The good news is, this is 2007.
In 2005, news pieces like that-- pasted from different sources-- would be enough to render me crazy. (Sorry, Dodome, I searched carefully and there's no Japanese version.)
Can the child prodigy work out if he should go to university aged 7?
Alexandra Frean, Education Editor
The parents of a seven-year-old science prodigy have begun a world-wide search for a university place for their child, with the warning that “a great mind could be lost” if he is not offered the chance to pursue his studies at degree level.
Ainan Celeste Cawley, the son of a British father and a Singaporean mother, passed his O-level chemistry in Singapore at the age of 6 and is studying for an A level in the same subject.
The case of the child genius, whose parents claim that he could walk at six months and construct complex sentences by his first birthday, has provoked both curiosity and concern. Experts believe that the lack of a normal childhood can do irreparable long-term psychological damage.
Yesterday Ainan’s father, Valentine, said that it had been apparent from birth that his son, who likes drawing and watching Mr Bean videos when not studying, was very unusual.
“As a toddler, he would seek out science books in the library, showing a preference for dense texts with complicated illustrations of scientific matters. These he would absorb quietly and comment on later.
“By the time he was 3 or 4, he was interested in hyper-dimensional shapes and would draw their shadows in two dimensions as a form of intellectual play,” he said.
Mr Cawley, a writer, said that his son showed an interest in chemistry when he was 6 and picked up a chemistry O-level paper at his aunt’s house.
“He was 6½ and he got all the questions right. It turned out that he had taught himself chemistry on the internet,” he said.
He denied that child prodigies were doomed to failure at university and said that it would be unfair to allow his son’s mind to “stagnate”.
“Imagine you are the strongest man in the world and someone says to you, try lifting something small like a banana. It’s like asking him to deny his true nature. Well, it’s the same with a child prodigy,” he said.
The parents are looking for a sponsor for their child’s university education and say that one of them would accompany him during his studies. Syahadah Cawley, his mother, who is an artist, denied that they had put any pressure on him. “He is home-tutored most of the time, but he goes to school for PC classes and Malay lessons and has friends there,” she said.
Mr Cawley added: “He is a very cool dude. You have never seen anyone more relaxed and laidback in your life.” The couple said that it was too early to tell if their other sons, Fintan, 4, and Tiarnan, 1, were equally gifted.
Professor Tim White, of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, said he had no doubt that the child was a chemistry prodigy. “He has an excellent grasp of the subject - he is well able to write and balance equations, draw molecular formulas, understands the chemical properties, knows about radioactivity and so on. Clearly, a normal school would be incredibly frustrating for Ainan,” he said. He added that his own university had decided not to offer a place to Ainan because the laboratory benches were too high, with shelves out of reach and chemical dispensers too big for the child to hold.
“There were considerable logistical barriers - chemistry is an experimental science, and unlike gifted child musicians and mathematicians, quite special requirements would be needed,” he said. Professor White had mixed feelings about sending a seven-year-old to university. “He is a boy, but it would certainly be a great shame if he become frustrated and lost his enthusiasm for science by being constrained in an environment that did not stretch his abilities and imagination,” he said.
Priya Naidu, a lecturer at the School of Chemical and Life Sciences at the Singapore Polytechnic, said that the child was a “cute little boy with the attention span of a seven-year-old”, but the academic ability of a 17 to 18-year-old chemistry student.
“He has the capability to learn very quickly and is reading up on university texts and scientific journals.” But Joan Freeman, Visiting Professor in the Psychology of Education at Middlesex University, said that she thought Ainan’s parents were making a terrible mistake. “To send a child to university at 7 is like you are not regarding him as a human being, but as a performing monkey,” she said.
Ainan himself was not available for interview. His mother said: “He is rather shy with new people. Most of the truly gifted are introverts - studies show this.”
Where are they now
Sufiah Yusof fled Oxford University in 2000, aged 15, after her third-year exams. When police found her after a huge hunt, she blamed her parents for too much pressure, never finished her course and became an administrative assistant for a construction firm
Michael Perham, 14, became in January the youngest person to sail solo across the Atlantic
Bobby Fischer became an international chess grandmaster at 15 and beat Boris Spassky, the Soviet world champion, at the height of the Cold War
Ruth Lawrence graduated from Oxford at the age of 13 with a first-class mathematics degree in 1985. She is now a maths professor in Israel, married with two children
Terence Judd made his first appearance as a classical pianist at the age of 12, playing at the Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. At 22 he threw himself off Beachy Head, just before Christmas 1979
Vanessa-Mae began playing the violin at the age of 5 and was soon making regular TV appearances. She earned £36 million and last year became the wealthiest British entertainer under 30
Jennifer Capriati became at 15 the youngest Wimbledon semi-finalist in 1991, before winning Olympic gold the next year. In 1994 she was arrested for marijuana possession. She made a comeback and became world No 1. She has struggled with injuries but may play professionally again
Source: Times database
Child 'prodigy' eyeing Australian unis
November 9, 2007 - 7:50PM
For many kids, the most pressing dilemma in life is what to ask for for Christmas. But Ainan Celeste Cawley is not your average boy.
At the tender age of seven, he has a unique problem - finding a university somewhere in the world willing to take him.
Ainan, considered by his parents to be a chemistry prodigy, has launched a global hunt for a suitable university, including in Australia.
His mother and father fear his academic progress will stall unless an appropriate university is found soon.
"Ainan is the most natural scientist in the world: surely there must be a university, somewhere on Earth, willing to nurture such a boy?" his father Valentine Cawley said.
His family says Ainan passed O Level chemistry tests - the equivalent of a Year 12 high school chemistry exam - earlier this year, just six months after picking up an O Level textbook.
His mother Syahidah Osman Cawley said few universities seemed willing to take such a young student.
"It takes many people to say yes, but only one person to say no."
The family is seeking a university that will offer instruction in English and with a strong chemistry department and a warm and welcoming culture.
The Cawleys, who live in Singapore, have urged Australian institutions willing to take him to contact them via .
Boy genius too small for chemistry labs
Published: Nov. 10, 2007 at 12:38 PM
SINGAPORE, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A 7-year-old chemistry whiz's parents are scouting schools after a Singapore university deemed the boy too small to safely hold beakers, a British report said.
Nanyang Technical University in Singapore denied admission to Ainan Celeste Cawley because of potential physical hazards. The boy's hands apparently are too small to safely handle chemistry equipment, and benches and shelves in the labs are too high or big, the Times of London said.
Cawley passed regular high school-level chemistry exams at age 6 after learning the subject largely over the Internet, the newspaper said. His parents are searching globally for a sponsor and university to accept the child prodigy.
Wunderkind in Singapore searches for suitable university
Singapore - Ainan Celeste Cawley is a 7-year-old child prodigy currently looking for a place at a university. The search has proven difficult because no university so far seems willing to accept the young "wunderkind," an apparent budding genius in the field of chemistry.
"Ainan promises to be one of the great thinkers of our time," said his 38-year-old father, Valentine Cawley.
Ainan, who is of mixed Irish-Singaporean heritage, successfully sat chemistry O levels earlier this year, an exam devised for 16-year-olds.
"We gave him a chemistry O level book one evening. I found it on his night table the next day, he had read through all of its 460 pages and even scribbled notes in its margins," said Cawley.
While his regular school's curriculum currently comprises learning the alphabet, Ainan studies at home for chemistry A levels, the university entry exam, for which he wants to sit this year.
Ainan's miraculous story began two weeks after his birth on November 23, 1999 when the infant uttered his very first word, according to his father. He uttered the word "water," as he became thirsty.
At the age of 2 months, he had learned how to read the watch to determine at which time his mother Syahidah Osman (28), an artist, would return home.
At 4 months old, he started to crawl about, and at 6 months he could walk.
He enjoyed drawing three-dimensional paintings at age 3, composed songs on the piano as he turned 6, and Ainan is currently discovering the chemical structures of molecules.
As his dad distributes copies of Ainan's curriculum vitae to interested bystanders, his genius offspring explores the features of Singapore's National Library.
He pulls at strings to lower or raise window shutters and examines the insulation of a window frame, after which he boringly drinks green tea from a tetra pack, which he then carefully and with obvious interest takes apart.
"He is rather shy, though," said his father.
To the question whether he likes going to school, the boy silently shakes his head.
"Regular school is no challenge for him. He's bored there" answered dad on Ainan's behalf.
Tim White is the head of the division of Material Sciences at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.
He has welcomed Ainan in his laboratory on several occasions. "Ainan would have a very bright future as a chemist," said White. "He is a child with exceptional capabilities."
But safety issues in the laboratory posed a problem, according to White. The high lab tables were a literal hurdle, for example, and there also were equipment and chemicals which could be dangerous to a young boy who had never had any experience with them.
"The issue is how much time can we devote to him. That is a full-time job," said White.
Ainan's father Valentine said he would fill that gap. "I will be with him all the time. That takes care of the safety issue," he said. But for that to be possible Cawley is looking for a sponsor to finance the family of five.
Valentine claimed he was a child prodigy himself when, as a 17-year-old, he engaged in scientific research at Britain's National Physics Laboratory.
But he eventually gave up when the elite university Cambridge displayed a hostile attitude towards him.
"I want to spare my son from an experience like that," he said, adding that today he mainly is occupied with writing books.
"Ainan's interest in chemistry is contagious and, who knows, some day I just might return to physics again," he said.
In the meantime, Valentine Cawley apparently has his hands full rearing an entire clutch of child prodigies.
His said his two other children, 4-year-old Fintan Nadym and 21-months-old Tiarnan Hasyl, also have shown promising talents - in art, music, acting and logical thinking.
Can the child prodigy work out if he should go to university aged 7?
Alexandra Frean, Education Editor
The parents of a seven-year-old science prodigy have begun a world-wide search for a university place for their child, with the warning that “a great mind could be lost” if he is not offered the chance to pursue his studies at degree level.
Ainan Celeste Cawley, the son of a British father and a Singaporean mother, passed his O-level chemistry in Singapore at the age of 6 and is studying for an A level in the same subject.
The case of the child genius, whose parents claim that he could walk at six months and construct complex sentences by his first birthday, has provoked both curiosity and concern. Experts believe that the lack of a normal childhood can do irreparable long-term psychological damage.
Yesterday Ainan’s father, Valentine, said that it had been apparent from birth that his son, who likes drawing and watching Mr Bean videos when not studying, was very unusual.
“As a toddler, he would seek out science books in the library, showing a preference for dense texts with complicated illustrations of scientific matters. These he would absorb quietly and comment on later.
“By the time he was 3 or 4, he was interested in hyper-dimensional shapes and would draw their shadows in two dimensions as a form of intellectual play,” he said.
Mr Cawley, a writer, said that his son showed an interest in chemistry when he was 6 and picked up a chemistry O-level paper at his aunt’s house.
“He was 6½ and he got all the questions right. It turned out that he had taught himself chemistry on the internet,” he said.
He denied that child prodigies were doomed to failure at university and said that it would be unfair to allow his son’s mind to “stagnate”.
“Imagine you are the strongest man in the world and someone says to you, try lifting something small like a banana. It’s like asking him to deny his true nature. Well, it’s the same with a child prodigy,” he said.
The parents are looking for a sponsor for their child’s university education and say that one of them would accompany him during his studies. Syahadah Cawley, his mother, who is an artist, denied that they had put any pressure on him. “He is home-tutored most of the time, but he goes to school for PC classes and Malay lessons and has friends there,” she said.
Mr Cawley added: “He is a very cool dude. You have never seen anyone more relaxed and laidback in your life.” The couple said that it was too early to tell if their other sons, Fintan, 4, and Tiarnan, 1, were equally gifted.
Professor Tim White, of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, said he had no doubt that the child was a chemistry prodigy. “He has an excellent grasp of the subject - he is well able to write and balance equations, draw molecular formulas, understands the chemical properties, knows about radioactivity and so on. Clearly, a normal school would be incredibly frustrating for Ainan,” he said. He added that his own university had decided not to offer a place to Ainan because the laboratory benches were too high, with shelves out of reach and chemical dispensers too big for the child to hold.
“There were considerable logistical barriers - chemistry is an experimental science, and unlike gifted child musicians and mathematicians, quite special requirements would be needed,” he said. Professor White had mixed feelings about sending a seven-year-old to university. “He is a boy, but it would certainly be a great shame if he become frustrated and lost his enthusiasm for science by being constrained in an environment that did not stretch his abilities and imagination,” he said.
Priya Naidu, a lecturer at the School of Chemical and Life Sciences at the Singapore Polytechnic, said that the child was a “cute little boy with the attention span of a seven-year-old”, but the academic ability of a 17 to 18-year-old chemistry student.
“He has the capability to learn very quickly and is reading up on university texts and scientific journals.” But Joan Freeman, Visiting Professor in the Psychology of Education at Middlesex University, said that she thought Ainan’s parents were making a terrible mistake. “To send a child to university at 7 is like you are not regarding him as a human being, but as a performing monkey,” she said.
Ainan himself was not available for interview. His mother said: “He is rather shy with new people. Most of the truly gifted are introverts - studies show this.”
Where are they now
Sufiah Yusof fled Oxford University in 2000, aged 15, after her third-year exams. When police found her after a huge hunt, she blamed her parents for too much pressure, never finished her course and became an administrative assistant for a construction firm
Michael Perham, 14, became in January the youngest person to sail solo across the Atlantic
Bobby Fischer became an international chess grandmaster at 15 and beat Boris Spassky, the Soviet world champion, at the height of the Cold War
Ruth Lawrence graduated from Oxford at the age of 13 with a first-class mathematics degree in 1985. She is now a maths professor in Israel, married with two children
Terence Judd made his first appearance as a classical pianist at the age of 12, playing at the Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. At 22 he threw himself off Beachy Head, just before Christmas 1979
Vanessa-Mae began playing the violin at the age of 5 and was soon making regular TV appearances. She earned £36 million and last year became the wealthiest British entertainer under 30
Jennifer Capriati became at 15 the youngest Wimbledon semi-finalist in 1991, before winning Olympic gold the next year. In 1994 she was arrested for marijuana possession. She made a comeback and became world No 1. She has struggled with injuries but may play professionally again
Source: Times database
Child 'prodigy' eyeing Australian unis
November 9, 2007 - 7:50PM
For many kids, the most pressing dilemma in life is what to ask for for Christmas. But Ainan Celeste Cawley is not your average boy.
At the tender age of seven, he has a unique problem - finding a university somewhere in the world willing to take him.
Ainan, considered by his parents to be a chemistry prodigy, has launched a global hunt for a suitable university, including in Australia.
His mother and father fear his academic progress will stall unless an appropriate university is found soon.
"Ainan is the most natural scientist in the world: surely there must be a university, somewhere on Earth, willing to nurture such a boy?" his father Valentine Cawley said.
His family says Ainan passed O Level chemistry tests - the equivalent of a Year 12 high school chemistry exam - earlier this year, just six months after picking up an O Level textbook.
His mother Syahidah Osman Cawley said few universities seemed willing to take such a young student.
"It takes many people to say yes, but only one person to say no."
The family is seeking a university that will offer instruction in English and with a strong chemistry department and a warm and welcoming culture.
The Cawleys, who live in Singapore, have urged Australian institutions willing to take him to contact them via .
Boy genius too small for chemistry labs
Published: Nov. 10, 2007 at 12:38 PM
SINGAPORE, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A 7-year-old chemistry whiz's parents are scouting schools after a Singapore university deemed the boy too small to safely hold beakers, a British report said.
Nanyang Technical University in Singapore denied admission to Ainan Celeste Cawley because of potential physical hazards. The boy's hands apparently are too small to safely handle chemistry equipment, and benches and shelves in the labs are too high or big, the Times of London said.
Cawley passed regular high school-level chemistry exams at age 6 after learning the subject largely over the Internet, the newspaper said. His parents are searching globally for a sponsor and university to accept the child prodigy.
Wunderkind in Singapore searches for suitable university
Singapore - Ainan Celeste Cawley is a 7-year-old child prodigy currently looking for a place at a university. The search has proven difficult because no university so far seems willing to accept the young "wunderkind," an apparent budding genius in the field of chemistry.
"Ainan promises to be one of the great thinkers of our time," said his 38-year-old father, Valentine Cawley.
Ainan, who is of mixed Irish-Singaporean heritage, successfully sat chemistry O levels earlier this year, an exam devised for 16-year-olds.
"We gave him a chemistry O level book one evening. I found it on his night table the next day, he had read through all of its 460 pages and even scribbled notes in its margins," said Cawley.
While his regular school's curriculum currently comprises learning the alphabet, Ainan studies at home for chemistry A levels, the university entry exam, for which he wants to sit this year.
Ainan's miraculous story began two weeks after his birth on November 23, 1999 when the infant uttered his very first word, according to his father. He uttered the word "water," as he became thirsty.
At the age of 2 months, he had learned how to read the watch to determine at which time his mother Syahidah Osman (28), an artist, would return home.
At 4 months old, he started to crawl about, and at 6 months he could walk.
He enjoyed drawing three-dimensional paintings at age 3, composed songs on the piano as he turned 6, and Ainan is currently discovering the chemical structures of molecules.
As his dad distributes copies of Ainan's curriculum vitae to interested bystanders, his genius offspring explores the features of Singapore's National Library.
He pulls at strings to lower or raise window shutters and examines the insulation of a window frame, after which he boringly drinks green tea from a tetra pack, which he then carefully and with obvious interest takes apart.
"He is rather shy, though," said his father.
To the question whether he likes going to school, the boy silently shakes his head.
"Regular school is no challenge for him. He's bored there" answered dad on Ainan's behalf.
Tim White is the head of the division of Material Sciences at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.
He has welcomed Ainan in his laboratory on several occasions. "Ainan would have a very bright future as a chemist," said White. "He is a child with exceptional capabilities."
But safety issues in the laboratory posed a problem, according to White. The high lab tables were a literal hurdle, for example, and there also were equipment and chemicals which could be dangerous to a young boy who had never had any experience with them.
"The issue is how much time can we devote to him. That is a full-time job," said White.
Ainan's father Valentine said he would fill that gap. "I will be with him all the time. That takes care of the safety issue," he said. But for that to be possible Cawley is looking for a sponsor to finance the family of five.
Valentine claimed he was a child prodigy himself when, as a 17-year-old, he engaged in scientific research at Britain's National Physics Laboratory.
But he eventually gave up when the elite university Cambridge displayed a hostile attitude towards him.
"I want to spare my son from an experience like that," he said, adding that today he mainly is occupied with writing books.
"Ainan's interest in chemistry is contagious and, who knows, some day I just might return to physics again," he said.
In the meantime, Valentine Cawley apparently has his hands full rearing an entire clutch of child prodigies.
His said his two other children, 4-year-old Fintan Nadym and 21-months-old Tiarnan Hasyl, also have shown promising talents - in art, music, acting and logical thinking.