Your Backpack for Life

On 2 June 2009, Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence, gave a speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Pre-University Seminar 2009.

In his speech, entitled Your Backpack for Life, Dr Ng addressed the group of pre-university students and explained his hope for them, that after 12 years in the education system, they would take with them the four essential C's to face life's challenges.

The first C is Confidence. It is what gives you the drive to achieve your goals and must not be confused with ability. The following is an extract of his speech.

"Recently, I had a chat with Charles, one of the brothers of the famous local Charles and Keith brand that sells shoes and accessories. His story illustrated the difference and the link between confidence and ability. Charles told me that he was not academically gifted. In fact, he openly proclaimed that he did not do well for his O levels and went no further. From young, he helped out in his parents’ shop selling shoes. Charles did not have academic ability, but he did have confidence to push for ideas and believed that if he worked hard and was not afraid to try, he would succeed. His parents’ shop was one of those small shops you usually see in your typical HDB neighbourhood. But Charles believed he could build a global brand. Today, Charles and Keith have 215 shops in 23 countries worldwide with a turnover of about $98 million in 2008. Did Charles have ability? Of course, he did and that’s why he succeeded. But, and this is the essential difference, he did not allow others nor the system to define his abilities or limit what he could achieve. Charles could have succumbed to conventional definition. He could have dreamt small or adopted a defeatist attitude, but he did not. How often have you been limited by what others or you yourself think you are capable of?"

The link to Dr Ng's speech can be found here http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2009/06/02/speech-by-dr-ng-eng-hen-at-the-25.php and in it, Dr Ng elaborates on the other C's, and the rest of his speech. Although it's a speech for a pre-university seminar, much of its content is relevant to every one regardless what stage of your life you are in. It is not a long speech and it provides for good reflection.

The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch

Some of you may have heard of him, and some of you may not. I first came to know about this inspiring true-life story when a professor in school told us to watch the video as homework, and write a simple reflection on it.

Randy Pausch was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. In Aug 2007, after a long-fought battle with pancreatic cancer, doctors told him that he only had 3 to 6 months to live. Rather than feel morose and dwell in self-pity, he decided to live each day to the fullest. He delivered a final lecture in Carnegie Mellon University on September 18 2007 entitled Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. His last lecture has become a popular YouTube video with more than 9 million viewers. He even co-authored a book called The Last Lecture and it became a New York Times Bestseller.

The video is 76 minutes long but you won't regret watching every second of it. It is truly inspiring and definitely one of the must-watch YouTube videos that every one should see.

The Oyster

A meaningful poem that teaches us about overcoming life's obstacles and making the most of every experience we encounter.

The Oyster

There once was an oyster whose story I tell,

Who found that some sand had got into his shell.

It was only a grain but it gave him great pain,

For oysters have feelings although they're so plain.

Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate

That had brought him to such a deplorable state?

Did he curse at the government, cry for election,

And claim that the sea should have given him protection?

No--He said to himself as he lay on a shell,

Since I cannot remove it, I shall try to improve it.

Now the years have rolled around,

as the years always do,

And he came to his ultimate destiny--stew.

And the small grain of sand that had bothered him so

Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow.

Now the tale has a moral;

For isn't it grand what an oyster can do

With a morsel of sand.

What couldn't we do

If we'd only begin

With some of the things

That get under our skin.

Author: Unknown

June Trivia: Answers to the Monty Hall problem

The Monty Hall problem

"Suppose you're on a game show, and you're given the choice of three doors. Behind one door is a car, the others, goats. You pick a door, say #1, and the host, who knows what's behind the doors, opens another door, say #3, which has a goat. He says to you: 'Do you want to pick door #2?' Is it to your advantage to switch your choice of doors?"

In response to the Monty Hall problem, Marilyn vos Savant replied, that it would always be in the best interest of the contestant to switch doors as this would yield a 2/3 chance of success whereas not changing doors would only yield a 1/3 chance of success.

This answer triggered responses from thousands of readers, nearly all arguing that both doors stand an equal chance of success. A follow-up article reaffirming her anwer intensified the debate and some even questioned the integrity of her intelligence. However, careful analysis of vos Savant's answer actually shows that her answer is indeed accurate, as many math teachers will testify because it has now become a textbook example for all math topics on probability.

As seen in the diagram, 2 out of 3 times, the contestant will win a car if he/she switches doors. This is based on the assumption of course that the host always reveals a door showing a goat.

"Two Boys" problem

"Say that a woman and a man (who are unrelated) each has two children. We know that at least one of the woman's children is a boy and that the man's oldest child is a boy. Can you explain why the chances that the woman has two boys do not equal the chances that the man has two boys?"

As for the "Two Boys" problem, vos Savant said that the odds of the woman having 2 boys were 1 out of 3 while that of the man was 1 out of 2. Once again, readers argued that the probability should be 1 out of 2 in both cases. And once again, readers were proven wrong. Here's why,

To prove her point, vos Savant started a survey, calling on women readers (with exactly two children and at least one boy) and male readers (with exactly two children - the elder a boy) to tell her the sex of both children. With almost eighteen thousand responses, the results showed 35.9% (a little over 1 in 3) with two boys.

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June Trivia: The Monty Hall Problem

In this month's June trivia, we feature the famous Monty Hall problem

"Suppose you're on a game show, and you're given the choice of three doors. Behind one door is a car, the others, goats. You pick a door, say #1, and the host, who knows what's behind the doors, opens another door, say #3, which has a goat. He says to you: 'Do you want to pick door #2?' Is it to your advantage to switch your choice of doors?"

This problem was used in many books and movies so some of you may have seen it before. It was featured in Mark Haddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (very good book) and the movie 21.

This question was posed to Marilyn vos Savant (person with the highest IQ in the world) in her September 1990 column "Ask Marilyn", and her answer was a source of major controversy.

Similar to the Monty Hall problem, the "Two Boys" problem also generated great debate in her column

"Say that a woman and a man (who are unrelated) each has two children. We know that at least one of the woman's children is a boy and that the man's oldest child is a boy. Can you explain why the chances that the woman has two boys do not equal the chances that the man has two boys?"