For Manaal Khan, the gruelling journey of taking Hong Kong’s university entrance examination was not just an academic challenge but also a linguistic trial.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Khan, who is of Pakistani descent, kept going through her difficult days at secondary school by holding on to her dream of becoming a modern-day Sherlock Holmes by joining the police force.
“As a kid, I loved reading Sherlock Holmes and I aspired to be a detective like him,” said the graduate of Hong Kong Taoist Association The Yuen Yuen Institute No 3 Secondary School. “I found it very fascinating how he solves crimes. I really like solving murders and mysteries. I hope one day I’ll be in the position to do so.”
The 18-year-old scored Level 4 in English, geography and history in the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams, which grade most subjects on a seven-level scale from 1 to 5**.
She was among the 56,853 candidates who received their results on Wednesday.
But to unlock her dream of studying crime science at City University, she first had to survive the local school system.
