Cosie Ku Shu-sum’s earliest Putonghua lessons came from her mother, who taught her to treat every aspect of it with care.
“She guided me in speaking the language and using it to shape my thoughts,” recalled the 17-year-old student from St Paul’s Co‑educational College.
“She taught me the skills in public speaking long before I entered any competitions, solidifying my understanding that every word carries weight, every pause has nuanced meaning, and every pronunciation needs absolute clarity.”
Encouraged by her primary school teachers, Cosie turned her mother’s lessons into action. For her first public-speaking competition, she wrote and structured her own speech and advanced to the final.
“This experience let me see that the true power of language lies in being heard and that my voice could change a conversation,” she said. That realisation sparked her deep commitment to public speaking and debate.
From Form Three onwards, Cosie was a member of her school’s Cantonese and Putonghua debate teams. By Form Five, she had led them to multiple tournament victories.
The role reshaped her leadership style: she moved from scripting every line for her teammates to creating space for them to develop their own arguments.
“Initially, I did not have the confidence in my teammates’ proficiency and their ability to structure arguments logically and think critically,” she admitted. “I went so far as to craft the scripts line by line for them and asked them to memorise the prepared scripts.”
A turning point came when Cosie realised that over-managing limited her teammates’ growth.
“As the leader, I needed to understand and integrate their opinions and thoughts. This should be our approach to passing on the spirit of language and debate to our juniors,” she explained.
Cosie’s appreciation for language deepened through volunteer tutoring locally and abroad.
On a trip to rural Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, she saw how enthusiasm overcame limited Putonghua proficiency.
“The beginner’s level of Putonghua among the schoolchildren did not hold them back … I realised that wherever you are and your level of proficiency, language enables us to connect,” she said.
Cosie plans to bring her skills into medicine. Influenced by mentors at a family clinic, she embraces the idea that doctors need to understand their patients, citing ancient Greek philosopher Hippocrates’s saying, “It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has.”
Cosie’s linguistic achievements were recognised when she was named a finalist in the Linguist (Putonghua) category of the 2024/25 Student of the Year Awards, organised by the South China Morning Post and sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Her journey, from lessons at home to leadership, volunteering and a future in medicine, shows how language can be used to connect, empower, and heal.
