Pham Tuan Huy, a student at the HCM City National University’s High School for the Gifted, has for the second time won the gold medal gold at the International Math Olympiad (IMO). Pham Tuan Huy. Six Vietnamese students won six medals, including three gold, at the 2014 IMO organized in Cape Town, South Africa. One of the three gold medalists is Pham Tuan Huy, whose IMO medal was his second. One year ago, Huy won gold medal at the 2013 IMO, and was named as one of HCM City’s young exemplary citizens. He is very good at math and natural sciences, but is also very keen on literature and music. “I like literature and reading novels. I also like romantic things,” Huy said. Meanwhile, his friends say Huy also shows an aptitude for music. He can play piano well. Many years ago, Huy passed the exams to the intermediate 9-year training course at the HCM City Conservatory. However, he had to put aside the music dream to learn math. Doing math exercises has always been the biggest passion of Huy. Huy lives with his father, who has to work hard to earn money to feed Huy and his sister, now a student in the US. He never blames his father or mother for not having a united family. He just has been trying to learn hard. Huy’s paternal grandmother said that Huy has a great passion for math. As Huy’s father is busy all day, he does not have much time to coach Huy. However, he buys books for the son to learn at home. “He sits all day upstairs solving math questions,” the grandmother said. “He goes downstairs just because he feels hungry and wants some food”. Huy also does not know what to spend money on. “Huy always does very well in school. So, he usually is given money from relatives as rewards. But he does not know what he should do with the money,” the grandmother said. “I sometimes gave him VND5,000 or VND10,000 for pocket money. However, he has never spent the money. He rolled the banknotes into balls and put them into his school bag, and then gave back to me,” she said. According to Pham Chau Tuan, Huy’s father, Huy said he wanted books as rewards for his high learning achievements. “He reads books everywhere he can. He brings a lot of math books with him when traveling as well,” Tuan said. To date, there have been six Vietnamese students who have won two gold medals at IMOs. They are Ngo Bao Chau (1988 and 1989), Dao Hai Long (1994 and 1995), Ngo Dac Tuan (1995 and 1996), Vu Ngoc Minh (2001 and 2002), Le Hung Viet Bao (2003 and 2004) and Pham Tuan Huy (2013 and 2014). Vietnamnet/Van Chung