Breaking Stereotypes

Icy Ku Ping-sum, a top scorer in the 2023 HKDSE, enrolled in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) at HKU through JUPAS. She defies the stereotype of high-achieving students who only focus on academics, describing herself as slightly rebellious. As a child, the more her parents wanted her to become a doctor, the more she leaned towards becoming a lawyer. However, after watching numerous documentaries about doctors, she ultimately decided to pursue medicine.

Icy always sets the highest goals for herself and has her own approach on learning. “I never rely on being ‘spoon fed’ but adopt my own approach to understanding. Teachers and elders might have had a subtle influence on me, but I rarely change my decisions based on others’ opinions.” She believes that everyone should find their own learning method and follow their patterns of thinking to make learning more enjoyable and efficient.

Icy expresses herself in a clear and straightforward way. She admits that she has never been fully devoted to her studies, yet she still manages to achieve good grades without much effort. She didn’t attend any tutoring sessions up until Form Five, partly to save money. “I only revise before exams and spend more time on extracurricular activities. It’s important not to devote all your time to studying during high school, as you only get to experience it once. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself,” she advises.

In addition to being direct, Icy can be quite competitive, especially when it comes to winning contests. She says her high school debate team’s performance was never outstanding until she became the vice-captain and helped improve their results significantly. Icy believes the school never provided much support for the Chinese debate team, so she once declared, “I want the principal to mention our debate team during the graduation ceremony!” Determined to achieve good results, Icy continued competing and ultimately succeeded. Deep down, she admits that she craves recognition from others. Interestingly, Icy’s younger sister is also a debater, and when the two siblings argue, they end up pointing out each other’s logical flaws. Icy jokingly says that their daily arguments should not be taken lightly. When it comes to dealing with failure, Icy believes it depends on the type of competition. For example, in a public speaking contest, she doesn’t think it’s a big deal since it’s an individual competition. However, in a team debate, the situation is more complicated: “If my poor performance leads to the entire team’s elimination, I would feel very guilty.” For her, personal gains and losses are less important than team spirit.

Icy enjoys singing and playing the piano, and she often shares her beautiful voice on her social media platforms. When asked if she has ever participated in singing contests, she immediately replies, “No, it seems terrifying!” The thought of performing on stage scares her, and she feels that the other contestants are highly skilled. “I have more confidence in debating competitions,” she admits.

Her favourite movie is The Greatest Showman. The film features a diverse group of “odd” individuals in a circus troupe, who go from being rejected to highly popular, even performing at a royal palace. They go through many experiences together, but never give up. As a leader, the showman does not abandon any team member due to discrimination; instead, he leads them in changing society’s perception of them. “This has been very inspiring for me in terms of thinking about how to be a good leader,” says Icy.