IPhO 2013 Opening Ceremony

You can watch the opening ceremony on YouTube or here. Singapore team appears 1:21:12 and 1:45:30 into the videos, respectively.

Singapore Team is featured on the right!

Off to Copenhagen, Denmark

From left: Lim Jeck, Sean Seet, Byorn Tan, Daniel Mark, Ashwin

The IPhO 2013 Singapore Team flew to Frankfurt on SQ26, at 2355 hr last night. The flight duration will be 12 hrs 35 mins. From Frankfurt, they will take SK640 on Business Class (free upgrade!) to Copenhagen. The flight will take 1 hr 20 mins.

Denmark's time zone is GMT+2:00, which is 6 hrs behind Singapore's time (i.e. 9 am in Denmark is 3 pm in Singapore).

The programme is as follows:

Sunday 7 July Arrival in Copenhagen and registration
Monday 8 July Official opening ceremony, Excursion
Tuesday 9 July Theoretical examination
Wednesday 10 July Excursion
Thursday 11 July Experimental examination
Friday 12 July Excursion
Saturday 13 July Excursion
Sunday 14 July Official closing ceremony
Monday 15 July Departure
Tuesday 16 July Arrival in Singapore

CGMO 2013 Singapore Team

The following students from NUS High have been selected to represent Singapore for the China Girls Mathematical Olympiad (CGMO) 2013, which will be held in Ningbo, China from 10th to 15th August 2013:

Surya Mathialagan, Year 4
Toh Wei Qi, Year 5
Hsiao I Ann, Year 3
Lim Li, Year 2 :)

Mr Ng and Ms Chai Tied the Knot (Finally!)

Both Mr Ng and Ms Chai taught Lim Min and Lim Li in Queenstown Primary School. Mr Ng was their form teacher and Math & Science teacher, whereas Ms Chai was their Higher Chinese teacher.

Min Jeck Li

2003

1999

SMO 2013 (Open Section) Answers

SMO 2013 Open Special Round Participants List

SMO 2013 (Open) Questions

SMO 2013 (Open Section) Answers

1. 12877
2. 1
3. 3
4. 20
5. 81
6. 2
7. 240
8. 135
9. 75
10. 6
11. 2
12. 5
13. 120
14. 150
15. 106
16. 32
17. 67
18. 3
19. 1
20. 1611
21. 10
22. 13
23. 76
24. 97344
25. 64

All answers are provided by Lim Jeck.

SMO (Open) Previous Years' Cut-off Points (Inclusive of Round 2 scores)
Updated: 2013 Gold (26), Silver (13), Bronze (10), HM (9), 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)

IPhO 2013 Singapore Team

The following five students have been selected to represent Singapore at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2013, to be held in Copenhagen Denmark from 7-15 July:

From NUS High: Sean Seet, Byorn Tan and Lim Jeck
From RI: Daniel Mark and Ashwin

The group will be having residential training at NIE, Nanyang Technological University, from 5-8 June and 24-29 June.

SMO 2013 (Senior Section) Answers

SMO 2013 Senior Special Round Participants List

SMO 2013 (Senior) Questions

SMO 2013 (Senior Section) Answers

1.  D
2.  D
3.  E
4.  A
5.  C
6.  E
7.  A
8.  C
9. E
10. D
11. 8000
12. 595
13. 6
14. 80
15. 10
16. 101
17. 10001
18. 31
19. 0
20. 36
21. 81
22. 287
23. 66
24. 343
25. 40
26. 181
27. 2040
28. 300
29. 500
30. 300
31. 5
32. 4800
33. 60024
34. 4
35. 81

Answers are provided by Lim Jeck.

SMO (Senior) Previous Years' Cut-off Points (Inclusive of Round 2 scores)
Updated: 2013 Gold (13), Silver (8), Bronze (6), HM (5), 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)

SMO 2013 (Junior Section) Answers

SMO 2013 Junior Special Round Participants List

SMO 2013 Junior Questions and Solutions

SMO 2013 (Junior Section) Answers

1. D
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. D
6. B
7. D
8. C
9. D
10. D
11. 10000
12. 3
13. 1822
14. 108
15. 20
16. 60
17. 1041
18. 125
19. 6
20. 4
21. 8052
22. 10
23. 55
24. 19
25. 18
26. 48
27. 12
28. 208
29. 10571
30. 3
31. 75
32. 221
33. 62
34. 1648
35. 64

Credits to Clarence Chew and Lim Jeck, for providing and checking the answers, respectively.

SMO (Junior) Previous Years' Cut-off Points (Inclusive of Round 2 scores)
Updated: 2013 Gold (27), Silver (11), Bronze (10), HM (9), 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)

NUS 2012/2013 Semester 2 Exam Results

Year 6 Semester 1 Progress Report

Lim Jeck's Year 6 Semester 1 results are as follows:

CS6101 Software Engineering A-
EL6103 Language in Society III B
PC6402 Calculus-based Mechanics II A+
PC6404 Calculus-based EMM II A+

Semestral Grade Point Average (GPA): 4.4
Cumulative Average Point (CAP): 4.5
Year 5 & 6 CAP: 4.7
Computing Studies Major CAP: 4.8
Physics Major CAP: 5.0; Honours CAP: 5.0
Mathematics Major CAP: 5.0; Honours CAP: 5.0
Chemistry Major CAP: 4.5

Year 2 Semester 1 Progress Report

Lim Li's Year 2 Semester 1 results are as follows:

AR1301 Art Enrichment -Distinction-
BL2104 Diversity of Life in the Micro-Kingdoms B+
CL2101 Chinese 2A A-
CM1106 Foundation Chemistry II -In progress-
DV2101 Design and Engineering -Excellent-
EL2106 Developing Language and Literary Skills III B+
GE2102 Fundamental Geography A
MA2112 Foundation Mathematics III A+
MA4202V Advanced Mathematical Olympiad Training IV A-
MU2101 Basic Musicianship A-
PC2110 Foundation Physics II -In progress-

Semestral Grade Point Average (GPA): 4.5 (out of 5)
Cumulative Average Point (CAP): 4.5 (out of 5)

IMO 2013 Singapore Team and others

Singapore Team participants

Singapore Team leaders and observers

Dong Ryul Kim from South Korea was 2nd in IMO 2012, with a score of 40 and losing 2 precious marks in the controversial Qn 4. Aim for a perfect score this year, Dong Ryul!

Bobby Shen from USA was 3rd last year, with a score of 39 (he lost 3 marks in the hardest problem, Qn 3). You should aim for a perfect score too, Bobby!

Farrell Eldrian Wu from Philippines is the youngest contestant this year. In 2012 he came in 1st in the Brilliant Challenge and had a perfect score in the Australian Math Competition Junior category. Way to go, Farrell!

APMO 2013 Results

Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad Full Results

You can see that Korea, Russia and USA are truly the Math Olympiad powerhouse, each with a total score of 350, meaning all their top 10 students including the those with Honourable Mention, get a perfect score of 35.  Singapore is ranked 7th (tie with Canada), with a total score of 257.

For APMO, the medal award rules are as follows: For a particular country the number of i) Gold awards ≤ 1, ii) Gold + Silver awards ≤ 3, and iii) Gold + Silver + Bronze awards ≤ 7.)

Singapore's Individual Results
Gold: Lim Jeck (NUS High)
Silver: Ling Yan Hao (NUS High), Yap Jit Wu (NUS High)
Bronze: David Lin (RI), Howe Choong Yin (NUS High), Teh Jiun Harn (RI), Sheldon Kieren Tan (RI)
Honourable Mention: Tan Pin Lin (NUS High), Zhang Wen (RI), Tan Siah Yong (RI)

Nipun Pitimanaaree - IMO Hall of Fame

18-year old Nipun Pitimanaaree from Thailand has won 3 Gold and 1 Silver in the last 4 IMO participation. He is taking part in IMO again this year.

It looks like after IMO 2013, he will share the honour of being 2nd (with 4 Gold and 1 Silver) in the IMO Hall of Fame, with Lisa Sauermann from Germany. All the best, Nipun!

Mathematical Medley Vol 38 No. 2

Saw the following from the Singapore Mathematical Society publications webpage,

and ordered a copy.

Report on the 53rd IMO, Singapore Team

Now I know why Lim Jeck had not brought home the IMO 2012 folders containing the questions and his solutions scripts.

Solution to Problem 3, the hardest problem in IMO 2012. Only 8 out of 548 participants could solve it completely.

3rd hardest problem. 86 participants could solve this problem completely. Seems like a short solution to me. 

Solution to Problem 6, the second hardest question. Only 10 participants solved it completely.

Solutions to Qn 1, 2 & 4 are not included here. Go buy the Mathematical Medley if you want to see the solutions to these questions. :D

Email from a friend

I received this email from a friend yesterday. Words cannot describe how touched I am by her email and how grateful I am to her, as she has shared my exact sentiments. Even if only 1 or 2 persons understand, it is good enough for us. Thanks J, if you are reading this and prefer me to remove this post, do let me know.

Hi Bee Yong,

Congrats to Lim Jeck for getting the gold medal for the Apho in Indonesia. He is truly talented in Maths, Physics and IT. And this has landed him in a happy dilemma now. Which to choose IMO or IPHO? 

My 2 cents worth is he should be allowed to go for BOTH.

Priority should go to IPHO because every Singaporean student has only 1 chance in their lifetime to participate in this competition and to forego it is such a waste. So Lim Jeck should attend the intensive training for Physics.

As for Maths, Lim Jeck is already a veteran (represented Singapore 4 times) and has undergone so many intensive trainings before. Therefore for this year Maths training he should be exempted. Even without training I believed that he can probably do as well as the other selected students representing Singapore. 

The selection team for the IMO should be flexible and not just stick to some policy without taking the full picture into consideration. Eg the recent XXX policy of favouring only their own students was such a farce because by sticking to their policy they did not select the best players to represent Singapore which is not correct.

In this case as defending champion, Lim Jeck should be accorded the privileges he deserved eg given a wild card direct entry without having to participate in any training at all.

Regards,

J

Afternote: On the evening of 15/5, SIMO informed me that Lim Jeck would be allowed to go for both IMO and IPhO (if he does qualify to be in the team after the selection test). He no longer has to make the tough decision of choosing only 1 international olympiad if he makes it into both national teams. :)

APhO 2013 Results

Results of the 14th Asian Physics Olympiad.

Top performing countries include: China (8 Gold), Taiwan (5 Gold), Thailand (4 Gold), Singapore (3 Gold), Russia (3 Gold), Indonesia (2 Gold) and Vietnam (2 Gold).

20 countries and about 150 students participated in the APhO 2013. A total of 27 gold medals, 16 silver medals, 19 bronze medals and 12 honorable mention awards are given out.

From left: Wei Heng, Sean, Byorn, Daryl, Ashwin, Daniel, Lim Jeck and Jonathan.

Singapore Team bagged 8 medals as follows:
Gold: Lim Jeck (NUSH) ranked #9
Gold: Daniel Mark (RI) ranked #13
Gold: Sean Seet (NUSH) ranked #25
Silver: Jonathan Ang (NUSH)
Silver: Byorn Tan (NUSH)
Bronze: Bay Wei Heng (HCI)
Bronze: Ashwin (RI)
Bronze: Daryl Pay (RI)

Full Results

As Lim Jeck was told he should focus on only 1 and not 2 International Olympiads, he would have to make a choice between IMO and IPhO after he returns from APhO. What a tough decision for him to make!

Off to Bogor, Indonesia

The Singapore APhO (Asian Physics Olympiad) Team has left for Bogor Indonesia this morning.

Programme of the 14th APhO

5 May - Arrival
6 May - Opening Ceremony, Excursion
7 May - Theoretical Exam
8 May - Excusion
9 May - Experimental Exam
10 May - Excursion
11 May - Science Quiz, lecture
12 May - Closing Ceremony, Farewell dinner
13 May - Departure

Singapore Team:

NTST 2013 Results

The Singapore IMO 2013 national team selection test (NTST) results are out. The following are the top 6: 

1. Lim Jeck (NUS High Year 6) - 5th time participating (2012: Gold & World 1st, 2011: Gold & World 2nd, 2010: Silver, 2009: Bronze)

2. Liu Yijia (RI Year 3) - 1st time participating 

3. Ling Yan Hao (NUS High Year 5) - 2nd time participating (2012: Silver)

4. Eugene Lee Hua Jun (RI Year 4) - 1st time participating

5. Tan Siah Yong (RI Year 4) - 1st time participating

6. David Lin Kewei (RI Year 4) - 1st time participating

The above 6 students will be representing Singapore in the 54th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), which will be hosted by Colombia, to be held in the city of Santa Marta 18 to 28 July 2013.