Genghis Can: copywriting, editing and proofreading.

Genghis Can is a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency that offers a quality service at competitive prices.

Genghis Can has been founded by Valentine Cawley and Syahidah Osman. Together we provide a full range of writing services, including technical and scientific writing and editing. We have at hand, other writers and editors, as needed, depending on the type of job required.

Today, we have launched our website at: http://www.genghiscan.com/

Please take a look to see how we may be of service to you and your company. Do let others know, who may be interested in our writing related services. Your support is much appreciated.

Genghis Can is a trademark of Genghis Can, a registered company.

Our thanks go to Javier Galvez for resolving some coding issues for us. The site was designed by Syahidah Osman - and written by myself.

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

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

The lie of Chinese ethnic unity.

During the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic games, 56 children were presented to us as members of the 56 ethnicities of China. I thought this rather a good touch. It showed, perhaps, that China was thinking of all of its contributing ethnicities at this time. However, something rankled about it, as a gesture. It rankled because I know, for a fact, that China makes it almost a national sport, to persecute its minorities. It was, therefore, a strange thing to do, to promote itself as being inclusive of all of its 56 ethnicities, when there were many incidents, of international renown, that showed that this was not so, in practice.

Now, we have learnt that the "56 ethnicities" were, in fact, all Han Chinese children. Ethnic children were not allowed to take part. This is most ironic, for in debarring the children of truly ethnic minority origin, China was showing its true face with regards to its ethnic minorities: racism and oppression, sometimes even to genocidal practices (look at the history of Tibet, for instance). Not allowing ethnic minorities to participate is symptomatic of its true attitude towards its own ethnic minorities: they are to be repressed, marginalized and excluded, at the least, perhaps even killed, in some cases.

China is lying to the world again. I rather hope that this will teach the world one basic assumption about China: that it lies at all opportunities - for it has done so, in this Olympics and, no doubt, does so in all its dealings with the world. A liar doesn't just lie on special occasions, a liar lies all the time. Thus, China, in lying so much at the Olympics is showing us that they always lie, that, if they were a person, they would be classified as a pathological liar. When given every opportunity to be truthful, they prefer to lie. They could have told the world: "These are 56 Han Chinese children dressed in the costumes of the 56 ethnicities of China." Instead of which they told the world's media, and thus the world, that they were, actually, children of 56 different ethnicities. So, rather than a simply told truth, they would rather a cleverly told lie.

So, what we have seen, so far, is not a Chinese Olympics, put on by a united China, represented by all Chinese people. No. What we have seen is a Han Chinese Olympics, put on to the exclusion of the diverse minorities that are part of the Chinese land (in spatial co-ordinates, if not in social inclusion).

In a very real sense, the Chinese are insulting the international community by lying to them, in various ways. By telling the world that they had thoughtfully included representatives of all 56 races, they were presenting an image to the world of ethnic inclusivity and absence of racism. This, if true, would have made China seem more progressive, developed and mature. That was the impression they wished to give. The truth, however, was that so racist, internally divided, xenophobic, exclusive and riven are they that they did not include ANY other race of child, apart from Han Chinese. They understood enough to know, however, that the world would like it to be as they said it was. Rather than make it so, however, they preferred to lie about it.

The funny thing about all of this is that China is doing more damage to its international standing than a whole world of critics has managed to do in recent decades. China is coming to look like a shameless liar through and through. Well done, China. What more lies, deceptions and instances of cheating are yet to be uncovered?

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

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

Where has fatherhood gone?

How much time do you think the average father spends with his children? Give it some thought? It is four hours a day? One hour? Ten minutes?

Well, I was surprised to read of a recent study in America which showed that the typical American father spends just 37 seconds a day with his children. That's right, not even one minute per day.

What effect does this have on the growing child? A typical family in America has an absent father, perhaps a hard-working father. They don't have a father who is available and in touch with their children. In such families, the children grow up without really getting to know their father -and vice-versa. No-one knows anyone. It is, in effect not a family at all.

Is it not time that working lives were arranged to spend more time with one's family? Would it not be better if an average father spent hours per day with their children, instead of seconds?

I think the price of materialism is too high. The seeking after material prizes leads to long working hours in stressful jobs and little time left for the children. Perhaps it is time to seek immaterial rewards - perhaps the simple but profound rewards of seeing one's children smile, laughing with them, or just hearing them talk about the world.

I, for one, am glad that my time with my children is rather more extensive than a typical case.

I will endeavour to ensure that it is always the case.

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

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

Back to School: Ainan's welcome.

Yesterday, Ainan went back to school, after resting a few days at home, owing to his broken arm. His welcome was instructive for what it said about the nature of the various people.

His school friends were very curious about his arm. He was assailed by questions all around of what had happened to him. All were keen to know every detail. That is a natural reaction - and one that showed that, in their childish way, they cared about Ainan and what had obviously befallen him.

The reactions of his teachers were altogether different but even more revealing. Not ONE teacher in his school enquired after his arm. Not ONE showed any interest in learning what had happened to him, or how he was. Incredibly, they had another concern: his hair. Three teachers, on different occasions, approached him, not with the intent to sympathize or enquire after his health - but to order him to do one thing: "Cut your hair, it is too long!", they said, as if each was reading from the same script. Perhaps they were, the script called MOE "teacher" training 101, "How to oppress the little people and make a big deal out of nothing, on a daily basis."

My wife and I were both somewhat surprised at the priorities of the teachers concerned. Part of the teacher's role in life - and an important part - is the physical and emotional well-being of their student charges. A teacher who had those priorities right would, in every instance, first enquire about Ainan's broken arm. They would not ever consider the state of his hair. It amazes me, in particular, that the concern for the hair should have been the common concern of all three teachers who spoke to him - and that not one did the human thing of enquiring after his arm. Their behaviour proves that these teachers do not understand what their priority as teachers should be: the well-being of their students.

For a hot country, Singapore can be remarkably cold at times.

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

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

The importance of telling the truth.

The Beijing Olympics 2008 will long be remembered. However, I rather feel it is going to be remembered for the wrong things. The Beijing Olympics will be remembered for what it was not: truthful.

Firstly, we learnt that the "fireworks" on the opening night, were little more than a computer operator's imagination. Now, we have learnt that the girl who "sang" the opening ceremony was just a pretty replacement for the girl who actually sang. The Beijing Olympics 2008 is becoming known not for its spectacle, but for its lies and deceptions.

It seems clear that the Communist party Politburo wishes to present an image of a perfect China to the world. China is to be a country where fireworks obey their every command and explode in perfect dashes of colour. China is to be a country where the best singers in the land also happen to be the prettiest. China is a country which wins more medals than anyone else (it remains to be seen whether and how that one will be achieved.)

Sadly, China is not what China wishes to appear to be. China is a large, repressed, overly-controlled state in which the individual suffers a curtailment of basic freedoms. It is not a state to be admired or envied. It is something else, something darker. China is a model which the rest of the world should learn from - in a negative sense - that is, it is a lesson in how not to be.

We all know what China is (unless we are believers in propaganda, without thinking about it). However, it is instructive to take a look at what China has prevented itself from being seen to be.

What if China had allowed the actual 7 year old girl singer to sing at the Olympics? What effect would it have had on world opinion and the view of China if they had allowed the "buck-toothed" young girl to sing? Think about it for a moment.

I don't know your understanding - but I know this: the view of China would have been ENHANCED had they allowed the actual singer to sing in the stadium. Now, why do I say that China's reputation would have been better with a buck-toothed singer than with a pretty little model-like girl? Well, it is simple. Had China shown the buck-toothed girl with the wonderful voice, they would have been sending a global message that China values talent above superficial issues such as appearance. They would have been telling the world that China is a deep nation, with deep values, not swayed by trivialities. They would have sent a message that China had matured as a nation and was not moved by inconsequentialities. However, what they did instead was hide the girl whose voice was singing because she just wasn't pretty enough - and replace her with a pretty girl who PRETENDED to sing. China preferred a superficial lie to a deeper truth. China has thus revealed itself as many things: trivial, dishonest, short-sighted, stupid (for not knowing how damaging such deception would be) and deceitful. China has shown itself, once again, to be a nation that should not and cannot be admired or respected.

Yang Peiyi, 7, the buck-toothed girl with the beautiful voice was an opportunity for China to show itself to be a great nation, supportive of its people, proud of their gifts. It would have been far better for China to show such a girl to the world - an honest face of China, if you like - than to have set-up a calculated lie to deceive the world. The lie was a simple one: that China, statistically, has so many great singers that they can afford to choose a pretty one, too. Clearly, that is not so. Out of thousands of auditionees, they could not find one who was both a good enough singer and pretty enough (in their view) to go on TV. Thus we can conclude that China is not overflowing with talent in such areas - if it were, it would not have been difficult to find a girl both talented and cute in 1.4 billion people. So, China has shown us, by their effortful lie, that China is not as burdened with talents as one might suppose. Many things are revealed by their action.

China has lost a great opportunity to show itself as a great nation. It is, instead, revealing itself, step by step, as a place that just cannot stop lying - even when the spotlight of the world is on its every move.

I cannot help but feel sorry for the little girl who almost became a star. Her voice has been heard by billions - but I do not even know her face. Instead, the stand-in, without enough talent to be allowed to sing, made it to the front page of the New York Times. So, a girl whose only talent we are aware of is that she is quite pretty (but not very), and with an ability to lip synch becomes world famous - but the best girl singer China could find remains unknown. That is a tragedy of a kind that may destroy the little girl's life. Imagine if she never succeeds as a singer (if that is what she wants to be). Imagine how much regret she will feel at being side-lined at the Olympics, despite being the voice of it? She has been set-up for a regretful life - and all because China is too shallow to allow a less than pretty girl be seen by the world.

The other girl's life, too, promises to be a tragedy of a different kind. She has become famous for something she is not and cannot do. Her fame is a lie that will follow her for the rest of her life. That, too, is not much fun.

So, two girl's lives have been sacrificed for the greater glory of the People's Republic of China. In doing so, however, China has sacrificed something else, too: the best opportunity they have had in decades for cultivating a positive world opinion of one of the world's least free places.

Here is something for you to dwell on. It takes great courage for anyone who knows the truth of what China is doing regarding the Olympics to come out and tell that truth. One such courageous person is Chen Qigang, general music designer for the Olympics - for it was he who revealed that Yang Peiyi, 7, had been sidelined for Lia Miaoke, 9, on account of her "buck-teeth". The question is how many lies and deceptions will we never find out about because no-one is courageous enough to come out about them?

There is an irony in that the Olympics are always talking about uncovering the doping and cheating of athletes - well, how about the different kind of cheating that the organizers themselves are engaged in? So far, two deceptions have been revealed...how many more are there unknown to us?

As for buck-toothed Yang Peiyi, did no-one think that all she needed was a good dentist, not a stand-in? It seems that even with a rumoured 40 billion dollar Olympic budget they couldn't spare the change needed to correct Yang Peiyi's teeth and spare China from the shame of another world renowned lie. Or maybe they don't have any good dentists in China, either (along with no pretty and talented singers!)

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

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

The true nature of Singapore's bilingualism.

To truly see what a country is, you have to ask outsiders how they see it. Those who have been brought up in a country cannot truly see what it is they live in. So, how do overseas people see Singapore's self-professed bilingualism?

Well, not perhaps in the way you might expect. Today, I had a conversation with an expat teacher about this. He was telling me how his student, a native of Mainland China, had complained to him about the language use of Singaporeans. This student was very puzzled. He said: "Before I came to Singapore, I thought my English was good - but when I tried to speak to Singaporeans in English, I couldn't understand their replies. Then I thought I should speak to them in Chinese, so I did so. But then, I couldn't understand their replies in "Chinese", either."

I was not surprised to hear this. Yet, it does speak of the true nature of the linguistic situation in Singapore. The Singaporean system has failed to produce citizens able to converse, to an international standard, in ANY language. A Chinese boy who had learnt Standard English in China, was unable to understand Singlish, at all. He had also, obviously, acquired Standard Mandarin - but couldn't understand Singaporean efforts at that, either. In fact, he described the Singaporean Chinese as "really bad".

To me, it seems strange that Singapore tells itself that it is a bilingual nation - and has an education system that ostensibly instils bilingualism - when people from overseas don't even see it as being capable in any language, at all. There is something wrong, therefore. Would it not be better to aim to be competent in ONE language, than incompetent in TWO? I think competent monolingualism is far superior to incompetent bilingualism. If, for instance, Singaporeans were masters of English, or masters of Chinese, they would, at least, be on a par with the British/Americans/Canadians etc. or the Mainland Chinese, on their own territory. As it is, the language that most - and I say most, because there will be exceptions - Singaporeans speak is unrecognizable by native speakers of the languages that Singaporeans are told that they are able to speak.

A clear policy on language learning is necessary. One policy that would improve matters greatly would be if ONLY NATIVE TEACHERS of languages were allowed to teach in Singaporean schools. This means that ONLY British (or other native speaker) teachers should be allowed to teach English - and ONLY Mainland Chinese teachers should be allowed to teach Chinese - and only Indian natives should be allowed to teach Tamil - and so on. In this manner, the students would be assured of the opportunity to learn a language to a high standard instead of being cheated of the opportunity, by teachers who are essentially ignorant of what correct language usage is.

I don't imagine that this policy will ever be enacted (perhaps because Singapore is already "No. 1" in everything and does not need to improve etc. etc...), but I can at least suggest that it is done, to the betterment of the future of Singapore.

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

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

Singapore Parenting Congress 2008

I note that Mediacorp, a Singaporean Government organization, is promoting the Singapore Parenting Congress 2008. This is predictable in the light of the Prime Minister's National Day speech, in which he said that Singapore should do more to help create the right environment for parents.

The Parenting Congress has a range of talks across many parenting issues, with such titles as: "Talking with today's teens"; "Why can't we get along? Managing Parent-teen conflict."; "When words fall on deaf ears."; "Knowing your children better: what works and what doesn't."; "Staying strong as a couple while raising teens."; "Why don't we talk anymore? Family and work-life challenges."; "Conflict resolution for teenagers."; "Saving the parent-child relationship."; "Staying connected with your teenager."; "Smart parenting."

Seeing all these talks, I gathered the impression that the Government is getting serious about its intentions to support the family and strengthen family life. By arranging this Congress, they are disseminating information which could help many families deal with the issues that arise in many families as children grow up.

But then I noticed something unexpected: they are charging for it. To listen to their words of wisdom, an individual must pay 18 dollars for a ticket and 24 dollars for a couple. What was not clear was whether a "ticket" meant admission to one talk only - or to the whole series. Knowing how they generally think, I assume that it is one ticket per talk. Now, that is quite expensive if one wishes to visit several talks. It also makes clear something else: the Government, embodied as it is by Mediacorp, is not yet serious about supporting the family. If it was, this kind of Parenting Congress would be a FREE public service. There are ten talks. At 18 dollars each, that makes 180 dollars for a parent to attend them all; 240 dollars were both parents to attend. That, to me, seems far too much for information which should be freely and publicly available in a nation that is truly serious about supporting family life.

If Singapore is going to crack the problem of a falling native population (Singapore's total fertility rate is only 1.29, leaving each generation much smaller than the one before, excluding immigrants.), it must change its mindset with regards to parents. Parents are not a source of revenues to be milked - at least they should not be seen as such - they are the source of the future of Singapore and should be SUPPORTED in every way possible, to make their challenges less of a challenge.

Singapore has such a low fertility rate precisely because it is not a family friendly place. It is too expensive to raise children in Singapore. So many things - such as healthcare and education - which are FREE in many other developed countries with higher fertility are expensive in Singapore. In this small nation, even parenting information comes at a high price: nothing here is without a fee, without a profit potential for someone. The irony of all of this is that by focussing on short-term gain, the powers-that-be ensure that there is NO LONG-TERM FUTURE for Singapore. If raising a child is made to be as expensive as possible (which seems to be the general idea of the present system) then potential parents will continue to do what they are now doing: not having children in the first place. People will only begin to have more children, when it becomes financially less punishing for them to do so.

Singapore's Government has not shown itself able to think in ways that actually support elements of the population, in the past. Unless it changes the system so as to be supportive of parents, in Singapore, native born Singaporeans will continue to be a rare commodity.

As it stands, Singapore has no true future for a very simple and unavoidable reason: the next generation is only about 60 per cent of the size it needs to be to maintain the population base. In other words, in a few generations, at this non-replacement rate, there won't be any Singaporeans at all. It will be a dead nation. That is the effect of the policies surrounding parenting, to date. It remains to be seen whether the Government has the vision, the determination and the will to expend resources to ensure that Singapore has a future - for without the patter of little feet across the land, there is no such future.

The fees for the Singapore Parenting Congress 2008 are a bad sign. They are a sign that the Government has not yet learnt what parents actually need. The last thing they need, in oh-so-expensive Singapore - is another cost to pay out. It is time to think of parenting as a national public service - and to support it as one. Parents do something very important: they ensure that a nation has a future. I can think of nothing more important than that.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)