On January 9, Stanley Prison, under the Correctional Services Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (China), held a graduation ceremony for a number of prisoners. Among them, one prisoner received a doctorate degree from Hong Kong Metropolitan University, one received a bachelor's degree, and two received associate degrees.

The main character of the ceremony was A Tuan (51 years old) - the first prisoner in Hong Kong (China) to receive a doctorate degree. Because of a serious crime at the age of 20, he was sentenced to a long prison term. Having dropped out of school in grade 10, while in prison, in addition to reflecting on his mistakes, he also hoped to continue his studies.

Therefore, after taking the course for prisoners, A Tuan successfully passed the Hong Kong Certificateof Education Examination (HKCEE) in 2000. In 2004, A Tuan began pursuing the distance learning program for prisoners at Hong Kong Metropolitan University. According to CQ News , A Tuan completed his Bachelor of Social Sciences and Master of Education in 2012.

In 2016, A Tuan continued his doctoral studies at Hong Kong Metropolitan University. Due to the harsh environment, interrupted study time and limited access to information, it took A Tuan 8 years to complete his doctorate in education.

Speaking at the doctoral degree ceremony on January 9, A Tuan emotionally expressed: "Before, I had imagined many times what the scene of receiving the degree would be like, what my mood would be like at that time. But no matter how many times I imagined it, at this moment, I still cannot express my feelings. I want to say that I did it and succeeded. As a prisoner, I did it, everyone can do it too."

A Tuan (51 years old) - the first prisoner in Hong Kong (China) to receive a doctorate degree. Photo: WWP

Sharing the reason for pursuing education while serving his sentence, A Tuan said that it was simply because he did not want to spend time thinking about nonsense in prison. "More importantly, I also wanted to prove to my family that even in prison, I would not give up," he said.

When asked whether studying in prison was difficult, A Tuan admitted that it was very hard. Sharing about his 24 years of studying in prison, he said that he often woke up early to study and because he could not find documents online, he mainly borrowed books from professors to study on his own. "Sometimes the prison guards also created conditions for me to borrow a computer to look up documents," he said.

Talking about the biggest difficulty when studying in prison, A Tuan said that it was having to overcome the slander. "Once in prison, there is no future and no hope, so why study? No matter how good you are, no one will hire you and you don't even know when you will be released.

Normally I take it as a joke, but when night falls and I am alone facing four walls, these words sometimes turn into negative emotions that attack me. Therefore, at times like this, I often think of my family, because of them I have never dared to give up. When I said I would receive a doctorate, they were even happier than me, so I know my efforts were not in vain," he said.

Talking about his future plans, A Tuan said: "In the coming time, I will improve my English. If I have the opportunity to reintegrate into society in the future, I hope to be able to contribute to the country. I believe that my knowledge and experience will help young people as an experienced person."