For the majority of people around the world without a PhD, the academic title is often creatively or cynically assigned a different meaning. Talking of poking fun at those who make a living in an ivory tower—the image of an “ivory tower” is used in the Bible in the Song of Songs (7:4) to describe a woman’s purity—the lay public’s general impression or perception of most PhDs is often anything but positive. Could this be due to some subconscious “intellectual envy”?
Maybe because when they think of academics becoming politicians or of them serving as consultants or advisors for an oft-inept or corrupt government (or of an educational consultant for a publishing house hoping to boost their school adoption rate), many have mixed feelings about these exam-smart folks, who are mostly “un-street-smart,” when it comes to solving everyday life or real-world problems for their fellow citizens—their oft-halfwitted decisions often serve as a living proof of their (practical) unintelligence rather than their intelligence.
PhDs to Save the Planetfrom Covid-19
Below are three entries I submitted during the lockdown two-odd years ago.
Trump’s Covid-19 Con-sultantWas Cummings, ex-PM Johnson’s “corona jerk”?One rule for the Cummings and one for the common people.
Be it the canned “Permanent Head Damage” or “Post Holiday Depression,” new meanings associated with the acronym are only limited by our imagination.
Boosted Jabs at PhDs
A few years ago, I started relooking at new meanings of a PhD. Two such revised definitions were:
Cheat PhD on the CheapGod’s Doctorate Disciples
What’s your life’s PhD, especially when you respectfully compare yourself with those with big titles, most of whom often have infinitesimally positive or quasi-zero impact on those around them?
Meanwhile, why not pray, help, and do rather than just preach, hope, and delay?
Way back in 2017, when ISIS or radical Islamist ideologies were making inroads in a number of developing or war-torn countries, and North Korea then looked like the safest place on the planet from green terrorism, I coined North Korea as follows:
North Korea: Where jihadists daren’t go in trying to Islamize infidels unless they don’t mind going to hell sooner than later to meet up with ex-dictators Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung.
ISIS or the Taliban is no match for Dictator Kim Jong Un’s trained killers, if these Mohammedan jihadists dream of going to North Korea to set up their Caliphate.
by MathPlus May 31, 2017
The Kim Dynasty
The Kim dynasty is “like grandfather, like father, like son.” Would the world witness a gender change at the top, if a sister (and subsequently a daughter, legitimate or not) were to be reluctantly appointed, thus breaking the decades-long patriarchal political order? A modern-day Jezebel in waiting!
North Korea &Math Education
Imagine if North Korean students were to take part in TIMSS and PISA, what are the chances that they would outrank or outwit their Singaporean or mainland Chinese counterparts in both math and science?
Or, if you needed a part-time or freelance value-for-money coder (or licenced hacker), would you choose one from Singapore, India, or North Korea? The choice is pretty clear, isn’t it?
DarkPolitical Math
From Reel Trump to Real Kim
After Comrade Kim’s last heartbeat, what are the odds that the two Koreas might be reunited as one? Or would this reunification happen earlier, say, if the hermit nation was forced to surrender following a series of bombings on Pyongyang or on its nuclear sites by the Allies?
Broken Bromance Blossomed
Imagine that Donald J. Trump is miraculously re-elected in 2024, and the Trump-Kim lukewarm bromance is rekindled with a flurry of more “love letters.”
Reel Leaders Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
What are the odds that they’d eventually have a tête-à-tête at the White House? A post-pandemic reunion between two vainglorious rogues that could help raise their chances of being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the nth time, as their actions (or inactions) arguably prevented a WW3!
The Peacefakers Sans Clothes
What if fearing that he’d end up on the wrong side of eternity, and also be remembered as a modern-day Hitler or Stalin, comrade Putin decided to return the annexed lands, including Crimea, to Ukraine? Would the world witness a peace prize being shared by the unholy Kim-Putin-Trump trio? Or would all three be re-nominated for the Ignoble Peace Prize instead?
The Leadershit Series for Rogue Leaders
Fake Missile for Anti-NATO*
Would the US and allies (yes-nations) only stop playing the more-sanctions game when Kim Jong-un’s patience ran out—when he decided to launch a “fake” missile targeting one of its neighbours, which would force them to take the rogue nation seriously or to treat the Kim dynasty with respect or reverence?
The day before, we read that a female Burmese python weighting 98 kg and nearly 5 m was caught in Florida. She’s the largest snake ever found in that state before her death, pregnant with an amazing 122 eggs; if stretched vertically, she’d be as tall as a giraffe.
In Florida, where now lives the Viper in Chief after being ousted from the White House, who’s since preoccupied himself with terrorizing those who refuse to propagate his lasagna of lies, pythons have become pests due to irresponsible pet owners of yesteryears releasing or allowing pet pythons to escape in the wild.
With no major predators, Florida’s subtropical climate has provided serpents and snakes a conducive breeding ground for them to multiply, often outcompeting native species. Who knows? Alien vipers might eventually outnumber local pythons, if left on their own to populate the land.
Recently, some human vipers mounted a “mathematical insurrection” against textbook publishers for allegedly promoting “woke math” to K–12 students. And a rising number of foreign pythons are set to keep Florida’s annual “Python Challenge” alive—this year, the event runs from August 5–14 and is expected to lure around 500+ python hunters from 25 different states.
🐍🔢: Math with Pythons & Pithons
Like math questions on vampires and zombies, those on pythons (and pithons) are no less frightening or exciting to problem solvers. Below are two examples:
It is estimated that the female Burmese python, which was caught after Floridian researchers used a male “scout” to find her, was up to 20 years old. In human years, would she be as old as the Viper in Chief?
Python Pies or Pizzas: In 2021, the winner of the “Python Challenge” captured 223 pythons, while the longest snake was 15 feet long. Imagine if this year’s captured foreign pythons were ethically killed and exotically used to make pies or pizzas, how many pieces of either one could be made by the chefs at Mar-a-Lago for the “Florida Python Food Festival”?
On Monday, Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung reported that 80,000 seniors aged 60 and above have yet to take their Covid-19 booster shots, urging them to do so as the city-state is expecting a new wave of Omicron infections in the next few months.
The minister added that the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines were engineered more for the “wild-type” virus, and now that the coronavirus has mutated into the Delta and Omicron variants, we need at least three doses of vaccines for “effective” protection—and a fourth jab (or a second booster shot) is recommended for those who’ve so far lived on this planet for at least three scores and two tens (or four scores)—aged 80 and above.
Like thousands of my fellow skeptics, when we read or hear this kind of corona update from a local politician on a Monday, our skepticism index goes up at least twenty points. It sounds more like an indecent number of WHO-approved vaccines are nearing their expiry dates, so they need to come up with some creative eleventh-hour strategies not to waste away those tens of thousands of doses.
These days, even developing countries with low vaccination rates are likely to turn down any donated near-expiry vaccines from those high-GDP hoarders. They’d reply, “Thank you very much for your [“insincere”] donation!” followed by some PC excuses not to offend the donors.
One subtle way to salvage a fraction of these surplus doses is to use some mortality statistics to scare off those who’ve yet to be jabbed or boosted.
For instance, we’re statistically being told that the probability of unvaccinated seniors aged 60 and above ending in the intensive care unit (ICU) or dying from Covid-19 is 1/25, but the figure drops to 1/100 if they’ve been doubly jabbed, or nosedives to a mere 3/1000 if they’ve been boosted.
Minister Ong emphasized that “It makes a difference whether you have taken 0, 1, 2 or 3 shots.” So, the unvaxxed would better pay heed to his life-and-death warning unless they plan to journey to the other side sooner than later.
The sombre message is: Wake up to your minister’s advice if you don’t want to have a minister at your premature wake conducting nightly services to your loved ones and friends and colleagues. The decision is yours to act if you want to prolong your stay on this planet by an extra few years or decades.
Let’s pray that the unvaccinated or unboosted lot would fear Covid-19 more than Covid-🇸🇬, while not letting themselves be paralyzed by either one.
In the aftermath of a Singapore permanent resident who was bitten 26 times by a romp of otters in 10 seconds at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, which attracted mixed reactions from both locals and foreigners, I entertained the idea how math teachers could use this once-in-a-lifetime incident to indulge in some problem posing for elementary math students.
As natural swimmers, Singapore’s smooth coated otters, once thought to be extinct, have made a comeback to the island-state. They are believed to have swum across the Straits of Johore and made their homes here. Their present “locations of choice” are: Bishan Park, the Kallang River estuary, Marina Bay, and Singapore Botanic Gardens—and the Singapore Zoo.
Singaponacci Numbers and the C-Word
Mathematically or theoretically speaking, without culling, Singapore’s otters could exponentially grow as fast as Fibonacci’s rabbits, although otter sexperts think there are alternative humane ways of family planning.
An “otterman” who was furious that netizens had uttered the C-word against the cute-looking furry creature blamed them for spreading white lies or fake news about these “critically endangered animals.”
The Fear Factor
These “urban pests” seem to be better protected under the Wildlife Act than we humans against the Delta and Omicron variants. They’ve the SPCA behind them, but we’ve the POFMA* and FICA** over us to police our online behaviors.
Can you distinguish an adult otter from a baby seal?
Co-Existing with Covid and Otters
Last week, in the light of Singapore’s otter saga making the headlines overseas, I tweeted the following:
Otter Math: If the present population of 150 otters doubles every leap year, while Singapore’s annual fertility rate continues to head south, with zero immigration allowed, when would otter babies outnumber human babies? https://lnkd.in/gVfqjEZ8
Animals’ cruelty against humans: Otters bit a Singapore Botanic Gardens visitor 26 times in 10 seconds. What are the chances that such a similar incident happening again are less than the odds of someone being abducted by an alien? https://bit.ly/3oH93IO
Canals, Condos & Churches
Singaporean river otters are notorious in devouring dear ornamental fish found in condominiums and churches. If the probability of rich people disliking otters is x folds higher than that of poor folks, guesstimate x.
What are the odds that someone from a middle-income family in Singapore is more likely to cross paths with an otter family thanks to a greening Singapore, which provides an ideal milieu for otters to breed stresslessly, compared to Singaporeans, who often can’t even find a little space to do their private business?
Otter: Singapore’s Unofficial Mascot
Think of Singapore as an otter, and its frenemies-neighbors as crocodiles and monitor lizards. When threatened by its natural resources-rich, but militarily weaker, neighbors, Singapore would hit back to defend itself. Sure, they’d use low-cost warfare tactics like forest haze and arsenic-polluted rainwater to frustrate their little-red-dot neighbor—a form of asymmetric warfare to neutralize the enemy by natural and man-made means.
How not to mismanage Singapore’s otter population
Thou Shalt Not Catch an Otter!Fine: S$X
How much is the fine for someone caught capturing or trapping otters in the “fine” city of Singapore? What are the odds that a repeated offender could get jailed or/and caned for their illegal activity?
What If? Exotic Singapore Cuisine
Does otter meat taste more like chicken, beef, or pork? What if Singapore started farming otters to satisfy the desire of adventurous gourmets? Like crocodile, deer, or frog meat, could the legalized consumption of otter meat be a lucrative food business for both locals and aliens, who are looking for an exotic dish (halal, kosher & vegetarian), if there were a mismanaged otter population control in future?
An Otters Naming Contest
In the past, Singapore had the famous or notorious romp of otters called the “The Marina 10.” Now, we’ve local groups like the Zouk Family. Has the raft of otters that bit the über-unlucky British man 26 times at the Singapore Botanic Gardens been christened? If not, why about having a national contest to name them following the recent biting incident, which could have potentially led to Singapore’s first case of “death by otters”?
Otter Math for Mature Students
Let’s end with a grades 1–2 otter math question to tickle actress Sandra Bullock’s two children and their peers, who’ve been jabbed (or maybe even boosted) with a dose or two of the Singapore math vaccine to protect them against the plague of innumeracy:
After seeing an otter family of twelve devouring the fish in their condominium pond, a number of children were traumatized for weeks. Five children had recurring nightmares about the attack. There were three fewer children having nightmares than those needing counseling.
a) If two boys and a pair of twin sisters met up with a school counselor, how many children were altogether affected by the otter invasion?
b) Guesstimate how many fish were eaten up by the hungry otters in a few minutes before they made their way to the swimming pool.
Answer: (a) 13 children (b) Hint: Think about the demographics of the condo residents.
A grades 4–6 Singapore math question
Answer: 1. 8 koi fish. Can you solve the question in more than one way without algebra?
* POFMA: Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act ** FICA: Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act
Moons ago, long before Trump’s MAGA slogan resonated among blue-collar workers and white evangelicals, I was surprised to read a parent’s guide mentioning that some American homeschoolers had mixed feelings about using foreign editions of Singapore math textbooks because of the lack of political freedom in the island-state.
No matter how value-for-money Singapore math titles are, or how impressive the “fine” city’s top ranking in both PISA and TIMSS is, some American parents and teachers would have nothing to do with a country that stifles freedom of speech, restricts political freedom, or cracks down on alternative views that often portray the government in a negative light.
Singapore is a partly free country.
This week, we read that in the new normal Singapore has fared worse than the previous year as far as political rights and civil liberties are concerned. If 50 were the passing mark, then the island-state fell short, by scoring a disappointing 48 out of 100 on political freedom.
Singapore’s Freedom in the World https://freedomhouse.org/country/singapore
Selective Internet Accessibility
Less well-known is Singapore’s average performance or ranking in terms of the public’s internet access, especially when both locals and aliens thought they could easily access the internet (except for some banned websites on politics, religion, and sex, or most political blogs that don’t depict the country’s political leaders positively), compared to their counterparts in China, where Google, Facebook, and Twitter are banned.
Singapore’s Freedom on the Net https://freedomhouse.org/country/singapore/freedom-net/2020
Political Freedom: Singapore vs. Others
Although we may not agree on the methodology used to compute the scores, which are calculated on a weighted scale, however, the global freedom ranking of most countries appears pretty accurate.
Let’s look at some freedom scores, by comparing how Singapore fares vis-à-vis some rich or rogue countries.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, in the aftermath of more pseudo-free nations going rogue, or more institutions paying lip service to democratic processes, I remember less than three years ago coining tongue-in-cheek “Make Singapore Free Again.”
The Fear Factor in Singapore
The Fear Factor as a Common Denominator
What are some long-term consequences for math educators living in a politically semi-free milieu? Teachers who need to seek permission from their HODs or principals to start a blog or a Facebook page; or writers who need to consult editors or publishers before they start working on a politically incorrect or irreverent math title.
When I started blogging, I still recall that those who had a say in my pay wanted me to choose a different name that doesn’t include “Singapore Math” as part of the blog’s identity. Apparently, every time they Googled “Singapore math,” they landed on my site, and they’re uncomfortable with that. I refused to compromise because I thought then (and now) that the idea of censoring or threatening me for raising some unethical practices in educational publishing is laughably ridiculous, not to say, mathematically or educationally anti-democratic.
It’s not an accident or coincidence that high-GDP Singapore has probably the lowest number of math bloggers, or the least number of math teachers on Twitter, in the developed world.
For some of us, who look like an odd in a sea of evens, the “fear factor” of speaking up and speaking out is real, even if our audience is outside Singapore. As long as we are a “mathematical or political nobody,” it’s probably safe to say that we’re at quasi-zero risk of being banned or censored, while being aware that a small army of vigilantes are watching us 24/7/365 just in case we go “politically astray.”
POFMA Math
During the lockdown, when a few Opposition candidates appeared to be unfairly targeted for their “fake” comments, I entertained the possibility that soon the authorities would be targeting math bloggers or textbook authors, who poked fun at some MOE directives or policies, by irreverently christening POFMA Math.
What are the odds that Singapore math authors would be the next to be POFMA-ed?
Poverty or Democracy
For decades, the unspoken or unchallenged political message in Singapore for Singaporeans and foreigners is: High GDP or Low Political Liberty. You can’t have both!
Why can’t your say and your pay go hand in hand? The lie that a country’s economic prosperity and political freedom are inversely proportional needs to be debunked at all costs, because failure to do so would only perpetuate mediocrity, economic stagnancy, political apathy, and uncreativity among the citizenry.
