Dear Reader,

I was interviewed for this piece about gifted education in Singapore. I have reproduced in parts here for your easy access. The editorial team was interested in how and why my five children were all radically accelerated by more than 5 years. And since they are all adults now, they would like to know how my kids are.

You may like to know that Nat's parents had consulted with All Gifted some years ago about how to handle Nat's precocity.

Here's my take on the Singapore education system. It is far from being the best in the world, but it is indeed very good. I think the best part of our education was in educating my generation, where a person like me, who had no money, was unable to read a book (to this day) but had some other talents had a chance. Singapore did really well and gave me a chance.

When it came to my kids, I was hoping the same, but they did not get the education that I had hoped they would from the place I believed was the best. Nevertheless, I felt fortunate to have the resources and ideas to pursue what I could with and for them. For that, I am very grateful.

Do I think my kids are as gifted as what Taufiq said in the article?

Hm... I think all kids are gifted in their special ways. If we, as parents, do what is right for them, they will really shine. If we fail as parents, they will fail. This sounds cruel, but it is true, no matter what kind of kids we are endowed with.

And of course, this should not be an excuse to blame a parent for everything that went wrong with the kids as well.

As to how they are, they are just regular adults, having jobs that they like, making a living and handling the same issues and challenges as other adults, and derive the same happiness as other adults who dare to pursue their dreams. Have fun reading this. If you think that your kids need support in the area of education, please feel free to Whatsapp me directly at +6594357225.

When young Singaporean Nathanael Koh recently grabbed headlines late last year after graduating from the Australian National University with an honours degree specialising in music composition at age 13, one question on the minds of many Singaporeans was: Why hadn't he pursued his studies at a local university?In an interview with TODAY, his father Chris Koh said Nathanael did apply to a Singapore university — which he declined to name — but was met with a “straight no” on account of his age.

“It is actually quite disappointing,” said Dr Koh, who has a PhD in life science and is a founder and director of a social enterprise that trains and employs individuals with special needs and their caregivers.“But of course I understand no policy can cover the whole spectrum (of learners)… It is impossible to have a policy dictated for such people (like Nathanael) because they come up once in a blue moon.”Parents of gifted children TODAY spoke to all agreed that the Singapore education system could be more flexible to allow exceptionally talented children to pursue an accelerated academic journey.

But education experts pointed out that there are good reasons Singapore’s system is the way it is, and that allowing young students to skip many grades may have its own drawbacks, not least on the child’s emotional and social development......

Ms Pamela Lim, who runs education consultancy firm All Gifted (PL: actually All Gifted is an accredited school, not a consultancy firm), said that accelerating talent development need not necessarily be viewed as hothousing.“When the pace of learning is led by the child, it cannot be considered as hothousing or overly stressful,” she said, adding that how the teaching is conducted matters.“On the contrary, when a child is held back deliberately from advancing to higher levels of study, it might hinder their overall development, including social and emotional aspects.”

She herself is a parent of gifted children. All five of them, who are working adults now, qualified for university in Australia and the United States by the age of 14 or younger.

Dr Sue-Ann Lim, a service researcher whose PhD is in gifted education and educational psychology, said that school is not necessarily the only avenue for a child to be developed in areas other than academic.

"There are other avenues that parents can leverage (such as extra-curricular activities), other community groups (such as church or volunteering) to develop the child's social and emotional skills," she said.

The teens and parents who spoke to TODAY, while acknowledging the importance of interaction with peers, do not find it as a huge enough problem to outweigh talent development....

To support the latter, a more tailored approach is necessary, said parents.

“Having a one-to-one consultation to help them (extraordinary talents) to establish an education pathway — I think that will be very beneficial,” said Dr Koh.

Today article can be found here.

Best Regards,

Pamela Lim.