Chicken Soup for a Singaporean Soul

On one of the stalls at the "market" at the Art Museum a couple of weeks ago, was a pile of Chicken Soup for the Soul, books. I duly picked them up, one by one and browsed through them. As I did so, I appraised the seller, who seemed very eager that I should buy one. She sat forward in her chair and peered closely at me.

Then, I came upon something which gave me pause. In the front of one of them was written: "To Daddy, with love...2002" It was Chicken Soup for a Father's Soul.

"How much are these?" I asked her.

"Five dollars. They are all five dollars".

So, a gift from a daughter to a father was worth only five dollars. I looked at her again. She was quite young - about 20. Thus, her Chicken Soup gift to her father had been given when she was in her early teens. It seemed to me a soulless thing to sell a gift between daughter and father, at any price, never mind five dollars.

I thought it ironic that a series of books intended to make one take a deeper look at life and its possibilities had passed her by, entirely. She had them all: Chicken Soups for teenagers, mothers, fathers, living your dreams...the lot. She had a Chicken Soup for everything. Yet, they had not taught her the value of sentiment, of memories of times past, of the gifts between child and parent. She had, it seemed, not learnt anything by reading them. Perhaps she had never read them. Perhaps she had just bought them as "things to have and to show to others that you have".

I bought one of her Chicken Soups for the Soul - though not the one for fathers, though that was perhaps the most apt. I couldn't bring myself to acquire a gift made between another man's daughter and himself: it seemed somehow intrusive. That gift should have been treasured by both as a reminder of a time past - but it wasn't. It ended up being sold for five dollars.

That market stall girl had learnt the value of money, but not the value of life. One day her father will be no more. Will she have sold off all reminders of his life and presence, by then? Will she have nothing to remember him by?

With a girl like her, I would think a gift should not be given - for what she wants is simply hard cash. No-one should need to think of something unique for her, therefore, to demonstrate their thoughtfulness - for whatever it is will be sold off in exchange for a few dollars.

I wonder how common her attitude is? Are young Singaporeans of today people of no sentiment? Is the dollar the only thing valued?

Comments please.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and five months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and ten months, and Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind, niño, gênio criança, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

I am not a Chemist.

The headline is an important statement that must be understood, if Ainan is to be understood.

It has come to my attention that some people assume that Ainan's interest is an echo of my own. I have had people assume that I am, in fact, a Chemist - and that Ainan's pursuit of the subject is just him either aping his Daddy or being indoctrinated by him. Neither proposal is true. Ainan chose Chemistry, it was not chosen for him.

When I was very young I, too, was interested in Chemistry. Yet, I didn't introduce Ainan to it. It never occurred to me to do so. Ainan introduced himself to Chemistry. He taught himself at first, without any influence from either of his parents. In recent months, he has begun looking at other sciences, too. This, again, is his doing - a need to explore more widely, as well as deeply (for he continues to explore Chemistry). Again, it is Ainan that is leading - he is the one who lays down his own fields of interest and begins to address them.

I was a type of scientist once - a physicist. So, if I were forming Ainan's interests it would be to that subject I would have led him. I certainly would not have led him to a subject other than my own prior core interest.

So, Ainan is a Chemist because he wants to be one. Ainan is exploring other sciences, now (including Physics) because he wants to explore them. Ainan is his own path-chooser.

I address this issue because I was surprised to learn that even relatives of mine made the assumption that Ainan was doing what I wanted, rather than what he wanted. Frankly, I was surprised at that for many reasons - not least of which is that I think it is impossible for a child to perform at a high level in an externally chosen area. They would not have the drive to mastery if it was imposed from without: their own curiosity must be the guiding force.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and five months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and ten months, and Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind, niño, gênio criança, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Berita Harian Singapore Polytechnic News.

Here is the article that appeared at the top of the front page of the Berita Harian, Singapore's leading Malay daily, on Tuesday, 13th May 2008.

He was also on the front page of Lianhe Wan Bao, one of the top Chinese dailies (I will try to locate a version of that).

As usual, I have pasted the article here, since Singapore's newspapers archive stories for only about 1 week.


BUDAK PINTAR LAPAN TAHUN DAPAT TEMPAT DI POLY S'PURA

Oleh Soraya Salim

BUDAK pintar ilmu kimia, Ainan Celeste Cawley, lapan tahun, telah mendapat tempat di Politeknik Singapura (SP). Dia dipercayai warga Singapura paling muda belajar di institusi pendidikan tinggi di sini.

SP menawarkan Ainan tempat awal tahun ini setelah ibu bapanya, Encik Valentine Muhammad Cawley, 40 tahun, dan Cik Syahidah Osma, 29 tahun, mencari universiti sesuai bagi anak sulung mereka itu tahun lalu.

Tiga minggu lalu, anak kacukan Ireland dan Melayu itu mula menghadiri kelas di Sekolah Kimia dan Sains Hayat SP, mengambil pelbagai modul kimia tahun pertama hingga ketiga yang dijalankan di makmal.

Ini termasuk modul tahun pertama kimia organik dan bukan organik serta modul tahun ketiga kimia wangian.

Menurut Cik Syahidah, di sesi pertama makmal Ainan membuktikan dia dapat memenuhi keperluan praktikal menjalankan ujian kimia walaupun dia seorang kanak-kanak.

'Bagi setiap sesi makmal, Ainan dipadankan dengan dua orang pelajar. Nampaknya dia tidak mempunyai masalah berinteraksi dengan mereka, malah dia sempat berjenaka dengan mereka,' katanya.

Ainan pula berkata: 'Ini pengalaman praktikal terbaik yang pernah saya lalui.'

Mengulas tentang keupayaan Ainan, Ketua Seksyen Kimia Analisis SP, Dr Ng Kok Chin, berkata: 'Ainan seorang budak yang amat pintar. Kami tidak pernah bertemu seseorang sepertinya sebelum ini.'

Antara eksperimen yang telah Ainan lakukan adalah menyediakan isoamyl acetate, atau minyak pisang, pengasingan limonen daripada buah-buahan sitrus - kedua-duanya eksperimen tahun ketiga - serta penghabluran semula (recrystallization) asid benzoic dan aspirin.
Malah, sempena Hari Ibu kelmarin Ainan mencipta minyak wangi khas untuk ibunya.

'Minyak wangi itu amat harum baunya. Ia hadiah Hari Ibu terbaik buat saya,' kata Cik Syahidah, yang mempunyai dua lagi anak lelaki, Fintan Nadym, empat tahun, dan Tiarnan Hasyl, dua tahun.

Oktober lalu Ainan mendapat pengiktirafan dalam Buku Rekod Singapura sebagai pelajar termuda Singapura lulus mata pelajaran Kimia dalam peperiksaan GCE peringkat 'O'.

Dia mendapat bagi subjek itu walaupun usianya ketika itu hanya tujuh tahun satu bulan. Setelah itu, ibu bapanya memohon kepada beberapa universiti tempatan dan luar negara tetapi ditolak kerana institusi-institusi itu tidak bersedia mengambil budak semuda itu.
Namun, Ainan berpeluang melakukan kerja-kerja praktikal di makmal kimia di Raffles Institution (RI) dan Maktab Rendah Raffles (RJC) serta Universiti Teknologi Nanyang (NTU).

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and five months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and ten months, and Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind, niño, gênio criança, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)