Modelling for Guess Kids

A few days ago, I had the rather unexpected experience of watching my two youngest boys modelling for Guess Kids clothing. It was a “runway” show, without a runway, since it was actually in the Guess store in Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur.

Fintan, 9 and Tiarnan, 6, had been chosen to represent Guess Kids at a live in-store fashion show.  There had been no prior rehearsal, before the day, but on the day, the boys were shown what to do. They were asked to walk through the store to the doorway, where photographers were to be waiting, then they would pose. The lady from Guess Kids asked them to pose – and they duly threw funny faces and postures. This worried me a little since I was concerned that they might not do it properly, when it came down to it. Nevertheless, this was their lighthearted approach to the rehearsal.

Watching them get ready was funny. Both Tiarnan and Fintan had their hair styled.  Fintan was OK with his, since it merely accentuated his natural curls. He was comfortable with that. Tiarnan however, was most unhappy. They had made his hair spiky. When he saw himself in the mirror he was on the edge of tears.

“They are trying to make me look cool.” He said, most put out. “I don’t want to be COOL.”

I tried to persuade him that, actually, he looked very nice. He was, however, completely unconvinced. I had to have a word with the stylist and she duly restyled his hair sans spikes.

After posing for the cameras, they were to walk through the store to the other side, where a group of mothers and children would be waiting. There they were to pose for their customers.

After an hour or so, the show began. Fintan was the second last to be on show, Tiarnan the last. The other three models were all young girls. The girls went first.

To the sound of music, the kids walked through the store one by one. The girls were cute, but they didn’t seem to have a natural flair for the camera. That was not the case with Fintan. When he got to his first posing position, he did such a cool move with his arms that is difficult to describe – he grabbed at the lapels to his jacket, flicked them forward and folded his arms, in a lopsided way, with tilted head, all in one smooth motion. It looked so, dare I say it, COOL (which Tiarnan had so desperately not wanted to seem). Fintan was a definite dude, in that moment. His gesture was greeted with applause and the whirring of cameras.

Then Fintan went and posed in front of the mother’s and kids (who hadn’t seen his display) – and did the same thing, holding his pose at the end, with a very Brandoesque demeanour. The cheers were wild. The compere said: “It seems we have Justin Bieber, here!” The crowd roared louder still, appreciating the reference.

Then it was Tiarnan’s turn. He is the shyer of the two and I did worry about whether he would handle it. He was absolutely fine. He seemed to have learnt a bit about posing from Fintan, since he adopted lopsided folded arm pose, for the crowd – without the cool gesture before it and stared moodily into the cameras. He then did the same for the mothers and kids. This time the compere remarked: “Whaaah. So serious! Models these days, must not smile, but have to SERIOUS!” He then compared Tiarnan to the band One Dimension. Again the crowd appreciated the reference and cheered.

The boys changed quickly for their second set of clothes and repeated the procedure with some variation.

The crowd cheered them – yet they remained so cool in front of them. I felt a definite pride in their composure.

The boys were pleased to learn that they would receive clothes in payment and each, funnily enough, selected some of the clothes they had been asked to try on, for the show.

It was a good afternoon.  I think the experience was confidence building and showed the boys that they could manage themselves in front of a live crowd. As learning experiences go, I think that is one of the more valuable ones, for later life.

Well done my Guess Kids boys!

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, 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 athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

Individuality through verbal expression.

Ainan, 12, has his own characteristic style of expression. At times he is markedly associative, in his writing, linking ideas sometimes logically, sometimes elusively. This creates stories unlike those written by anyone I know. At other times, however, he is pithy, in a memorable sort of way. For instance, on the 4^th June, 2012, he remarked: “Yes is just distilled maybe. Yes is the part that doesn’t evaporate away.”

Now, these two sentences might sound poetic, but he had a serious point in there, too...he was stating his understanding that “maybe” contained an element of yes in it (and an element of no, too). He was counteracting my frustration that he wouldn’t give a yes or no answer to a question I had asked him (now forgotten). He did so in a mild though pedagogical manner, as if he sought, gently, to enlighten his father with what seemed obvious to him. It was also, of course, his way to win the “argument” of whether he should give a yes or no answer.

I enjoy talking to Ainan. He is resourceful in his argumentation, when it comes to debating a point – and somewhat unexpected in his means of expression. He is also decidedly determined to maintain his point, in the face of any counterargument. I think this is a strength, in that he will defend his ideas, in future and speak on their behalf.

I do wonder at his creative writing though. It takes a certain kind of open mind to appreciate the way he constructs sentences, thoughts and observations. His peculiar combination of logic and association, makes for an unusual and challenging read. There is also a lot of humour in his work – both plays on words, and absurdities in the situations his characters encounter. It is not at all like anyone else’s writing that I know of...not even mine.

Anyway, it is in this individuality of verbal expression that much of Ainan can be found. Those privileged enough to read his creative writing, encounter an elusive thinker, laughing at the world, and its ways. Those who hear his pithy remarks, sense the beginning of an aphorist. So there are two competing means of expression in him: the logically condensed and telling and the diffuse, associative and elusive. It is as if there are two different types of writer in him, fighting for the right to “speak up”. Perhaps there are. Perhaps the secret of Ainan is that he is a chimera of opposites, each tugging him in a different direction simultaneously. The net effect of all these differing intellectual and dispositional forces, is the young, somewhat enigmatic, Ainan himself.

The question is: will one of these multiple influences prevail? Or will they always commingle? Will the associative or the logical win out, in Ainan?

I shall watch his writing and heed his words in the years ahead, to see how he develops.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, 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 athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

What makes my wife, the way she is.

My wife, Syahidah, has her own way of expressing herself. I have been charmed by this, since the very first day we met. She has the habit of coming out with observations which, though surprising, in a way, have their own inner logic and wisdom, though some of them are, I must say, pure whimsy.

In this blog I have essentially focussed on what my children have to say about the world - but I have realized that perhaps I should include some of my wife's remarks, soon after she makes them.

A couple days ago, we sat together, of an evening, after the kids had gone to bed, watching a film together. She turned to me, at one moment, and opined: "It is impossible to walk, when you are in love." (said on 8th August 2010)

Her words struck me as both true, and expressive of what it is, to love. Her utterance reminded me, then, of our earlier days together, when she was always coming out with her wise little thoughts. It made me smile, inwardly.

I too, have been one who cannot walk...and Syahidah was the cause. Thank you dear, for expressing it so well.

(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.)

Problem parents.

Sometimes, parents are the problem, not the child. I see this quite regularly, in the kinds of searches people make. Sometimes, the searches indicate that the parent is the problem, in the parent-child relationship.

One particular recent case comes to mind. Someone from Bangkok - presumably a parent - arrived on my site with the following search terms: "Baby problem too talkative".

I thought those words were so sad. You see, there is no such thing as a baby that is "too talkative" - only parents who are too ungiving, of their time, their effort, their patience. A baby talks because it wants to communicate. If it talks a lot it means two things: it is thinking a lot and it wants to communicate much of it. This is not a bad thing - and it flabbergasts me that there are parents who think it is. If the baby wants to talk and is able to talk, it is a sign that much that is good is going on in the baby's mind.

It seems that that particular parent in Bangkok, wanted a child that required no effort on their part. They wanted a child to be a silent, undemanding object. They were perturbed that their child, in fact, was talkative and wished to engage with them. How sad it is that the parent didn't wish to return the engagement and seemed to find it a burden - a burden big enough to go searching for relief from it, on the internet.

I have seen, before, parents whose searches seem to imply that they want their children to conform. They want their children to be "easy to look after" - even if it means that the child cannot be a child. These are parents, whom I feel should never have become parents at all. They seem to want to deny the essence and reality of the child and have, in their place, a convenient accessory, that gives them the status of parents, without any of the bother, responsibility or effort.

Perhaps such parents should, instead, be seeking adoption agencies, for it is quite certain that they are unprepared for, and unable, to look after their child in the way one would hope. Indeed, perhaps such "parents" should have thought ahead, and adopted out their children at birth. There are many childless couples out there who would just love to have a "too talkative" baby to fill their days, with fresh thoughts on everything and anything - as such children are wont to do.

The saddest part of this particular incident with the parent in Bangkok is the long-term effect on the child. Now, the baby is "too talkative". However, if the parent persists in not engaging them, in snubbing their communicativeness - as one assumes they are doing, if they find the baby's efforts "too" much - then, over time, the baby will come to learn that talkativeness gains no response. They will come to learn that silence is required. In time, therefore, this wonderfully communicative baby, may fall silent and fall inward and become a child with much to say, but who never says it. They become the silent, watchful type who looks on the world with wise little eyes, but an unmoving tongue. Is that a happy outcome? Is it right to encase such an expressive child in entrained silence?

I don't think so. However, I fear that that is the likely future for that particular "too talkative" baby. Until, that is, they get much older, and find themselves in more accepting circumstances. Perhaps then, their silent tongue might free itself and grow active once more. Of course, it might be too late by then. Silence might have become an unbreakable habit and a once unusually communicative being, might have become an unusually uncommunicative one. I believe that such a change is possible: all that it takes is for their present toxic, ungiving social environment to persist long enough to train the child in a new way of communicating: that of relative quietness, in the face of the explict demands of the parents that he, or she, be so.

If you are the parent of a talkative baby, or a child; if their tongue never ceases to frame new thoughts, new observations, new questions, don't ever let yourself become impatient with the incessant stream - for that stream is destined to become a river of thought that the child will communicate to the world, when they grow up. Don't shut them off, now, so that they might never speak what is on their minds. Who knows, perhaps, in their ever-flowing words, there lies a future writer, or actor, or politician - or any other kind of verbally gifted adult. It would be such a pity to snuff out that future, by being impatient in the present.

So, never let yourself think that a child is "too" talkative. There is no such thing. There are only adults who are too unwilling to listen. Don't be one of them.

(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.)

The fate of genius.

How do geniuses fare in life? Is their success inevitable? I ask this for a reason. Today, someone from Washingtonville, New York, arrived on my blog with the provocative search terms: "Why do geniuses often fail in life?"

Well, one wonders, firstly: do they? It is difficult to answer this question, for there are no stats to bring to bear on the matter, that I know of. However, it is easy to source anecdotes which suggest that many people, of great talent, live lives beneath their potential. We all, in fact, know such people: people whose intelligence sparkles, in conversation, but whose lives look a little dull by comparison - something is missing, something never happened.

So, let us assume that the assumption of my blog searcher from Washingtonville, is correct. Let us take it that geniuses do often fail in life. Yet, is that the right question? I think we should rather be asking why does life fail geniuses?

You see, the life of a genius is not the easy picture everyone seems to think. There is the basic assumption, of all, that the greatest of intellectual gifts mean that the possessor is blessed with an "easy life" and that, in some way, one should be envious of them. This is, I think, a misplaced envy. Genius is not an easy burden: it is to carry the weight of expectations of a humanity unwilling to help. Everyone expects great things of the "genius" - but they expect them begrudgingly, not really wanting the genius to accomplish them, for how "bad" it would make the ordinary person look by comparison. Thus, the achievement is both expected and resented beforehand. It is a strange circumstance, for the genius is resented for things not yet done: a jealousy permeates the air, for achievements not yet made and which may never be made. It is most bizarre. It is as if the whole of the rest of humanity, imagines the genius' "fated" future life and begrudges them for its lustre - then sits back and hopes desperately that it doesn't happen - or does, more to the point, everything they can to frustrate all progress.

No-one, on Earth, is more hated than a genius, in their early years. Their self-evident gift is a spur to every darker emotion in people: hate and envy gleam in every eye - and for what? Because those others, see, they know that the genius is "better" than they are - and they loathe them for it.

To be a genius is thus to be barred from acceptance by humanity. It is to be thrust out, by an essential difference, into a category of one's own. It is a great thing to be a genius - for, Humanity is only ever united in the presence of one: united in envy of the "Great One".

It is a truth, that all of significant talent, come to observe - that the only admired genius, is a dead genius. It is, you see, impossible to be envious of the dead. Thus, only when a genius is safely interred, will the envy slough away, and the admiration come to the fore. Geniuses have the bizarre distinction of being universally hated in life, and universally loved in death. Most people would rather choose the opposite condition - but it is not for the genius to choose: they were born the way they are and cannot trade it for the alternative. So long as they rise far above the common herd of man, that herd, that sheep-like mass, will despise them for it. That leads us to why so many geniuses "fail".

The only course of action, for a genius who wishes to have a happy life, is to give up being who they are. A genius who "fails" is an ordinary man, once more. A genius who "fails" may be accepted, finally. A genius who "fails" is one who succeeds, in life. For, it is clear, that if a genius fails, they come to be seen to be human again. They can, for the very first time, be embraced as "one of us" - and so, at last, at long, long, last, be befriended by the bulk of Man. A genius who "fails" is a genius who learns how to be loved in life - and forgotten in death.

So, the dilemma of a genius is a difficult one. They must choose either to succeed in becoming who they should be, in expressing what only they can see, and, therefore, step so far outside the limits of the common Man, that there could never be anything in common with that Man. Or they can choose to hide their essence, to leave their thoughts unexpressed and undeveloped, to muffle their inner longings to create and become a semblance of what others are. They can choose to be "normal" or, at least, seem normal in every functional way, by not functioning outside of the norm. If they make this choice, they lose the happiness and sense of fulfilment that attends the highest creative activity - but they gain, in return, acceptance by the wider world; they may be embraced by the community, loved as every "ordinary joe" is loved - in that diffuse kind of way, that comes from thinking that "you" are "one of us".

So, it is not geniuses who fail in life. It is life that fails geniuses. Life fails geniuses by not allowing them the space to be. A genius must choose either a life within the community - or a life outside of it, in a very real sense. You see, if your work, the products of your mind and, indeed, the fullness of your inner thought, are beyond the understanding of the common man, then you, truly, have nothing in common with that man. There is no means to find genuine mutual understanding. It is to be a natural outsider - and, as you probably know, most people never reach out to the outsiders of this world - in fact, they enjoy debarring them, from the shared discourse of all. They feel unified by their act of exclusion.

Geniuses fail, because no-one wants them to succeed - or at least, no-one wants a living genius to succeed. They are quite happy to note that a dead genius, did, since there is nothing threatening about the mental powers of a corpse. Indeed, most living people have the mental powers of a corpse - so they probably feel quite well-disposed to one just like themselves, once the genius has died.

Geniuses discover that there is nothing more adept at working together, than the whole of Man, against the genius, if they are so foolish, as to reveal themselves. Thus, the socially skilled genius (no doubt there are some), notes this and chooses dissemblance - and the most effective means of disguising genius is to do nothing with it, at all. There. Done. "Happy"...but unfulfilled.

Indeed, it seems to me that the only geniuses who would not choose to make this choice are the socially inept geniuses. These would not, perhaps, understand the problem, would not act appropriately upon it, and persist in - oh the cheek of it! - being true to themselves and continue to create their works that so offend Man, whilst they live, but shall so delight them, once they die.

Thus, it is not that geniuses lack social skills - it is just that the only geniuses that we come to acknowledge as geniuses (usually after they are safely decomposed) - are the ones who lacked the social skill to work out how to "fit in" and be socially accepted.

So, there is one thing that a genius may never do, in public, and be accepted - and that is: create! As long as the genius persists in being incapable of being a genius, then they will find themselves quite capable of being loved by all.

So, if you are a genius - what choice have you made: to be loved in life, and forgotten in death...or loathed in life, and loved forevermore, once you are no longer able to feel it?

It is not much of a choice, is it?

Well, there is a solution. Any society which welcomed genius, would suddenly find that it had more of them. Thus, the answer is in all your hands: accept geniuses for what they are, love them for what they do - and don't for a minute feel a twinge of envy. If you can manage this, if the whole of Mankind can manage this, life for all would improve at an immense rate, as all the world's dissembling, self-defeating, "fitting-in" geniuses suddenly get to work, without fear of being loathed for it.

Overnight, there would be a revolution in the fortunes of Man - and all you have to do is stop hating and start loving. Now.

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

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

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

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

The Moonwalking Computer Game.

The other day, I saw something very odd. My son, Ainan, was playing an online computer game in which the "soldiers" were acting rather bizarrely. They were walking backwards into the field of fire, then moonwalking on the spot (still backwards). Now, not being completely unfamiliar with computer games, I knew that this was not normal.

"How did you do that?", I asked Ainan, somewhat stupefied.

"Oh, it's easy, I just hacked the game...", he trailed off, not explaining exactly what "hacking the game" involved.

Ainan is just nine years old. I remember being nine years old - and at that age, I don't think anyone around me was equipped to be hacking online computer games and making them do bizarre things. (Not that there were such things...but you know what I mean.) Yet, here Ainan was, playing with the computer code of online games, like a typical child might play with a football.

The mystery of this is two-fold: firstly, how does he do it? Secondly, and more to the point - how did he LEARN to do it? You see, Ainan has not been taught programming in class - this is something he has taught himself, something he has worked out, on his own, through experimentation. Somehow, it is something he instinctively understands. He looks at a computer and sees a playground, that he can make do pretty much what he wants. He is not following the instructions of another, or techniques learnt formally - he is just guided by his own intuitions and insights into how computers work.

Though I have chosen to comment on his Moonwalking computer game, it is not an infrequent occurrence that a computer should behave bizarrely in his presence. Indeed, I have almost come to expect unusual behaviour from computers, once he has been near them. What amazes me, though, is the ease with which he accomplishes these things; the speed with which he does so, and the sureness with which he does so. Yet, he does so, on his own instruction.

He is yet at the beginning of his mental growth, for he is but nine. Yet, I do wonder where and how far he will go in his development and what he will become. He has acquired some degree of skill in quite a few intellectual disciplines, from physics, chemistry, computing, indeed, in anything scientific and mathematical. It is difficult, therefore, to see where this will end up, since there are so many directions he could choose to take.

In the meantime, I shall just enjoy his playfulness in all that he does - and watch that he doesn't play too much havoc on my computer!

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

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

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

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

The message and the messenger.

In Singapore it is not just the message that counts, but the messenger, too. Whether or not a viewpoint is accepted or criticized seems to depend on who the messenger is.

I have been an observer of Singapore's blogosphere for a couple of years, now - and an observer of Singapore since 1999. Thus, I have had time to accumulate impressions about the nature of discourse here. Well, I have noticed something. Sometimes, a viewpoint which, if expressed by a Singaporean, would be endorsed and supported by other Singaporeans, is attacked, by Singaporeans, if expressed by an outsider. I find this strange. It seems that the messenger is more important than the message, here.

I have seen opinions and arguments presented by outsiders, which are very similar to opinions expressed by Singaporean commentators - yet, the outsiders views are roundly attacked by a number of Singaporeans, whereas, when a Singaporean writes the very same views they find support from other Singaporeans, who voice like views and experiences.

My conclusion from this is that a subset of Singaporeans don't like outsiders to comment on Singapore - even if those comments are the very same ones that a local person would make, in the same circumstances. There seems to be an undercurrent that if you are not born and bred in Singapore, then you are not allowed to voice your thoughts on it.

I am not saying that all Singaporeans think this way (indeed I have seen some Singaporeans speak out in support of the outsider's right to comment - and noting the similarity of their comments to locals') - but it is clear that some do.

I think this is a pity. If the views of outsiders are not welcomed, then Singapore can only be impoverished by this exclusion. Whereas an outsider might come to the same view as a local, sometimes they will see something that locals have overlooked, for the lack of certain comparative experiences and understandings. It is this fact which means that, far from being closed to the viewpoints of outsiders, that Singaporeans should be particularly OPEN to their viewpoints, in the hope of coming to understand something in a different way, and from a different perspective.

Singapore is still not fully at home with the presence of foreigners in its midst. Some Singaporeans have accepted them, befriended them, even married them - but others still think that foreign means "unwelcome" and feel that they should be excluded - their ideas included.

A message should be considered, irrespective of the messenger. It should not be rejected just because of the colour of skin, religious views, or other quality of the messenger. The message, alone, should be taken on board. Yet, still, in Singapore the question appears to be, for some: "Who is saying that?"

As I have observed this phenomenon, I have, at times, thought that perhaps I should not write my thoughts on Singapore anymore. I have wondered whether it is worth making the effort to communicate my understanding of what I see, when some will reject it simply because I am a white foreigner, rather than evaluating the thoughts on their own merits. Yet, still I have continued to write. I feel that I should continue for those who are open, and not be silenced by those who are not.

(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.)

The Value of An Individual

I came across something rather saddening recently. It was a blogger writing of his opinion that he had nothing worthwhile to say - because others "wrote better" than he did. He listed several Chinese names - and my own name, which is why I came across his blog.

Now, the first thing that occurred to me, on reading this, is that he was unaware of his own value, as an individual. He writes about things others never could - because they have never been, and never will be, him. He may consider what others write to be more "worthy" - but that does not make what he writes worthless. None of those that he praises by picking out as being "good writers" could have written his blog posts - for his posts come from his life, his views, his understandings and his experiences.

It is easy to forget, in a competitive world, that, in one sense, none of us have any competition at all. We are all unique. There will never be another "us". We will live but once and then be no more. Nothing can be more valuable, therefore, than the individual - for each of us is irreplaceable and inexchangeable by any other, ever.

So, to all those bloggers and other creatives out there (for blogging, at its best, is a creative activity, or should be), do not ever feel diminished by the greatness of another. No other can be you. No other can write, think, feel, act as you do. Whatever you do comes from whatever you are - and there is only one like you - and that is the one you see in the mirror every morning.

Should that blogger ever read this page, I would urge him to write on - and express the unique self that he possesses. I would urge the same call to express the self, upon all others. In whatever way you can express who you are, you should do so - for no-one will ever again be as you are. Make your uniqueness count: express it.

(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)

School uniforms: a toddler's view.

Today, Tiarnan, twenty-three months, accompanied his mother to Ainan's school. While there, they looked around.

Now, Tiarnan has only ever seen Ainan wearing his school uniform, five days a week. He is accustomed to seeing Ainan returning home wearing it. Until this week, this meant returning in the evening, after school. Now, it means returning in the early afternoon, since school now begins early in the morning (too early).

What Tiarnan saw at Ainan's school astonished him. Everywhere he looked there were people who, from a distance, looked just like his eldest brother, (Abang), Ainan. They were all wearing the same distinctive uniform.

Tiarnan turned his head from one school boy to another, saying: "Abang! Abang! Abang!" as he fixed his stare on each one. It was very clear that he thought this identity of uniform most peculiar. Everyone was a "clone" of his eldest brother.

This was Tiarnan's first experience of uniformity of dress. It was clear that he thought it very strange. There was something unnatural about it.

The funny thing is, that adults are accustomed to think of uniforms as "normal" and normalizing. Yet, clearly, the instinctive reaction of toddler Tiarnan was to think of it as odd. Everyone was naturally different - but here they were, all dressed like his Abang.

I rather feel that Tiarnan's reaction is more authentic and more informative. He is telling us that it shouldn't be normal for all children (or adults) to appear the same. Uniqueness has value. Until that moment, in Tiarnan's young life, all people had dressed as individuals. Everyone had been unique. Today, everyone was the same. I think it was a matter of some startlement for him.

So should it be for all of us. Let us be ourselves. Let us be unique.

(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.)

The importance of creativity

Yesterday, an old friend asked me: "Are you still writing that blog?" His intonation seemed to say: "Why bother?"

"Yes." I answered, simply, ignoring the message of his tone.

"I don't see where you can go with that.", he replied.

That hurt. I had spent a year writing this blog, day by day, for the purpose of expressing my thoughts on matters of what, to me, are some importance - but that isn't necessarily clear to others. For him, there was no purpose to writing, perhaps because it didn't produce any observable financial return. Yet, there are more reasons for doing something, than money alone.

Without creativity, a life is not fully lived. Each of us has an individuality that will never come again into this world. I believe that a person has somehow failed if they don't express their own essential nature, in whatever way best suits them. For me, one of those of ways is writing. If my friend had actually taken the trouble to read my blog, he would seen that I have poured much thought and feeling into these 550 pages or so. I feel that there is much of value, there, for anyone who takes the time to read it.

I hope that some of you agree.

As for his remark: such words tend to silence creativity - they tend to make a writer fall silent. It has, therefore, been a struggle today to write this entry. I hope to resume my former momentum tomorrow.

Best wishes all.

(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.)