Berita Harian, Singapore: front page news, again

Ainan was front page news, again, in Singapore, on the Berita Harian, on Saturday.

The Berita Harian had picked up on Ainan's latest development: the A level Practical Chemistry course at Raffles Junior College/Raffles Institution. For overseas visitors who don't know, Raffles is regularly voted the No.1 school in Singapore.

We were touched to note that Berita Harian, the Malay national daily of Singapore, had placed Ainan at the top of the front page, to the left, in the most prominent position. This kind of support that they are giving us, really helps in opening doors for Ainan and affording him the opportunities for development that he requires. It is much appreciated. Some of my readers have arrived on my blog after specifically searching for a supposed article by the Straits Times or Shin Min on the matter. However, neither The Straits Times (the English language daily) nor Shin Min (the Chinese daily) have picked up, yet, on this development - though they have covered other Ainan stories in the past.

I have decided to post the Berita Harian story here and will try to capture the other stories posted recently too, since I have discovered that newspapers don't keep stories active on their sites for long.

So here it is below. Forgive me that I haven't translated it. Perhaps I could get my wife to do so, sometime.

PELUANG CERAH DUDUKI UJIAN GCE 'A'
RI, RJC tawar Ainan lakukan kerja-kerja praktikal di makmal. OlehSoraya Salim

IMPIAN hampir menjadi kenyataan bagi budak tujuh tahun yang pintar dalam bidang kimia, Ainan Celeste Cawley. Hasratnya untuk menduduki peperiksaan subjek kimia GCE peringkat 'A' pada hujung tahun ini bakal tercapai kerana dia ditawarkan peluang melakukan kerja-kerja praktikal di makmal kimia oleh dua institusi terkemuka di sini.

Anak kacukan keturunan Ireland dan Melayu itu kini menerima bimbingan daripada dua guru kimia dari Raffles Institution (RI) dan Maktab Rendah Raffles (RJC).Dalam peperiksaan kimia GCE peringkat 'A', calon perlu menjalani ujian praktikal di makmal selain ujian teori.

Ainan mendapat perhatian ramai Mac lalu apabila berita dia lulus dalam peperiksaan kimia peringkat GCE 'O' disiarkan di akhbar. Meskipun hanya di darjah dua, pelajar sekolah rendah di kawasan Bukit Timah itu memperolehi gred 'C' dalam peperiksaan tersebut, iaitu markah antara 60 dengan 70 peratus.

'Sesi di makmal itu amat seronok sekali! Saya gemar melakukan semua eksperimen yang diajar. Kalau di rumah pun saya melakukan eksperimen tetapi menggunakan barang-barang dapur seperti serbuk penaik (baking powder),' kata Ainan ketika dihubungi.

Sejauh ini Ainan telah menjalani enam sesi praktikal di bawah bimbingan guru RI, Encik Ong Chian Jin, dan guru RJC, Encik Paul Cheong. Bahkan program yang dilaluinya itu telah dicipta khas untuk Ainan sendiri oleh kakitangan RI dan RJC di bawah satu program gabungan praktikal kimia kedua-dua institusi itu.

'Bagi bahagian teorinya pula, Ainan kini sedang belajar sendiri di rumah. Dia tidak menghadiri sebarang kelas di Raffles atau institusi lain.

'Akhirnya, pencarian selama 11 bulan untuk sebuah makmal kimia bagi Ainan sudah berakhir. Ini suatu berita yang amat menggembirakan kerana Ainan boleh melanjutkan pengajiannya dalam bidang kimia di peringkat lebih tinggi,' kata bapa Ainan, Encik Valentine Cawley, dalam satu e-mel kepada Berita Harian. Menurut ketua jabatan Bahasa Inggeris di Sekolah Linguaphone Education itu lagi, ini adalah perkembangan penting kerana ia akan membolehkan Ainan ke universiti dan melangkah setapak ke hadapan dalam mencapai impiannya menjadi seorang penyelidik sains.

Bakat Ainan dalam bidang kimia itu disedari Encik Cawley, 39 tahun, dan isterinya, Cik Syahidah Osman Cawley, 28 tahun, apabila dia berjaya memberi jawapan betul kepada semua soalan dalam buku teks kimia GCE 'O'.

Selain Ainan, pasangan itu mempunyai dua orang anak lagi - Fintan Nadym, tiga setengah tahun, dan Tiarnan Hasyl, satu tahun.

Ketika dihubungi kelmarin guru dari Jabatan Sains RI, Cik Theresa Lai, berkata pihaknya telah dimaklumkan tentang bakat Ainan oleh Cawangan Pendidikan Bijak Kementerian Pendidikan (MOE). 'Setelah bertemu dengannya, saya dapati Ainan memang seorang budak yang bijak. Apa yang saya perhatikan, ketika membuat ujian di makmal, dia dapat mengaitkan teori kimia dengan latihan praktikal yang dilakukannya dengan begitu pantas sekali,' katanya.
Menurut Cik Lai lagi, sebagai institusi yang mengambil 3 peratus pelajar terbaik, RI mempunyai peranan penting dalam mengembangkan bakat. 'Kami dapati setelah melalui sesi praktikal itu, minat Ainan dalam bidang kimia semakin membara!' katanya lagi.

Ainan yang memang gemar melakukan kajian sendiri di rumah itu juga sebelum ini telah diundang Universiti Teknologi Nanyang (NTU) untuk melawat sebuah makmal sains buat kali pertama.

Speed Learning Practical Chemistry

Ainan is now studying practical chemistry at Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College. Regular readers will know this. What you won't know, however, is the nature of the course he is undertaking.

Ainan is doing an A level practical course, condensed into six sessions. You read right: six sessions. In six lessons he is to acquire the fundamentals of A level practical skills. This thought gives me pause. I would like to see him free to experiment, over the long term, in practical matters, exploring his deep interests in Chemistry. Yet, the present need and opportunity are for him to acquire the essence of A level Chemistry skills in only a few lessons. You may be wondering how he can do this - so perhaps I should give you a perspective.

Ainan is familiar with the theory of all that he does in the lab. Thus his experiences in the lab are no more than a physical embodiment of what he has already come to understand in theory. In addition to this, he is very physically capable, being a very hands-on kind of boy. He has always been one to build things and create structures and experiments with his hands, at home: thus the demands of practical chemistry, come naturally to him.

I would, however, like to see a long-term opportunity for him to continue to develop his practical lab experience, allowing him to explore the full measure of chemical techniques and develop the deepest expertise. After this initial course is over, we will see what arrangements can be made and might prove necessary.

For those who are not familiar with the A level: it is of an American college level standard (that is the standard typically reached in an American first degree at University).

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and five months, and his gifted brothers, Fintan, three and Tiarnan, fifteen 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, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children. Thanks.)

Raffles Institution welcome Ainan

The Raffles Institution welcomed Ainan, seven, yesterday to discuss how they might be able to help his educational development.

For those overseas, the Raffles Institution and its sister, Raffles Junior College, form one of Singapore's most revered educational institutions. It is, of course, named after Stamford Raffles, who founded Singapore on the 6th February 1819. It is a boys only school, that caters exclusively for teenagers and selects only the top 3 % of students. What does this mean? Well, for those who know that moderate giftedness corresponds to a prevalence of 1 in 44, it is clear that almost everyone at Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College, will prove to be gifted - moderately, at least, with many of them much more, of course.

We met Theresa Lai and Dr. Jeffrey Lee Pheng Guan (Head of the Science Department).

I will describe their attitude rather than the contents of their suggestions, lest I jeopardize the initiatives that they would like to put in place. They proved to be excited, open, interested in helping Ainan, insightful as to his needs, willing to be flexible in order to help - and most of all, deeply convinced of the need to react to the situation in a customized manner. They understood that Ainan's prodigious nature required a special response - they understood that doing nothing would prove harmful. I was very pleased at their attitudes. Not with them, was the tendency to throw up barriers, present. Not a once did they say: "That can't be done." or "We don't have the resources." (for which would read: "We don't want to deploy the resources."). Not once did they harp on difficulties of any kind. They instead focussed on Ainan's needs and how they could meet them. This was all very refreshing and provided a marked contrast to the attitudes of some others we have encountered.

The meeting was brief, focussed, to the point - and action oriented.

They resolved, by the end, to help in whatever way they could - and one way was to try to find a mentor, for Ainan - a scientist, somewhere in Singapore, who would help Ainan grow, with the dedication he deserves.

Now, if they succeed in finding such a person, it would be time for celebration indeed. Thank you Raffles for an inspiring meeting.

The introduction was made by the Gifted Education Programme, so thanks to them, too.