The difference between China and Japan.

An advert, on the radio, made it clear to me, just now, quite what the difference is, internationally, between China and Japan.

The advert was for a new type of toothbrush that claimed to be able to leave your mouth cleaner than a traditional toothbrush. That, in itself, was not what interested me. It was the way they finished the ad that really caught my attention. It went a bit like this, “The Product X toothbrush…from Japan.”

They were using the word “Japan”, as a kind of brand to sell their own brand. All the many associations, in my head, and in the heads of us all, between “Japan” and “efficiency”, “attention to detail”, “well made”, and “hi tech”, sprang to mind. The implication was clear: this would be a quality product.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have never heard an ad that said: “Made in China”, as the final, selling, punchline. Just consider the effect, on your perceptions, if they had. Would you buy it? Or would you think: “shoddy”, “cheaply made”, “dangerous”, “potentially poisonous”, “fragile”, “poor quality”; “fake” and so on?

Over the past few decades, Japan has built a reputation for quality and being at the leading edge of all that is to do with engineering, at least, in the ways that impact the consumer. China, on the other hand, has come to be seen, by most, as a bit of a scam artist of a nation. Few people trust their products to be reliable, of high quality or even safe (just recall all the scandals about lead paint in children’s toys, melamine in baby milk, fake rabies vaccines (that led to children dying from rabies) etc.).

China may be growing fast. It may even become an “economic superpower” in the next few decades – but it is a long, long way from achieving a good reputation, in the way Japan has. To my mind, this makes any Chinese success very susceptible to sudden collapse. What happens, for instance, when a critical mass of people in other countries decide that they have had enough of disappointments with products “Made in China” and turn away from their products, wholesale? It won’t be long before China’s economy deflates, when no-one is buying “Made in China” anymore.

An intelligent shopper is a cautious shopper. Many an intelligent shopper considers the trustworthiness, safety, durability and reliability of a product before buying it. This is particularly important if you are a parent and have children in the house to keep safe. Long experience has shown that “Made in China” is a ready indicator that these qualities are likely to be absent – and so it is that the intelligent shopper should thank China for making product selection that much easier.

China will only ever become a true economic superpower, secure in its position, if it manages to shed this well deserved reputation for shoddiness in its wares. The day that China is able to finish ads with “Made in China” and ensure a sale, is the day that China will really have made it. That day, however, is many decades away of hard, disciplined work, in changing its manufacturing habits, business practices and ethical outlook. In truth, in some way, the Chinese will have to become Japanese, to win the reputation in manufacturing and business, that the Japanese have. Until that day, I am quite prepared to buy “Made in Japan” but am most wary of buying “Made in China”. I doubt that I am alone in that assessment.

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To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

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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.)

Singapore's Intellectual Class.

Anyone who knows Singapore well will wonder how on Earth I could have written a title like "Singapore's Intellectual Class." Singapore doesn't really have an intellectual class...or if it does, those intellectuals were never in my class (when I taught).

Singapore's education system doesn't produce intellectuals, in my view of what an intellectual is. Singapore's "top students", are very good at passing exams and in telling you what the world already knows. However, what they are not good at...in fact, are hopeless at, is in telling you something you don't know. In other words, they are useless at independent, creative thinking. In other words, they are not truly intellectuals at all.

Now, I am not going to lay blame at the foot of Singaporeans for this. You see, it is difficult to know the cause of this lack of intellectual calibre. Is it genetic? Or is it the fact that the education system requires and trains parrots? Are they parrots by nature or parrots by nurture? I am not going to answer the question here. However, I will say this: I don't think that Singapore will ever have a truly intellectual class. There is too much momentum there, in the way things are done. Singapore will not change until it has died as a nation. Then, perhaps, something new will come of it.

Of course, there is, perhaps, a good reason why Singapore does not have a home grown intellectual class: intellectuals think - and this singularly single party state has never encouraged its people to do that. There is nothing more threatening to a monolithic state than someone able to think of alternatives. Thus it is that true thinkers are not only not found, in Singapore, but not desired, either. A true thinker is the last kind of person Singapore wants.

Given these considerations, I found it most interesting what Lee Kuan Yew had to say on the matter (for those who don't know...which is much of the outside world...Lee Kuan Yew is modern Singapore's iconic "founder" and lifelong effective leader). I say "founder" because, actually, Singapore was founded by the Brit, Sir Stamford Raffles, long ago, though Lee Kuan Yew took it in a different direction.

Lee Kuan Yew recently called for the import of an "intellectual class", specifically from China and India. He stated that this class would be three times larger than the present intellectual class. (Yes. I know. Three times zero is still zero.) He envisaged this intellectual class as being leaders in their fields and as bringing greater wealth to Singapore. This should not be much of a surprise, since wealth or "economic growth" is actually the sole consideration of Singapore's leadership. He then went on to disparage the Malays, by saying that immigrants from Malaysia were "not so bright" and that they only came to Singapore because it provided them with opportunities not found at home.

So, Lee Kuan Yew wants to increase the number of PRCs in Singapore despite the fact that it is already overflowing with them - and to specifically exclude Malaysians from this drive for an "intellectual class". Again, this is not surprising to anyone who has followed Lee Kuan Yew's past pronouncements, quite a few of which involve disparaging one race or another, directly or indirectly.

To my eyes, it is very revealing that Chinese and Indian "intellectuals" should be required and not those from elsewhere. You see, I don't think that such immigrants would be likely to "rock the boat". They are likely to be good little workers, who don't cause any kind of trouble at all. They will tend to keep their opinions to themselves, if they have any. They will just get on with their jobs, in a diligent fashion. As far as being an effective "intellectual class" that is just about the last thing they will be. China, for instance, is not famous for its intellectual class. China is about as good at making intellectuals as Singapore is. They create pretty much the same kind of hardworking, but not at all creative or independently thinking people, as Singapore does. Thus, in importing an intellectual class consisting of said "intellectuals", Singapore can hope to have a greater concentration of what it already has: hardworking, unthinking, servants of the state.

The big, unstated question, here, of course, is why Singapore feels a need to import an intellectual class at all. What happened to its own? Why can't Singapore make its own intellectuals? After all, every other country (apart, perhaps, from China...) does...

The answer, it seems, from our own experience of life in Singapore, is that Singapore does not WANT a homegrown intellectual class. It does not want a class of people with two attributes: 1) able to think for themselves 2) know Singapore well. The combination of those two attributes leads to the possibility of CHANGE...and CHANGE is what the arthritic system of the Singaporean state resists mightily.

What does Singapore do to its potential intellectual class? Well, I can only answer, from personal experience, about what it does to non-Chinese potential intellectuals. My eldest son is half-Malay...he is also Singapore's most gifted young scientist - or was, until he left. I say "most gifted young scientist", since there is no other candidate of his age, with his achievements, in Singapore...or elsewhere for that matter. Now, you would have thought that a country seeking to build an "intellectual class" would have looked after him well? But no...we faced opposition, every step of the way, in seeking a suitable education for him. What was offered by the Gifted Branch was pure tokenism - an attempt to make it look like they were doing something, whilst they actually did everything they could to delay his progress. It was immensely frustrating dealing with them. Then again, when we made our own arrangements, and progressed without their "help"...Singapore's media began to tell lies about our son, to attempt to diminish him and so, perhaps, spare themselves the embarrassment of what they had (not) done. I only hope that Singaporean readers are not so naive as to swallow what their mainstream media say without reflecting on it, themselves.

Anyway, how are we to interpret this? It does seem that Singapore certainly doesn't want a MALAY intellectual of any kind, to thrive. If it had wanted a Malay intellectual to thrive, it would have been more responsive where Ainan was concerned. No. Singapore wants its intellectuals to be non-Malay - even if that means having to import them.

Then again, there is my own experience of Singapore. I am a very creative person...but in Singapore that creativity was not best deployed. At no time, was I given an opportunity, there, to create in the way that I can, so easily. Instead, my energies were directed towards teaching students who would never, in a trillion years, ever possess one quark of my creativity. It was laughable. What kind of moronic nation cries out for an "intellectual class" - but then fails to recognize or value intellectuals within its own borders? It is hilarious, in its fundamental stupidity.

If Singapore really wants an intellectual class, it should have done everything necessary to allow Ainan to flourish. It should also have made available, to me, a position in which I could be free to think and create. It should also have repeated those steps, however many times are necessary, to accommodate all potential intellectuals - and actual intellectuals - within its borders. Were it to do so, there would be no need to import an intellectual class, because one would already have been fostered within it.

It seems, however, that both Ainan and I are the wrong race, to have been invited to participate in Singapore's "intellectual class". Neither of us is from China or India, after all. One of us even has those dreaded Malay genes...so God forbid however could he be an intellectual?

Yet, we are intellectuals. Singapore's failure to value that fact doesn't change it. The funny thing is that we are establishing ourselves as intellectuals in Malaysia, the country that Lee Kuan Yew disparaged so, in his recent speech. Here, we are valued. Ainan is being allowed to grow, intellectually - and I am working creatively as a research scientist. So, all is turning out well for us.

The question, now, of course is: how will it turn out for Singapore? Will its imported "intellectual class" actually be intellectual? Will the people of Singapore support this renewed influx of outsiders? Will these "intellectuals" actually come from China and India...after all, China is booming and India is growing fast, too...so for how long will Singapore seem an attractive prospect?

From here, in KL, the whole situation looks rather funny. You see, Singapore would already have an intellectual class, if only it had looked after its own people and their families. What kind of country so singularly fails to nurture the minds of its own people that it needs to import them, wholesale, from overseas to make up the lack?

Singapore is the kind of country that smart people leave...like we did.

(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/nm3305973/
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.)

A need for moral insight.

Does the People's Republic of China have moral insight, at a State level? I ask this because recent events suggest otherwise. I shall explain.

A British man, Akmal Shaikh, 53, is under penalty of death and due to be executed tomorrow morning for carrying 4 kg of heroin into the country. Now, that might seem like a simple matter of executing (under Chinese law) a drug smuggler who happened to get caught. However, it is not so simple: you see Akmal Shaikh has bipolar disorder and, at the time of his supposed offense, was acting under the delusion that he was flying to China to make a hit record. Apparently, he had been duped into carrying a suitcase filled with heroin, of which he was utterly unaware - at least, that is what his supporters say. The Chinese State, on the other hand, seems to see things in a rather more black and white fashion that goes a bit like this: "Man caught with drugs. Drugs bad. Kill man." They are not considering whether it was even possible for this particular man, to understand what he was doing, or what, in fact, is going on.

It is curious to note that China is unable to immediately see the problem with their proposed execution. The rest of the world seems to have no trouble identifying the trickiness of this scenario. Yet a spokeperson for the Chinese embassy would only say that the amount of heroin he was carrying "could kill 26,800 people". Yes, it could, if they all decided to overdose on it. However, almost all would not. It is interesting, however, that the Chinese refuse to understand the situation and keep harping on the drug he was carrying. It has never occurred to them that you can't convict a man of doing something he didn't know he was doing. There is something called "intention" - and he had no intention of carrying these drugs and, we are told, no knowledge that he was carrying them. So, it is clear that, although a crime has taken place, he is not a criminal. The crime lays with whomever GAVE him the drugs. That is the person or people who should be tracked down, caught and tried - not the innocent mule who was unaware of his burdened status.

Then again, there is the matter of his bipolar disorder. If he was "high" and knowingly carried drugs (which it is said he was not), then he could not have been responsible for this, either - since, in that condition, he may be unable to understand the implications, consequences and nature of his actions.

All of this is very straightforward and most reasonable people have no trouble understanding it. However, as it is now, the Chinese have given no indication that they understand these issues - or appreciate their relevance to the impending execution. Yet, I note something most, most odd: the Chinese have kept Akmal Shaikh prisoner in A HOSPITAL. Thus, they know, for sure, that he is mentally ill: that is their OWN assessment - yet still they persist in arranging his execution. That indicates a fundamental lack of morality in the justice system - and a fundamental failure to appreciate human rights. The need to make an example of this hapless man is greater than the desire to see that the RIGHT thing is done and the JUST thing is done. Spectacle is to take precedence over humanity.

I hope, for the sake of this unfortunate man, that China wakes up to some degree of moral understanding before the morning and cancels this man's execution. Akmal Shaikh doesn't need a lethal injection - he needs a quiet place free of stress where he might calm down and achieve some equanimity.

Looking at this matter from a broader perspective, it strikes me as peculiar that certain countries are very quick to execute drug mules (Singapore and China for instance), but less in a hurry to track down the networks that supplied the drugs. It would have more impact, in the long run, were they to keep the mules alive and pump them for clues as to their "bosses", in the hope of working out the supply chain. Maybe they do try...but I don't see much result. All we see are fairly regular executions, in this part of the world, for people carrying sometimes surprisingly modest amounts of drugs.

So, it is not just China that needs to look to its conscience in this matter - but other countries, too. Should the mules be sentenced to death, since they are often unwitting pawns in a much larger enterprise? Or should such sentences be reserved for the organizers?

We will find out, tomorrow, how much China has understood of these issues. So will Akmal Shaikh.

(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.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Singapore's scientific racism.

There are many ways to be racist. Singapore likes to explore such possibilities, unconsciously, in the choices it makes and in the projects it deems worthy of pursuing. It is clear, though, that Singaporeans are unaware of the racism that they are steeped in, so deeply are they so steeped.

A recent example of Singapore's racism is a project to map the genome of the Han or Southern Chinese. This was backed by the Genome Institute of Singapore, the GIS. Apparently, they saw fit to draw on the genomes of 8,200 Han Chinese people from all over Singapore and China.

Please mull over the implications of such a project, in "multicultural", "multiracial", "integrated" and "harmonious" Singapore. A Singaporean state-funded institution, the Genome Institute of Singapore, sees fit to pour money into a project aimed at uncovering the secrets of the Han Chinese genome to ultimately help this racial grouping with various genetically linked diseases. I wonder if one of those "diseases" could be racism itself? You see, this project has rather overlooked the Malay and Indian populations in Singapore - not forgetting the Eurasians, Caucasians, and "others". What about these races? Don't they have diseases to worry about too? Oops, I forgot: in Singapore only the Han Chinese really matter. They are, after all almost 80% of the population. They do, after all, own almost everything. They have, after all, allotted almost all the best jobs to themselves. So, it should be no surprise that government money should be devoted to uncovering the secrets of their genome, so that they might be rescued from such earth shattering, mindbogglingly important conditions as "lactose intolerance" (Yes, the researchers actually used that example to justify the enterprise). Other susceptibilities apparently include diabetes and nasopharyngeal cancer. (No investigation, however, is being done into the causes of relative poverty among Singapore's minorities...is that genetic...or perhaps social?)

Worryingly, Associate Professor Liu Jianjun, who headed up this rather odious project, went to the trouble to point out that the results could be used to determine a person's racial origin. He was quoted as saying: "We can determine whether an anonymous Singaporean is a Chinese, his ancestral origin, and sometimes, which dialect group of the Han Chinese he belongs to." Now, excuse me for asking - but why is it so important to know that? Why would so much money be wasted, (sorry "invested") just to be able to prove that someone is, or is not, an authentic "Han Chinese". This smacks of Hitler's Aryan race dogma - and his obsession with "pure" Aryans. The abhorrent stench of a profound, unconscious racism rises from every base pair of the enterprise.

I am struck by the sharp contrast between Singapore's understanding of the possibilities of modern genetics, and the West's understanding. In the West, they had something called the Human Genome Project, to determine the genetic map of a HUMAN. In Singapore, they don't care about humans, at all...they just care about Han Chinese. Thus, Singapore has reinvented the project as the Han Chinese Genome Project - because, after all, no-one else matters, do they?

Now, if Singapore was really, really interested in Singaporeans, the project would have comprised not 8,200 Han Chinese, but perhaps 2,733 Han Chinese, 2,733 Malays, and 2,733 Indians. Then one would have had results of benefit to almost all Singaporeans. However, Singapore has never been about Singaporeans...it has only ever been about the Han Chinese. Were this not so, I would not have had to write this post, because the Han Chinese Genome Project (or whatever they have actually called it) would have been, instead, the Singaporean Genome Project. I could understand a project that focussed on all racial groupings in Singapore - but not one that focussed exclusively on the dominant race. That is a very sharp insult to all members of the minority races in Singapore. It says, most clearly, that "your diseases are not important to us".

Singapore has certain merits. However, fairness between the races is not one of its more evident ones. There are an infinity of examples of instances in which unfairness towards one race or another, can be found. However, what is most interesting, is that that unfairness is never towards the Han Chinese. This study of the Han Chinese is unfair to every member of every minor race in Singapore. It shows, more clearly than anything else the state could have done, that the minor races are, quite literally, of minor concern to the dominant race - and rulers of Singapore.

It is interesting the way science becomes perverted by the local racial-political agenda. When handling human genetics, the West focusses its attention on the nature of the Human and the species as a whole. In Singapore's hands, however, genetics become a tool to further an unconscious - or perhaps even conscious - racist agenda. Just imagine if the tools of genetic mapping had been available to Hitler and ask yourself what would Hitler have done? He would, rather disturbingly, have used them in the same way that Singapore is doing: he would have used it, first, to prove that the Aryans were a separate race and how to identify them. He then would have taken the next step of mapping Jews, so that he could identify - and eliminate them.

Singapore has taken the analogous first step. It has developed the capability of identifying "true" Han Chinese. The next step would be to be able to identify "true" examples of Singapore's minorities and so classify them as "non-Chinese". At this point, I shall halt my train of thought and writing, for I don't know what Singapore would do with such information, were it readily available. A clue lies, perhaps, in the immigration policies of the country: the vast majority of newcomers are PRCs/Han Chinese. This seems to show that a nation consisting entirely of Han Chinese would be seen as desirable. Perhaps gene mapping tools might one day be used to further that end and ensure the great, grand Singaporean future of a monoracial, Han Chinese, island and effective southern most offshoot of the Great Motherland - or is that Fatherland?

(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.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

The secret Singaporean teleportation device.

Singapore has invented teleportation. Yes, that is right. The fabled means by which a person is transported, whole and intact from one place to another, unharmed, in many a science fiction film, appears to be operating well and truly, in Singapore. I say this for one very clear reason: where has Singapore gone?

If you are in Singapore, today, I invite you to look around you. What language are people speaking? Where are they from? How do they think? What do their passports say? Yes, that is right: they are speaking Chinese and they are from China.

Though I entered Singapore, some years ago, I have been transported, without my will or permission to China. I have been teleported...and so, too, has everyone else who chose to live, or was born, in what they thought was Singapore.

Let us look at the evidence. On public transport, recently, I have begun to notice advertisements written ENTIRELY in CHINESE. Now, that struck me as especially telling. You see advertisers only ever tell the truth in one way: by what they do. If they try to write to you in Chinese, it means, without question, that most of the people they are trying to reach are, in fact, Chinese speakers. That advertisers would do this, at all, in a country that, until recently, had English as its first language, means that these people they are trying to reach, are NOT comfortable in English, at all. Therefore, they cannot be native born Singaporeans, who learn English at school. No, the advertisers are telling us that a large chunk of their audience are now exclusive Chinese speakers. That can only mean one thing: the vast hordes of Chinese immigrants to Singapore, are now so numerous, that they constitute a major audience for advertisers.

Listen, too, as I have, to the complaints of Chinese PRC students who come to Singapore to learn English. What they say is very funny, really. Many a time, they have complained to me that they thought Singapore was an English speaking country - so they chose to come here to learn English - but what they find, instead, is that EVERYONE seems to be speaking in Chinese. They hear Chinese everywhere. On the minority of occasions when they hear English, it is, they complain, usually Singlish - which, even they recognize, is a poor form of English that is not what they should be learning, if they plan an international career (which they tend to). Thus, they feel cheated. They were led to believe that Singapore would be a good place to learn English - but it turns out to be pretty much just like another province of China.

The speed of this change is astonishing. The whole character of Singapore has changed, since I first came here, in 1999. It has become much more Chinese - in every way that it could become more Chinese. Such is the speed of the change that it is little exaggeration to refer to it as "teleportation". It is as if one fell asleep in Singapore and awoke in Shanghai.

Although I am an outsider, to Singapore, I am concerned to witness this change for it means that Singapore's minorities are becoming ever more marginalized within their own nation. Think what this means for Malays and Indians, Eurasians and "Others", who grew up in Singapore, being told it was a racially integrated, multiracial state in which all could live happily together and each race, culture and religion were equally respected. This is what they were told and led to believe. Yet, what do we see happening now? There is a flood of immigrants of such huge proportions that it is distorting that balance in one racial direction. Singapore is drifting away from its multiracial roots - and becoming a monoracial Chinese state. Even if this is not publicly admitted, the ADVERTISERS know this. They would not be crafting adverts especially for a Chinese audience ONLY, were it not for two circumstances: there must be present large numbers of people who do not speak English, but who do speak Chinese and THE OTHER RACES ARE BECOMING NUMERICALLY UNIMPORTANT.

Quite simply, advertisers would not advertise in Chinese, unless and only if there were more Chinese speakers, than English speakers. It must be so, that more people in Singapore understand Chinese, now, than understand English - otherwise it would not make good sense to create Chinese only adverts. It is easy to see how this could be so. Singaporean Chinese people generally understand both English and Chinese. PRC immigrants, however, almost always have atrocious English, but speak Mandarin. Thus, some advertisers have chosen to pitch their ads in Chinese - to cater for the influx of Chinese immigrants, whilst still being accessible to Singapore's native Chinese community. However, I personally find it rather galling that they are ignoring those who speak English, Tamil and Malay but not Chinese.

One set of ads I saw, by SMRT, addressed the issue by having an English version and a Chinese version - and that is fair enough. However, I have yet to encounter an English version of the other Chinese ad, I saw, recently.

This emphasis on Chinese is worrying. You see Chinese is the language of a particular race. The way the school system is set up in Singapore, children get to learn their mother tongue - or racially specific tongue. Thus, generally speaking, non-Chinese Singaporeans will have little or no Chinese language proficiency. However, English acts as a unifying tongue, in that all learn it. So, they would speak, Chinese and English; Malay and English; Tamil and English. This was fine, because all could relate to each other, in English. Yet, let us look at the future of Singapore. The emphasis is turning towards China, the Chinese and the Chinese language. This is a language not taught to Singapore's minorities. It is, therefore, an exclusive language and a DISUNIFIER, if I can use such a word. The Chinese language is a barrier to understanding between Singapore's races. If Chinese becomes the dominant language of Singapore (which it may very well, looking at recent trends), then Singapore's minorities will be shut out, from this new Singapore. They will be even more marginalized than they already are.

There is strength in diversity - be it racial, linguistic, cultural, or in terms of religion. Yet, that inherent strength does not appear to be appreciated by the powers-that-be, in Singapore. The aim, now, appears to be towards a lack of diversity and a predominance of one race, one language and one culture. To my mind, this is a pity, since much of what made Singapore an interesting place was its historical diversity. Should Singapore's future lack that diversity, I think it will have lost something that it will only miss once it has gone.

What puzzles me about all of this is why Singapore thinks it needs to become more Chinese, just because China is on the rise. Singapore was already three quarters Chinese. Most Singaporeans already speak Chinese. So, what benefit can there be in making it more Chinese than it already is? There are no real advantages to doing so. Already, Singaporeans had enough people conversant in Mandarin, to communicate with and trade with China. Importing legions of immigrants from the poorer provinces of China (because people from the richer provinces won't come), does not, to my mind, improve Singapore's ability to trade, do business, or co-exist with China in any way. Singapore already had the ability to do such trade, commerce, communication and so on, very well.

Making Singapore into a little China is going to weaken it. You see, Singapore's diversity has allowed it to relate well to many parts of the world. Reducing that diversity, will only reduce its ability to deal with the wider world. The more Chinese it becomes, the less Western it will become. This may make Singapore less appealing to Western countries, doing business in Asia. What has been of great benefit to Singapore has been its open-ness to the West. Western businesses have found Singapore very easy to relate to - because of its English and Westernized set-up - and this has brought great wealth to Singapore. Making Singapore more Chinese, might also make it less appealing to the West - since it will become less easy to communicate with. So, just as Singapore might think it is increasing its ability to relate to China, it is also decreasing its ability to relate to the West.

Perhaps Singapore doesn't care. Perhaps Singapore thinks that China is going to be so huge that it doesn't matter about the rest of the world. Well, pause. China is but one source of income. If China runs into real trouble and Singapore has become too dependent on its relationship with it - then Singapore will have a real problem too.

Singapore should not become too Chinese, if it is to remain a country open to the wider world. Its diversity has given it many options, in the past - throwing that diversity away, will only narrow its options as a state.

Another factor that has been forgotten in this headlong rush to become Chinese: the effect on Singapore's existing minorities. No thought has been given to how it must feel for the minorities to become increasingly marginalized. Suddenly, they are surrounded by people who cannot speak either their mother tongue, or English. Suddenly, adverts are popping up, written solely in Chinese. Suddenly, their work places are filled with people who only speak Chinese and who expect them to speak Chinese. Suddenly, Singapore seems less open to them, less welcoming. So, I am left to wonder: how has this upsurge of Chinese PRC immigrants affected the EMIGRATION of Singapore's minorities? Has it increased? Are more Malays and Indians, Eurasians and "Others" leaving because Singapore is rapidly becoming unfamiliar to them, perhaps even closed to them?

I doubt that I will be able to find figures for this emigration - but, if there has been an increase in the departure of minorities, this will only quicken the transformation of Singapore into a monocultural state. Yet, I suppose, that must be the plan, anyway. Were it not the plan, there would be an equal balance in the kind of immigrants brought into Singapore. There would be a healthy influx of Malays, Indians, Eurasians and "Others", so that the racial mix would not change. However, that isn't what is happening. Almost all the new immigrants are PRCs from China. So, though it is not stated, Singapore is clearly planning to become effectively a Chinese nation. Who knows, perhaps one day it will even be a part of China. By that time, of course, no-one would notice any difference, because it would already be a part of China, in essence.

Looking back on all the countries I have visited and lived in, in my life, I realize that the interesting ones had great diversity of people, cultures, races, religions, lifestyles, ideas, hopes, ambitions, loves and dreams. Singapore's history has given it diversity, has given it the potential to be an interesting nation. It would be a shame to see it throw that away, in exchange for a sterile uniformity. Whatever the Chinese and China have to offer Singapore, it would be unwise to forget that other races and other nations have things to offer too. So, I hope for a diverse future for Singapore and hope that the present trend to monoculture, is never fully realized.

(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.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Cheating in examinations: how common is it?

Today, I asked a small group of non-Singaporean Asians whether they had ever cheated in an exam. Refreshingly, the gave honest answers. Two out of three confessed that they had, in fact, cheated in an exam. I shall focus on what one of them said.

A Chinese mainlander had not only cheated in an exam, but had done so throughout her academic career at University. Not only had she cheated but she was positively enthusiastic about doing so: "It is SO exciting a feeling!", she gushed several times in the course of her account. She was thrilled to cheat.

She told of how, in her first year exams at University, "everybody cheated". Bizarrely, their cheating was a co-ordinated effort: they had devised a method of doing so that was moderately discreet (which I won't share, lest I provoke cheating by some of my readers!) - and ALL of them used the same method. One would have thought that the invigilators would have noticed that everyone in the room was wearing special clothes...but no, they didn't.

The following year, their cheating methods evolved. It involved an object which all had on their desks and which the rules of the exam did not expressly forbid from being brought in. However, this object was not what it seemed and it had been doctored to contain a lot of written information. Again, the whole year cheated in this way - and again, it was not noticed, despite the fact that everyone in the room had one of these objects on their desk.

Indeed, having listened to her account, the strangest thing of it is that no-one appeared to notice what they were doing. Perhaps, then, this is only an appearance and the academic staff are well aware of what is going on, but simply don't care.

"Why do you cheat?", I asked her with a judgement free tone.

"Because we have no choice."

"Why no choice?"

"Because if we fail, we would have to do the year again and pay the fees again and it is very expensive. Sometimes we won't be able to graduate."

So it was all about ensuring a pass, no matter what the method. Dishearteningly, she claimed that everyone in her year, at University in China was cheating. So, in that sense, every degree won, was falsely obtained. It makes me wonder, therefore, at the true level of skill - or lack thereof of all these students, when all of them felt that they had to cheat. Perhaps China's academic supremacy is a mirage of sorts - perhaps they are not as good as one might suppose.

In my experience, no one of any real talent needs either to cheat, or feels a need to do so. They know that their gift will take them through. These Chinese students didn't feel that - which leads me to question their talent.

It was sobering to watch her describe her experiences of cheating. Firstly, there was such detail in her accounts of the methods used that it was clear that she was telling the truth in having direct personal experience of the situation. Secondly, her enthusiasm for cheating was such that it was clear to me she would cheat in any and all situations in life, in which there was opportunity for gain and risk of being caught. She was a thrill seeker, and risk taker of the rule breaking kind. It gave her a "rush" to flirt with the danger of being caught doing something she shouldn't. It struck me that that kind of mind is not far from being a criminal by choice.

I have heard many accounts that cheating is common in China - but I hadn't known, until this conversation, that, in the view of these students, at least, that "everyone does it". How common is cheating in examinations in your culture or society, wherever you are? Is it an isolated problem or does it occur en masse? Comments please.

(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.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Dreams of world domination.

I asked a Chinese English language student what he most wanted, the other day. His answer was discomfiting to stay the least.


"I would like the power to give China many advanced weapons. Then China would grow more powerful and all the world would respect China. Then everyone would have to learn to speak Chinese. That would make me very happy."


I almost shuddered at his words. If this is the dearest wish and profoundest dream of a random Chinese student, I wonder if the world is really safe from an ascendant China. Dreams like his don't come from nowhere - they are born in a social milieu which fosters such thinking. Perhaps America is right to be worried about the rise of China.

Recently, America issued its annual report on China's militarization. China reacted angrily saying that it portrays China in a false light and that China's weapons are for defensive purposes only. It also stated that it "interfered in our internal affairs". This is a reference to Taiwan which China believes is an internal matter but which Taiwan and the rest of the world believe to be an external matter.

Most telling, perhaps, about the student's dream is that the dream of power was not for him, personally, but for his nation. He wanted China to be ascendant, but not himself. This is a very Chinese answer, I think, in which the individual is subsumed into the mass of the people of the republic.

I didn't share my thoughts on his comment with the young man concerned: I just observed his ardent expression of the desire for military power for his motherland and wondered whether the world is sleeping, as a new Dragon awakes.

(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.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

The ever-changing face of China.

We live in strange times. Things are not as they were when I was in school.

Recently, I heard from a teacher friend of mine (from America, but working in Singapore) about a young Chinese student in his class (from the People's Republic of China). She is a tall girl of about 15 or 16. A couple of weeks ago, he saw this girl not paying attention in class. Instead, she was attending to a brochure. It was a very strange kind of brochure. In it there were numbered pictures of women's eyes, of all shapes and sizes. That was it...just pictures of eyes.

"What is this?" he enquired, of his distracted student.

She looked up at this giant gentle bear of a man (the only thing that distinguishes him from Santa Claus is the absence of a red jacket) and remarked, ever-so-casually, "I am choosing the eyes I want."

"You mean plastic surgery?", "Santa Claus" was aghast.

"Yes. I want new eyes." She paused momentarily, to find her choice. "I want these ones.", she said, her finger tapping the glossy paper.

My friend studied the selected eyes and was even more appalled. The chosen eyes were just like those of a Japanese anime schoolgirl: unfeasibly big and round. They belonged on a stylized cartoon, not a tall Chinese girl.

"You don't need to change your eyes: the ones you have are beautiful already! Don't do this!", he urged, to an unpersuadable, young girl.

"These ones, wouldn't suit you.", he said, with certainty.

She wasn't in the mood to listen and held onto her brochure for the rest of the class.

I haven't mentioned it, but she is quite a big girl. To have the eyes of a Japanese anime schoolgirl, set against her big form, would just look ridiculous. I think that was my friend's immediate understanding.

This girl thought that she could give herself the appeal of a Japanese anime schoolgirl, simply by paying a plastic surgeon to resculpt her face. No doubt, after she had had her eyes done, she would want her nose done. Then perhaps she would extend the work to other parts of her body. It could even become a lifelong obsession as it does with some women, forever changing their bodies as others might change clothes.

What struck my friend, and strikes me, is how young this girl is. She is just 15 or 16, but already wants to have surgery to "correct" her appearance. She is not fully grown. Her final form is not fixed. Yet, already she wants to go under the knife. She seems to think that it would benefit her in all sorts of ways.

I wonder if there is an age-limit for such operations? There should be. No teenage girl under 18 should be permitted an operation that permanently alters their appearance. They should, at least, have to wait until their final growth is done. (Except in cases of disfigurement from disease, genetic or otherwise - but that is a different matter. This girl is not disfigured - she is just a fairly typical, if tall, Chinese girl.)

When I was this girl's age, I don't think any of my contemporaries were altering themselves through plastic surgery. Now, it seems, whole nations are going under the knife. It is quite bizarre. There is much, I think, to be said for a natural appearance. To my eyes, that usually creates a good, balanced appearance. Nature tends not to put the eyes of a Japanese anime schoolgirl on a tall, big Chinese girl, on whom they would look ridiculous. However, if she gets her way, that is exactly what this young girl will get.

It is all a bit sad. It shows that young people today do not accept themselves as they are. Or, perhaps, other people do not accept them, as they are and so they feel under pressure to change. I feel that those who embark on such a journey of cosmetic surgical alteration may find that they were happiest at the beginning of the journey before anything was done. Once they have had an alteration made, they are really going to have to live with it. I am not sure that this Chinese girl will be any happier with the eyes of a very different kind of girl on her face. It is quite possible that she will look much worse for the change.

Is this an issue in your country? Are young women (and perhaps men) altering their appearance surgically? Is it common? What kinds of procedures are they having done? Do children have such operations? Is it a trend among teenage girls?

Any observations you might have would be interesting to hear. Thanks.

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.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

A sense of achievement.

What does a sense of achievement mean, these days? When I was younger, it had a clear connotation: that of real accomplishment giving rise to solid feelings of having done something worthwhile. Nowadays, it seems to be seem somewhat different.

Recently, I got talking to a student from China. I asked him what his greatest achievement had been, so far. His answer took some time in coming.

"I don't think I have achieved anything in my life. My achievements are all the seeking of pleasure, because I am a hedonist. I used to dance and drink all night long - and abuse drugs. Those are my achievements. Now, I have changed, as I have come of age. Now, I am trying to study English."

His answer was one many young people, today, could have given. Real achievement is not the aim of many of them: pleasure and entertainment are. Many modern lives are shallow things, lived just for sensation. It has even gone so far that a member of this younger generation can regard the pleasure seeking itself as his life's most worthy achievements.

The only hope in his reply is that he perceived that he had changed and that he was now trying to learn English. Colouring that reply, however, is that he often seemed listless in class, as if the life had been drained from him. Perhaps that was the damage done by his earlier lifestyle.

I worry about the future, when the present is filled with people whose aims are shallow. A great future cannot be built on the efforts of shallow people. The civilization that such people would build would, at one time, have been called hell. Is that what the future shall bring?

(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.)

Why you should be healthy.

Why should you be healthy? Think of your own reasons before reading on.

Living, as I do, in a country different from the one of my birth, confronts me, daily, with new experiences and people that I would otherwise not have met. It opens my eyes, too, to ways of seeing the world that I would not have suspected. One of these ways surprised me, recently.

I was speaking to a Chinese national. I asked him what was most important to him. He said. "My health is the most important thing."

There were no surprises, there, then. I looked at him more closely. He did not seem particularly healthy to me, being young, but having receding hair.

"Why is health important to you?" I pursued, seemingly unnecessarily, but not truly so.

"Because...", he began, with some degree of intensity, "If I don't healthy, then can't smoking, can't drinking, can't go nightclub."

I nearly laughed, but for his sake I didn't. I thought it a marvellous - he wanted to be healthy enough to ruin his health. He saw health as something that allowed him to indulge in unhealthy pursuits. For him, health was like a bank account with contents to be spent while he still had it.

I didn't argue with him on the point, nor did I speak of the obvious consequences of this viewpoint: it seemed as if I would offend him, if I did. It did, however, remind me that there are always different ways of seeing the world: this was his.

I wonder if anyone else sees health as something that allows one to have unhealthy habits...do you?

(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.)

How not to investigate a scandal.

The IOC is doing a good job of not doing a good job. By this I mean that they are doing exactly what shouldn't be done in the case of the allegedly underaged Chinese gymnasts. The IOC is asking the very body accused of lying, to tell more lies.

I will explain. As far as has publicly been made known, the IOC's "investigation" into the girl's ages consisted of China being asked to produce more documents to "prove" their age. I use the word "produce" deliberately, for China has been given sufficient time to produce them, so as actually to produce them, (that is fabricate them), if necessary.

What many parties all over the world have basically said China seems to have done is lie to the world about the ages of its gymnasts. For the passports to be lies, it means that the Chinese government itself is the lying party - or its representatives. Yet, it is the Chinese government that the IOC has asked to produce further documents to prove the issue. This just doesn't make sense. If the passports are fake - as many different parties believe - then ALL documents produced by the Chinese will have been faked.

For those who haven't been following this matter, the doubt initially arose because of publicly available documents on Chinese government linked websites stating the ages of the girls as being as young as 13, rather recently. So, official Chinese sources are the source of the doubt. It is interesting that these public sources are fast disappearing and exist, now, only in web caches.

What the IOC needs to do is source its own evidence. Do not ask the Chinese government for anything because if the doubts about the Chinese gymnasts' age turn out to be true, it will have been the Chinese government itself that had lied about it, through falsifying documents. Therefore, asking them for further documents, in this instance, will just result in further falsification. The answer to this matter is not to be found in official documents - but in unofficial records: the minds of others, for instance.

There must be hundreds of people in these girls' hometowns who know their true ages. Their fellow schoolchildren and teachers will know. Their neighbours will know. Anyone who has grown up with them will know. Many, many people will know the truth. Simply sending someone to enquire might produce interesting results. Then there will be stories in newspapers in the early days, before anyone had thought to lie about their ages. There will be the records of early competitions. There will, in fact, be an untold variety of physical and other evidences of their true age. All it would take is for the IOC to actually go looking. The IOC appears either to be run stupidly - or in collusion with those they are defending. Only an unintelligent, or a dishonest person, could fail to doubt the ages of the Chinese gymnasts after so much evidence of their underage status has been aired.

To my eyes, it is not, now, the Chinese who are under trial. It is the IOC itself. The manner in which it acts, or does not act, will determine its standing, henceforth, in the eyes of many around the world. By not acting with wisdom, the IOC threatens to damage the Olympic movement itself. Well done, IOC. Well done.

(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.)

What makes a favourite teacher

Everyone has a favourite teacher. Even if someone disliked all of their teachers, one would be the least disliked and this one, therefore, would be the "favourite".

I once asked a class of foreign students, whom I had taught for only a couple of weeks who their favourite teacher in life had been and why. I didn't expect any of them to point to me, in answer, given our short acquaintance - though the odd one did, in fact, do so.

That, however, was not what surprised or interested me. The peculiar answer of one Chinese mainland student did.

She named her favourite teacher as being an English teacher she had once had, long ago. He had been a Caucasian - but that wasn't why she had liked him. I was curious about her reasoning and so enquired further.

"Why is he your favourite?"

"Because he wore different coloured socks everyday.", she declared, seeming to be pleased to remember him and his strange habit.

I must have looked appropriately puzzled, for she fell silent, not knowing quite what to say next.

"Why did that make him your favourite teacher?", I prompted.

"Because he was fashionable.", she explained, as if it were the most obvious, and the most important reason in all the world.

I couldn't stop myself, but found my tongue echoing her reason to the whole class, just so that they could hear her softly spoken reply.

I left it at that. I didn't want to embarrass her. Yet, I confess I was flabbergasted that an inconsequential matter like the colour of one's socks, can make one the most memorable and appreciated teacher in a person's life.

This, of course, leads one to ask the necessary question: how is it possible to teach students who don't know how to measure the quality of what is being imparted? How is it possible to teach students whose values are so distorted that the colour of socks is held up as the measure of a teacher?

I wonder, now, how common such shallow views, as this young woman, ostensibly in her twenties, held, are in modern China? Is it a nation of superficial people unable to identify what is important in life?

I hope not. For soon the birthplace of this remarkable, sock worshipping, young woman, will be a financial superpower.

Of course, if it turns out that young women like her are common in modern China, you know how to cope with it: just wear differently coloured socks everyday. That is sure to impress them.

(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.)

Who is international aid to Myanmar feeding?

The callous imagination of the Myanmar junta goes beyond one's cruellest imagination. Latest reports suggest that food aid to Myanmar is being confiscated by the junta, with some, at least, confirmed to have been sent to a military warehouse.

The high-grade nutritional biscuits that were sent, were kept for the military - and instead, low-grade "tasteless" biscuits made in Myanmar were distributed. Thus, the good food that is sent is ending up in military bellies (or intended to end up there) - and bad, even "rotting food", as witnesses described the rice that was being given out, is being distributed instead.

So, now the international community has an even bigger moral dilemma. Should food aid be sent at all if it is not going to reach the needy? To send food aid and have it feed the military is to do nothing for the endangered and will only serve to strengthen their oppressors. Here we have a situation in which the international will to help the hungry and threatened, is being perverted by their ruling regime to become an effort which will only bolster those who oppress them.

France, Britain and Germany are of the opinion that aid should be forced on the junta. That is, the international community has a moral imperative to ensure that the endangered are saved - even if this means going against the will of the ruling military junta.

I tend to agree with them: logic bids me so. If our mission is to save the 2 million now in danger from an unfortunate death, they must receive food and medical aid. The junta will not give them either food or medicine and will, in fact, confiscate both, for its own purposes. Therefore neither food nor aid should be given to the junta to distribute, nor allowed to fall into their hands. The only way these 2 million people are going to be saved is if the international community ignores the junta and goes in directly. Unless this intervention consists solely of air drops (which might be confiscated), any aid workers would have to be accompanied by armed escort, lest this effort leads to violent confrontation.

So, the options in the situation are limited. To continue to deliver aid without workers to distribute it is only to ensure that nothing gets done for the afflicted - and that the regime have fuller bellies. To continue to stand by and wait for the junta to wake up and grow a conscience is to ensure that people will continue to die by the thousand. There is, therefore, only one logical answer: to go in with aid irrespective of the wishes of the ruling morons, oops, elite. That latter option could lead to confrontation but given the backward nature of the society, I am sure that advanced powers would have little difficulty managing the junta's response.

It is interesting to note who favours forced aid: Britain, France and Germany - among the most advanced humanitarian democracies in the world. It is even more telling who opposes it: Russia and China - two countries most like Myanmar. Indeed, on a footnote, China is now opposing foreign aid workers who wish to assist in their earthquake disaster - the exact same response as Myanmar. It seems that repressive regimes the world over, simply don't want their people to learn that foreigners are a much kinder bunch than they have been painted. If they ever learn the equation that democracy=concern for others, their repressive regimes are doomed. They would rather their people die by the millions than that they should ever learn what free countries are really like.

I dearly hope that someone has the strength to take the strong decisions that need to be made, if 2 million people in Myanmar are not to fall to hunger, lack of shelter and rampant disease.

(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.)

China and Tibet: a conspiracy of silence.

What do mainland Chinese know about the unrest and subsequent brutal crackdown in Tibet?

Not a lot, in many cases.

In Singapore, there are many PRC (Peoples' Republic of China) students here. I will explain more about their situation in another post. I would, however, like to note something which I have become aware of. These students are in the habit of calling home, to their parents in China, on a regular basis. All of them have had a strange experience, recently. In their calls home, they have tried to discuss the Tibetan situation - which they have seen in the Singaporean and international media, here in Singapore - with their parents. Do you know what they discovered?

None of their Chinese mainland parents knew about it.

It seems that the media in China has been far from dedicated to carrying this story, for in a random sampling of mainland Chinese, performed by the PRC students here in Singapore, none of them were aware of the unrest and crackdown, in Tibet.

This reminded me of another time when I had taught PRC students. There was a boy in my class who was of very certain views about the wonders of China. It turned out that his father was an important man in the hierarchy of the Communist Party of China. This was many years ago and somehow the subject of Tiananmen Square came up. This boy barked out: "No-one died at Tiananmen Square".

"Who told you that?" I asked him, rather surprised.

"My father."

I felt sad for him. Even his own father lied to him, to protect the image of the motherland from the Truth.

I pointed out that I had seen the terrible events for myself on CNN and that the whole world had watched what happened at Tiananmen Square - the whole world except China.

He was silent. He didn't know how to defend his father's lying tongue.

The situation with regards to Tibet is very similar. Part of the reason that China is so successful at repression, is because its people simply do not know what is happening. They do not know the darkness at the centre of their own society. The PRC students here, in Singapore, are all somewhat shocked to learn of the events in Tibet. Yet, there is something locked up inside them: they still can't allow themselves to see the truth of their own country. They take a view which would not disturb the Communist Party's line. They take the view that China is "right" to crackdown in Tibet. That Tibet "owes China". That Tibet "cannot survive without China's resources". That Tibet "cannot be allowed to be independent from China". Their view is that of the Communist Party.

Interestingly, a teacher I know who was teaching them, picked up on this line of thought and asked them to write what they thought about the situation in Tibet. What was really scarey about this exercise was what they handed in: the same essay in forty hands. All of the students thought in exactly the same way. All of them could have been writing press releases for the Communist Party of China. None of them were able, or willing, to think independently. It was quite sobering to see the sheer SAMENESS of their output. The thoughts I have excerpted above, in the previous paragraph, appeared in every single essay.

Why then does China fear the Truth so much when, even when exposed to it, their PRC youngsters maintain the Party line and speak with the Party tongue? I would say it points to an excessive desire to control their minds. Not only are they to think the Party way - but they are not to be exposed to thoughts contrary to it. There isn't even to be a chance that anyone might agree with an opposition view, because they never get to hear one and are never able to formulate one themselves. They are to be blind to the truth and to the world - and to know only what they are allowed to know. That appears to be the system, anyway.

Is China ever going to be a free nation? I really have my doubts. Even the internet is censored there. Without exposure to the truth of their nation, there is no way that the Chinese themselves are able to see it as it is. They just aren't allowed access to the information. Even when they receive it, as the PRCs studying here have - they don't internalize it, they maintain the Party line and continue to believe resolutely in the ways of the motherland. All of them have been strongly brainwashed, by any standard. None of them are capable of independent thought. China wants it that way - and will keep it that way - unless external forces are strong enough to change the way things are, inside China.

I don't see it happening. The rest of the world is now in what I would call a cowardly phase. They stand on the sidelines of the Tibetan situation and say: "Ho hum, that's not good". However, none of them DO anything about it. The Tibetans are unique. They are a gentle culture, unable to resist the oppressive might of China. Yet, it is easy to see that the international community will do nothing to intervene on their side, that is remotely effective. Will the international community wait until all ethnic Tibetans are dead, before acting?

The youth of China will not make a different China to the old. They will grow up to be the same as their fathers and forefathers. That is easy to see in the PRC students studying in Singapore. They think as their Party thinks. If China is ever to be a democratic state with respectable human rights, the outside world is going to have to show China the way. China just cannot do it itself. Why? It simply doesn't want to - and so it won't.

The Chinese need to know about China. Oddly, they don't. If the world had a moral conscience (I am not sure it does - or at least not an effective one) it should act to ensure that the Chinese people get access to wider information on their own nation. Perhaps then, things will begin to change, and the kind of action presently taking place in Tibet, would become unacceptable to the Chinese people. Right now, however, they think it is just, right and proper to act so. At least, the PRC students here seem to think so. It is interesting to see how their understanding of morality is so constrained that they can consider murder, repression and occupation, as just and justifiable acts.

They have a lot to learn. It is up to the rest of the world to teach them.

(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.)

Child Prodigy Schools: an educational trend.

In various parts of Asia, Child Prodigy Schools are being established. They answer to a social need - even, one might say, a social demand, in Asian culture, that children "perform". What this means is that, in many parts of Asia, so competitive is the culture, that many parents want for nothing less than that their children be prodigious.

Now, a child prodigy is, in my opinion, based on close observation, an innately gifted child. The prodigious gift is something that emerges from within the genetic inheritance of the child. It is very clearly present, from birth. It is not and never shall be, an environmentally bestowed attribute. So where does that leave "Child Prodigy Schools"? Nowhere, absolutely nowhere.

Yet, that doesn't stop Child Prodigy Schools from being opened around Asia. A recent one is a case in point: The Henan Child Prodigy School in China.

This school makes, as these schools tend to do, an outrageous claim. The owner of the school states that he can bestow a "photographic memory" on the children who attend his school. There are, at present, 150 of these unfortunate souls. I will tell you why they are "unfortunate" soon enough.

After receiving his training program, Zhang Xuexin, the Principal, claims that the children are able to memorize textbooks and traditional poems, and recite them - forwards and backwards. He then goes on to state that they are, therefore, "child prodigies". Well, even accepting his proposition that they end up with "photographic memories" (which I don't), being able to memorize a text and recite it backwards does not imply that one is a prodigy. It implies that either one has a good memory - or that one has spent an awfully long time learning the text. A good memory, on its own, does not confer prodigious status either. A child prodigy must be able to think (if they are in a cerebral domain - as, it is supposed, these are meant to be). Memory is a tool of thinking - but it is not, in itself, evidence of active thinking. A good memory may exist where a good mind does not.

I have seen a video of these children demonstrating their "talent" and it is truly chilling. They sit in rows in a classroom with their eyes closed (although some appear possibly to be slightly open - but more of that later). Before them lays an open textbook which they are unable to see (except perhaps those whose eyes appear to be slightly open). They are reciting what I am led to assume is the contents of the textbook, in a peculiarly inhuman, robotic way. They speak in unison, chanting the words from the book. Their faces have no expression. There is no emotion in them, as they chant. Most look terribly tired (one child is later seen to struggle to keep his eyes open and rubs them).

In the whole video the only person who shows some enthusiasm for life is Zhang Xuexin (as I assume the interviewee to be) who bubbles over with the simple joy of being interviewed on TV (at least, that is how it comes across). No-one else smiles or shows positive emotion in the whole video.

Nowhere do I see evidence of thinking, from the children. Nowhere do I see evidence of personality. Nowhere do I see evidence of happiness. Nowhere, indeed, do I see evidence of prodigiousness. I do, however, see a lot of children listlessly reciting words without any enthusiasm for doing so. I see humans made into robots.

Yep, that is a "Child Prodigy School" alright.

There is something more you should know - something which is more perturbing than the rest of the story put together. A kid playing table tennis missed the ball an awful lot. Huh? You say, what does that mean? Well, it could mean a lot. You see Zhang Xuexin has a lot of unorthodox ideas - I could have used the word "crazy" - but I didn't. One of these ideas is that the children would benefit from "absorbing energy from the Sun". To do this, he insists that they stare directly into the sun, periodically to absorb this "energy". There could be a very good reason why these children seem not to open their eyes much - and why they can't seem to hit a table tennis ball - I think it certain that most of them have damaged eyesight.

That boy rubbing his eyes may not just be tired - he may be wondering why there is a giant black spot in the centre of his vision. These children will go blind, for sure, if they follow Zhang Xuexin's regime, for any length of time - and if they follow it at all, they will have damaged eyesight.

Perhaps Zhang Xuexin's master plan is to open a School for the Prodigious Blind, next. I just can't wait to see what their training program is like.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Fintan knows his toys

Yesterday, Fintan, four, was in a toy shop with his grandmother and mother.

Syahidah, his mother, pointed out a particular toy to him, thinking he would like it. It was of an action hero type character, all in multi-coloured plastic, wearing some sort of exoskeleton. Since he is fond of superheroes and of Power Rangers and other programs of that ilk, she thought that he would like it.

He looked at and shook his head: "Don't get me that, it is made in China!"

They laughed at this, and didn't believe him.

"No it is not, it is made in Japan.", said Syahidah, for the writing was all in Japanese on the outside.

So, despite his initial protest, they bought it for him.

When they got home and opened the case and managed to have a close look at the toy, they found a little inscription on the bottom of its foot: "Made in China."

Funny.

What I thought was intriguing about this is that Fintan, four, was aware of the controversy over Chinese toys and their often dangerous lack of quality control. I don't know how he knew this, because we don't watch the news here, as a family (there is little actual news content, so we gave up a long time ago). Yet, he did understand the issue of dangerous Chinese toys.

It was amusing, too, to note that he was better at spotting them than either his mother or grandmother. Well done, Fintan.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and one month, and Tiarnan, eighteen 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Does Singapore value copyright?

Intellectual property and its particular example, copyright, have made news recently, in Singapore. At stake, is the whole idea of ownership of a created work - and the rewards that go with having created it.

As you may know, copyright sometimes gets a rough time, in parts of Asia. China is famous for its businessmen who ignore copyright and intellectual property laws and just copy, or take, intellectual property without authorization or payment. Yet, there is another kind of copyright violation that its perpetrators may not even consider to be in the same arena: the illegal internet download.

Downloading material off the internet is so prevalent and so common the world over, that most young people give it no thought at all: indeed, the typical youngster seems to think it is their right to download whatever they please, whenever they please. This attitude, however, either ignores the notion of intellectual property and copyright - or is founded on an unawareness of it.

Recently, an anime (Japanese cartoon) distributor in Singapore, called Odex, has decided to stand up for its intellectual property rights and sue violators. In the past two years, they have suffered from a decline in sales of 60 to 70 %. They attribute this to a simultaneous rise in illegal downloads of their anime films, off the internet. Quite simply, they contend, young people are no longer buying their cartoons - they are stealing them off the internet. This is destroying their business model. Odex distribute such popular Japanese anime cartoons as Gundam Seed and Inuyasha, usually via VCD/DVD in retail outlets.

To be able to sue the illegal downloaders, Odex first had to find out who they were. To do this, they took the local internet service providers Singtel (government telco), Starhub and Pacific Net, to court. The first two judgements came in against the ISPs, forcing them to reveal the names of about a 1,000 downloaders each: Singtel has done so, Starhub is still mulling over an appeal. The interesting one is Pacific Net - or PacNet. The judge in that case - who was different from the other two - came down in Pacific Net's favour citing the importance of internet privacy, and blocking Odex's petition to secure the names of 1,000 illegal internet anime downloaders.

The fact that a Singapore court came down against the intellectual property owner, in a copyright violation case, is itself very interesting (and more of that later) - but what really intrigues and appals me, in equal measures is the reaction to Odex's case, in the online forums, in word of mouth - and in other forms of feedback to Odex, itself. There has been outrage all over the internet, that Odex would actually seek to protect its copyright - violators and sympathizers have been pouring vitriol against Odex in forum, after forum. There have even, reports in the Straits Times state, been DEATH THREATS against Odex.

Just reflect on that for a moment. The general feeling among young internet downloaders is that Odex, which owns the sole rights to distribute these Japanese anime cartoons in this part of the world, should not be allowed to protect its intellectual property. Indeed, the mass of internet users are angry that Odex should be doing so - to the point of issuing death threats against them. I find that really, really disturbing - and you should, too.

What exactly is Odex protecting? The right for the creator of a work to be compensated when someone else enjoys the use of it. I don't think that should be a controversial issue. If there were no rewards for creating works, in any media, exactly how many such works would be available for public distribution? Almost none at all. Without a fair financial return on the time, money and effort put into creating an artistic or other work (and all three facets are involved in most creations), then there would be no significant creative activity that wasn't entirely private. There would be no worldwide market for films, books, music, art, and the like. The entertainment world, as we know it, just would not exist. Is that a better world than the one we have? Few would think so - yet that is the world the outraged internet voices are arguing for. They are crying out for a world in which creators, producers and owners of creative works are NOT rewarded for doing so. In such a world, there would be no Japanese anime cartoons to be bought in the shops or even downloaded for "free" on the internet - for no-one would spend millions of dollars making them, when they could never recoup the money invested. The protesters against Odex are baying for a world without art, a world without culture, a world of utter boredom.

No. People should not be demanding a relaxation of copyright laws. People should not be demanding that the internet should be a free for all. People should, instead be demanding a strengthening of copyright laws. People should be demanding huge penalties for all who breach them. Why do I say this? Well, in a world in which copyright is strong and well-protected, creators feel secure in releasing their works to the public. They are rewarded well for it - and more works will follow. A world of strong copyright protection is a world with a burgeoning, vital culture - to the benefit of all, except the freeloaders who would wish to steal a work, rather than pay a reasonable sum for it.

Odex is seeking $5,000 Singapore dollars from each and every illegal downloader. They are not seeking a penalty for each individual copyright violation, as I understand it (though, really, they should). That is about $3,285 US dollars a head.

As a writer, myself, and as someone who understands the work that every creative work embodies (sometimes a lifetime's work in a single opus), I really hope Odex wins all its cases against illegal downloaders. Any case against copyright theft can only serve to strengthen copyright and protect the rights of all who create, in any way, and in any medium, anywhere.

What really worries me about this case, though, is that the Singaporean judge in the Pacific Net case did not understand this. Either he did not understand this - or did not care about it. He placed "internet privacy" above "copyright protection". That is equivalent, in the physical world, to putting the rights of shoplifters not to be identified (so that, hey, they can shoplift again, anonymously, no shop knowing who they are), above the rights of shopowners not to be stolen from. It doesn't make sense. Privacy is an important issue - but you cannot and should not use a right to privacy to hide a criminal, of any breed. A thief is a thief, whether they steal a car or a film - it is still theft. A court has no place coming down on the side of the thief, against the owner of the property that was stolen. That really doesn't make any sense.

Generally speaking, lawyers don't create anything. Therefore, perhaps, this particular lawyer does not understand the issues around creating a work - and being compensated for the use of that creative work. It is not an issue that he would feel strongly about because it is not an issue ever likely to concern him. Well, it should. The whole of human society is built on the works of intellectual property holders - be it copyrights or patents. We all, together, have a collective responsibility to ensure that intellectual property is protected and its owners properly compensated. If we do not do this, there won't be any intellectual property to protect - and then we will all suffer. In a sense, therefore, those who steal intellectual property, strike against us all - for they are striking against those on whom all the richness of society is built. We shouldn't stand for it. But first we must understand the issue. Once we understand that issue - and I hope to have done something to help, there - there should be no excuse for not protecting intellectual property with the same vigour that we protect physical property. If this issue doesn't mean much to you, put the words "my house" or "my car" in the place of Japanese anime cartoons - and see just how happy you feel about someone stealing it.

(If you would like to read about Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and one month, or Tiarnan, eighteen 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, genetics, left-handedness, College, University, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)