Selection and Training of SIMO Junior, Senior and National Teams

SIMO

Singapore first participated in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in 1988. To date, Singapore has participated in IMO 27 times and won 10 Gold medals, 41 Silver medals, 65 Bronze medals and 20 Honourable Mentions. (For details, check Singapore's Team Results, Individual Results and Hall of Fame)

The selection and training of the Singapore IMO team is the responsibility of Singapore International Mathematical Olympiad (SIMO) Committee. Members of the SIMO are the NUS Department of Mathematics professors, Ministry of Education (MOE) officials and high schools/Junior Colleges teachers (currently, we have teachers from RI, HCI and NUS High in SIMO). To prepare students for the IMO, SIMO runs 3 training teams: Junior Training Team, Senior Training Team and National Training Team. Only Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents are eligible to be selected into the training teams.

Junior Training Team

The SIMO Junior Training Team members are selected based on students' performance in the SMO (Junior) competition held in May/June each year. Most of the students selected are Sec 1 and 2 students. The SIMO Junior team takes in about 50 students each year. As each student can be trained in the Junior Training Team only once, and non-SC and non-PR students are not considered, I would reckon that those eligible and who are ranked among the top 100 or thereabout in SMO (Junior) should be able to make it into the team. The training is focussed mainly on basic Geometry concepts.  As more primary school students are taking part in SMO (Junior), we do have a few primary school students (typically P6 students, this year we even have a P5 student) who manage to get selected into the Junior Training Team every year. Training is conducted on Saturday mornings, from July to August/September. There are about 5-6 training sessions, and a test will be conducted on the last session; those who do well can join the Senior Training Team the following year.

Senior Training Team

Besides getting members from the Junior Training Team (as mentioned above, from the SIMO Junior team selection test), the SIMO Senior Training Team also selects its members from those who did well in the SMO (Senior) and SMO (Junior) competitions (for those who had attended Junior training team before). The SIMO Senior team takes in about 30 students each year. Preference is given to the younger students who have the potential to be selected into the National Training Team in Year 5 and below. For instance, if we have one Sec 3 and one Sec 4 student who just meet the COP for the Senior Training Team, the former and not the latter may be selected. Students may join the Senior Training Team more than once.  The training will commence in January the following year.

National Team Selection and Training

The main selection test for the SIMO National Training Team is the SMO (Open) Round 2 competition (note: Round 1 marks are not considered). Besides those who did well in SMO (Open) Round 1 and qualified to take Round 2 by their own merit, all students from the SIMO Senior Team will be invited to SMO (Open) Round 2. Strong candidates who have neither attended SIMO Senior Team training nor participated in SMO (Open) Round 1 may be recommended by their teachers to take SMO (Open) Round 2, which decides whether they can qualify for the SIMO National Team. Students who did not perform satisfactorily in SMO (Open) Round 2 but who display a lot of potential (e.g. represented Singapore in overseas competition and did extremely well, top in SMO competitions) may be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and still get selected into the SIMO National Team. Each year, less than 20 students will form the National Team. Training will start in October the same year and ends in April the following year. The two main trainers for the National Team are usually x-men (a term used to describe SIMO alumni, students who had gone IMO in the past) or y-men (a term used to describe SIMO alumni who had undergone National Team Training but had not gone IMO before) who had just completed their National Service obligation. These trainers will accompany the 6-delegate IMO team as Observers.

Currently, the 6-member IMO Team is selected through two National Team Selection Tests (NTST) organised by SIMO. In the first NTST held in April, students have to solve 4 problems in 4 hours. In the second NTST held in end April or early May, it is comparable in difficulty to the IMO and are fashioned after the IMO - the test consists of two 4.5-hr papers in 2 days, with 3 problems in each paper. The top 6 scorers will be announced 1 week after the second NTST, and they will represent Singapore in the same year's IMO. These students will undergo further rigorous daily training until they leave for the IMO in July.

Flowchart for Selection of Singapore IMO Team

SIMO Camp

SIMO also organises an all-expenses-paid one-week residential training camp during the June school holidays for the National Team as well as the Senior Team. Accommodation in hostel and all meals (up to 5 times a day) are provided. A typical day begins with lectures and problem solving sessions after breakfast. These will continue after lunch. In the evening campers take part in various sports activities. After dinner, there are also talks and other organised activities. The camp provides a chance for the various groups of trainees to get together. This is also a homecoming occasion for the x-men. Through various interactions, the trainees can learn from the x-men their past experience at the IMO, national service, application of university, scholarships and so on.

Reference: SIMO Home Page

IOI 2014, IBO 2014 and IPhO 2014 Singapore Teams' Results

IOI 2014:

Gold - Feng Jia Hai, RI

Gold - Ranald Lam, RI

Silver - Mark Theng, HCI

IBO 2014:

Gold & 2nd - Qu Xinyi, NUS High

Gold - Cleon Kho, HCI

Gold - Raphael Soh, RI

Silver - Timothy Sim, ACSI

IPhO 2014:

Gold & Top in Experiment - Francis Wang Fan, NUS High

Gold - Chan Jau Tong, RI

Gold - Lim Yong Hui, RI

Silver - Gideon Lee, NUS High

Silver - Jee Kai Yen, RI

Congratulations!

IMO 2014 Results

Singapore is ranked 8th, winning 3 Gold 2 Silver 1 Bronze :)

Full Results

Siah Yong, Sheldon, David, Yan Hao, Dylan, Yijia

CN Yang meets CN Yang

Professor Chen-Ning Yang (杨振宁) had a sharing session with NTU's CN Yang Scholars on 23 June 2014 evening. Professor Yang is currently 91 years old; he received the 1957 Nobel prize award in Physics.  

Weng Fan (翁帆), who was married to Prof Yang in 2004.

Japan Kyushu Trip

About S$250 worth of Japanese snacks which Lim Min had bought. Most are given away as gifts to friends and relatives.

At the airport

Soy Sauce Factory (Marue Shoyu)

Atomic Bomb Museum

Riding the bus directly into the ferry

Kumamoto Castle

Self-made noodles

Space and Science Centre

Colourful Ice Cream

Chinoike Jigoku Hot Spring

Organised by NTU CN Yang Scholars Programme office
Total about 40+ year 1 to year 4 CN Yang Scholars
Each student pays S$976 (NTU subsidizes about S$1500 per person)
15 - 21 June
Itinerary
Day 1: Soy Sauce Factory, Asahi Beer Factory, Newpie Mayonnaise Factory
Day 2: Kyushu University, Vinegar Factory, Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park
Day 3: Kumamoto Castle, Mount Aso Ropeway, Soba Making, Chinoike Jigoku Hot Spring
Day 4: Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Space and Science Museum, Genkai Energy Park
Day 5: Eco Town, Tea Cultural Ceremony at Kokura Castle, Nissan Car Factory, Canal City

CWMI 2014 Singapore Team

Congratulations to the following students who will be representing Singapore at the China Western Mathematical Invitational (CWMI) 2014:

Bryan Wang, Year 3, HCI
Clarence Chew, Year 3, NUS High
Matthew Fan, Year 3, NUS High
Joel Tan, Year 1, NUS High
Isaac Lee, Year 2, RI
Ma Zhaoyu, Year 3, RI
Glen Lim, Year 4, RI
Eugene Lee, Year 5, RI

CGMO 2014 Singapore Team

2014年中国女子数学奥林匹克（CGMO）定于2014年8月10日至8月14日在广东省中山市华南师范大学中山附属中学举行。中国女子数学奥林匹克竞赛始于2002年，至今已举办了12届。

The following girls have been selected to represent Singapore for the 13th China Girls Mathematical Olympiad (CGMO), which will be held from 10 - 14 August 2014, at Zhongshan, Guangdong, China:

Surya Mathialagan, Year 5, NUS High
Lim Li, Year 3, NUS High
Li Anqi, Year 2, Raffles Girls' Sch (Sec)
Cindy Wang Beini, Year 3, Raffles Girls' Sch (Sec)

Congrats :)

IPhO 2014 Singapore Team and IBO 2014 Singapore Team

The 45th IPhO (International Physics Olympiad) will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 13 - 21 July 2014. Our Singapore Team comprises the following Year 6 (JC2) students:

Francis Wang Fan, NUS High

Gideon Lee, NUS High

Lim Yong Hui, RI

Chan Jau Tung, RI

Jee Kai Yen, RI 

The 25th IBO (International Biology Olympiad) will be held in Bali, Indonesia, from 5 - 13 July 2014. The following Year 6 (JC2) students are in the Singapore Team:

Qu Xinyi, NUS High

Cleon Kho Yu Xuan, HCI

Raphael Soh, RI

Timothy Sim Soon Song, ACSI

All the best to the above students! Hope you can garner 9 Gold medals for Singapore!

Playing Little Fighter 2.5

An Yu (from SMU ISM Y1 going Y2) and Wei Xiong (from NUS Math&Computing Y4 going Y5). Both are interns at Defense Science Organisation. Lim Min is currently an intern at DSO too.

Lim Jeck, Lim Min, Wei Xiong and An Yu playing Little Fighter 2.5.

SMO 2014 (Open Section) Answers

SMO 2014 Open Questions

SMO 2014 (Open Section) Answers

1. 49840
2. 120
3. 0
4. 4480
5. 3
6. 6
7. 31
8. 31340
9. 61
10. 1
11. 4
12. 220
13. 3239
14. 51
15. 4356
16. 3
17. 126
18. 3021
19. 2013
20. 270
21. 5005
22. 9
23. 16
24. 64
25. 2744

Answers are provided by Clarence Chew.

SMO (Open) Previous Years' Cut-off Points (Inclusive of Round 2 scores)
2013 Gold (26), Silver (13), Bronze (10), HM (9), Round 2 (14), Top 30 (28)
2012 Gold (21), Silver (8), Bronze (6), HM (5), Round 2 (8)
2011 Gold (18), Silver (9), Bronze (6), HM (5), Round 2 (9)
2010 Gold (38), Silver (9), Bronze (6), HM (5)
2009 Gold (27-29), Silver (9), Bronze (6), HM (5)
2008 Gold (27), Silver (11), Bronze (10), HM (6)
2007 Gold (19-20), Silver (9), Bronze (6), HM (5)

SMO 2014 (Junior Section) Answers

SMO 2014 Junior Round 1 Questions
SMO 2014 Junior Round 2 Questions

SMO 2014 (Junior Section) Answers

1. C
2. D
3. E
4. A
5. D
6. E
7. A
8. C
9. D
10. E
11. 28
12. 21
13. 60
14. 935
15. 16
16. 2017
17. 8
18. 491
19. 52
20. 4008
21. 10
22. 24
23. 2
24. 25
25. 22
26. 0 (question is wrong as x is not real!)
27. 2
28. 2500
29. 2809
30. 203
31. 5956
32. 1
33. 44
34. 144
35. 4

Initial answers are provided by a Year 1 NUS High student who does not wish to be named.

SMO (Junior) Previous Years' Cut-off Points (Inclusive of Round 2 scores)
2013 Gold (27), Silver (11), Bronze (8), HM (7), Round 2 (13), Top 30 (~50)
2012 Gold (17), Silver (8), Bronze (6), HM (5), Round 2 (8)
2011 Gold (12), Silver (9), Bronze (7), HM (6), Round 2 (11), Top 30 (~34)
2010 Gold (24), Silver (9), Bronze (8), HM (5)
2009 Gold (11), Silver (7), Bronze (6), HM (5)
2008 Gold (23), Silver (14), Bronze (11), HM (10)
2007 Gold (20), Silver (14), Bronze (11), HM (10)

SMO 2014 (Senior Section) Answers

SMO 2014 Senior Round 1 Questions
SMO 2014 Senior Round 2 Questions

SMO 2014 (Senior Section) Answers

1. D
2. A
3. C
4. D
5. A
6. C
7. D
8. B
9. D
10. B
11. 27
12. 25
13. 225
14. 90
15. 2
16. 95
17. 21
18. 8
19. 270
20. 7
21. 66
22. 3
23. 5
24. 4
25. 16
26. 1
27. 2046
28. 42
29. 1
30. 74
31. 60480
32. 9
33. 2
34. 2034
35. 10

Credits to Clarence Chew for providing the initial answers.

SMO (Senior) Previous Years' Cut-off Points (Inclusive of Round 2 scores)
2013 Gold (13), Silver (8), Bronze (6), HM (5), Round 2 (~8), Top 30 (~26)
2012 Gold (24), Silver (11), Bronze (8), HM (7), Round 2 (11)
2011 Gold (21), Silver (15), Bronze (10), HM (9), Round 2 (~15), Top 30 (27)
2010 Gold (26), Silver (10), Bronze (7), HM (6)
2009 Gold (19-23), Silver (10), Bronze (7), HM (6)
2008 Gold (27-28), Silver (15), Bronze (10), HM (9)
2007 Gold (29-30), Silver (16), Bronze (12), HM (10)

NTU 2013/2014 Semester 2 Exam Results

Lim Min's NTU Year 1 Semester 2 results. Her semestral GPA is 5.0 and cGPA is 4.91.

Year 3 Semester 1 Progress Report

Lim Li's Year 3 Semester 1 results are as follows:

BL3105 General Botany A
CL3101 Chinese 3A B+
CM3107 Advanced Chemistry I A
CS3203 Basic Procedural Programming A-
CS3205 Informatics Olympiad Training A+
EC3101 Introduction to Economics A
EL3103 Introduction to Expositions -In progress-
MA3114 Advanced Mathematics I A+
PC3110 Mechanics -In progress-
PC3200 Introductory Physics Olympiad A

Semestral Grade Point Average (GPA): 4.8
Cumulative Average Point (CAP): 4.9

Graduation Parade of the 154th Intake of PNS Full-Time Officers Basic Course

Graduation Parade on 19 May 2014

Lim Jeck, last row, 4th from left

Lim Jeck, 3rd row, centre

Lim Jeck will be posted to the Special Operations Command (SOC), starting 26 May 2014. His vocation is Station Security Officer. Previously as a trainee, he received a monthly allowance of S$480 per month. Now, he will receive a monthly allowance of S$550 (Corporal allowance) plus S$100 (Operational allowance for Station Security Officer). (Afternote: Lim Jeck has been transferred to Internal Security Department, with effect from 1 July 2014)

IChO 2014 Singapore Team

The 46th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) will be held in Hanoi - Vietnam from 20 - 29 July 2014.

Singapore Team representatives are as follows:
Sun Jiarui, Raffles Institution
Lawrence Wong Wen Jun, Raffles Institution
Chen Xi, Raffles Institution
Brandon Tan Kai Jie, NUS High

Congratulation to them!

IOI 2014 Singapore Team

The 26th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) will be held in Taiwan, Taipei from 13 - 20 July 2014.

The following students will form the 2014 IOI Singapore Team:

Feng Jiahai,  Raffles Institution Year 4
Mark Theng Kwang Hui,  Hwa Chong Institution Year 6 (IOI 2013 Silver)
Wu Xin Yu,  Raffles Institution Year 6
Ranald Lam Yun Shao,  Raffles Institution Year 6 (IOI 2013 Silver, IOI 2012 Bronze)

Congratulations!!

IMO 2014 Singapore Team

The 55th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 3 to 13 July 2014.

The Singapore IMO 2014 Team comprises the following:

David Lin, Raffles Institution Year 5 (IMO 2013 Silver)
Liu Yijia, Raffles Institution Year 4 (IMO 2013 Silver)
Tan Siah Yong, Raffles Institution Year 5 (IMO 2013 Silver)
Dylan Toh, NUS High Year 2
Sheldon Kieren Tan, Raffles Institution Year 4
Ling Yan Hao, NUS High Year 6 (IMO 2013 Silver, IMO 2012 Silver)

Congratulations to the above students! Hope you will do Singapore proud in IMO 2014!!

Updated:

Euler Mathematics Competition 2014 Prize Presentation

Final results of Euler's Mathematics Competition 2014 are here.

Lim Jeck has emerged as the Winner.
With him is Dr Fedor Duzhin from NTU, organiser of the Euler Mathematics Competition.

Lim Min got an Honourable Mention.

Pizza party after the prize presentation

Left: Jit Wu's 3rd prize Apple iPod Shuffle worth S$68
Right: Lim Jeck's 1st prize Apple Pebble Bluetooth Smartwatch for iPhone and Android worth S$249

The Euler Mathematics Competition 2014 questions are here. Lim Jeck's solutions are below.

NTU SPMS Mathematical Sciences (MAS)

Lim Min is featured in the NTU SPMS Mathematical Sciences booklet