Tag Archives: luck

Never Lose Faith in Zeros!

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0000 won 2nd prize for 2nd time in over 10 years.

If you’re thinking of an early retirement and considering playing lottery or indulging in crypto speculation in achieving your financial goal, you can’t merely hope or pray for the best.

Even Lady Luck favors those who diligently put their mathematical or probabilistic knowledge into practice. You can’t be a passive pray-er!

As a “math person,” there are certain “smart” steps you’d take to increase the chances of winning the lottery or outperforming the market. For instance, if you longed to be one of the few (or the only one) rather than one of the many winners in a 4D or TOTO draw, it’s wiser to choose the oft-dreaded 0000 (or deadly 4444) instead of the boring 1234 or auspicious (or superstitious?) 8888.

Remember: Not all 4Ds are treated the same—some are luckier than others!

PHOTO: Stomp

In case you think that only semi-educated, semi-innumarates, or blue-collar folks (or MAGA patriots or Jan. 6 “hostages”) play lottery or visit casinos, you couldn’t be more wrong.

A decent (or probably obscene?) number of mathematicians and math educators worldwide frequently (or discreetly) try their luck in all kinds of gambling activities, legal or illegal.

It looks like they “know” something that the majority of “educated” folks tend to dismiss as a recreational or get-rich-quick activity for the “uneducated” or “mathematically challenged.”

PHOTO: Stomp. Since 1986, 0000 got lucky a total of 14 times, excluding the latest result.

Who are laughing all their way to the bank? Who are we to judge these street-smart folks, who’re now financially independent while their geeky friends are barely surviving to pay the bills or mortgages?

There are more than one way to be cash-rich (but often time- or health-poor), and 4D lottery is one such arguably sinful avenue or option to fulfilling that dream.

How are they (morally) different: Young Singaporeans speculating in crypto hoping to retire early, and their parents or/and grandparents playing 4D and TOTO every week also praying to retire prematurely?

Luckily & wealthily (and generously) yours

References

Number 0000 wins second prize in 4D draw for second time after over 10 years tinyurl.com/mv9pfk4m

Number 0000 wins second prize in 4D draw tinyurl.com/m3kchuvw

© Yan Kow Cheong, November 23, 2024.

Lunar New Year

Humor, Mathematical Humor, Problem Solving, Recreational Math, Singapore Math, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
The Spring Festival

Today is the last day of the annual 15-day Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year) festival in China and Chinese communities around the world.

The Lunar New Year is so-called because the dates of celebration follow the phases of the moon—the new moon could fall on dates between January 21 and February 20, which is similar to Easter that could take place between March 22 and April 25.

Due to its “movable” date, the Lunar New Year (which is unspokenly steeped in superstition and divination, but unquestionably or expectantly celebrated by a billion-odd mainland Chinese and the forty-plus million faithfuls in the Chinese diaspora as part of Chinese tradition) serves as a rich recreational math or calendrical activity for teachers or educators worldwide.

In the Year of the Ox (or “Covidox”), which ushered in a palindromic date (12/02/2021), I pondered: “Any sexy formula that tells us when the Chinese New Year falls in a given year? Not calendrical recipes meant for symbol-minded geeks, but one for the majority of us, the simple-minded folks who’d key in the year and out come the CNY date & day of the week.”

With superstitious couples unfairly or irrationally treating baby tigers and bulls as “inauspicious,” but don’t mind baby bunnies, could supposedly conservative or puritan “fine” Singapore with a frightening low fertility rate of 1.2—below its replacement rate of 2.1, which could see its population heading the way of the dodo sans selective immigration and baby bonus cash incentives—expect a mini-baby boom in the Year of the Rabbit?

With few Covid restrictions still in place, would Singaporeans and permanent residents (and tax fugitives fearing political persecution or prison) be more excited this year to play their part in producing an above-average number of newborns-bunnies? And with Valentine’s Day around the corner, could the nation expect an overbooking of hospital beds or single wards in November?

I completely forgot that I wrote A Dozen Numerical Deeds for the Chinese New Year eight [sounds like a numerologically Sino-auspicious number?] years ago. If you want to keep the spirit of giving alive in the new bunny year, help yourself with some of the suggested gifts to bless others, Chinese and non-Chinese.

Generously yours

© Yan Kow Cheong, February 5, 2023.

The Schooling Effect

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Slightly more than a year before Singapore won its first gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, I tweeted that “Joseph Schooling’s golds at the SEA Games looks like Barcelona or Manchester United, winning the Singapore’s S-league. #swimming” (@SingaporeLite on June 11, 2015).

From 4-Year Games to 4D Gambling

On August 13, 2016, within an hour of Joseph Schooling’s historic feat for winning Singapore its first gold at the Rio Olympics, punters in Singapore were lining up outside betting outlets islandwide to leverage on his Olympic record-breaking time of 50.39sec in the Men’s 100m butterfly. Who says that medalists’ record times can’t numerologically be used to divine the next winning lottery numbers?

A Grade 9 Singapore Math Question: “How many possible 4D numbers (with and without repetitions) could punters choose from Joseph Isaac Schooling’s winning time of 50.39 seconds?”

The Olympicology of Schooling

Following the mania among superstitious punters to strike it big, I coined Olympiocology to poke fun at their irrational or paranormal behaviors.

On the same day, I also tweeted: “How can Singapore experience the Schooling Effect in the aftermath of winning its first gold medal?” with a link that opens up the DIY e-card below.

August 13: Singapore’s “Schooling Day”

Sports Awards First, Military Service Second

Three days later, @Zero_Math, I texted: “Military rules are man-made—not cast in stone. How many Joseph Schooling’s and Fandi Ahmad’s does Singapore have?,” accompanied by the following e-card:

Should gold medalists be exempted from military service?

A Tale of Two Promoters: Vandal & Victor

On August 16, 2016, I also tweeted tongue-in-cheek another DIY e-card, comparing the notorious Michael Fey (the American teenager who was caned for vandalism in Singapore) and the glorious Joseph Schooling (whom some “bigoted” locals or Trump “patriots” claimed not to be a “true-blue Singaporean”).

When a cane brings more attention to Singapore than a coin.

Mathletes & Olympians: Mental v. Physical

Which is harder for most countries to produce: a gold medalist at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) or at the Olympic Games?

Although differentiating mathletes and olympians might look like comparing apples with oranges, however, for a number of developed countries, it appears that the chances of their athletes bringing in an Olympic gold medal home are higher than the odds of their IMO mathletes being a gold medalist, if some of their representatives aren’t foreign-born, or if they were to rely solely on their limited pool of local talents.

Below is another e-card I produced in the aftermath of Singapore’s first ever-win of a gold medal at the Olympics.

Which Singapore values more: Olympic or IMO gold medalists?

A Guesstimation Question: In a number of highly competitive events at the Olympic Games, where victory is determined by mini-seconds or centimeters, and if winning a gold medal is arguably “60% skill, 40% luck,” or “50% talent, 50% luck,” guesstimate what percentage of gold medalists make it by pure luck rather than by sheer skill.

Count on Me, Singapore!

Can Singapore still count on Joseph Schooling for more medals? Would he prove his critics or detractors wrong in making his country proud again? What are the chances that he’d “make Singapore great(er) again”?

Let’s wish him all the best in the next phase of his swimming career! Let no one take away what he did to make Singapore and Singaporeans proud.

2016: Singapore & Schooling: 🏊 🇸🇬 🥇

2020: Singapore & (Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low): ⛵️ 🇸🇬 [🏅?]

Bibliography & References

Commentary: Singapore sports must learn lessons from Schooling’s decline
https://www.todayonline.com/node/12067716

President Halimah, govt leaders speak up against ‘negative, hurtful’ comments on Joseph Schooling’s Olympics performance
https://www.todayonline.com/node/12062406

‘It’s hard to swallow’: Joseph Schooling disappointed by butterfly performance at Olympics, vows to fight harder
https://www.todayonline.com/node/12056111

Golden ticket 5039 sold out after Schooling’s win http://www.todayonline.com/node/2318881

© Yan Kow Cheong, July 31, 2021.