When someone describes the math taught in Singapore schools as being too difficult to understand, or complains that young students are unhealthily exposed to an obscene number of brain-unfriendly math questions—“cheem” means “deep” in the Chinese dialect Hokkien.
Ahmad who could hardly understand Mr. Goon’s lessons told his parents: “Singapore math, so cheem. I gave up!”
by MathPlus May 14, 2021
Get the Singapore Math, So Cheemmug. When math educators in America are pushing for their states and schools to embrace the Singapore math curriculum, or part of it, to raise the mathematical proficiency of their students—Singapore is often touted as a model for quality math education that is achievable via wallet-friendly good-quality textbooks.
Trump’s white “patriots” and diehard blue-collar supporters in red states are against the “Make US Math Singapore Math” slogan, as they’re allergic to any form of alien math infiltrating their local schools.
by MathPlus October 3, 2021
Get the Make US Math Singapore Mathmug. When the methodology and pedagogy used in Singapore math textbooks and supplementary titles (foreign and local editions) at the same grade are believed or perceived to be equivalent, yet the level of difficulty of the brain-unfriendly questions in both editions differs significantly—the tailor-made overseas editions are often one or two grades lower than the local one.
US math educators need to take note of the same-same-but-different Singapore math titles to temper their expectations of their students’ mathematical proficiency compared to that of their Singaporean counterparts.
by MathPlus August 30, 2021
Get the Same-Same-But-Different Singapore Mathmug. When publishing houses in the “fine” city of Singapore give their oft-half-baked editorial staff and their semi-inept bosses an ultimatum: commit to high-quality publishing (with limited or quasi-zero resources) and willingness to go the extra (second) mile and helping the company to achieve exponential profitability.
In the Muskification of Singapore math exercise, some morally bankrupt managing editors and publishing managers have further slashed the already-low budget for proofreaders, reviewers, and consultants—editors and writers are expected to wear multiple hats while producing wallet-happy titles.
by Numerati January 31, 2025
Get the The Muskification of Singapore Mathmug. When uninhibited math educators in the “fine” city of Singapore have started posing word problems that use rogue characters who exhibit the idiocies and idiosyncrasies of Mr. Pinocchio and his team of morally corrupt lawmakers and semi-innumerate advisors.
The Trumpification of Singapore math has sprung a dozen-odd politically incorrect titles that aim to hone students’ and parents’ critical thinking skills in mathematics.
by Numerati March 20, 2024
Get the The Trumpification of Singapore Mathmug. When students, teachers, and homeschoolers could access affordable or quasi-free quality grades K–12 math resources based on the math curriculum from the “fine” city of Singapore, by bypassing traditional channels of distribution or mercenary middlepersons.
Thanks to print on demand (POD), the Uberization of Singapore math has significantly leveled the playing field for self-published authors and small publishers, as they needn’t rent a warehouse to store their books and rely on cut-throat distributors and bookstores to sell their titles.
by Numerati June 17, 2025
Get the The Uberization of Singapore Mathmug. When Bitcoin becomes not only the currency of choice among math educators and homeschoolers worldwide when ordering math books from the “fine” city online, but is also popular among an increasing number of local math authors who prefer their royalty to be paid in crypto.
The bitcoinization of Singapore math has propelled the city-state to lead the way in blockchain technology and math education, much to the envy of math educators around the globe.
by Numerati March 21, 2024
Get the The Bitcoinization of Singapore Mathmug.