Off to Shen Zhen, China

back left to right: Si Ying, Belinda, Dorette, Aidi, Lim Min
front left to right: Pin Lin, Surya, Mrs Ng (RGS teacher), Lydia, Mr Wang (NUSH teacher)

Lim Min left for Shen Zhen this morning. She is part of the Singapore Team participating in the China Girls Math Olympiad. She will be back on Wednesday night.

金牌数目历来最多 数学奥林匹克新加坡全球排第三

This is posted by LJ's mum.

金牌数目历来最多 数学奥林匹克新加坡全球排第三

陈紫筠(2011-07-27)

新加坡在第52届国际数学奥林匹克比赛中取得突破，首次挤入三甲，仅排在中国和美国之后。 　　我国队伍在这项比赛中多年一直徘徊于20至29名内，去年获得第22名，而表现最好的一次是2005年，排世界第14。 　　这次除了在排行榜上取得大跃进外，获得的金牌数目也是历来最多的。自90年代初取得第一面金牌后，我国队伍十几年来与金牌无缘，今年六名参赛的学生共夺下四面金牌，一面银牌和一面铜牌。其中有三名学生在个人排行榜上名列第二、四以及六名。 　　这支为国争光的队伍由英华中学、莱佛士书院（高中部）以及新加坡国立大学数理中学的六名学生组成，他们年龄介于16至18岁。　　我国从1988年就派队参赛，新加坡数理协会副主席王金富博士说，每年派出的队伍平均获得五面奖牌，而今年的成绩是最令人振奋的。 　　他受访时说，表现好的原因是小学数学课程奠定的稳固基础，以及给予有特别才能学生的额外培训，要取得更多突破是指日可待的。 　　金牌得主是英华中学的洪捷君、国大数理中学的林捷以及莱佛士书院（高中部）的丁岳和关俊杰。国大数理中学的洪延昇和莱佛士书院（高中部）的许崇乐，则分别获得银以及铜牌。他们除了丁岳是新加坡永久居民外，都是土生土长的新加坡人。 为国争光的队伍首次在国际数学奥林匹克比赛中，挤入前十名，排名全世界第三名。代表我国参赛的有六名学生，图中的林捷（左）以及洪延昇分别获得金牌以及银牌。（谢光凭摄） 　　在个人表现中取得亮眼成绩的三名参赛者是林捷、关俊杰和洪捷君，分别排在第二、四以及六名次。 　　世界亚军林捷（16岁）对自己的成绩感到意外，他说：“一些题目比筹备时接触过的困难许多，我花了不少时间解答，几乎是在最后几分钟才完成。有如此表现，我感到十分高兴。此外，这也是一次很好的经验，让我有机会与来自德国、中国等国家的优秀选手切磋。” 　　林捷为比赛下了一番苦功，除了接受规定训练外，也在家里自习。他毕业自女皇镇小学，有多次参加各项数学比赛的经验，这也是他第三次参加奥数。 　　率领队伍出征的国大数学系副教授黄恩来说，林捷解答问题的技巧纯熟，思路清晰有条理，他只差两分就满分。 　　由教育部、新加坡国立大学以及新加坡数理协会成立的筹备小组，一年前就紧锣密鼓为比赛作足准备。先是通过全国性奥林匹克比赛挑选出20名学生接受每周一次的训练，再从中挑选出六名学生代表国家出赛。 　　洪延昇（17岁）说，比赛前的筹备功夫不简单，他们两个月里每星期六天、每天八小时的训练，除此之外，还得参加两周的“闭门”密集训练营。 　　这项一年一度的国际比赛，于本月16日至24日在荷兰首都阿姆斯特丹举行，共有101个国家的564名代表参加，他们都在20岁以下。这次比赛中，共颁发了50面金牌、100面银牌以及150面铜牌。

《联合早报》 编辑：杨丽娟

S'pore ends gold drought at Maths Olympiad

IMO 2011 Question 6

This is posted by LJ's mum.

Lim Jeck has returned home safely this morning - this certainly beats all the accolades that he has won in the IMO :) After an exhausting 12.5-hr flight, he is now sleeping soundly. After all these euphoria at the IMO, the next few weeks he will have rough sledding playing catch-up with all the missed school lessons. :(

I think it is going to be a challenging task for Singapore to maintain her top positions (country rank 3rd and individual ranks 2nd, 4th and 6th) next year. Out of the 5 team members who should qualify for next year's IMO again, 2 are likely to move to other Science Olympiads. This year's questions are favourable to the team, next year's questions might not be.

Anyway, back to my main topic, the Question 6 which stumped many contestants except for the 6 (Lim Jeck being one of them) out of a total of 564 contestants, who could solve it completely.

The IMO 2011 questions.



Lim Jeck's solution for Question 6.

IMO 2011 Results Out!

This is posted by LJ's mum.

Wow ... This is Singapore's best showing in 24 years (after participating in IMO since 1988). Singapore is ranked 3rd, just after China and USA, and we have won 4 Gold 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medals. :O

Full Details of Country Ranking
Not only that, our contestants are ranked among the best in the world! Lim Jeck is ranked Individual 2nd, Joseph joint-Individual 4th and Jie Jun joint-Individual 6th.

Full Details of Individual Ranking
Speechless :D If the same team (minus Jie Jun who is in JC2 this year) goes again next year, do you think we can beat China to be the top ranking country in IMO 2012 (Argentina)? :P

Afterparty:
You can see the Singapore team, about 19-22 seconds into the video:

IMO 2011 Excursion The Hague / Games

Wow .. you can see the Singapore Team in this video. 13-15 secs into the video, you can see Lim Jeck, Joseph, Yan Sheng, Ryan and Jie Jun.

IMO 2011 - Coordination Day 1

This is posted by LJ's mum.

3 questions each day are scheduled to be coordinated. However, Team Singapore's coordination was done so efficiently that they managed to complete 5 questions (P1, P2, P3, P4, P6) in Day 1 of coordination. Left with P5 (or Question 5).

Update: All partial scores are removed ... full results to be released soon, likely tomorrow late night. Sorry to keep you all in suspense :P

Déjà vu

This is posted by LJ's mum.

IMO 2011 Team Singapore (photo taken last night at Changi Airport Terminal 3)

IMO 2010 Team Singapore (photo taken at Terminal 3, almost the same location). Notice Lim Jeck was shorter than Ang Yan Sheng then.

IMO 2009 Team Singapore (photo taken at same terminal, same location?). Notice how short Lim Jeck was then.

Can you find who else has appeared in all 3 photos, besides Lim Jeck?

Off to Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Tonight at 2355 hrs we will be flying on Singapore Airlines SQ324 to Amsterdam for the 52nd International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). A/Prof Wong and A/Prof Tay had flown there earlier for the jury meeting.

The programme is as follows:
13 July - Arrival Day for Team Leader & Observer A
14 to 16 July - Jury Meeting
16 July - Arrival Day for Deputy Leaders, Contestants and Observers B
17 July - Opening Ceremony
18 to 19 July - Competition Day 1 and 2
20 to 22 July - Coordinatin/Final Jury Meeting/Excursion
23 July - Closing Ceremony
24 July - Departure Day
25 July - Reach Singapore (0545 hr)

During the IMO, we will be staying at Novotel Amsterdam City. The temperature is about 12 to 22 degree celsius.

A total of 574 participants from 102 countries (check here) are taking part in the 52nd IMO.

Official results of the IMO should be out by 23 July. Past and present IMO results can be checked here.

2011 River Valley Maths Challenge

This is posted by Lim Li.

This morning, my teacher brought us (Wei Wei, Ji Xuan, Jia Ning, Stephen, Wei Jue and I) to the River Valley Maths Challenge (RVMC). 363 students from 62 schools took part in the RVMC. The participants were given free water and ruler. The individual round was easy, many people commented that they could do all the questions but I made a number of careless mistakes. The competition was held in the RVHS auditorium. We had to write our answers on the a separate sheet, there was no shading on OAS form. The team round was harder than the individual round, my team could not do one question and did not multiply correctly the last question, which was 59x59x59.

The food was nice, but I was just a tad disappointed that it was not buffet kind as each one of us had paid $5. There was mango pudding and packet lunch. I thought that the sauce was ketchup and was wondering why it was so spicy, until Step told me it was chilli.

At the prize presentation, there was an audience Math quiz where vouchers could be won by anyone who gave the correct answers. It was based on luck and quick calculation and we were not supposed to use calculator but I think I was not the only one who cheated as someone could compute 1000000000/50/60/24/365. They must call you before you could answer so an element of luck was involved here.

There were 10 individual prizes, 3 team prizes and 10 individual + team prizes. I won the 10th individual prize, which was a trophy. Sadly, my school did not get any team prize and my teacher was utterly disappointed as he could not brag now :P

NMOS 2011 Round 1 Answers

This is posted by Lim Li
(Note: I did not take part in this competition as I am P6!)

NMOS 2011 R1 Answers
1. 220
2. 8
3. 30
4. 1006
5. 8
6. 4
7. 46
8. 46
9. 1003
10. 67
11. 210
12. 490
13. 30
14. 52 (answer given by someone from the c-box)
15. 20
16. 84
17. 125
18. 5
19. 80
20. 60
21. 21
22. 233
23. 2008
24. 19
25. 7
26. 3
27. 50
28. 15
29. 81
30. 72

Guys or Gals: Who's better at Maths Olympiad?

This is posted by LJ's mum.

Generally speaking, guys perform much better than gals in Maths Olympiad. Some evidences are below:
- Annual International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) total participation: typically, 90% male and 10% female
- Top 10 winners of Singapore Mathematical Olympiad (SMO) - SMO Junior 2010 (9 boys, 1 girl), SMO Senior 2010 (9 boys, 1 girl), SMO Open 2010 (10 boys)
- Singapore's participation in IMO from 2006-2011: all-boys team
- Out of about 24 members in the 2010/2011 National Team, there is only 1 girl
- No girl has ever topped the SMO Junior/Senior/Open
- No girl has ever topped the following primary-level Math Olympiad competitions: NMOS/SMOPS/APMOPS/RIPWMC

Nevertheless, as in most things in life, there are exceptions. Lisa Sauermann from Germany has been one of the top winners in the IMO. To-date, she has garnered 3 Gold and 1 Silver IMO medals. She was ranked individual 4th in 2010 and 3rd in 2009.

Best of all, Lisa (age 18 this year) is taking part in IMO 2011, and she looks set to take over the throne from Christian Reiher, as the Champion in the IMO Hall of Fame. Those ranked above her in the current Hall of Fame are all past (or long past) 19 years old and are not eligible to take part in the IMO anymore.

I wonder if Lisa is taking part again next year ....

To all girls out there who aspire to shine in the Mathematical Olympiad arena: if Lisa can do it, you can do it too!

NUS High Selection Test

This is posted by LL ♥♦♣♠

Today I took the NUS High Selection Test. The 1 1/2 hr Math paper was okay (easier than NMOS) but the 1 1/4 hr Science paper was slightly hard. The Math paper had 7 pages (1st page was the cover page, last page was a blank page) and 23 non-MCQ questions where you have to shade the integer answer, and the Science paper had 30 MCQ questions and 24 pages (1st page was cover page, last page was a periodic table which I do not know how to use - I think there was 1 question about it which I guessed the answer).

The first few Math questions are easy, like P6 Math questions. One of the easiest Math questions is, the average of 3 numbers is given, you add another 2 numbers and you get another given average, you have to find the sum of the 2 numbers added. There are varying marks for different questions. I think the harder questions carry 4 marks.

One of the Science questions which I can remember is, there are two containers filled with hot water: one is a metal container with wooden casing, the other is a complete metal container. Both containers have a thermometer inside. Choose the correct line graph for the temperature, from the 4 or 5 choices given.

2011 China Girls Math Olympiad

This is posted by Lim Min's mum.

Singapore will be sending 8 girls to the 2011 China Girls Mathematical Olympiad (CGMO), to be held in ShenZhen (China) from 30 July to 3 August. The CGMO was originally established as a regional competition for female high school students from China. Several years ago China expanded the competition to countries from around the world, with the USA, Russia, United Kingdom and Singapore among the invitees.

After 2 days of selection tests (comprising 4-hr papers of 4 questions each) last Saturday and Sunday, the following girls are selected:

Raffles Institution: Zhang Aidi, Lydia Liu, Lim Min and Lee Si Ying (all Year 5s)
NUS High: Surya Mathialagan (Year 2) and Tan Pin Lin (Year 4)
Raffles Girls' School (Sec): Belinda Ding (Year 4) and Dorette Ong (Year 3)

All the best to Team Singapore, and hope the girls can better last year's results of 1 Silver and 4 Bronzes.

Mistakes in onSponge P5 Conquer Problem Sums

This is posted by Lim Li ☺☻

After I had practised the SMO Junior questions and after my teacher asked us to complete the P5 thinkingMath@onSponge Conquer Problem Sums, I realised that something was wrong ...

Page 149.
Based on Pythagoras' theorem, AB is 8sqrt(10). But without knowing Pythagoras' theorem, a student will calculate AB = (28 x 18)/12 = 42???

Page 148.
Based on Pythagoras' theorem again, how can the three lengths of a triangle be 15, 20 and 30???

Page 146.
If the lengths of the triangle are 8, 10 and 14, the area should be sqrt(s(s-8)(s-10)(s-14)) where s = (8+10+14)/2. Hence, area = 16sqrt(6). But then, how can the height be 7 if the base is 14???

Page 145.
How can the hypotenuse be 8, which is shorter than the base length of 20???

There are more mistakes in the book, which I am too lazy to scan and highlight in this post.

IMO 2011 Singapore Team

This is posted by LJ's mum.

This year's Singapore IMO team comprises 1 JC2, 4 JC1s and 1 Sec 4. There is a high chance that IMO participants will get selected again the following year, as long as they qualify to take part again. Besides the obvious fact that they are among the top in the National Team (consisting of typically 20-25 students), they have also undergone intensive training in preparation for the IMO, and hence, are more well prepared for the selection tests. This means that, for 2012, it is likely that 5 places will be taken up by the current team members (unless, some of them also qualify for other International Science Olympiads and decide to partake in another competition).

The younger National Team members (current Year 3s and 4s) who aspire to be part of the IMO Team will probably have to work extremely hard, to secure a place in IMO Team 2012! I think Lim Jeck is very fortunate that he was first selected into the IMO Team in Sec 2. The competition to earn a coveted place in the IMO Team was probably less stiff then. As more Maths Olympiad competitions are organised for the primary level, kids get exposed to Maths Olympiad at an early age, and with more primary school kids taking part in the SMO (for secondary and JC levels), the quality of the Junior/Senior/National Team members will just get better. This cannot be a bad thing, it means the quality of our IMO Team will only improve, and we are likely to clinch more Golds in the future (special note: Singapore has won ONLY a single Gold medal in 1996, after taking part in IMO for 23 times so far).

The above are the leaders and observers accompanying the team to the 52nd IMO held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 12 to 25 July. The Leader and Observer A will be there earlier, as they are involved in the jury meeting to select 6 questions from the shortlisted IMO questions. After which, they are barred from any contact with the participants and Observer Bs since they will have prior knowledge to the selected IMO questions. Before the competition begins, the Deputy Leader and Observer Bs are allowed to spend some time with the participants, it could be to give more training, encouragement or pep talk (I think the last part is crucial, as you normally watch on TV, the sports coaches give pep talk to players, during important competitions).

To ensure fairness in marking, the Leader and Deputy Leader (and sometimes one Observer B) are permitted to participate in the marks coordination session, with two Coordinators assigned by IMO Foundation. This will ensure that the participants' solutions have been fairly assessed (meaning, you don't have to worry that your solutions are not clearly understood by uninitiated markers, or that marks are unfairly deducted).

Some countries even send Observer Cs, who are allowed to stay at the same site as the participants.

To know what typically happens throughout the IMO, you can read an interesting account of the 51st IMO by a UK student here, and by a UK leader, here. These diaries mentioned the disqualification of the North Korea team.

More Training .. Even More Training

Off to 12-day residential camp, from 13 to 24 June, at NUS High, for IMO training.

After that, another 2 weeks' training from 27 June to 12 July, before flying to Amsterdam (Netherlands), where the IMO is held from 15 to 25 July.

Letter from NUSH

This is posted by LJ's mum.

Just want to comment on the letters from NUS High. We have received a number of letters (this year and last 2 years) from NUS High, informing us of Lim Jeck going for National Team Selection Test or IMO National Team Training (see letter below) or some other overseas competitions. I always find the letters rather impersonal - there is no name mentioned. It is as if the letter is a generic one to be sent to the entire cohort, when in actual fact it was sent to only a few selected students. Why don't they add more personal touch, by naming 'Lim Jeck' in the letter instead of 'your child', addressing the letter to 'Dear Parent/Guardian of Lim Jeck' instead of 'Dear Parent/Guardian'? Sometimes I look at the letters and I wonder if they are indeed addressed to me, or to some other parents?


In contrast, the letter below from MOE seems more personalised.

NUS 2010/2011 Exam Results

Yay! I got another A+ for my NUS modules.
2010/2011 semester 2 (Jan to May 2011) exam result.

2010/2011 semester 1 (Aug to Dec 2010) exam result.

Teachers' Comments

This is posted by LJ's mum.

Lim Jeck's various subject/mentor teachers have given their comments on him, in the progress report of Semester 1, 2011. It is apparent from the comments that Lim Jeck has shown aptitude for Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Computing. However, he tends to be less proactive in the other subjects that he has less passion in. He is also too reserved and quiet.

Besides putting more efforts in his weaker subjects, I think he should also learn to be more articulate, as one may have the best technical knowledge but it would be in vain if one is not able to express one's thoughts, ideas and views clearly to others.

BL4104 Diversity of Invertebrates & Vertebrates: Lim Jeck is a reserved and courteous student. He has to be more proactive in his learning and strive to do even better. With more determination, he should be able to attain better results.

BL4107 Advanced Cell Biology I: Lim Jeck is a bright and pleasant student with a quiet disposition. To maximize his potential, he is encouraged to take a more proactive approach towards learning, and seek clarifications when a need arises. Keep up the good work!

CL4101 Chinese 4A: Lim Jeck is a quiet and smart boy. He has a very good foundation in Chinese. However he needs to be more active in participating in class activities.

CM4105 Chemical Energetics & Kinetics: Lim Jeck is a diligent and meticulous student who shows an excellent understanding of the content of this module. He has the determination to do well in his work.

CS4202 Object Oriented Programming II: Jeck has immense potential to do well in Computing. He is fast in grasping new and complex concepts and has demonstrated an aptitude to come up with excellent algorithms in solving difficult questions. He is also humble and willing to share his learning with his classmates. He should continue to read extensively. Keep up the good attitude!

EL4104 Language in Society I: Jeck is a motivated boy who tries his best to excel. He takes pride in his work and does his best to make some progress in his English results. jeck is capable of better grades if he continues to work harder.

FA4101 Art Advanced I: Jeck has shown improvement after a series of consultations. His positive attitude has helped him to endure beyond his earlier struggles in concept development and rendering techniques. He should explore media other than pencils to meet the demands of the Year 4 art modules.

MA6207 AP Statistics: Lim Jeck is an exceptionally bright boy with highly commendable talent in Mathematics. He is an independent learner and is able to grasp concepts easily.

MA6404 Introduction to Game Theory: Jeck is intelligent and shows in depth understanding of concepts.

PC4101 Advanced Physics I: Lim Jeck is a natural talent in Physics. He continues to do well and achieves excellent result in the subject. He always tops the class during test and exam as he has a strong foundation. Do keep up with the positive attitude and enthusiasm.

PC4206 Physics Olympiad Training II: Lim Jeck is a capable student with clear skill in the subject of physics, and has submitted work of consistent quality. This has allowed him to do well for the module. Good work!

Mentor Remarks: Conduct: Very Good. Lim Jeck is a diligent, conscientious and consistent student who shows eagerness and has the capacity to learn. He is capable of producing good work and is committed to doing his best. He is responsive and attentive in class. He demonstrates passion in his area of interest and has much self-motivation to maximise his potential. He shows respects towards teachers and students. He is ambitious, confident and is highly motivated to do well.