A world without the smell of flowers

There is much beauty in the world. Yet, this beauty may not endure. The world of my youth, is not the world of today - and so it shall be for my children, too. The natural world is slowly fading away.

Researchers at the University of Virginia have uncovered a startling and rather disturbing phenomenon: flowers are losing their smell.

All of us have, at one time or another, enjoyed the enchanting aroma of flowers on a summer's day. We may have walked in fields amidst their multi-coloured splendour - yet, a walk in such a field today is not what it once was. These researchers have calculated that the scent of flowers would have wafted some 1,000 to 1,200 metres in the 1800s. Today, in the modern world, flower scent has a range of just 200 to 300 metres in the vicinity of cities.

What is happening? Well the scent molecules are interacting with air pollutants such as ozone and being neutralized: they literally no longer smell anymore.

Why should we be concerned? Well, apart from dulling one of the sensory experiences of the beauty of nature - this does something more: it makes it difficult for bees to find their food. When flowers no longer smell as they used to, bees must search longer and further to find them, relying more on sight. This is not easy - and so they starve. Bee populations in places as far apart as California and the Netherlands are in decline.

Why does this matter? Well, bees are pollinators of flowers. If they can't find the flowers, they won't find food - but also the flowers won't be pollinated - result: no more flowers.

Here we can see how pollution has effects far beyond what we might expect. It leads directly to the decline of bees and flowers alike. We are suffocating the natural world.

I usually write about giftedness - but I feel, at times, a need to write about the environment. It is not really off-topic for one clear reason: anyone who has young children needs to think about the future world they will live in. What kind of world will they have to enjoy or endure? The signs are not looking good.

Do what you can, when you can, to preserve the environment: make it one of your regular considerations. If enough people think about it, perhaps we can do something collectively, to improve it.

As for the flowers: it seems sad that children now live in a world in which not even the flowers smell as they used to. They will not have the sensory memories that prior generations enjoyed of simply witnessing the natural world in its multi-sensory splendour: it is fading and dying all around us.

I only hope that there is time to intervene, before it is too late. I only hope that there is time for nature to recover from what we are doing to it.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, 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, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

How to get Daddy's attention

Tiarnan and I were playing a game, today. More specifically, he decided that he wanted to play the game and so I had to join in.

The game was a simple one. For Tiarnan, pillows had been transformed into guns with magical powers: one simply pointed the pillow and made a "peeoww" or "berrr" noise and Daddy would respond by being wounded. Daddy, of course, was allowed to use a pillow gun in return. I chose a very small one (his), he chose a very big one (mine). Clearly, he wanted to outgun me - or outpillow me.

At one point, he had done too thorough a job of pillow shooting me. I lay on the bed in an unresponsive state - not replying to his repeated queries.

He had a problem: how to resurrect the "dead".

He also had a solution. While I lay there, eyes closed, in imitation of an underpaid extra on a filmic battlefront, he did something unexpected. I heard it, a sound I didn't want to hear. My computer mouse clicking and moving across the table.

I awoke at once, suddenly cured of my mortal injuries, to see my little son, Tiarnan, twenty-six months, grinning at me, mischievously.

He knew that would work. Tugging at me was useless. Speaking to me was useless - but messing with my computer...well, that was guaranteed to resurrect the dead.

We played on - but I didn't dare play too dead, again, lest he take the messing with the computer route to revive me.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, 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, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The child who wants to grow up.

Yesterday, Tiarnan was asked by a stranger how old he was. He said: "Abang!". This means he is the older brother. Tiarnan is, in fact, the youngest - and only 26 months old.

Later on, I spoke to him about his age, to see his reaction, as he sat on the ground.

"Tiarnan, you are two."

"No!", he shouted.

"Fintan is four."

"No!" he shouted louder.

"Ainan is eight."

"NOOO!", he shouted, loudest of all.

It was quite clear he didn't like to be the youngest. Tiarnan is a little boy who wants to be grown up, already.

We thought it sweet.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, 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, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Where every school is a "military" school

Foreigners can tell us more about a country than any native can. Foreign eyes see things in new ways, having evaluated them from a different perspective. That is why the wise listen to the comments of those from overseas: it is a chance to see one's country as it really is and not as it is said to be.

I have a friend from South America. He is living and working here, with his family. His attention is turning to the choice of schools for his daughter, since she is approaching that age. By chance, he visited my son's school (he lives in the same area as us), drank in the atmosphere, and had a look at the school rules. What he saw, surprised him.

The only type of school that bore comparison to the one in Singapore, that he saw, were MILITARY SCHOOLS back in Latin America. Only in such schools would there be so many school rules and so much restriction of behaviour. His first thought on entering the school was: "This is a military school". The strange thing is, it didn't call itself one: it is a typical Singaporean school.

The question is, therefore, are ALL schools in Singapore "military" by comparison to international standards of regimentation and regulation? Certainly, they seem so to South American eyes. They seem rather too regulated to my eyes, too.

Let us ask ourselves what is the purpose of a military school. It is to create absolute conformity of thought and action and blind, unthinking obedience to every command. It is to create little robots who won't mind getting themselves shot in the name of their country. Could it be, therefore, that the purpose of Singaporean schooling is to create absolute conformity of thought and action and blind, unthinking obedience to every command? What use would that be to a democratic society? None at all. However, it would be of great use if the purpose was to ensure that the population could never think for themselves and would be easy to manage.

I worry, therefore, for my children, receiving such regulated schooling. It is quite stifling to see the burden of rules under which they labour. Surely, there are better ways to educate children than to tie them down, too restrictively - so much so, that, to an outsider, they look like cadets in a military school?

Nothing is accidental in Singapore. I have come to learn that these past nine years. It is no accident, therefore, that Singapore's education ministers come from military backgrounds. They are all former staff of the armed forces. Clearly, they have been chosen for a reason. Clearly, they are expected to bring their military experience to bear on the task of guiding the nation's education. A military man is not to be put in charge of education, unless one wants that education to have a military flavour. That military men are always chosen, to be education minister, rather confirms the impression of my South American friend, that Singapore's schools are rather like military schools from overseas.

Indeed, it is most telling that the new education minister, whose name eludes me right now (he has just been appointed), is also, as I understand it, 2nd Minister for Defence. The connection between education and the military could not be more explicit, therefore.

There is, however, a problem in all this. Military people generally don't think too well. They act. In fact, thinking too much is counter-productive in the heat of battle: it might bring hesitation and that brings death. So, any school system which is militaristic in any way, would tend to suppress thinking in its people. Singapore's system is doing just that.

This is a foolish long term strategy for Singapore. Without a thinking people, Singapore is reliant on overseas talent. Yet, overseas talent will only come here so long as the offer is more attractive than the next place. That is an unsustainable situation, in the long term, because Singapore always has to fight to be more attractive than the next place. There are over 200 other places people could go. I don't see the odds being in Singapore's favour, in the long term. Other places will overshadow it. Other places will be able to offer more.

The answer is, of course, to encourage thinking in its own native population. To do that, one should drop the militaristic style of education here. A good start would be to begin to appoint education ministers who have actually been teachers - and good teachers at that. Preferably teachers who were not trained in Singapore, to teach in a Singaporean way. Then one might begin to get education that is actually about education - and not education that is about absolute conformity of thought and action and blind unthinking obedience to every command.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, 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, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Do child prodigies get rich?

The question in the title is not my own, but that of a web surfer who came to my blog in search of the answer.

The short answer would be: some do, some don't.

If the child prodigy is a prodigy in a domain that has significant economic value, when allied to good marketing - such as, for instance, music, then, yes, that child prodigy could be become very rich indeed. A case in point is Vanessa Mae, who proclaims herself to have been a child prodigy on her website. She is worth, according to recent estimates a cool 32 million pounds sterling. That is about 100 million Singaporean dollars. Not bad for a girl with a violin.

Another example would be Harry Connick Jr. who was a definite child prodigy musician. His net worth wasn't readily accessible on the internet but is sure to be many millions since he has sold millions of records and appeared in a number of Hollywood films.

Other prodigies tend to enter more academic domains. Such prodigies may not become rich, but will be comfortable in a professional level income sort of way. Their true wealth may come in the form of the influence they have on the world and the fame they acquire for doing so. An example of this class would be Norbert Wiener, a pioneer in cybernetics. He was a child prodigy who became a man of great intellectual influence. His ideas led to fortunes being created in the computing field, if not directly for himself.

Prodigious sportsmen and sportswomen can definitely become very rich. Tiger Woods, for instance, is accounted a prodigy - and is not far from being a dollar billionaire. In 2007, Esquire magazine estimated Tiger's net worth as being in excess of 650 million US dollars. No doubt it has grown since.

Leaving aside the question of why the web searcher wanted to measure child prodigies in terms of net worth and future earnings potential, it can be seen that those who begin life with great gift can become wealthy, if their gifts meet the right opportunities for their expression and development.

Prodigies of the intellectual type, however, tend to become academics of some kind and their wealth is likely to remain on the professorial level - unless they start companies, as some do.

For some prodigies, their period of greatest earning power is actually when they are children. A case of this kind is Macaulay Culkin, whose worth is estimated at 35 million US dollars. Most oddly, from most people's perspective, almost all of this was earned while he was a child. As an adult, he doesn't seem to have much of a career (perhaps he doesn't want one, being wealthy already).

Child prodigies are children of great possibilities - and wealth is certainly one of their potentials - if they are lucky enough to receive the right opportunities.

I hope that answers my searcher's query.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, 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, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

On the value of Beauty

Beauty has great value, which may not be measurable in dollars and cents, but is there all the same. However, not everyone realizes this.

Last week, Wisma Atria, the Orchard Road shopping centre, announced that they were going to dismantle the landmark aquarium in their shopping mall, and send the fish to a better home, elsewhere. Instead, they said they were going to "improve our retail offering". By this, I assume that they mean to put another shop, where the aquarium now stands.

In the nine years since I first came to Singapore I have come to understand that many decisions here are made purely on numbers. No other means of thought is consulted. Indeed, it is clear that most decision makers have no other means to think, than by numerical means. The primary number they are concerned with is this: how much money they can make. The dollar is the true ruler of Singapore.

I have stood by and watched many stupid decisions be made on the basis of this excessive love for the dollar. Removing the aquarium at Wisma is one of them. Clearly, no-one in the Wisma management has given any thought to what the aquarium does for their mall, nor what it represents for their customers. The aquarium is the most memorable thing about Wisma, in fact, it is true to say it is the ONLY memorable thing about Wisma. People have used it as a landmark by which to find their way through the subterranean reaches of its shopping mall, since the day it was first built. Friends would meet there. People would take photographs with it, in the background. The aquarium was very much a little "star". Indeed, I took a photograph of my father standing before it, on his recent visit.

The management of Wisma are clearly thinking in terms of the rental foregone for the space taken up by the aquarium. I think they are not looking at the big picture. Those elegant multi-coloured fish, swimming away all day, implanted Wisma in people's minds. It was ever pleasant to see the aquarium hove into view, as one stepped out into the underground space in which it stands.

I think it likely that the aquarium drew more people to visit Wisma Atria, than the shop that replaces it will. I very much doubt whether the overall take of the mall will increase when the environment is diminished by the absence of the aquarium. I think it more likely that the take will decrease, in fact. With the aquarium gone, there will be no reason to choose Wisma Atria as one's meeting place, when convening in Orchard Road - other locations would be easier to find and therefore meet at.

Wisma Atria is well on the way to becoming a forgettable place, for they have forgotten the value of beauty.

Wisma is likely soon to discover that beauty has a commercial value, too: for where would you rather shop - a beautiful mall, with a pleasant environment, or one in which there is nothing but shops crammed together, all shouting for your money? Taking the aquarium away, is one big step away from the former, for Wisma, towards the latter. I don't see it as an improvement.

For me, now, another shopping mall is now more memorable: Takashimaya. Why? Because they have an underground fountain. That is where I am going to meet people in Orchard in future. I suggest you all do the same. It is very easy to find - and easy to remember, too.

Let us just hope that Takashimaya, don't wish to "improve their retail offering" by pulling out the beautiful fountains and replacing them with a shop. If they do, I am not going to shop on Orchard at all, anymore.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, 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, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Charlton Heston on genius and himself.

Charlton Heston, the film actor and icon, is dead at 84.

Enough will be written of his life, for it to be needless for me to add more to the biographical material, other than to address some highlights to support what I am going to write.

Charlton Heston cut a heroic figure: a chiselled face, broad shoulders and resonant voice. He was, as a person, the kind of figure that, in fiction, we are accustomed to associate with the hero. Physically, he was a stereotypical heroic figure. In consequence, Hollywood, being a very visual place, cast him as many an historical hero. He became, for us, the canvas on which heroic historical figures would come to life.

He played the "greats" from Moses, in the Ten Commandments (1956), to the eponymous El Cid (1961), Michelangelo, the genius artist, in The Agony and the Ecstasy and his most famed role, Ben Hur (1959). Also memorable were his turn as a marooned astronaut in Planet of the Apes (1968) and a detective in Soylent Green (1973).

These were films of my youth, endlessly played and replayed on British television. I had no idea they were so dated, almost all of them having been filmed before my birth. Seeing those dates, makes me realize how fast time is passing, that my childhood films should have been so distantly made.

Now, as few actors do, Charlton Heston got the chance to play many of history's most interesting people. He played them with conviction and brought a heroic quality to each of them. In the cliche he was "larger than life"...and it seemed apt that he should be called upon to play figures whose deeds made them so. In being as he was, physically, he made his performances believable and what his characters did - historical figures that they were - more believable too. With Charlton Heston as their embodiment, it was easier to believe great things of them.

Yet, what did Charlton Heston think of these people he played?

Once, long ago, when I was growing up, I got the chance to see Charlton Heston in interview on television. He made a remark that I have never forgotten. On the matter of playing Michelangelo, he said words to the effect: "He makes me feel small." By this he meant, quite clearly, that the greatness of Michelangelo's genius, made him feel a small human by comparison.

I saw in this an unexpected humbleness for one who was, then, one of the most famous of film stars, his name and face known everywhere. Yet, I saw, too, that in playing his characters he had, to some extent - and this is, I suppose necessary for a good performance - come to understand his characters. He came to see what they were - and could measure who he was by comparison.

Charlton Heston was saying, in his own way, that a genius outshines a film star - that, though perhaps less famous than Heston was at the time, Michelangelo (and by implication his type of person) was far the greater man.

Perhaps, in being called upon to play truly great men, Heston became aware of his own limitations. Thus, he was able to make that comment about genius, which was most uncharacteristic of a typical film star, with their great impression of their own worth.

Heston, as he himself assessed, may not have been a genius - but he was a very convincing and entertaining actor who brought a sense of authority to all the roles he portrayed. While not as great as an historical figure, in his own estimation, he lent an impression of greatness to them, so that they might come alive for us.

It is sobering to note that, by his passing, another of the cultural figures of my childhood has died. It will not be long before they are all gone - for now that I approach the middle of life, they are all approaching the end of theirs.

It is interesting to compare Heston to today's actors. By comparison the typical actor of today is a limp creature, devoid of presence. There was something of the grand about him, whenever he spoke or acted on the screen. Perhaps Hollywood doesn't want its heroes to seem great anymore - or perhaps the people who watch them don't.

He is survived by two children and three grandchildren.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, 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, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)