MathPlus's definitions

FICA Math

When the Singapore authorities could stop, disable, or block access to any online math content, which was unprovenly created via the works of foreign mathematicians or math educators, that the government deems politically, racially, religiously, or socially inappropriate to be published, because it could cast doubt or create confusion in the minds of locals, who could then have a low or wavering confidence in the Ministry of Education (MOE)’s goal in making the “fine” city an innumerate-free nation—FICA is short for “Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act.”

With a penalty of a fine of up to S$5,000 and continuing fines of up to S$500 for “every day or part of a day” for refusing to remove any politically incorrect content, guesstimate how much FICA math revenue could be generated annually from “mathematically significant” individuals and organizations that committed a mathematical offence.

by MathPlus October 13, 2021

Zerolation

The excitement someone feels when they come across something new to them about the number zero, be it a numerical property, puzzle, tidbit, or joke.

Bob’s zerolation upon learning that businesses lose tens of millions of dollars every year because of people’s zerofusion to distinguish between the digit 0 and the letter O lasted a mere few seconds.

by MathPlus September 13, 2018

Pi Striptease

When the irrational and transcendental number π occasionally reveals herself to excite the mathematical brethren of her numerical or geometric hidden properties, be it through some new beautiful pattern or little juicy theorem.

Both number theorists and numerologists get pretty aroused when they get invited to attend a pi striptease event (by invitation only), whose aha! moments could get them mathematically excited for days.

by MathPlus September 1, 2021

Make Masks Mandatory Again

The call by medical personnel to half-hearted pro-Trump politicians in a number of red states that have started to witness a rise in corona infection in spite of the fact that more people are continually being vaccinated—a “proof” that vaccination doesn’t prevent infection or reinfection, and that mask-wearing is a necessary irritation until the population achieves herd immunity.

Should “Make Masks Mandatory Again” be elevated or promoted to an official slogan to educate patriots and conspiracists that they’d still wear a mask in public squares, especially when it’s difficult to practice social distancing in a crowded space?

by MathPlus May 22, 2021

Viral Math

When a brain-unfriendly, tricky, or ill-posed oft-elementary math question in a national exam is shared rapidly and widely on the internet, because an obscene number of unhappy students and their clueless parents could not solve it, who blamed the problem poser of the “unfair” question for causing them trauma, nightmare, pain, or suffering, with some even entertaining suicidal thoughts.

Singapore’s high-stakes Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE)—grade six—exam is notorious for setting viral math questions almost every other year—the PSLE math paper via its higher order thinking skills (HOTS) questions acts as a social filter to filter out the nerds from the herd.

by MathPlus October 21, 2021

Psalm 1

The book in the Bible that emphasizes the true blessing for God’s children: those who mingle with sinners or mockers of God will not be together with the righteous but instead perish; however, those who meditate day and night on God’s word will be blessed, for they will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which bears fruit in season and whose leaf never withers—whatever they do will be successful.

Psalm 1 lays out the results of the paths chosen by those who want to please God and those who do not respect Him: God takes care of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will lead them to a bad end.

by MathPlus June 18, 2021

Malay Math

When Singapore’s affirmative action allows Malay students to pay zero school fees all the way up to their tertiary education, which has raised the mathematical proficiency of the Malay community over the decades—Malay math students, of which 99⁺% are Muslims, have fared reasonably well in international comparative studies like TIMSS and PISA vis-à-vis their foreign counterparts, albeit they still have some catching up to do compared to their local peers from other races.

Years ago, based on some TIMSS rankings, a Malay cabinet minister had figured out that Singapore Malay students are unofficially among the “world’s top ten,” which positively suggests that Malay math policies have helped raise the quantitative literacy of the Malay or Muslim community in Singapore.

by MathPlus July 15, 2021