What kind of country is this?

The words in the title are not my own, they are words I overheard the other day.

A few days ago, I was standing in a taxi rank behind three East European men of about 30. They had the air of recent visitors about them. Like them, I had waited perhaps 25 minutes to get to the front of the taxi rank, in Orchard. They were keen to get to their destination, since, rather than sit, they stood, all the while, and paced a little, talking among themselves in quick, hurried speech, of an unknown language.

Finally, they got to the front of the queue. The largest of the three men opened the taxi door and prepared to get in. The driver spoke to him, in words I couldn't hear - but their meaning was clear.

The large man said a destination.

The taxi driver who had been looking at him turned away, facing the front and prepared to drive off. The large East European man closed the door and watched the taxi pull away, empty.

The poor man was utterly dumbfounded: he just couldn't believe that, rather than take him and his two friends, to their destination, this taxi driver preferred to drive off, empty of passengers.

For the benefit of all to hear, the East European man spoke his first English, quite loudly: "What kind of country is this?"

It seemed obvious that he had never encountered such behaviour before, anywhere, in his life - otherwise he wouldn't have been so taken aback by it.

Singapore is a country in which strange practices abound - yet the locals see them as normal. In Singapore, taxi drivers choose where they want to go - and will often turn down a fare that is not going where the driver wants to go. In the twenty or so countries I have visited, this is the only one in which I have observed this behaviour: it is quite bizarre.

Yet, instead of permitting such crassness on the part of taxi drivers, perhaps Singapore should think about the impression it leaves on the millions of annual visitors. The behaviour of drivers snubbing passengers is so common that a visitor would not have to be here long, to encounter it. Many of the visitors can expect to be so snubbed on their visit. What impression does that leave? Well, the reaction of the East European man is telling: the typical visitor will be utterly unimpressed by Singapore if they are ill-treated in this manner. No doubt, that man and his friends will go back to Europe with tales of the crazy drivers and the unbelievable rudeness of Singaporean workers. Is that the impression Singapore wants to create?

A driver should not have the right to refuse a passenger. They should have to take anyone, anywhere, without any discretion over the matter at all. This should be enforced by steep fines and revocation of their license to drive. Then, perhaps, visitors like those East Europeans will not have tales to tell of rude Singaporean drivers when they go home.

(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.)

Jeanne Louise Calment: successful aging.

As a counterpoint to my tale, the other day, of meeting with an old colleague who was unable to quite place me, I would like to write of Jeanne Louise Calment, the longest lived, verified person in the world.

Is decline of mental function to the point of dementia a necessary part of aging? Does the mind expire before the body? This is a common perception of aging, but is it true?

Jeanne Louise Calment is a good test case. If the mind declines with time, then the one of longest life should show the greatest decline (on average). A neuropsychologist, K. Ritchie was very interested in Calment's mental function and in February 1995 he reported his findings, upon testing her over a six month period, in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The results are most inspiring.

Despite being 118 years and 9 months old at the time of the tests, her verbal memory and language fluency were comparable to people of the same education in their 80s and 90s. She showed no disturbance in frontal lobe function, at all - and no evidence of any progressive neurological disease whatsoever. Any decline in function over her lifetime appeared to have occurred long ago and there was no ongoing decline, at all, over the period in which he examined her. In short, not only had she not "lost her marbles", she wasn't in the process of losing them either. Her mind was clear and not fading.

Jeanne Louise Calment's example shows that, for those who escape neurological disease, such as Alzheimer's, dementia is not inevitable - time, alone, will not deprive you of your mind. Indeed, it is possible to outlive a typical person by 50 years (as Jeanne Louise Calment did) and still have good mental function and memory.

Calment's example inspired me, with regards to what the distant future might hold - and I hope she inspires you too. She lived an enviable life, I feel, not just for the length of it - but for the fact that she was compis mentis to the very last day. She lived to 122 years and 164 days old and, in her long life, attended Victor Hugo's funeral and met with Van Gogh (whom she took an instant dislike to). What a surreal 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.)

Knowledge of national flags.

About six weeks ago, Tiarnan, then twenty-six months, saw a picture of 150 national flags, in an array. He looked at it, with interest. Seeing this, his mother, Syahidah, asked him: "Which is the Singapore flag, Tiarnan?"

His little hand reached out, with his index finger pointed straight ahead - and he placed it on the Singapore flag.

It was a spooky moment - spooky because we have never told him which is the Singaporean flag, nor have we shown him one - and neither do we own one. Somehow Tiarnan had observed from his environment, the Singapore flag and knew what it looked like. No doubt he had seen it somewhere and deduced that it must be the one we sought. This also makes clear, of course, that he knows he is in Singapore (which again we have never explicitly told him).

Babies, it seems, have ways of learning that may not always be apparent. If Tiarnan is an example, they can pick up information, on their own, from their own experience, without us realizing how or where they got it from.

Think on this. There are many teenagers - and adults - the world over, who wouldn't be able to pick out a Singaporean flag, from an array of 150 others. Indeed, some teenagers and adults wouldn't be able to pick out their own national flag - especially when faced with a sea of flags, many of which look quite similar.

I wonder what else Tiarnan has worked out for himself?

(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.)

A chance encounter with an old colleague

Sometimes it takes a chance event to make it clear what is important in life.

A couple of days ago, I bumped into someone I had worked alongside daily, for a year.

He was in his sixties, taller than me and heavier too. He looked at me a little confused and said: "We have met before haven't we?" he began, his face clearly that of a man fumbling through his memories of where and when. "Five times." he said, most oddly, as if giving it a number would allay the impression that he was unable to recall who I was.

"It was a lot more than five times." I said, quietly, looking into his puzzled eyes. It was just six months since he had last seen me - and that after a year of working in the same place and encountering him regularly throughout that period.

I said his name, both forename and surname, then, which I shan't write here. His frown deepened, as he searched for mine. Then I asked him a question about his life that only someone who had truly met him, would know.

He turned away, then turned back and answered.

Later he came to me and used my name. Perhaps someone had told him. His thoughts seemed clearer. It appeared that he had, at last found his memories of me.

The encounter was a sobering one for me, for it made me realize how precious memories are - and how quickly they can be lost. Six months before he did not have such trouble. Since then he had gone through difficult times - and it had told on him. He was much different. I hope he recovers his full capability, again, now that times are somewhat better.

(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.)

Of girls and boys in academia.

There are certain stereotypes regarding boys and girls in school. The boys are reputedly good at maths and science, which the girls tend to be weak at. So, too, the girls are good at languages, which the boys tend to be weak at. Thus, girls grow to be literate and boys mathematical/scientific. At least, that is what we are led to believe: but is it true?

As with most commonly believed "facts", there is some truth to it. At a particular age, a boy may indeed be good at maths, and a girl of the same age not so. So, too, the girl may be good with languages and the boy not so. Yet, all is not as it seems.

Researchers at Virginia Tech decided to have a look at the question. They used brain imaging techniques to actually look at the brain development of 508 normal children aged from 2 months to 16 years. There were 224 girls and 284 boys. What they found is very telling.

The areas of the girls' brains involved in language and fine motor skills (for handwriting etc). developed six years earlier in girls than boys. The areas of the boys' brains involved in maths and geometry matured four years earlier than in girls. Thus, the famed separation of boys into scientists and girls into linguists is actually an artifact of the way we educate children - and not of the children themselves. Girls are set up to think of themselves as "non-scientific" simply because scientific things are expected of them before they are ready. So, too, boys are set up to think of themselves as "non-linguistic" for the very same reason. The truth is, of course, that both boys are girls can be scientific and linguistic - at the right time.

Boys and girls take different developmental paths - but that doesn't mean that they can't end up at the same destination. A girl can be a nuclear physicist - and a boy can be linguist or a writer. The stereotypes are wrong - for they are based on a misunderstanding of how boys and girls develop.

So the advice is simple. If you are a parent, don't expect your daughter to excel in science early on - because that part of the brain is not ready yet - but don't forget that they will be able to do it someday. The same goes for sons: don't expect great use of words, early on - but don't be surprised if they become a writer someday.

(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.)

Singapore Daily, blog aggregator moves

Some of you have first discovered my site, by following links from mentions on Singapore Daily, the blog aggregator/commenter. Singapore Daily has moved, it is no longer to be found at wordpress. Its new address is: www.singaporedaily.net

I have decided to link to it since I think that Singapore Daily performs the valuable function of making access to current information on what is happening in Singapore a lot easier. Most people would not have the time to hunt around to find out what is going on, without the help of sites such as Singapore Daily.

Please note that I am not personally involved at Singapore Daily, in any way. I note, however, that their new site has no page rank. This means that they will appear very low on searches. In other words, many fewer people will find them and the articles they reference now that they have moved. All the links to their wordpress site are of no value to them now that they have moved. (That site had a page rank of 4, which is respectable: it is the same as mine.) So, might I suggest that, if you have a website, you might link to Singapore Daily - and allow them to recover their proper place in front of many eyes, on the search engines. It would make access to the Singaporean Blogosphere a whole lot easier for everyone. By linking to them, myself, I have made my own contribution to their recovery of page rank and position in the search engines. You should, too, if you believe in free and easy access to information that would otherwise be unavailable.

Then, again, of course, if you like any of my own articles, on The Boy Who Knew Too Much, a link to it would be gratefully received! Thanks.

So, I would like to wish Singapore Daily well on their move and their new site: I hope it becomes as popular as the old one and remains as active in the Blogosphere as it has been. Good luck.

(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.)