Source: Elko Daily Free Press, http://www.elkodaily.com

ELKO, Nev.—An Elko High School graduate turned Mr. Hong Kong is choosing education over fame.

Michael Tsu, who also attended the University of Nevada, Reno, was crowned Mr. Hong Kong 2008 earlier this month.

“It was an amazing time,” said Tsu, 23, who was elected in front of a television studio packed with 700 screaming women and broadcast to millions.

“I had a decision over the summer of whether to work in Elko or attend the competition. I chose to go to the competition,” he told the Elko Daily Free Press.

The contest, organized by Hong Kong television station TVB, interviewed as many as 300 applicants in Los Angeles before narrowing the field down to 12—including Tsu, now a Brigham Young University student whose parents live in Elko.

After winning the competition, Tsu said he made the difficult decision to turn down a contract with the television station, a cruise, monetary commissions and other perks to return to college and finish his degree.

“There was a chance to become famous, but it would be better to have a degree and then attempt to become famous rather than not have anything to fall back on in the future,” he said. “Even actors and movie stars should get an education and know a little more about life.”

The competition itself included talent, swimsuit, debate, acting, dancing and martial arts portions. Tsu said he was told he won in part because “all the women in the audience said I have a really cute smile and talk really funny.”

“I don’t speak Cantonese fluently and would sometimes say things that kind of made sense, but they understood what I was trying to say,” he said. “They thought it was cute.”

Tsu has worked for Eklund Drilling in Elko County. He had applied to work at Barrick, where his father Wilson Tsu is employed as a metallurgist, before making the Hong Kong trip. His mother Amy is an emergency room nurse at Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital in Elko.

At Elko High School, Tsu played soccer, participated in a choral group and is remembered for his outgoing personality.

“He is an entertainer, that is for sure,” said Karen Rogers, director of the Elko High Choral Music Department. “There is never a dull moment when Michael is around. You never get out of the room without laughing.”

Tsu also participated in weightlifting and swimming at UNR, and singing, dancing and gymnastics at BYU, his father said.

“We are happy for him,” Wilson Tsu said of the competition. “We didn’t expect it.”

Tsu lived in Hong Kong with his parents for two years after he left UNR before returning to Elko and deciding to enroll at BYU, where he is studying finance and is about 18 months away from graduating.

He said he hopes to eventually open a business to assist low-income families with their finances. During the summers, he plans to return to Hong Kong to teach English, he said.

“There are a lot of kids (in Hong Kong) that need help with their oral English,” he said. “I think teaching and dealing with people is something very vital to business. You have to have people skills.”

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