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 15, 2021
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 03, 2021
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 31, 2021
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
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 22, 2024
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
The time it takes for the bar model method, the heart and soul of Singapore math, to become a common feature in most math curriculums around the world, which implicitly means that it no longer holds the competitive edge over other developed nations in math education.
With pirates from both developing and developed countries leveraging on AI, the half-life of Singapore math is getting exponentially shorter, and the “fine” city of Singapore risks being innovated away if local math educators don’t act now.
by Numerati January 09, 2025