong Kong achieved excellent results in the 24th Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO 2024), winning one gold medal, three silver medals, two bronze medals, and two honorable mentions.

The APhO aims to promote physics education as well as nurture and inspire students who are highly talented in physics. The APhO 2024 was held in Malaysia from June 3 to 10. Over 200 contestants from 27 countries or cities participated in the competition.

Liu Lincoln (Sha Tin College) won one gold medal. The three silver medalists were Leung Chi-fung (Evangel College), Edison Fu (Queen's College), and Yan King-yiu (Queen Elizabeth School). Matthew Mui (The Hong Kong Sze Yap Commercial and Industrial Association Wong Tai Shan Memorial College) and Michael Tang (St. Joseph's College) won a bronze medal. Also, Marcus Poon (Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School) and Chan Hoi-chi (Hong Kong Chinese Women's Club College) each received an honorable mention.

The Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, congratulated the Hong Kong team today (June 11) on their outstanding performance. "The impressive results achieved by the Hong Kong team in the APhO this year have demonstrated the concerted efforts of different stakeholders in promoting STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) education. The Education Bureau (EDB) will continue to promote STEAM education in primary and secondary schools, including further promoting a school-based talent pool in schools to identify and nurture more STEAM talent," Dr Choi said.

The EDB has been attaching great importance to the grooming of gifted students and will strengthen the collaboration with the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) to offer more diversified and high-quality off-school gifted education services, particularly in STEAM-related areas and arrange students with potential in STEAM to participate in systematic training and competitions of reasonable scale to nurture future innovation and technology talent for Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong team members had earlier distinguished themselves in last year's Hong Kong Physics Olympiad and subsequently received training under the enrichment program arranged by the HKAGE. The outstanding students in the programme were then selected as contestants representing Hong Kong to participate in the APhO this year. The EDB fully funded the participation of the Hong Kong team in the competition.