Fintan's Olympic ways.

Fintan is a bit of a philosopher, though you might not guess it from his curly headed cuteness. To find that out, you have to listen to him, a bit. Only then does it become clear quite what is going on in his capacious head.

A couple of days ago, Fintan, six, was talking to his mother, Syahidah.

He turned to her with a pondering look, in his eyes.

"So...", he began, carefully, as if laying out a thought like a cloth on a table, "The first is the winner. The second is what?"

Syahidah looked down at him, not suspecting where this might be going. "The runner-up.", she said, reaching back to memories of sporting events.

"And the third?", pursued Fintan.

"The third place.", she said, a little at a loss for a more colourful description.

Fintan wasn't satisfied with that. Perhaps it lacked the poetry everything good in life should have.

Syahidah knew that more was required, so she decided to elaborate a bit, and try another tack: "It's like this, you see: the first gets the gold; the second gets the silver; the third gets the bronze."

Fintan's eyes grew alert to the possibilities. This was more like it.

"And what number am I?", he prompted, his voice speeding up a little, as an idea occurred to him. "I want to be the BROWN stuff, the Earth."

Syahidah allowed herself an instant's sheer puzzlement - but Fintan went on too quickly to allow it to last.

"Because then I will get the gold, the silver AND the bronze."

Syahidah was quite dumbfounded by the profundity of Fintan's answer. He wanted the soil in which the metal ores were found, so that he would get ALL the medals: how sharp of him.

Fintan's words had the air of an ancient tale of wisdom - something Aesop might have said, over a fire, at night, to his friends. So, what she learnt, in that moment, is that there is more to Fintan's questions, than might first appear - and he is very quick to see the broader possibilities of a situation and to divine a unique solution, that solves all the problems, at once.

Well done, Fintan, my Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winner.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm/3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/


Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Wikipedia: a strange case of the disappearing entry.

On two occasions, over the past couple of years, someone, unknown to me, has gone to all the trouble of listing Ainan Celeste Cawley, my son, in the "list of child prodigies" on Wikipedia. On both occasions, he was listed under "Chemistry". Now, he certainly qualifies for such a listing - yet, something odd happened to that listing on both occasions: it disappeared.

I have watched this saga of Wikipedia with some amusement. You see whatever ends up on Wikipedia reflects the workings of many anonymous contributors. Clearly, there are contributors out there who would like to see Ainan listed. However, also clearly, there is someone out there who keeps taking his listing down. What is most curious about this is that by the criteria of entry, Ainan's listing should definitely remain. However, someone doesn't wish this criteria to be obeyed. On the first occasion, a query was raised that references should be provided for the statements made. Now, I could have provided the references but for two reasons: firstly, I don't care either way, whether there is, in fact, a listing - and two: I don't know how to use Wikipedia, so I am not in a position to contribute any information, without the probably not inconsequential labour of finding out how it works.

So, the first time, I sat by and watched whilst no-one provided the references requested - even though Google provided them, immediately, at one search of his name. In due course, his listing was deleted - probably for lack of such references, I assumed (though anyone who had deleted it did so negligently, since they didn't even use Google to check whether the references were out there: a single search would have answered them.)

The second time Wikipedia listed Ainan was over the past few days. This time, however, someone provided a full reference to the statement claimed. Yet, rather inexplicably, the listing was deleted again - even with the reference (a media source). This, I find most revealing. Someone, somewhere, clearly doesn't want him to be listed - even if the statements are sourced and properly referenced. That, it would seem to me, goes against the spirit on which Wikipedia is built.

Yet, I don't mind. If there is someone out there, who finds it necessary to go to all the trouble of deleting Ainan's Wikipedia entry, every time someone puts one up - then I really don't care. You see, whether or not there is such an entry doesn't change anything about Ainan's life - or mine. Nor does it make it any harder to find out about him: Google has seen to that.

However, it is a bit sad, that anyone would actually go to all that trouble, each time he is mentioned - especially since he has met the criteria for entry these past three years. I can't imagine myself deleting information on someone I didn't know, for reasons that couldn't objectively be justified. It all seems a bit strange.

So, if you have arrived on this page looking for Ainan's Wikipedia entry - he probably doesn't have one - not because no-one has ever started one, but because someone doesn't want it to exist. Why not read this blog instead?

Thank you.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, or his gifted brothers, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm/3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Happy Fourth Birthday, Tiarnan.

Tiarnan, our youngest son, is four today. Somehow, he has sped from newborn to four in what seems like an instant, but is probably just a sign that I am not as young as I used to be and so life seems to have speeded up. No doubt, to Tiarnan, those first four years seem very long indeed.

We have already, actually, celebrated his birthday, at the beach, in Singapore, this last weekend, with a good few of his young friends and a good few of their parents (our friends). Thank you to all those who came and made Tiarnan's day at the beach a memorable one. We had asked him where he wanted his birthday to be - and he had said, "At the beach!", so we obliged. It was a happy day for him.

Happy Birthday Tiarnan!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6, or Tiarnan, exactly 4, 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, Malaysia, College, University, HELP University College, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Computer Programming, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, prodigy, genie, 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. http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDB listing, for which about another fifteen credits have yet to be uploaded. This will take many months before they are approved. Please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ for my listing. Ainan’s listing is at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley’s listing is at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Did you hear?

Sometimes conversations are strange affairs. They can change one's perspective on life.

Today, while in Singapore, I was engaged in conversation with a very enthusiastic homeschooler. She was really happy that her kids had "never been to school". She spoke of how "free" they were and of how "they actually got to sleep." (For those who don't know, sleep is frowned on for Singapore's children, since they have to get up at about 5.30 am to go to school. Great stuff.)

Then the conversation took an unexpected turn.

"Have you heard about that boy, who is gifted in physics and chemistry?", she began, as if about to broach a matter of some seriousness.

"Yes. I think so." After all, I am his Dad.

"Well, they wouldn't let him homeschool." She frowned at this. "...and now he lives in Malaysia."

I sort of nodded sympathetically.

"It is very sad.", she said, with what seemed like genuine feeling.

Somehow, I didn't feel like telling her quite how I knew the boy she spoke of. It felt better that way. I didn't want to colour her reactions or her feelings, by letting her know. It was better, instead, to observe her genuine sadness that Ainan should have had to leave Singapore because he had not been free, here, to pursue an education to his liking and needs.

It did feel odd, however, to be spoken of, as if she knew of us - and yet, she didn't know me, at all. She didn't even know she was speaking to the boy in question's father. I was just an attentive listener, to her, a sympathetic ear. I can only imagine her surprise if she had known just who I was.

It was good, though, to see that she was sympathetic to Ainan's situation. She understood the need to go elsewhere, to find a more fitting educational environment - and she sided with him, not with the "system".

This encounter has made me aware that our family story has become one shared and related by people in the region. It is a matter to be discussed and reflected on. It was heartening to hear, quite innocently, from this lady, that some, at least, side with us, over the issue. Her words of empathetic support are all the more valuable, in that she had no idea who she was saying them to.

Thanks to that Singaporean homeschooler.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6, or Tiarnan, exactly 4, 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, Malaysia, College, University, HELP University College, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Computer Programming, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, prodigy, genie, 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. http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDB listing, for which about another fifteen credits have yet to be uploaded. This will take many months before they are approved. Please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ for my listing. Ainan’s listing is at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley’s listing is at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)