Singapore's strange media silence.

You could be forgiven for thinking that Ainan was not Singaporean. You might form that impression by reading the Singaporean newspapers. You see, what was remarkable about them, over the past couple of weeks, was the absence of any mention of Ainan in them. Only one newspaper, the Zaobao, made mention of Ainan's scientific discovery of Velociperception, at the age of 8 - but even that was a very strange article for it claimed that Ainan's mother was a Malaysian (in other words, "Ainan is no loss to Singapore, because he doesn't even come from here".)

Now, I find this all very odd. Firstly, Ainan's mother, Syahidah is a Singaporean by birth. However her MOTHER was Malaysian by birth. Thus Syahidah is half Malaysian by blood and half Singaporean Malay by blood - and Singaporean by citizenship. Ainan was born in Singapore and was thus born into Singaporean citizenship. It is odd, indeed, therefore, that Singapore's national media should almost entirely ignore a Singaporean born boy who made a scientific discovery at age 8. Any other nation on Earth, would be so proud of such a development that they would scream it to the world at the top of their media lungs. Not so Singapore. Singapore, it very much seems, cannot be proud of the achievement of a half-Malay boy. No, you see, in the unwritten script of the national Singaporean story, Malays achieve nothing worthwhile and all the kudos goes to the dominant Chinese. It doesn't fit their national script to have a half-Malay boy achieve anything, let alone become the youngest person in history, to discover anything scientific, as he is.

There is something else interesting about the Zaobao story. Firstly, they called Ainan's mother, Malaysian, to rewrite his script as no loss to Singapore, because he wasn't from Singapore in the first place. This is, of course a lie. Secondly, I recall that they referred to Ainan as "Yinan". This is very interesting, for this is a CHINESE name. They are reframing Ainan's Malay success story, as a Chinese success story.

Now, I don't know whether these are innocent mistakes on the part of Zaobao - whether they, in fact, picked up this misinformation elsewhere and simply repeated it. I know this, however: the Zaobao article has been PULLED from the internet, since then and Google is no longer able to find it. Old links that point to the article now go to a blank page on Zaobao. This is very interesting. It seems to show that Zaobao's coverage, though minute, was not approved of, by other members of the PAP power structure - and even that little coverage was pulled once they realized it had gone out. The idea, of course, is that Singaporeans should not ever know about Ainan's growing achievements. I believe that Singapore will follow a rule regarding Ainan: the more he achieves, the less they will write of him. In the long term, this will mean that the people on Earth least informed about Ainan, a born Singaporean, will be the Singaporean people themselves.

None of this really matters to us, personally. If Singapore wants to keep the truth from its people, there is little we can do about that, except perhaps write a comment on a blog that only a small number of people will ever see. Eventually, however, the people of Singapore will work out what Singapore is doing. They will see, for instance, Ainan's growing presence on the internet and the many articles, IN OTHER COUNTRIES, referencing his achievements, and they will realize, that their local media have been unaccountably silent. They will understand, then, what is happening. Will this improve the impression Singaporeans have of their media? I don't think so. It will just show them what kind of media they have. It will show them that, more often than not, the most interesting stories, are the ones they never get to hear.


Imagine a future in which Ainan wins a major scientific prize, one day. It doesn't have to be the Nobel. There are other science prizes, too. What would happen then? Well, I think it would be very instructive for any Singaporeans who keep an eye on the internet for news of Ainan. If Ainan should one day win a major scientific prize, or make a major scientific discovery (in a way he already has...), the whole world will be alive with news of it, except for one, very quiet little island. In such an eventuality, the only country that would not know about Ainan's achievement, would be Singapore itself.

What a strange, little country Singapore is. Is there anywhere else in the world, outside of Soviet Russia, China, Burma and North Korea, capable of such a thing? Clearly, Singapore is keeping very interesting company, in the way it conducts itself. I wonder if the powers-that-be ever reflect on their own nature? What do they think of themselves and what they are doing?

Now, this post is written with two background facts in mind. Firstly, the only article to make it, briefly, to the internet, from Singapore, was the Zaobao article. No other article had an online presence. Furthermore, none of our relatives in Singapore heard of any news articles about Ainan. Therefore, I am assuming that there were no other articles of which I am unaware. If you know otherwise, please comment below.

Given that our relatives didn't hear anything, about Ainan, in the papers, it is most likely that there are no other articles - certainly not in the English or Malay press. That, in itself, is enough to support the analysis of this article.

It is funny to contemplate that, in the long term, the people least informed about the life and achievements of Singaporean born Ainan Celeste Cawley, look set to be the Singaporean people themselves. Now, how strange is that? By contrast, all other Chinese speaking countries in the world, and all other Chinese speaking newspapers in the world, gave significant coverage to Ainan's discovery. The question is: why didn't Singapore's media do the same?

Answers, please, below.

(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.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

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.)

IMDB starmeter popularity changes.

IMDB Starmeter measures the degree of interest, in any person on its database, by the number of visitors each entry receives. By this measure, something strange has happened in the last week.

Today, my IMDB meter says it is "down 4%" on last week. Ainan's IMDB starmeter, is "up 7%" and my wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley's IMDB starmeter is "up 88%". Now, I must confess I don't understand how such a strange set of popularity changes could have occurred: what event, unknown to us, in the world, has caused Syahidah's popularity to rocket...but that of her husband and son to remain essentially unchanged? The thing is, I know of nothing, in which only Syahidah would have been mentioned, that has happened in the last week.

So, even though IMDB reveals changes in popularity, it doesn't, necessarily identify the reasons for those changes. In the last week, something has happened, to make large numbers of people - almost twice the previous week's tally - to check Syahidah's IMDB page. What could it be? What has focussed attention on her, but not on her son, or her husband?

I have no idea. If you do, please let me know in the comments below, what unknown event has caused this change. It must be something that acts differently on each of us.

I ask, for one reason: usually I can guess the causes of changes of IMDB starmeter rankings - for I am usually aware of some corresponding event, be it news article or tv show. This week, however, I have no idea: so do let me know, if you do.

Thanks.

(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.)

My children's reaction to Ainan's news.

Today, Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, saw me present a newspaper to Syahidah for her to look at. He then noted that both myself and my wife were holding newspapers and looked put out. "My newspaper!", he muttered to himself and then went upstairs.

He came down holding a newspaper, the "My Paper" (oddly coincidental considering his description of what he was to get).

He was very excited, stretching up on his toes, and tapping a picture with his left-hand, "Abang is put in there!", he told us. "Abang" means elder brother. Sure enough, on page 2, there was a photo of his elder brother, Ainan, in the Singapore Polytechnic chemistry lab.

He looked at the newspaper with wonder, that his brother should be in it. Thankfully, there was no negative emotion in his reaction - just wonderment.

Fintan, too, is happy to see Ainan in the media. Last night, we played the video of Ainan on Straitstimes.com for Fintan. After we had finished, he reached towards the computer and set it playing again, using the mouse to skip forward to his favourite part of the video - when Ainan clicked his fingers to an inner rhthym. Fintan was very intent on the screen - and happy for his brother - and seemingly happy for himself.

I am glad there is such togetherness in the household.

(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 mystery of the Singaporean numbers game

Numbers are strange things. Especially in Singapore. You look away for a second and they change. Yes: here, numbers have a life of their own.

What numbers am I referring to? Well, these particular changing numbers are the costs of taxis, as declared in newspapers. Now, you would have thought that it would be a simple matter to be straightforward as to the true state of affairs when it comes to the real cost of taxis. However, apparently not.

My thoughts have turned to this on seeing a mysterious change in headlines in Singapore's leading national daily. Today The Straits Times has an article in which the headlines refer to the "5% to 35%" increase in taxi fares. Now, that is strange, I thought to myself on seeing that, for I remembered some very different headlines of only a few weeks ago. Those were also in The Straits Times and spoke of a "10% to 49%" price increase. Have the taxi fares been changed again? No, they have not. What has changed is what the headlines are saying about the fares, the fares themselves remain the same, overpriced charges.

Now, what is the truth, here? Is it "5% to 35%" or "10% to 49%". Well, I would suggest that the truth is that both sets of figures are not true. Both are misleading.

Why do I say this? Well, let us look at one simple fact in isolation. Let us forget the forest of new and wonderful whizzbang surcharges that delight the world with their awful magnitude and mystifying complexity. Let us just look at one small change among the many changes. The flag down rate has gone up from $250 - oops, I mean, $2.50 - to $2.80. Is that a change of 5%? Nope. Is that a change of 10%? Nope. It is a change of 12%. So, if you take a cab at a time and place that has no extra surcharges and you get out of the cab immediately (after all it is too expensive to actually travel anywhere in one of them), you would pay an increase of 12% over the former fares. So, that makes it a real mystery how the 5% (or the 10%) was calculated because the smallest possible change - one that ignored all other charges and surcharges is, in itself, 12% for a journey of no distance.

What happens when one actually, foolishly (or naively) actually takes a cab these days? Well, horrible things, usually, things like extra mortgages and lifelong debts to loan sharks.

What happens is that you end up virtually paying for the taxi, itself. A recent case in point. Someone I know of, recently returned from a well-timed holiday in Indonesia (where taxis are very cheap indeed), which meant that he left when taxis were affordable and returned when they had become insanely overpriced. Rather innocently, therefore, he took a cab from the airport to his home. Can you guess how much this journey cost, in an island a little bigger than the average American shopping mall (well, approximately)? It cost him well over 60 (yes, over SIXTY) dollars to get home. Consider that figure for a moment. Is that a reasonable amount for a single journey in what is a really, really small island? Now, how much was he used to paying for this journey? Have a guess. Well, he expected a figure in the 20s. Yes. That is right, he expected to pay somewhere over 20 and under 30 dollars. He didn't. He paid over 60 dollars. Now, I ask you is more than a doubling in fare, equal to "35%" or "49%". No it isn't. The true figure for these changes can be over a 100% increase in fare.

I have my own experience. My wife and I took a cab to town one evening. Just once, mind. We learnt our lesson pretty quickly. The journey would normally have cost around $9.50 to $10. The metered fare came out to $20.50. That, again, is more than a 100% increase.

Apparently, the journalists who wrote those articles have never actually taken a cab, for any distance, in the new fare regime. Perhaps they just write what the PR for the taxi firms tells them to write. Because one thing is for sure: the headline price rises in the newspapers do NOT reflect the reality of the price changes on the ground, in the cabs of Singapore today.

So, it is a mystery to me why the numbers change in these articles. It is also a mystery to me why those numbers do not accurately reflect the actual experience of people who take the cabs. Perhaps they are using best case only estimates, based on taxi rides that would avoid most of the surcharges. These are not real world estimates therefore. They are a PR person's statements.

All across Singapore, there are now empty cabs waiting for passengers, at all times of day. The only circumstance under which the fares would ever fall, is if those cabs stay empty. It is said, by Comfort PRs, that taxi drivers now earn 10% more. Perhaps they do. Perhaps they don't. Perhaps it is just PR. It doesn't matter. For even if it is true, it tells us one thing: a lot fewer people are taking cabs. You see, they should be earning a lot more than 10% more, since the true rise in prices is actually rather high. But they are not. Therefore, people are avoiding taxis. Fewer people take them. Most people are having to go to the inconvenience of finding less, well, convenient ways to travel.

It seems to me that if even fewer people took cabs, that eventually prices would fall back down again. We will see what people do.

(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.)

In need of a Babel Fish Translator

Have you ever been to Slovenia? I haven't.

Have you ever met anyone from Slovenia? I haven't.

Yet, today someone from Slovenia searched for me, on the internet, by name and arrived on this blog.

I am struck by the interconnectedness of the modern world. I begun to communicate, using this blog, just over a year ago, on September 19th 2006 - but since then I have had visitors from every country on Earth that is above subsistence level - and some which still are. It really is astonishing.

Over the past few days, news of Ainan's search for a University has penetrated a veritable babel of languages. I have seen articles written in what I think must be "Slovenian" (if Slovenia has its own language), Azerbaijani (same comment), Polish, German, Dutch, and Flemish. Those are just the ones I have noticed. There may be others. Countries that have signalled themselves to me, through unusual blog activity include the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Slovenia, and Poland. No-one from Azerbaijan has visited. Maybe they don't have internet connections.

Anyway, wherever you are from, and however you heard of this blog: welcome. There is much to read here.

Given the geographic diversity of visitors, you might wish to make use of the Babelfish translator in the upper left of this blog.

Yet, it is refreshing to observe that the idea behind the Tower of Babel, in the Bible - that all peoples of the world would be divided by their different languages, no longer seems to apply. Yes, there are many languages in the world, and visitors to this blog speak scores of different ones - but successful communication has occurred across these language boundaries - otherwise they wouldn't be visiting the blog in the first place.

So we live in a world in which the Tower of Babel still towers - but we understand each other all the same. There is promise in that, of a more understanding world, a more unified one.

(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.)

Traffic surge from the Netherlands, Austria, Germany

Yesterday, and today, have shown a significant increase in visitors from the Netherlands (about 900 visitors), Austria and Germany.

If you are visiting from any of these countries, could you please tell me how you heard about Ainan and this website. Was it a newspaper article, if so which one? If the article does not have an online version, could you scan it for me and mail it to me, please, for my records.

Your co-operation is much appreciated.

Thanks.

(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.)

Celebrity sighting on a train

Today I had the strangest of experiences.

I was sitting on a train, as I rarely do, since I rarely take a train, when I found myself looking at the newspaper of the man sitting next to me. He was in his fifties, and Chinese. The newspaper was called the New Paper - a tabloid.

Perhaps it is not the best of manners, but there was nothing better to do, on the journey, than read his newspaper as he did. He appeared not to notice.

Then, he turned the page. I felt a tingle of surprise, because there, in the newspaper, was a picture of my son, Ainan, 7, taken by my wife (but available on the internet), next to a brief description of his record breaking feat, in passing an O level at only 7 years and 1 month. It was just a few lines.

Now, this is a newspaper that I didn't expect to cover Ainan, at all - since it only deals in "exclusives" - meaning their policy is to run stories that no-one else has. Yet, that didn't apply to Ainan since he had been on the front page of Berita Harian the day before (and mentioned in another article's first paragraph in an article about "Wonder Kids", in the Straits Times, the leading English language daily, the same day). Ainan's story was not exclusive - yet they had mentioned him.

A feeling of surreality came over me as this man began to read about my son. I studied him, as his eyes studied the few words written before him. His eyes lingered long over them, drinking them in, as if he had stumbled upon a wine of unexpected vintage. It felt so strange that I, Ainan's father, was sitting anonymously next to him, as he read of him. He then looked up from the single paragraph, at the photograph above. Again, his eyes spent long, too, too, long, on Ainan's face and then looked across at the board pictured alongside him, with his chemical equations, scrawled on it. He spent perhaps three minutes on an article that would only take about ten seconds to consume, at a normal reading pace. Then he looked away and read the other page - but, before he turned the page, he looked back, again, at my son's face.

I felt a peculiar warmth as I watched this display. I wanted to smile, but didn't: I just observed him.

All over Singapore, other people were reading of Ainan - and I walked among them, utterly unnoticed. What an odd experience.

(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.)

Singapore Book of World Records

Today, Ainan, 7, is front page of the Berita Harian, Singapore's leading daily Malay newspaper.

The breaking news is that Ainan Celeste Cawley is, now, officially the youngest person ever to take an O level exam. The Singapore Book of Records, Singapore's answer to the Guiness Book of World Records, has officially recognized that it cannot find anyone younger than him, who has passed this level of examination, at anytime. It is an official record.

Ainan's record entry is entitled: "Youngest to attain an O level certificate" and will appear in the new edition of the Singapore Book of Records, in January 2008. Ainan was seven years and one month old when he sat the O level paper in January 2007.

For those who do not know, the O level Chemistry exam that Ainan took is at or above American High School graduation standard. Indeed, by observation of the first year courses at such Universities as Berkeley it is above first year University science courses that I have seen, in America. American Universities recruit O level students directly onto their courses.

So as to preserve the article, I am posting it down below.


Singapura : 22 Oktober 2007


Mudah cetak

BUKU REKOD S'PURA IKTIRAF BUDAK PINTAR

Oleh Halifi Hussin

BUDAK pintar yang lulus mata pelajaran Kimia dalam peperiksaan GCE 'O' tahun lalu pada usia tujuh tahun telah dinobatkan sebagai pelajar termuda Singapura yang berjaya berbuat demikian oleh Buku Rekod Singapura.

Ainan Celeste Cawley diberi pengiktirafan itu selepas mendapat Gred C bagi subjek tersebut, walaupun ketika itu dia baru berusia tujuh tahun satu bulan.

Rekod tersebut telah pun disiarkan dalam laman Internet Buku Rekod Singapura dan akan diterbitkan dalam bentuk buku Januari depan.

Dibentuk dalam 2004, Buku Rekod Singapura mempunya matlamat untuk memberi `peluang kepada warga Singapura mencatatkan rekod dunia.

Ainan merupakan anak kacukan keturunan Irish dan Melayu.
Kepintarannya dalam subjek Kimia mula disedari selepas dia sebelum ini berjaya menjawab buku latihan subjek tersebut, walaupun masih setahun jagung.

Bapanya, Encik Valentine Cawley, 39 tahun, yang merupakan ketua jabatan Bahasa Inggeris di Sekolah Linguaphone Education di sini, mendaftar anaknya dalam peperiksaan itu sebagai calon privet di British Council setelah mendapat tahu tentang kepintarannya.

Ditanya perasaannya tentang rekodnya itu, Ainan, anak sulung tiga beradik dengan tersipu-sipu menjawab: 'Saya gembira dan bangga.'

Ibu Ainan, Cik Syahidah Osman Cawley, 28 tahun, adalah seorang artis yang dapat melukis dengan kedua-dua belah tangannya.

Selain Ainan, pasangan tersebut mempunyai dua lagi anak - Fintan Nadym, empat tahun dan Tiarnan Hasyl, satu tahun.

Namun, bagi Ainan, pencapaiannya itu tidak berhenti setakat peringkat GCE 'O' sahaja.
Pelajar darjah dua yang menuntut di sebuah sekolah kawasan Bukit Timah itu kini mahu pula memecah rekod sebagai pelajar termuda yang lulus mata pelajaran Kimia peringkat GCE 'A'.
Encik Cawley berkata, persiapan telah pun bermula tetapi Ainan menghadapi hambatan sedikit kerana kurang latihan praktikal di makmal.

Namun, untuk mengatasi masalah itu, Raffles Institution (RI) dan Maktab Rendah Raffles (RJC) telah menawarkan Ainan peluang untuk melakukan kerja-kerja praktikal di makmal kimia mereka.

'Kami telah membuat persiapan seperti dahulu, iaitu belajar di rumah. Tetapi masalah sekarang adalah kekurangan latihan praktikal di makmal, namum kami yakin Ainan mampu mencapai kecemerlangan,' kata Encik Cawley.

(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.)

Volksblad, South African Newspaper

Ainan, 7, was written of by the Volksblad newspaper, South Africa, on the 12th July 2007. I cannot read the article since it is in Afrikaans, but from what I can discern it is an article which begins by talking of Ainan but then cedes into an article about giftedness in general. It appears to ask some Professors to comment on what giftedness is.

The article is pasted below so as to preserve it. Thanks to Volksblad of News 24, for taking an interest in Ainan's story.

Dié seuntjie (7) sit onderwysers ore aanJul 12 2007 09:48:22:063PM - (SA) Amy Johnson

KAAPSTAD. – ’n Sewejarige seuntjie van Singapoer is die jongste kind ter wêreld wat die O-vlak chemie-eksamen met vlieënde vaandels geslaag het en is reeds besig om vir die A-vlak eksamen voor te berei.

Dié eksamen word gewoonlik deur 18-jariges afgelê.

Ainan Celeste Cawley word as ’n wonderkind beskou en is blykbaar die jongste wetenskaplike op rekord ter wêreld.

Ainan het op die ouderdom van ses maande begin stap. As kleuter het hy ’n groot belangstelling in wetenskap en kuns getoon en hy was ses jaar oud toe hy glo sy eerste wetenskaples aan ’n groep kinders by ’n skool in Singapoer aangebied het.

Sy pa, mnr. Valentine Cawley, was glo self ’n begaafde kind en meen hy kan ’n steunpilaar vir Ainan wees.

Ainan het skole in Londen en Singapoer bygewoon, maar volgens sy pa “is die standaard van die onderrig nie goed genoeg nie” en wil hulle hom nou by ’n universiteit inskryf.
Volgens ’n plaaslike opvoedkundige sielkundige, dr. S.T. Potgieter, is Ainan ’n “seldsame verskynsel”.

“Dit is nie iets wat gereeld voorkom nie, hy is ’n begaafde kind. Sy IK is hoër as 145. ’n ‘Gemiddelde mens’ se IK is tussen 90 en 110. Hierdie kinders het spesiale aandag nodig en die huidige skoolstelsel maak net voorsiening vir die gewone kind,” het Potgieter gesê.

Prof. Hennie Steyn, verbonde aan die fakulteit opvoedkunde aan die Noordwes-universiteit, het gesê die gemeenskap moet hom soos ’n gewone kind met ’n spesifieke aanleg aanvaar.
Volgens Mensa se webwerf het begaafde kinders nie net intellektuele stimulering nodig nie, maar ook emosionele ondersteuning. Die ouers van ’n begaafde kind word aangeraai om die spesiale vermoëns van al hul kinders raak te sien en moet dit vermy om net die een te prys.
Cawley meen daar wag ’n blink toekoms op sy seun.

“Hy is op sy gelukkigste wanneer hy dink, leer en eksperimente uitvoer. Wetenskap is soos al die speelgoed in die wêreld wat saam gegooi is, en niks maak hom gelukkiger as om daarmee te speel nie.

“Dit is juis sy houding teenoor wetenskap wat eendag van hom ’n goeie wetenskaplike sal maak.”

News of Ainan in Venezuala?

Is there news in Venezuala? I ask because I have had an unusual number of visitors from venezuala in the past few hours.

If you are a visitor from Venezuala, I would appreciate it if you could tell me what has brought you to visit my site. Is it an article about Ainan you have read? Or was it just a friend spreading the word?

However you arrived here, welcome. There is plenty to read - so feel free to look around.

Thanks.

People Tonight, Philippine News

On Saturday, 16th May, 2007, People Tonight, a Philippino mass circulation newspaper, carried an article on Ainan. It has just appeared today on their website http://www.journal.com.ph/ in the miscellaneous section, though it may only be there for a day.


Child prodigy, 7, passes tough UK chemistry exam

THIS is one seven-year-old boy that would make both Asians and Europeans proud. Ainan Celeste Cawley, of Asian-Irish parentage, recently passed his Chemistry O Level exam from the London Edexcel Board, an exam normally taken by British 16-year-olds.

Considered a child prodigy and the youngest chemist on record worldwide, Ainan has been to school in both London and Singapore.

His father, Valentine, was educated at Cambridge University.

The exam that the younger Cawley passed, his father said, was a “rigorous one and at a level equal to or higher than American high school graduation.”

The father pointed out that “American universities recruit O level students directly onto their degree courses. It is still taken all over the world by former commonwealth countries as a benchmark academic exam.”

He disclosed that Ainan picked up a level textbook only on July 18, 2006, and took his exam six months later at the British Council in Singapore as a private examinee.

“Taking an exam alongside him were four rather surprised adult candidates. Ainan was just seven years and one month old when he took the examination,” the proud father said.

Walking at six months, as a toddler, Ainan would seek out science books in the library, showing a preference for dense texts with complicated illustrations of scientific matters. “These he would absorb quietly and comment on later,” the elder Cawley said.

By the time he was three or four, Ainan was interested in “hyper-dimensional shapes” and would draw their shadows in two dimensions as a form of “intellectual play,” he said. “Some of these shapes had hundreds of sides.

This was not a surprise to his mother, Syahidah Osman Cawley, an ambidextrous artist,” he added.

This interest in structure in the abstract developed into an interest in the structure of molecules as he discovered chemistry on the Internet. Through self-guided surfing, Ainan educated himself in science.

When he was six years old, he was given a chemistry book to look at on a whim. Ainan sat and read the text and indicated that he understood it.

His family gave him a chemistry test paper to do from the book and to everyone’s astonishment, he answered the questions correctly.

His father, Valentine, a former physicist, promptly presented him with a chemistry O level textbook.

For daily updates on Ainan, please read Valentine’s blog at www.scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com.

La Stampa, Italy

La Stampa is one of Italy's best known and most widely sold newspapers. It is published in Turin, but distributed throughout Europe. It is presently owned by the Fiat Group of Agnelli fame (or is it the other way around?).

On the 16th May 2007, La Stampa wrote an article about Ainan, placed in their Science section. It is written with the typical Italian passion and enthusiasm. I am copying these news articles here because some of the newspapers that have covered Ainan have already taken the resultant articles down: some sites keep them up for as little as a week, it seems. I thought it wise to preserve them, here, therefore.

Ainan il genio: a sette anniè un chimico professionista
Il piccolo Ainan, genio a sette anni

Storia di un bambino prodigio: ad appena due settimane di vita già scandiva qualche parola
SINGAPOREQuesta è la storia di Ainan Celeste, che ad appena due settimane di vita scandiva qualche parola, a quattro mesi gattonava, a 6 camminava e a 8 correva. È la storia di Ainan, probabilmente il bimbo più piccolo ad aver mai gattonato o essersi drizzato in piedi. Una storia straordinaria: a otto mesi Ainan riconosceva le lettere e a un anno parlava correntemente al punto che raccontò nel dettaglio il momento della sua nascita, dalla prospettiva di chi esce dal grembo di una madre. Oggi Ainan ha sette anni ed è il più giovane prodigio della storia: ha superato il GCE O Level (un esame di stato per ragazzi di 16 anni) in chimica, certificato da London Edexcel Board: è il chimico più giovane al mondo e l’unico prodigio in chimica mai conosciuto.Mezzo irlandese, mezzo malesiano, Ainan ha frequentato le scuole sia inglesi che singaporiane. Suo padre, Valentine Cawley, laureato Cambridge, un portentoso ma incolto talento per la musica (senza conosere le note, a 11 anni sapeva ripetere o fischiettare qualsiasi pezzo, compreso il Requiem di Mozart e la Passione di San Giovanni) ha sposato Syahidah Osman e da lei ha avuto tre figli, tutti bimbi-prodigio. Sulla sua esperienza, Valentine Cawley ha creato un blog, in cui racconta le vicenda di questa sua famiglia fuori dal normale. L’O Level è un tradizionale esame britannico solitamente affrontato da ragazzi di 16 anni: esame rinomato che equivale al diploma della ’high school’ americana, tanto che chi lo lo supera può accedere direttamente ai corsi di laurea delle università statunitensi. Nonostante non avesse mai preso in mano un libro di testo per l’O level prima del 18 luglio 2006, Ainan ha dato il suo O Level in chimica il 18 gennaio 2007, esattamente sei mesi dopo, presso il British Council, a Singapore, presentandosi come candidato privato. A dare l’esame insieme a lui, c’erano adulti piuttosto sorpresi. Ainan aveva sette anni compiuti da un mese quando ha superato l’esame. Intorno ai tre o quattro anni, Ainan era interessato alle forme iperdimensionali e disegnava le loro ombre come sorta di gioco intellettivo; alcune di queste forme avevano centinaia di lati.Fu allora che la madre, un’artista ambidestra, cominciò ad allertarsi. Dall’interesse per la struttura nell’astratto Ainan passò ad interessarsi alla struttura delle molecole, quando scoprì la chimica su internet. Navigando la rete da solo, si fece una cultura sulla scienza. E sei anni gli venne ragalato un libro di chimica da leggere per sfizio. Ma il piccolo genio lesse il libro tutto d’un fiato e fece notare che lo aveva anche capito. La famiglia gli fece fare un test preso dal manuale e, tra la sorpresa generale, Ainan rispose correttamente alle domande. Fu allora che il padre, Valentine Cawley, a suo tempo fisico, decise di fargli un libro di testo per l’O level in chimica. E adesso, quali saranno i prossimi passi per Ainan? Ha già finito il libro di testo per l’ A level e dovrebbe dare l’esame quest’anno. Per questo esame avrà bisogno di esperienza in laboratorio, dove non è mai entrato. Se ciò potrà essere organizzato egli darà l’ A-level, solitamente dato da ragazzi di 18 anni, per poi preseguire per un viaggio più lungo: l’università ed il mondo dello scienziato per la ricerca. E per chi voglia seguirne il cammino, gli aggiornamento sul sito www.scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and six months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, three, and Tiarnan, sixteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspotcom/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, in general. Thanks.)