In the presence of superwoman.

Sometimes, being married to my wife is a humbling experience - physically humbling. You see, she is rather an athlete and I am not any longer (though once, long ago, in a time that now seems surreally different, I was rather fit myself).

Today, we went on the HELP University Trekathon, as they call it. It basically was a trek in a jungle like environment, in some very steep and hilly terrain. Indeed, that is just what the brochure describing the area said of it: "steep and tough". How tough, I can not even begin to express in these words. I came to the conclusion, about half way through the trek, that it was not something someone my age should even be attempting. Oddly enough, out of what must have been a couple of hundred contestants, there was no other of my age or older. Everyone above 30 - apart from my wife and I - was distinctly absent. In fact, my wife and I were the only people above 22 years old, at my best guess. Perhaps the curiously young demographic should have alerted me to the inappropriateness of my own presence there...but it was rather too late for such considerations, once it had all begun.

I don't know just how long the trek was. It certainly took quite a while. What got me was the steepness of it all - the constant need to climb up some unbearably steep hill, then to do the opposite on the way down...before going up again. It was rather exhausting, after a while. I wasn't the only one who noticed: many youngsters half my age, could be seen panting away to the sides of the "path" (there wasn't one, as such), unable to continue at just that time. Footing was precarious at times, the way being slippery, the mud wet, the terrain little more than tree roots, leaves and sodden soil. In places, the only way up, was to haul oneself up, on a rope, since the ascent was too steep and too slippery to ever be successfully attempted without it.

The trek was, for me, the most difficult physical challenge I have encountered in years. This is, no doubt, largely due to my being a thickset man, with a lot of weight to carry around. I was basically lifting a lot of weight up and down those hills. I also had a backpack on, with provisions for our kids. So, that made me even more heavy.

What was humbling, though, was the different response of my wife, Syahidah, to the challenge. Once we had finished, she observed, very disappointedly: "I had expected to get a real work out...but I just felt nothing." She then went off for a session of yoga, immediately afterwards!

We overheard a couple of students talking about us in a way which summed it up perfectly: "He was complaining...and she was going la-di-da, as if she was just taking a walk with the kiddies."

It was true. For Syahidah the trek required no real exertion. For me, it was an immense challenge. My kids, too, seem to be taking after her, in that respect. They all had no trouble at all with it. Even four year old Tiarnan managed to do the entire trek on his own (even if he had to use all four limbs, in places of particular steepness). It was evident that the other students were very impressed with him...indeed, they all seemed surprised that such a little boy could overcome such a challenge.

So, today was a humbling one. I saw my wife overcome with ease, a physical challenge which I found very difficult indeed. Not only that, but even my four year old had no trouble. It seems my years are telling upon me.

Interestingly, I saw not another mature person in the whole event. No doubt word of how challenging it was, had reached the other older potential participants - and they had given it a miss. Next year, I think I will do the same (unless I get fitter, in between).

The area was beautiful and the sights rewarding. However, the effort was far too exhausting to make it something I would do again, without a great change in my own athleticism.

Singapore, by the way, has no comparable physically challenging trek, in my knowledge - and I have been to all the major national parks and reserves. In that manicured land, such a challenge would be seen as threatening and would just have to be ironed out and made tamer. Malaysia, however, does not concern itself with such matters - hence today's overly rigorous trek.

It does occur to me that, actually, the trek is quite dangerous for the middle aged and over. I could easily see someone having a heart attack, attempting it. Perhaps an awareness of that possibility could be seen at the end station, where refreshments were available for all. Parked outside there was an ambulance, waiting, just in case. I don't think it was needed in the end - but the possibility of it being so, was certainly there.

If I have one suggestion to the organizers, it would be this: make it clear just how "steep and tough" the trek is, in parts, so that the less fit, might give it a miss. Otherwise, someone could get hurt.

I am glad I went, though, just so I could understand how physically adept my wife and sons are. It was, however, a tough lesson - and one that I doubt I will repeat.

Well done Syahidah and the boys.

Happy Father's Day, 2009

Happy Father's Day, all. At least, it is Father's Day in Singapore...I am not sure if other countries celebrate it on the same day.

Syahidah and our children have been abundantly thoughtful today. I am grateful for all the surprise gifts - from each of them. Even Tiarnan, three, made something for me, so it was most pleasing. So, thank you to Ainan, Fintan and Tiarnan for your welcome gifts.

Syahidah went to exceptional lengths to make this a special day - and I am thankful for each of her surprises. Thank you, Syahidah!

As for my own father: Happy Father's Day, to you, too! (If you get to read this.)

(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.)

Brown Rice Paradise - or is it?

Brown Rice Paradise is an organic food shop in Singapore. Until recently, it was also a shop which my wife frequented in her search for suitable gluten-free foods. However, after recent experiences she is no longer a customer.

Brown Rice Paradise was, for about six or seven years, my wife's first choice for gluten free goods, in Singapore. Brown Rice Paradise is to be found in Tanglin Mall, though it is a new shop from its original location. In all that time, Syahidah would make a couple of trips a month to Brown Rice Paradise. She was one of its more loyal and reliable customers. She was a "member" and was accorded discount privileges in thanks for her regularity of custom. Yet, something happened to change all that.

Brown Rice Paradise was taken over by new management. The new team spoke of wanting to engage the customer...but in reality nothing could be further from the truth. Syahidah found out that something was wrong when she came to the counter to make her purchases one day. She gave her membership details, as usual, but was refused a discount. The fellow behind the counter was rather impolite and said that Brown Rice Paradise was not going to accept any of the previous memberships until they "proved themselves". Every former member would now have to "show their seriousness", by buying 500 dollars worth of goods in one month - and keeping the receipts to prove it. Then they would be allowed to reactivate their memberships. Syahidah was flabbergasted. She had been a loyal customer for over half a dozen years...and was now being asked to prove her loyalty! This was bonkers.

It is pretty difficult for a family of ordinary size to spend 500 dollars in one month on gluten free flour and related goods. It was, in fact, a mad request.

"You are going to lose a lot of customers with this new policy." Syahidah observed to him.

"It doesn't matter. We will get other customers.", he replied, with a dismissive shrug. His attitude was rather arrogant and not a little rude.

Syahidah had had enough - she left the shop.

Syahidah decided to use reason. She emailed the store explaining the situation. The reply refused to acknowledge the silliness of the situation and reiterated the conditions of continued membership. She then called the shop, and the man on the phone explained that all former members had to prove their loyalty before being reactivated. Syahidah repeated the tale of the 500 dollar per month requirement and the man made but one concession: that it could be, instead spread out over three months.

Syahidah wasn't having any of it: why should she strive to meet a particular spending target, now, after being a consistent, reliable customer for six or seven years? On top of that was the attitude of the staff: they seemed to have contracted a strange snobbery in which, if the customer was not a high-spender, they were not regarded as a customer at all. This strange superciliousness was combined with a rudeness towards all who would not meet their odd demands.

Syahidah was not alone in encountering this problem. Many of the friends she had introduced to Brown Rice Paradise over the years, were also snubbed at the counter, when they sought to use their memberships. As a consequence, all of them...every single one of them...have changed stores: they now travel further afield to shop in other organic stores across Singapore. What Brown Rice Paradise's new management haven't realized is that people will go out of their way to avoid ill-treatment when they receive it. Many people would rather travel twice as far and be treated twice as well - than travel half as far, and be treated half as well.

Having tried her best to reason with the unreasonable new management team at Brown Rice Paradise, Syahidah did what her friends had done before her: began to shop elsewhere.

It will be interesting to see just how long, or short, a tenure the new management at Brown Rice Paradise have. Surely, any team that manages to offend, wholesale their long term customer base, is a team that cannot be doing the best by their business.

Customer service disasters, such as this one, at Brown Rice Paradise, are not uncommon. They differ in the details, but the underlying theme is the same: utter contempt for the customer. They seem to believe that the customer is so sheep-like that they will accept any ill-treatment and still return begging for more. It never occurs to them that Singaporeans have voices of their own and are prepared to use them, in defense of themselves, when they feel wronged. It never occurs to them that every act of poor customer service, breeds word of mouth, telling and retelling the tale again and again until its reputational effect is amplified beyond calculation. It never occurs to them that the first role of any shopkeeper is to keep the customer happy, to keep the shop at all, if you know what I mean. The shopkeeper who looks down on his customers, as Brown Rice Paradise clearly looked down on my wife and her friends, is a shopkeeper who soon won't have any customers to look upon at all - down or otherwise.

Brown Rice Paradise was a great shop for the first six or seven years that my wife treated it as her local store for her favourite goodies. Now, Brown Rice Paradise is not a good store. It cannot be a good store when its management are so customer unfriendly. Brown Rice Paradise is where my wife USED to shop - but no longer. I wonder how much longer they will be under this particular management team? It seems to me that it might not be long.

(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 downside of eternal youth.

There is a downside to eternal youth that is little spoken of: it does strange things to people's perceptions.

Today, Ainan, my wife, and I went to an educational fair. We were just exploring possibilities for Ainan for further tertiary education beyond Singapore Polytechnic. I shall discuss the visit more fully in another post. However, I wish to relate something funny which happened while we were there.

I was asking about University options, of one man and he looked past me to where I thought Ainan would be standing.

"Would that be for your daughter?", he asked.

Now, I thought, to myself, I know Ainan is handsome to the point of being pretty, but he was, after all dressed as a boy. Then something made me track his gaze and look where he was looking. There, in his line of sight, stood my wife.

All, at once, I felt very silly, in an uncomfortable way. This man thought my wife, to be my daughter.

"No. It is for him." I countered, pointing at my young son.

"For him?", now it was his turn to be non-plussed.

"Yes."

"How old is he?"

"Nine."

There was a silence while he contemplated this incredible number.

I then found myself having to explain Ainan's educational history to him.

That was not the only time, today, that my wife was referred to as my daughter. In fact, by the time we left, this assumption was getting to be a bit of a habit of the Professors, and other representatives of Universities. Each time, I found myself watching wonder cross their faces as first I pointed to my son, and then explained that my "daughter" was actually my wife.

Now, lest you begin to worry about my aged appearance, it is not me who looks old, but my wife who looks young. You see, the oddest thing about her is that she hasn't changed in the thirteen years I have known her. She looks as youthful as the day we met.

Many people would think of this agelessness as a wonderful thing - and, in a way, it is. However, there is a downside to eternal youth, if only visited on one partner, and not the other. As time passes, we seem to draw apart in age. I have "matured" and now no longer look as fresh as I once did - though most judge me younger than my years. My wife, on the other hand, hasn't changed at all, in all those years. Thus the apparent age gap between us has grown. Indeed, so much so, that only the other day, Syahidah was approached by a modelling agent who wanted to represent her, but was concerned that she might not be old enough to be represented! (She would have to have reached her "majority").

Time has passed for me, but has not for her, at least, it seems so, to the eye. She is, now, as I remember to her to have been, when we first met. The pity of it is, I am not. I am not, however, displeased with either the way I look, or the way she does. It is just that I see, now, incomprehension, in the eyes of others, as they see this "strange couple". It is funny how a simple matter like not changing can, over time, produce such puzzled reactions. After all, the true age gap between us remains unchanged. That gap is not great and is quite common. However, the apparent age gap is now what causes confusion.

It has occurred to me that if my wife's appearance continues to remain unchanged that the day will come when people refer to her as my "grand-daughter". Should that ever occur, I don't think I will bother to explain - for no-one would believe the truth: even now, they doubt it. But what can I do? I am actually telling them the truth!

(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.)

Tiarnan's touche.

When does wit begin? Is one quick to counter another's words, always so...or does it develop later on in childhood? Tiarnan gave us a clue, yesterday.

We were going home after an evening out. There was Tiarnan, just turned three a few weeks ago, his mother, Syahidah and myself. It was late and no doubt Tiarnan was thinking of getting some sleep.

"I am going to sleep in YOUR bed.", he said, to his mother, unusually, because he doesn't do that, normally.

Syahidah decided to tease him.

"I am going to sleep in your bed, Tiarnan."

He looked up at her, beginning to wonder at this turn of events, a little smile on his lips.

"I am going to use your blanket.", she continued, to him. His little smile grew broader.

"I am going to drink YOUR susu (malay for milk)", she said, at last.

"Are you a small boy?", he countered, at last, to his mother, the smile still there, but now joined with an appraising look to his eyes.

We both laughed. Touche from Tiarnan...it was the perfect reply to her approach.

In Tiarnan's answer, there is evidence that wit begins, very young, indeed: it is there at the beginning of language, perhaps before language - it is in the character of the child themselves.

Incidentally, despite the conversation, Tiarnan slept where he usually does: in his own bed.

Goodnight Tiarnan, our small boy!

(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.)

Fintan's way with movement.

A couple of weeks ago, Fintan, five, came home from a kid's function, clutching two teddy bears joined together, in an eternal embrace. They were white and fluffy and rather sweet. I thought it rather generous of the hosts to be giving out teddy bears to the guests and never thought to ask why he had them. Later, I found out.

Eventually, Syahidah told me that Fintan had won the teddy bears in a rather unusual fashion. There had been a dance competition among all the children present, and Fintan was adjudged to be the most interesting dancer. He showed us what he had done to win, by re-enacting his dance. I could see why he had won: his moves were choreographed and quite imaginative. It was funny, however, to see him dance, for it was so unexpected, given his sturdy appearance.

I thought it was very telling that Fintan had won a dance competition - because a couple of months ago, Syahidah had won one too (though I didn't post of it then). She had won us some tickets to a show, by coming first in a dance competition, in a club. So, it seems, Fintan has inherited this particular flair from his mother.

Well done, to both of them, mother and son alike!

(Note that Fintan did not know there would be a dance competition at the children's event. Thus, he improvised the choreography of his dance, on the spur of the moment, rising to the challenge...and winning. I am very proud that he did so.)

(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.)

Halloween Victory for the kids.

I wrote, some time ago, of an objector, who managed to stop an official Halloween celebration at our estate. His one, anonymous voice, was enough to cancel the event for all of our estate. Warmingly, however, the parents of the estate did not let this official disapproval stop them.

On October 31st, trick or treating went ahead, on our estate, despite the cancellation. A group of parents got together, in resistance to the ban, and formed their own Halloween celebration. A list of houses was put together, which had explicitly given their permission to be "tricked or treated" and everyone got together at the appointed hour on Halloween.

I find it refreshing that, despite the unwillingness of the estate management to hold a Halloween celebration, that the parents themselves should do so. It just shows that not everyone living in Singapore can be cowed by official disapproval. Officialdom had said no to a celebration - but the children wanted a celebration - and so a celebration was arranged. I like that spirit.

Usually, my wife and I would take our children around from house to house, dressed up in various horrible ways, to "trick or treat", on our estate. This Halloween, however, we thought to celebrate in a different way. Ainan, Fintan and Tiarnan, went trick or treating accompanied by adults and their friends - while we went home, to surprise the children who came trick or treating.

Our house was dark. Just a single candle lit the living room onto which the front door opens. The large, wooden door to our home, lay closed, but for a tiny gap, waiting for the children to arrive.

It was funny what happened when they did. Most of them would see our silent, waiting front door and hesitate (I was looking through the spyhole). They would nudge and urge each other forward, and each would, in turn, resist being the first. Eventually, they would muster enough courage to begin to approach.

I would then begin to open the door very slowly - which, to them, would appear to open by itself. This would always stop them in their tracks. One pair even ran away, to leave their lonesome friend rooted to the ground: "You can't run away!" she cried, "Come back!". After much persuasion, they crept back, hesitantly.

The large, dark brown door to our home would continue to open, slowly, creakingly.

The kids would stop, fearful to proceed.

Then, they would see a ghostly figure in the room, revealed: white sheeted and still, lit from below by a single candle, carrying a basket full of sweets.

"Cool!", opined one brave kid, "Cool!"

The ghost would waft forward, slowly steadily, in silence, holding out the basket. Tellingly, some kids could not bring themselves to approach - and would, instead, let their friends take the sweets for them. Then they would hurry away, to safety.

One teenage girl, who should have been old enough to be brave, wouldn't approach at all. "No tricks, right? No tricks!". She looked and sounded nervous.

Her friends took the sweets for her and gave a pat on the head, touched by her sensitivity.

Once the sweets had been taken, the ghost wafted back into the room and the door began to close slowly, creakingly upon them. Children's eyes would follow the movement of the door, as if hypnotized - and then they would turn to leave, looking back, several times.

One group of boys could still be heard, walking away into the distance, shouting: "Cool! That was cool!"

Neither the door, nor the ghost, spoke a single word.

That was how we celebrated Halloween.

My thanks go to Syahidah, the "ghost", who had covered herself in a white blanket for the occasion. Lighting design by Syahidah. Self-propelled door by Valentine, creaks, by Nature.

We had a great time, successfully spooking quite a few kids, which, I think, should be the aim of Halloween.

I am glad that our estate has enough spirit not to be suppressed by the naysaying of one, childless, anonymous curmudgeon.

The children of the estate had a great time...my thanks to all the parents involved in arranging our Alternative Halloween Celebration. In particular, I would like to thank Karen McDowell and Christine, as organizers of the evening.

Special thanks goes to Syahidah, for suffering the heat of her costume and being such a scarey ghost.

(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.)

Ainan's mother's day present for Syahidah.

Many children buy something for their mother on Mother's Day. Ainan didn't do that: he made something instead.

From primary, aromatic chemicals, Ainan put together a perfume for his mother's birthday, putting it in a labelled bottle for her.

Syahidah could not have been more surprised had he given her a trip to the moon. A mother may expect perfume on Mother's Day but no mother could expect the perfume to have been made by her son. She sniffed it and declared: "It smells beautiful Ainan! It is the best mother's day present in the world!"

Ainan was quietly pleased that his mother liked his chemical work.

So, now we have our very own custom perfume sitting in the house, on my wife's bedside table. She couldn't be happier with her unexpected gift.

Happy Mother's Day, to all my readers. May you enjoy the surprises you receive.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and five months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and ten months, and Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind, niño, gênio criança, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

A socially aware child: interpersonal intelligence

Fintan is a very socially aware child. In being so, he shows a generous degree of interpersonal intelligence. This is the intellectual function proposed as one of the multiple intelligences, by Howard Gardner - its counterpart is intrapersonal intelligence (knowing oneself).

A couple of weeks ago, it was a hot day. Syahidah and Fintan were in the Dempsey Road area of Singapore - which is a sheltered enclave of idiosyncratic shops and restaurants in low-lying buildings. They recall earlier times when Singapore had more space: it is popular with expats, perhaps for that very reason.

Fintan, four, and Syahidah were walking through the area, casting an eye into the shops that they passed. They had already been there some while and it was nearly time to go home. Suddenly, Syahidah said: "Let's go into the organic shop, Fintan."

They did so. Syahidah walked aimlessly around for a while, in its cool interior, then asked a shop assistant: "Do you have kale?"

"No."

Syahidah lingered in the shop with Fintan, until finally she left with him.

Fintan, four, was studying his mother very carefully. "Mummy, you didn't want anything in that shop did you? You just wanted to go in because of the aircon."

The funny thing is, he was right. Syahidah had just sought the relief of the aircon against the heat of the sunlit outside. She didn't really intend to buy kale, or anything else for that matter. Somehow, Fintan had divined this.

This is not the only time Fintan has seen through matters to their social truth. He often catches the real meaning of what is happening, to a surprising degree.

I think, of all the different ways a child can be smart, this particular one is among the most useful in the long run. After all, understanding people and their ways has implications for success in all areas of life.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and five months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and ten months, and Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind, niño, gênio criança, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

How to console a little boy.

On May 2nd 2008, Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, came into the room where I was working at something.

"Where's mummy?" he asked, looking around for her, clearly a little tense.

"Mummy is out." I looked down at him, trying to say, with my eyes, that Daddy was here, so that should be OK.

He wasn't satisfied. "Where's mummy?" He asked, rather more insistently, looking intently at me.

I explained to him where mummy was.

He seemed to have another idea. He looked past me at the wall and pointed at a photograph he saw there: "There's mummy!" He hurried over to the photograph, all tension seeping from him. He stood there, looking up at the photograph, quite content. I was touched. It was enough for him to see a picture of his mummy, to be consoled.

He played quite happily thereafter, until her return, knowing that all he had to do if he missed his mummy was to look up at the wall to see her. Sweet.

(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.)

The incredible disappearing Daddy.

A couple of days ago, perhaps in remembrance of my days as an actor, I changed my voice, for Tiarnan and spoke to him, in character.

This quite perturbed him. He looked up at me and slapped my legs with his hands, not hard, but complainingly. "I want Daddy!", he demanded.

I thought this very revealing. For him, once my voice changed, I was no longer his Daddy, I was someone else.

I did it again - and got the same reaction and the same demand: "I want Daddy!"

I stopped doing it, lest I disturb him too much and became, in voice and manner, as I had always been for him, his familiar Daddy.

He seemed to go along with the intention of my change of voice, that it should be accepted as another person. I wonder, then, if he understands, perhaps without being conscious of it, what an actor does? After all, he perceived my change of voice, as being that of another person. It is an interesting speculation, at the least.

It is not the first time he has reacted to a change of manner or appearance in this way. When he was five months old, he responded in a very similar way to his mother when she put on a green face mask: "I want my mummy" he had said, crawling afterwards, in somewhat of a panic.

So, for him, a change of voice, or a change of appearance, denotes a change of personhood, in some way.

Funny enough, he himself, has been known to act - but more of that another time.

(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.)

Excited at seeing mummy.

There is something very endearing which Tiarnan, twenty-five months, does. Whenever he sees his mummy, he rushes up to her, often saying excitedly: "Mummy, mummy, mummy!" He is virtually jumping up and down.

I find this touching. It is sweet that the simple sight of his mother, on rising in the morning, or on returning from an outing, can provoke such excitement in him. He is, perhaps, the most emotional of our children (though they all, of course, have their feelings, deep and true).

Tiarnan's mummy is the centre of his world, in a very real way.

One day I entered his room and he rushed over to me with: "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

I felt touched at his attitude of eagerness and obvious welcome.

Then he let drop his toddler sized bombshell: "I want mummy!"

It was funny. Mummy is always on his mind.

He is right, however. His mother should always be on his mind. I can think of no-one better to be in his thoughts, than her.

All I can say, is that he has good taste as to an idol to worship. After all, his choice is the same one I made long ago. It was a good one then - and it is a good one now - for Tiarnan and his daddy.

(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.)

Tiarnan's ancestral instinct

A musical compilation CD was playing today, in the background while my wife, Tiarnan and myself were in the room. The songs came from different parts of the world and different traditions. Tiarnan listened as he played.

Suddenly, an Irish tune came on. I am unsure whether Tiarnan (who is half-Irish but has never been to Ireland), had ever heard any Irish music - certainly he has never heard it in my presence before. His reaction was electric. He stopped what he was doing at once and started jumping about, relatively rhythmically. It was as if he was trying to invent the jig, in response to the sound of one.

Throughout the song, he danced his "jig" which, since he had never seen a jig, was not actually one, but definitely the intent to dance was there. His excitement was beautiful to witness. His smile was broad, his movements fast and energized. Truly, the Irish music seemed to have him under its spell.

He danced on until the very last note - and then he stopped. Once the Irish tune ceased, so did his dancing - for the song that followed was not from Ireland. Sweetly, he stood still and clapped the recorded musicians, once they fell silent, applauding their efforts.

This made me wonder about why he danced to such music. It was as if there was in him some ancestral instinct, some recognition of where he had come from and who he was. At least, so the timing of his actions tell. It could, of course, just be that the Irish dance music is naturally energizing and exciting and he picked up on that. However, he did not dance to any non-Irish tune. Furthermore, it is rather poetic to think that he might instinctively recognize his origins in the music - that it might call to something deep within him. Anyone who had seen the way he had danced to it, would wonder too at his connection to the music and the land of Ireland.

It looks like I will have to play him some more Irish dance music. I think we have ourselves a little leprachaun in the house - or half of one, anyway.

(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.)

Tiarnan and the telephone

Yesterday, Tiarnan's mum was out. Tiarnan, twenty-four months, was at home with his brothers and myself.

In fact, mummy was out some time, so Tiarnan began to miss her. However, he had a solution.

Early in the evening, I came into the living room and found Tiarnan on the phone.

He looked up at me, as I gazed down on him and said: "I phoned mummy!"

He seemed most comfortable there on the phone, with it snuggled against his ear. Clearly, it made him feel much better.

"Mummy!" he said, handing me the phone.

I took it from him and set it to my ear. There was nothing but a dial tone.

How sweet. Tiarnan had found comfort from the absence of his mother, by imagining that he had managed to call her on the phone. I knew that this was not possible, however, since Syahidah had just lost her mobile phone: no-one, not even the most resourceful child, could have called her.

I replaced the receiver and sat down beside him, lending my own comforting presence to him - even if I couldn't quite match up to mummy.

It is funny how powerful is the imagination of a young child. Even the image of her, in his mind, and "heard" in his ears, is enough to settle his heart.

Wouldn't it be good if such a thing could work for an adult, too? Sadly, I think, most adults are too stuck in the real world, to take an imagined substitute in its stead. Somewhere along the way, imagination loses much of its power - even in the most imaginative of adults.

The two of us waited for Syahidah to come home. Tiarnan, though, was quite satisfied - after all, he had "spoken" to her, hadn't he?

(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.)

A secret beauty therapist, Singapore

Yesterday, I noted something strange about Syahidah's toes. They had been painted. Now, this is no ordinary circumstance for Syahidah, for she never paints her toenails - or fingernails, for that matter. Furthermore, these were no ordinary colours. The big toe was in pink. The next toe was in green. The one next to it in blue - and so on, in a multi-coloured splash of colour. It was quite surprising.

Seeing me looking at them, she smiled and said: "Tiarnan did it."

Then she told me the tale. Tiarnan, twenty-two months, had held each toe in his right hand and took a marker pen in his left hand and carefully, most, most carefully, coloured in each toe nail, without straying onto the skin of the foot. It was quite neatly done. Then, when he had done with one colour and one toe, he would swap pens and do the next toe in a different colour, until the whole foot was done.

He was most pleased with his handiwork.

Now, what I wonder could have inspired him to do this? Well, when my mother and sister were here, he noticed, one day that they had painted their nails: one in red, the other with white tips. I can only imagine that this observation, of a couple of weeks before, had stuck with him and so, when presented with the unadorned foot of Syahidah, he thought to do something about it.

At a distance, one wouldn't know that it had not been done with nail varnish. It seems that even an ordinary marker pen can do a reasonable job of it, when done with care - by a toddler.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two 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, 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.)

Noise pollution and Modern Life

Today, my ears are ringing. Have I just returned from a rock concert? No. Have I been playing music too loudly at home? No. Have I been on a firing range? No. I made the mistake of going shopping two days ago.

Perhaps I should explain. My wife, myself, Ainan and Tiarnan, were shopping in Orchard Road, on Monday. All but Ainan, who was in Borders bookshop, were stood at the corner of Orchard Road, where Wheelock Place is (a conical glass structure that is rather striking), when an argument between car drivers developed on the street.

There were three cars involved. One car driver had had the temerity to actually stop for the traffic lights. This prompted the two drivers behind to have to brake. Neither of them was happy. A horn cried out, at a reasonable volume - but what happened then, was far from reasonable. A second horn struck my ears, with a long, loud, savage sound that was by far the loudest horn I have ever heard. It was way, way, too loud, to be legal in any country that had any laws at all. It was actually painfully loud (which means it is far, far higher than 100 decibels...perhap 120, 130 or 140 decibels...something like that). It was insanely loud. It was a bit like being poked in the ear with with a long sharp knife, so loud did it seem.

Now, from where I stood it could either have been from a taxi, or the car in front of the taxi: it was impossible to tell since they were next to each other.

It is a pity I was so stunned by what happened, that I didn't think to write down the number plates of all involved. For one thing is for sure: the owner of that horn should not only be off the road, but should be incarcerated somewhere. Just think what happens to bystanders everytime they push their horn: they are deafened and their ears will ring for God knows how long afterwards.

My real concern, though, is for Tiarnan. Children's ears are four times more sensitive than adults' - who knows what harm that horn did to his hearing? He wouldn't know that a ringing in his ears was abnormal - and wouldn't speak of anything odd about his hearing. He would just accept it as normal. It isn't. No-one should have to put up with noise like we heard on Monday.

The funny thing is, that very day I read an article in the Today newspaper about how loud a place Singapore was becoming. The timing couldn't have been more apt.

Singapore is a country that regulates human behaviour - or should I say, misbehaviour - fairly well through a system of fines, prison sentences and harsher penalties. From my experience, the other day, I would suggest that there should be a legal limit on how loud car horns can be. This limit should be enforced by suitable penalties - perhaps confiscation and sale of the car concerned, might be apt. Or perhaps harsher penalties would be necessary to moderate the behaviour. (Harsh penalties are almost customary here - it makes one wonder if they are the only ones that would work).

Noise pollution is a serious issue in modern life, as the world becomes ever more crowded. Some of it is unavoidable - ie. lots of people talking in a crowded place, but a lot of it is entirely avoidable - such as how loud one's car horn is. No horn should be so loud that it endangers the hearing of bystanders. That should be classified as an attack with an offensive weapon - for it does cause actual harm to people. Therefore, penalties should be commensurate with that situation and recognize it for what it is. Yes, it is necessary to have a horn, to warn people of the presence of a car - but the horn itself must never be so loud as to pose a danger to people.

I have no doubt that that horn, on that car, was illegal in some way. Singapore is so highly regulated that the issue must be covered somewhere in the law. I only wish I had had the presence of mind (a rather stunned mind at the time) to write down their car numbers. Either the taxi, or the car in front, poses a serious hazard to every pedestrian in Singapore.

My ears are still ringing, two days later. No doubt they will ring for a long time to come. Tiarnan, too, is probably nursing an injury (and my wife). That isn't right. It is time for Singapore to go one step beyond writing articles about how noisy it is becoming. It is time to legislate for a bit of quiet.

They can start with the car horns - and the inconsiderate drivers who press too long and too hard upon them. It is time to take them off the roads.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two 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, 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.)

Happy Birthday, Syahidah!

Yesterday, was Syahidah's birthday: which one is, of course, a state secret.

We celebrated at home with scores of friends throughout the day from morning until night. There were friends from all over the world, there: Germany, India, Argentina, Guatemala, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, among others. It was a congenial day, for me, in particular, as I got to meet many of my wife's friends that I had not encountered before - as well as some I was familiar with.

Quite funny to note: among my wife's friends, all the husbands were universally good looking and intelligent - some of them very good looking indeed. It was enough to make an insecure man worried. It seems that all my wife's female friends were very good at picking their hubbies. They, too, were all intelligent and well presented.

Most of the guests brought their children so that two parties took place at the same time: the party for little people scurrying around at high speed, beneath our feet - and the party for big people, taking place more sedately, above them.

Conversation was varied an interesting, given the range of people present, varying from the nature of different cultures, education, biology, genetics, economics, banking, the state of society and many others. My wife and I both found it refreshing.

Happy Birthday, Syahidah!

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

Recent UFO sighting in Singapore

UFOs. Believe in them or not, plenty of people claim to have seen them. This is, perhaps, not surprising, given its meaning: Unidentified Flying Object. If you don't know what it is, if it doesn't seem to be anything you know of human construction and it is flying, then that is, by definition, a UFO. So, it is not just the stuff of alien encounters then, though most people would equate a close encounter with a UFO and meeting an alien being (or their technology).

As ever, I have a reason for writing of something. It is always good to have one of those - otherwise, one shouldn't be writing.

Singapore is a very ordered place. It is a place in which not only does one not expect anything unexpected to happen - but, in fact, nothing unexpected ever does happen. Well, almost never.

Yesterday, Syahidah and I were walking between our house and her mother's house. It is not a long walk, but long enough to stretch those legs and feel that a little exercise has been had.

It was dark and Singapore was, as ever, quiet - in the sense of not much happening.

As we turned on to a road which backed onto some empty land (a rare commodity in Singapore) we saw it - actually, them.

It was very dark up ahead and we could not see any object to determine scale but there, perhaps a hundred metres in front of us, were some relatively fast moving, illuminated objects, going back and forth and up and down in graceful curves. They had blue, white and red lights on them, which seemed to shift colours. I theorized that the colours shifted when they shifted directions, but it might just have been confusion over where they were and what they were doing that gave this impression.

I didn't know what they were. At first I thought that they were cars, in the distance, travelling on a winding road, at high speed. But then, I didn't remember the road up ahead, going up a hill that wasn't there, and winding in a way that would not be necessary - because there was no hill to wind up. There were two of them and, after a while, it seemed that they were chasing each other about. After dismissing the idea that they might be cars and looking at their varied and circuitous paths, I realized that they were flying. Yet, they travelled back and forth and turned about much more often, and quickly, than any plane I had seen would do. Why would a plane take such a path through the sky?

Then, of course, came the thought that many people must have. This, I thought, must be what it feels like to encounter a "UFO". Up ahead, something was flying, but I didn't know what. I looked at the light pattern. It was not that of a plane. The spacing of the lights could not possibly describe the perimeter of a plane. It could, however, describe the perimeter of a more circular craft - though not a circle.

The darkness prevented an estimate of scale and distance, but logically, I realized that they couldn't be as far as they might be - because there was a forested area ahead of us and, to be seen, they must be ahead of the forest.

I thought, then, of the time, long ago, when I was a child, when my parents saw something they didn't understand, and could not explain, in the skies above our rural home. They had called for me to come down - but I had not yielded up the book I was immersed in. Indeed, I did not hear them. So, as I read, something passed by the house, that my parents could not understand or explain - and I never got a chance to see it.

Today, was my chance, then. Up ahead was something I did not understand, and could not explain. It was flying, it was not identified, therefore it was a UFO. Of course, I didn't believe it could be a UFO - it had to be something else.

Then there was the silence. These things flew through the sky, turned in sharp turns and made not a sound. They just flew, with great agility. Sometimes they appeared to land, sit on the ground momentarily, then take off again. These were UFOs with the minds of insects - flitting about, at seeming random, with God knows what purpose in mind.

We walked closer. My wife wasn't so keen on the idea. For, what if they were as they seemed? Would that be so funny? It would be a situation that no human is truly prepared to face: a close encounter with a UFO (and their alien occupants?).

They didn't look like planes. They looked like "UFOs" - yet I conceived the idea that they could be some kind of model aircraft. The only problem with that was that they didn't have wings - and they were almost circular: strange "planes", then.

There in the darkness up ahead was a lighter patch.

"There's someone there.", said Syahidah, interpreting the patch.

It looked like a patch, to me. A column that didn't move, a single brush stroke of deep grey, on a painting of pure blackness: apart from the brightly lit, almost circular "UFOs".

We walked closer, driven by curiosity.

The wild chase of the "UFOs" continued, around and around. Still, given the darkness we had no idea of scale.

Then we saw them. Two men standing in the darkness. Model planes they must be.

As we neared them, we could see what they were: "planes", with lights all around their unconventional, almost circular, circumference. One of the men turned one over to let us view what was beneath: a tangle of electronics. They were about 80 cm across.

"We made them ourselves.", he explained.

I was impressed. I don't think I could have done the same. At least, not without a lot of research, first. Some people have a practical gift - and these two chaps were clearly of that breed.

"They cost us three or four hundred dollars apiece, to make.", he continued.

It was an amiable close encounter, not with "aliens" but with model plane enthusiasts. In Singapore, such a thing seemed almost as strange as meeting true aliens - for very few people here actually make anything. To meet two young men, who actually made something themselves and did so not out of a motivation to make money, but to express some inner creative desire, was special indeed. It was almost as good as meeting actual aliens. It was, if you like, a close encounter of the friendly kind. As is the way of these things, it turned out that my wife recognized one of the men and knew which street on which he lived. So far from being an alien, he was a face she could place. Such is the small world of Singapore.

This funny experience makes me think, however, how many of those alien sightings (or alien "sitings", as they are often mispelt on the internet), come about. What if we had been too scared to investigate? What if we had hung back at a distance of 100 metres and watched those strange "alien" craft, circling and chasing each other with impossible agility in the night sky? What if we had convinced ourselves, after observation, that they could not be planes because of their almost circular shape? What if we had come to believe that they must be alien spacecraft - simply because we dared not to get close enough to determine that they were of homemade, terrestrial origin?

We, too, might have become tellers of alien tales. We might have spoken, for the rest of our days, of how we had had a "close encounter with a ufo", while walking one day, on a Singapore night. However, we haven't because we had the curiosity and the courage to investigate. So, foolhardy as it may seem, if you ever see a "UFO", try to get closer, try to see for yourself what it is you are actually seeing. I would say that it is more than likely that the mystery will resolve itself once you are close enough, really close enough, to have a "close encounter with a UFO". At that distance, it is more than likely that your "UFO" becomes a very identifiable flying object.

Happy sky watching.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty 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, 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.)

Daddy is on a roll

Yesterday we went for one of our habitual walks. This time it was to a strange new park, that Syahidah had christened "Stoney Mountain". It was like something out of the Hobbit. Alongside the path that wended its way through the wooded area, were large boulders that had obviously been placed there, in imitation of what might be a natural formation in some parts of the world. The effect, although artificial, was quite charming: one almost expected elves to pop out from the woods at any minute, or for a friendly hobbit to enquire after second breakfast.

My children, however, not having read such books, had no such references. Nevertheless they enjoyed it.

After we had climbed to the top of "Stoney Mountain", we began to make our way down to another path we saw cutting across the landscape far below - a shortcut, if you like. Ainan, Fintan and Syahidah ran down, hand in hand, but I, feeling a mass that once had not been mine, declined to do the same.

After they had reached the path, Fintan, four, looked back up at me and seemed to be ambushed by an idea. He ran back up the hill to meet me on the way down, shouting: "Roll, Daddy, roll!". He then got down on to the ground and began rolling down the hill, to show me what to do.

Clearly, he had conceived that Daddy, being rounder than the average boy, might do better as a ball, than as a walking man. In the distance, I could hear Syahidah and Ainan laughing at Fintan's suggestion. As for me, I looked at Fintan's rolling and the long hill down, and thought better of it. Yet, at his age, I had done the same, when confronted with a hill.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty 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, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Listen to the children

Today, we went to a nature park in Singapore. There are a few of these and they help give nature-lovers a break from the City.

We wandered far and wide within the park, seeing its peaks, its artificial lakes (dug out quarries) and wildlife, peeking from the trees. There is no need to speak of the detail of this.

After some while climbing many a step, high up in the midst of the "park", Fintan suddenly said:

"I heard a lion roar!"

My wife and I looked at each other and smiled. We both knew of Fintan's great imagination and, not having heard a lion roar, ourselves, we ascribed it to his imagination. "He heard a lion roar." echoed my wife, as if she was saying that he had seen a U.F.O.

About three minutes later, we both heard a sound, rather like a roar, in the distance. "Did you hear that?" my wife asked, suddenly a little anxiously. "Yes."

"Maybe not a lion," I said, doubting that there would be a lion roaming any part of Singapore - despite its name: "Lion City".

My wife looked towards the dense foliage all around us and to the kids down below us, perhaps thirty metres away. She didn't need to speak her thought.

"Boys!" I shouted, "Come close!"

"Don't frighten them." she said, a bit frightened herself.

"Perhaps it is a wild dog." I hazarded.

"Yes. Not a lion."

An animal, anyway, I thought.

The boys came closer and we walked together through the wooded area, a little more warily than before.

So, listen to the children when they speak of having heard and seen things: for one thing is for sure - they haven't heard and seen nothing. There will be something behind their perceptions even if inaccurately described.

What that something was, we never found out. It sounded like an animal roaring. It could have been a distant machine, of course. It was, however, something - not the nothing we had supposed when Fintan (and his acute senses) first spoke of it.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty 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, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)