The lack of entrepreneurs in Singapore

Today, I saw stark evidence for the lack of entrepreneurialism in Singapore. It may not seem much, but the message of what I witnessed is quite clear.

My wife and I had heard about the "flea market" at the Singapore Art Museum on Saturdays. We had mutual memories of Camden Market in London to inspire us with visions of innumerable idiosyncratic little stalls selling the oddest of things - things that would be a good quirky addition to any home. So, with this preconceived idea of what we might see, we went to the Singapore Art Museum.

What we saw, when we entered the central, open space in the Museum where the flea market was being held, quite astonished us. There was nothing there at all - approximately speaking. Not one of the eight stalls I counted amounted to the word stall. They were thoughtless, haphazard and uninteresting in content and presentation. The staff were listless, already bored with the lack of custom. It was both shocking and pathetic. The typical stall consisted of a few pieces of junk thrown onto a table. It was ludicrous.

We felt embarrassed for Singapore - and for ourselves for being there.

It was instantly clear that something was wrong. I have never seen a country so unable to muster such a simple thing as a flea market. Every other country I have visited (about 20), has a thriving subculture of people willing to set up any shop, anywhere. It is from these corner street acts of entrepreneurship, that great entrepreneurial stories begin. Not so, however, in Singapore. A country of 4.6 million people cannot muster more than 8 sad efforts at stalls, when an event calls upon it to do so. That, to me, means that entrepreneurs are rare in Singapore. The attitude of entrepreneurship is not widespread enough even to support a little bit of free market salesmanship at a flea market.

This is sad for what it says of Singapore's future. Every entrepreneur's biography or life history that I have read tells tales of small ventures begun often in childhood - tiny efforts at entrepreneurialism, such as a market stall, from which great empires spring. It is in these small efforts that people learn the skills and mindset of the entrepreneur. Without such experiences and little trials, few have the experience and courage to try anything on a bigger scale. This first step is missing in Singapore. People, generally speaking, just don't even try the first rungs of entrepreneurship, without which they are not mentally equipped for the higher rungs.

The absence of a lively flea market, today, at Singapore Art Museum is thus symptomatic of a serious problem facing Singapore. Without the young entrepreneurs of today, there are no great companies of tomorrow. Today, I witnessed a dearth of just such young entrepreneurs. Tomorrow, this promises a dearth of great new companies.

What is most telling about this is that I have never witnessed such a lack of entrepreneurial spirit anywhere else. I have travelled fairly widely - but never seen such a lack of the basic drive to build a venture, however small. Perhaps Singaporeans think a market stall is not good enough for them. Perhaps they think that only something grander will do for a start. This shows a failing of understanding of what even a market stall can teach a young person. All the basic skills of salesmanship and marketing are involved. All the basic skills of sourcing a product, pricing them, finding a niche. In fact, all the basic skills that make up the backbone of much larger ventures. Starting a market stall could very well be the beginning of a career that ends up with a Mustapha Centre sized outlet.

Perhaps what I saw today was a national pride against starting small. Yet, most great enterprises started that way. Not starting small, usually means never starting at all.

(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.)

Albert Hofmann, Chemist, dead at 102.

Only a few days ago, I posted a list of the world's top 100 living geniuses. In no. 1 position was Albert Hofmann. He died of a heart attack on April 29, 2008. He is the second on the list to die, since it was published towards the end of last year.

Albert Hofmann is best known for his discovery of LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide. He was also the first human to try its effects, when he accidentally came into contact with some. He wrote of the hallucinogenic experience and came to believe that his discovery would have therapeutic effects. He managed to persuade some in the medical community of this and, for a time, there was some experimental use of it. It was not long before its use was hijacked by the likes of Timothy Leary and promoted for ends that Hofmann would not have agreed with. This, of course, led to the banning of his creation - much to the regret of Hofmann, who still believed that it had potential to aid mankind.

As is often the way of people who make an iconic discovery, the rest of their life's work tends to get overshadowed. Hofmann made many chemical contributions. He published over a 100 articles and several books, including one on LSD: My Problem Child. His discoveries included revealing the structure of chitin, as a graduate student and a large number of ergot derived drugs (of which LSD was one). These included methergine, used to prevent obstetrical bleeding; dihydergot for migraines and hydergine, an anti-dementia vasodilator.

He was born in Baden, Switzerland. He studied Chemistry at the University of Zurich and became Director of Sandoz's natural products division. It is from there that he made his seminal discoveries.

Albert Hofmann's life is an example of how one chemist can change the world. Whether you agree with the changes that resulted from his work, or not, it is clear that one man, even so late in the scientific day as this, can change the lives of millions through his work. LSD changed how many people see the world. Hydergine changed the course of dementia for millions of patients. Methergine spared a lot of mothers from untoward consequences of birth. Many millions more found relief from their headaches with dihydergot. Perhaps none of these drugs would have been, were it not for Hofmann living and working as he did.

I do not know why he was voted the no.1 living genius by so many people - but that he was a gifted chemist is clear. He died in a village in Switzerland, where he had spent his life. Rest in Peace, Albert Hofmann.

(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.)

The secret happiness of fatherhood.

A few days ago, I took Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, out. He decided that he wasn't going to walk, but that he would take his bicycle instead. It is a rather small bicycle, with wheels a few inches across. It has to be small - because he is.

I watched him astride his little transport machine, his feet on either side, pushing him along, in his own individual way and I felt something very strange. I felt warm all over. There was an inner glow of a diffuse kind of happiness, as I watched my youngest son try to master the bicycle. It was quite a surprise, in its own way, to feel so, for this happiness seemed to come from nowhere. All I was doing was watching my son play - yet it made me feel very happy to do so.

He was very intent on the ground ahead of him, carefully looking where he was guiding his little bike. He was particularly taken by "hills" and used these to propel himself at greater speed, taking his feet off the ground, to let the bicycle roll - though never so long as to really pick up speed: he would stamp his feet down so as to brake a little, before it got out of hand. He loved it.

He didn't know it, but I think I enjoyed it more than he did.

Fatherhood is inexplicable: it has the power to make the ordinary very special indeed. It lends pleasure to the everyday and makes life a whole lot more interesting. At least, it does, if you pay attention to it, while its happening. To another, I would just have seemed like a man walking behind a boy on a bike - but to me, it was a whole lot more. Perhaps it is, to you, too, in your own life.

(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.)

Trading on another's success: Mr. Bean.

I noticed something surprising to me, yesterday. In Redhill, there is a shop selling soy milk products entitled: Mr. Bean. That should seem familiar to all who read this, but not because of this shop's success, but because of the origin of the name.

Is it right for a shop to name itself after an internationally recognized comic brand? Everyone the world over knows Mr. Bean: he is a character of universal fame, created by Rowan Atkinson. Yet, here, in sleepy Redhill, we have a shop boasting the same name. Curiously, they have a registered trademark symbol attached to the word Mr. Bean. So, if true, they have successfully registered someone else's name as their own. I puzzle at this. Did no-one in the trademarks and registry office notice that the name was the same as a famous, already existing one?

It gives a poor impression of Singapore's respect for copyrights and foreign trademarks, if a famous comic character can have its name stolen, locally, like this, with the official approval of the trademarks office. It gives the impression that, locally, any theft of identity and goodwill will be allowed, if only the right registry fees are paid.

Mr. Bean, to billions of people, is not a soy bean shop. Mr. Bean is a comic character. Yet, in using his name, the shop has won instant familiarity. Anyone seeing it will instantly feel that it is a familiar brand. They have, in effect, polejumped their way to being a household word, by stealing someone else's household word.

A more carefully regulated environment would not allow such an act of imitation. A more careful registry of trademarks office would have turned them down, for the very reason that they are obviously trading on someone else's name and reputation.

I wonder what the owners of Mr. Bean, the comic franchise would do if they learnt that a Singaporean company has taken their identity? Would they sue? Would the Mr. Bean shop go down burdened by massive legal costs? In a way, I would be happy to see it be so - for there is nothing worse, for a creator, than to see their creation used and abused by others.

I saw the Mr. Bean shop and I was thirsty - but I didn't go in for a drink. All I thought was: "That is so wrong." I rather hope that that is the thought of the majority and that they take a step back and consider what it means for a company to build its reputation on the fame of another. Does that seem a right thing to do?

Every time someone starts a company, it is an opportunity to be creative, to do something new - to build something that wasn't there before. This particular company, however, took the opportunity to capitalize on someone else's success, to build their brand by cannibalizing another. That, in some countries, would be seen as a crime of sorts. The question is: why is it not in Singapore, the squeakiest clean state of all?

Perhaps someone should ask them to change their name. Try something honest - virtually anything else will do. If they do so, I might even have a drink there - but I won't until the day they are not called Mr. Bean.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and nine months, and Tiarnan, twenty-six 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.)

The beauty of the molecular world

Today, Ainan came to me in some excitement, "Daddy, there is a molecule that looks like a butterfly!"

He was very pleased at his new knowledge. "It is called lepidopterene!"

Indeed, it does look like a butterfly and indeed it is beautiful. Yet, this moment, sweet as it was, makes me wonder what life will be like for Ainan. Who will share his enthusiasms? Who will understand his references? Am I to be the only one who understands what it is that he is saying?

I hope not. I hope he gathers around himself, in time to come, others to share his view and understanding of the world. That is vital in the long-term. One day, I may not be here - and Ainan will not be able to refer to me, to share his latest wonderment. I hope that day never comes, but statistics and the history of mankind are against me on that one.

Ainan sees a beauty in the world that few others know - and it is doubtful whether any other 8 year old is quite as aware of the beauties of science, as Ainan is. At least, we have never encountered such a child. Ainan, therefore, must come to his own understandings and be his own witness to the beauty of the things he encounters and ideas he has. I am here, for now, to share in them, with him - and, one day, perhaps, there will be others who can see what he does and understand it with him.

Yet, Ainan is also privileged to see, understand and know the things he does. For, in doing so, he has a much richer appreciation of the unseen world all around us. He has a deeper grasp of reality than most ever achieve. He sees the reality of the molecular world on which all of us are founded. His eyes are searching deeper, still, now, as he branches off into studying the physical world. One day, perhaps, he will see things no-one has ever seen before. I hope he will be well equipped by then, to explain what he sees and share his understandings. It is my job, as a parent, I suppose, to ensure that he is so prepared.

In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy his outbursts of enthusiasm and the moments of excitement he has when he sees something new and learns something amazing, or comes to some insight, on his own, of what was previously unknown. It all gives a new dimension to fatherhood, beyond what might be expected.

Happy parenting, all!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and nine months, and Tiarnan, twenty-six 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.)

Was Sidis a child prodigy failure?

William James Sidis was an American child prodigy. He lived from April 1st (unfortunate date, I would have thought) 1898 to July 17th 1944. Thus, his life was of modest length and we should remember that when we assess his achievements. He was famed for his precocity and later for his withdrawal from society. His greatest gifts were in mathematical and linguistic pursuits. Some say he knew up to 200 languages by the time of his death; others estimate it to have been 40 or so. Either way, few linguists in history have come close to such a tally. His IQ was estimated to have been between 250 and 300, one of the highest in human history. Yet, the headline of his obituary in Time magazine, in 1944 was: "Prodigious Failure". What could have led such an organ to write such a shocking headline, upon a man's death?

Part of the problem was the way the press, of the time, liked to tear down people who stood out. They were not friendly to Sidis and did all that they could to diminish him. When he had an apparent nervous breakdown at about 20, they reacted not with sympathy, but ridicule. They jumped on him when he was jailed for a year and a half for being involved in a protest (what a wonderfully free country the USA was, at the time). Basically, they hounded him throughout his adult life. His reaction was to retreat from public life and try to live as quietly as possible, away from the venom of the journalists.

They mocked him when he wrote a book on vehicle transfers and tried to portray him as a failure. They gave the impression that it was the only book that he had written - and this became the public view of him. Yet, what was the truth? Well, William James Sidis, was busy writing and publishing works under pseudonyms throughout the quiet life he led doing menial jobs, such as operating calculating machines. There is a similarity in this to other geniuses. Einstein worked in a patent office: that is no great job for a great mind - but it did give him time to think. Perhaps Sidis similarly sought a job that would give him time to think.

Since his death, quite a few publications have been found to date: five books, four pamphlets, 13 articles, four periodicals (36 issues), 89 weekly magazine columns and one invention. There are also reports of other books: one on anthropology, another on philology, and works on transportation systems, all of which are presently lost. His most important works are "The animate and the inanimate" (1925) a work on cosmology, and "The Tribes and the States" (ca. 1935), a 100,000 year history of the red indian. In research for this latter book, he learnt the language of the wampum (written Native American history) and used the wampum as sources for much of what he wrote. Another book on Native Americans was Passaconaway, In the White Mountains, written when he was 18. He also wrote a book that included plans for a super city, under a pseudonym, which also advocated one-way street systems to avoid crashes. "Collisions in street and highway transportation."

He died at the age of 46 of a cerebral haemorrhage, like his father, Boris Sidis, had done, before him (at 56). His whole life was denounced as a failure by the press.

Take an impartial look at his output. Can it be said that a man who writes books on several different areas; who learns 40 to 200 languages - and uses that linguistic knowledge in his research, can be said to be a failure? It seems strange, to me, that he should be labelled so. His achievements were worthy - but the reaction to them was not. His written output was certainly a respectable quantity for a life of his length. It is, in fact, a puzzle, that he should have been treated so. It is almost as if the media of the day wanted to diminish him, to prove him wrong, to do him down - even at the cost of the truth. Apparently, his mother once remarked that she did not recognize her son, in his descriptions in the press - they bore no relation to the reality of his intellectual brilliance, at all.

What we see here, in fact, is not the failure of a prodigy, but the failure of the media and society to accept him. Sidis found himself unwanted - and so he retreated from the world. Yet, that didn't stop him thinking, privately, scribbling away and publishing anonymously. He probably didn't want to publish under his own name because, whenever he did so, he was jumped on by the press.

What would have happened had William James Sidis been welcomed by the society of his day? Doubtless he would have opened up and flourished and probably would have contributed much more than he did. Yet, even without that hypothetical circumstance, his output is decent, given his short life and there is no way an honest person, without an agenda, could possibly criticize him for it. In total he was supposed to have written at least a dozen books, most of them now lost. A dozen books in 46 years is actually quite a high output considering that they were non-fiction.

William James Sidis is a tale not of failure - but of what happens when the media turns against a person of great gift: they retreat from the world and their achievements become private ones, not public. Sidis achieved quite a lot - it is just that no-one of his day knew about it.

Rest in peace William James Sidis, child prodigy and productive, creative adult.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and nine months, and Tiarnan, twenty-six 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.)