tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-344006012009-11-27T20:47:01.886+08:00This is the true story of scientific child prodigy, and former baby genius, Ainan Celeste Cawley, written by his father. It is the true story, too, of his gifted brothers and of all the Cawley family. I write also of child prodigy and genius in general: what it is, and how it is so often neglected in the modern world. As a society, we so often fail those we should most hope to see succeed: our gifted children and the gifted adults they become. Site Copyright: Valentine Cawley, 2006 +Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.comBlogger1176125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-77620079978943653172009-11-26T14:11:00.003+08:002009-11-26T14:24:00.438+08:00

Sweetness of character is as rare as great brilliance of mind - in fact, it is, rather sadly, probably rarer.Yesterday, Fintan, six, was eating dinner with us. What was strange was that he only took rice and vegetables, onto his plate."Fintan, eat some of the curried chicken!", I urged him."No.", he said to me quietly, without rebellion, but with a certain firmness."Why not?""Because I don't want

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-60549551886323731992009-11-24T21:29:00.003+08:002009-11-24T22:35:03.102+08:00

It is funny to see what is inherited by one's children. Sometimes it is like seeing the essence of a parent poured into the child - a reanimation of the soul. A case in point occurred last Friday, with Tiarnan, three.Tiarnan was having a "Concert", for his graduating class from Kindergarten. Each class got the chance to dance at least once. Tiarnan had more than one dance.Now, I didn't expect

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-85754843758052629082009-11-22T19:52:00.004+08:002009-11-22T20:03:38.311+08:00

Yesterday, I was on the MRT with Tiarnan. The MRT, for those who don't know, is the train: the Mass Rapid Transit, of Singapore. The nearest equivalent would be the London Underground, though the MRT is mostly overground, as far as I can see.Anyway, there I was, carrying Tiarnan, three, for the whole journey, because no-one would give up a seat and Tiarnan was unwilling to stand on the floor, in

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-13569127752783993302009-11-21T15:06:00.005+08:002009-11-22T07:39:21.487+08:00

My boys are obsessed with cars. At least, if not obsessed, then they are highly knowledgeable about them. Sometimes, I think they are speaking a shared secret language filled with abstruse names, and fine discriminations.On November 3rd, 2009, I was walking Tiarnan and Fintan to the local shop. As we walked together side by side, Tiarnan, three, casually remarked of a passing car: "That's a

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-10503881174981710602009-11-20T17:40:00.005+08:002009-11-20T18:03:31.313+08:00

Bizarrely, CNN has quoted my blog, on its website. They have excerpted an article I wrote, a while back, on Ris Low's atrocious behaviour, in her nascent career - or should I say, career of atrocious behaviour.The link is here: http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/none/miss-singapore-world-2009-aftermath-811798If you scroll down the article, you will see "Scientific child prodigy" quoted, in the latter

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-78006683121846787622009-11-20T12:42:00.004+08:002009-11-20T12:55:41.351+08:00

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,

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-57739872706022817982009-11-18T11:37:00.004+08:002009-11-18T12:04:34.633+08:00

Yesterday, I had an encounter that is fairly typical of the talk one hears about Malaysia, from Singaporeans. I was struck, however, by the certainty of her views, which made me think them fit for remark, here.I was in KL airport, waiting for a delayed Jetstar Asia flight to Singapore. It had been supposedly delayed by an hour and a half, but in fact, the delay turned out to be even longer (

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-17185680591644284272009-11-15T16:40:00.004+08:002009-11-15T20:40:26.163+08:00

NASA has discovered lunar water...and lots of it. This is both good news and potentially bad news. I shall explain.On October 9th 2009, a mission involving the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, LCROSS discovered 25 gallons of water in a plume of dust kicked up, one mile into space, by an empty rocket hull smashing into the Cabeus crater. The crater had been chosen because it is

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-17601624236743034932009-11-15T00:19:00.003+08:002009-11-15T00:33:45.491+08:00

In speaking to my children, I am often struck by the thought that children are superior to adults. Today, for instance, Tiarnan and Fintan were discussing Transformers. Now, we had all seen the show...once...together, several months ago. Yet, it seemed to me that my young sons saw far more in it, than I did...and I am not an unobservant adult.Tiarnan and Fintan discussed the minor details of each

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-19968254520943459172009-11-13T01:02:00.005+08:002009-11-13T02:10:16.009+08:00

Forbes has produced a list of the world's most powerful people. Now, I suppose there is nothing particularly wrong - or particularly novel - about such a task. However, I took exception to how Forbes defined their effort. Forbes said of its inaugural ranking, that it had narrowed the list to 67 people: "a number based on the conceit that one can reduce the world's 6.7 billion people to the one in

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-80953928238920599202009-11-11T16:16:00.004+08:002009-11-11T22:43:44.101+08:00

The Jews are well known to be gifted. Well, actually, this is not strictly accurate - for it is a mere splinter of the Jewish race, the Ashkenazi Jews, who are actually more gifted than usual. The remainder of the Jews (the ones in Israel, for instance), are pretty average, in every way.In terms of IQ, the Jews have a reputation for being more gifted than others. Yet, again, this is a simplified

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-84994291370311762952009-11-09T18:32:00.004+08:002009-11-09T18:41:11.767+08:00

World Kindness Day is on 13th November 2009. So, it is apt that attention should, once more, focus on the Singapore Kindness Movement. The big question to be asked, first, of course is: is Singapore an essentially unkind society?The short answer, unfortunately, is yes – and I shall tell you why. Singapore is a country built on competition. It is a nation that has raised competition to be the apex

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-10980952721315657462009-11-07T11:03:00.004+08:002009-11-07T11:44:57.687+08:00

Singapore is notable for proclaiming itself as "No.1" in everything it can. At times, this is amusing, as ever more minor matters are proclaimed to be supreme achievements. Yet, in the realms of true achievements, Singapore is distinctly lacking. Where, for instance, are Singapore's geniuses?By "genius", I do not mean people adept at examinations (Singapore has plenty of those...the whole

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-47423824040605544122009-11-06T14:25:00.003+08:002009-11-06T14:40:41.364+08:00

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, was quoted, recently, in Petir, the People's Action Party magazine, as saying: "Initially, I believed that intelligence was equated to language ability. Later, I found that they are two different attributes - IQ and a facility for languages. My daughter, a neurologist, confirmed this,". Commentary in the articles that relate to this, state that this realization took

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-73038816754622708992009-11-04T11:56:00.004+08:002009-11-04T12:17:06.177+08:00

By reason of nothing more than randomness, I decided to check my Technorati ranking, yesterday. I found myself rather stunned by the result.Those of you who are long term readers of my blog will have noted a blog post I wrote on May 27th 2007. Then, I remarked that my blog was doing unexpectedly well. I had a Technorati authority of 23 - which meant that 23 independent blogs had linked to me in

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-55930494828435129392009-11-02T20:18:00.005+08:002009-11-03T12:27:36.314+08:00

Malays are leaving Singapore. Now, this is no news, but what may be news, is their relative abundance in those who emigrate.A few days ago, I posted on the remarkable inflow of Chinese PRCs into Singapore. I wondered, in that post, "The secret Singaporean Teleportation Device", whether this deepening of the Chinese nature of Singapore, was prompting more Malays to leave, as they found themselves

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-73199546269054404532009-11-01T15:49:00.004+08:002009-11-01T16:04:24.737+08:00

A week or two ago, Syahidah asked our three sons if there was anywhere they would like to go, in Singapore. Their answer was unanimous:"Mohammed Sultan Road, at 7 pm on a Friday.", they said, their bright eyes aglow at the prospect.She thought this a very strange request. You see Mohammed Sultan Road is a famous nightlife area of Singapore. The Cawley boys at just 9, 6 and 3 years old were really

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-23689146059615892132009-10-29T18:19:00.007+08:002009-10-29T19:52:13.769+08:00

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

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-77687420991511892452009-10-27T12:59:00.005+08:002009-10-27T13:36:10.783+08:00

It is very interesting the way a people react, when an outsider holds a mirror up for them to peer into. I do this, daily, for Singapore. However, it is abundantly clear that many Singaporeans don't appreciate being shown their own reflection. They have a typical reaction to it. Each and every poster, from Singapore, who has commented on my tendency to comment on Singapore in a truthful manner

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-23476528280102239942009-10-25T11:02:00.006+08:002009-10-25T14:02:32.895+08:00

A few days ago, we had an experience that calls into question the idea that Singapore is a "squeaky clean" state. We called "Mr. Tay", an electrician. It seemed an innocent enough thing to do...but it was the beginning of nightmare.We agreed a price with Mr. Tay to have his workers grout a bath and get a couple of lighting fixtures to work (which didn't work even with new bulbs in them). After

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-12821122230499954412009-10-21T17:05:00.003+08:002009-10-21T17:33:20.471+08:00

Much is said of the new media providing an alternative to the old media. Blogs have become a valued alternative to newspapers. Yet, it is not as simple as providing an alternative. An event a few days ago, leads me to think that the new media and the old media are interdependent. They feed off each other.I noted, a couple of days ago, in my surfing, that a leading Danish daily newspaper had

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-24343746511198137672009-10-19T19:11:00.004+08:002009-10-19T22:52:41.684+08:00

Long ago, a people called the Mayans drafted a calendar. The only problem is that the last day is, I understand, December 21st 2012. It is a problem because, rather oddly, quite a few "modern" people seem to believe that because an ancient calendar had an end date in 2012 that also means the world must end with it. I find this rather bizarre.Think about it. The idea that an ancient calendar

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-1885458718751391162009-10-16T21:52:00.004+08:002009-10-18T20:27:37.458+08:00

Wendy Ho is the owner of Artiste Entertainment, Singapore, a talent agency. Quite a few years ago, I did a few jobs for her. The thing is, I am still waiting to be paid for one of them.Now, perhaps I should have learnt my lesson from my first experience with her - but I gave her the chance to prove herself, which was not, perhaps, that wise.My first encounter with Wendy Ho was for the casting of

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-60095289518374135202009-10-15T22:05:00.008+08:002009-10-15T23:08:07.561+08:00

Singapore is generally known as a "police state", to the rest of the world. In one way, this is an odd description, because one rarely sees actual policemen and women in Singapore. However, what people are referring to, when they label Singapore as a "police state" is, partially, the degree of surveillance of the citizens and the very controlled nature of the populace.Now, nothing that I have

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34400601.post-9011897835768264352009-10-13T16:55:00.004+08:002009-10-13T16:58:17.648+08:00

No.(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,

Valentine Cawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086966474154914172noreply@blogger.com15