数学达人邱永明再度凯旋而归 荣获IYMC International Award

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数学充满着难以理解的方程式以及需绞尽脑汁的难题,他却早已在这门学科的领地上站稳根基,将数学的知识作为垒砌成功堡垒的砖块;面对着接踵而来的挑战,勇敢的他选择拼尽全力地去揭开各种未知的事物;遇到了挫折,不怕失败的他却没有低头,而是从中获取教训与经验。而他,就是我校数一数二的数学天才—-邱永明同学。
日前,来自SE11班的邱永明同学披上了“战袍”,代表本校参加International Young Math Challenge (IYMC),并凭借着脱颖而出的成绩,成功以荣获National Award凯旋归来,为校争光。IYMC是一项全球线上竞赛,目的是为了提供热爱数学的青少年们一个可以展现实力与才华的平台,并从中探索更多深奥而有趣的数学知识。所有参赛者都必须在每一轮中演算相同的数学题,而参赛者需达到每个类别特定的设计基准,才能顺利晋级。
虽然这已不是邱永明同学首次夺得如此优异的成绩,但当他得知获奖的好消息之后,既惊喜又激动的心情顿时涌上心头,比赛前所付出的努力都结成了丰硕的果实。邱同学坦言,他是在一个偶然的机会发现了这个具有挑战性的线上竞赛。当初,国际天文学和天体物理学竞赛(IAAC)给他发了一封有关IYMC的电邮,让对学术竞赛感兴趣的他立即眼前一亮,下定决心报名参加,以免错过任何一个可以增进自己的机会。
要赢得辉煌的战绩,对于拥有非凡数学天赋的邱永明同学而言,看似轻而易举,但其实背后却藏着他日复一日的密集训练以及数不清的努力。他表示,很幸运地,比赛所涵盖的主题都在学校的教学大纲中,因此他经常会在网上搜索各式各样的数学题做练习,深信“熟能生巧”的道理。此外,由于速度在这场比赛中扮演着极其重要的角色,他也会尽量学习额外的数学知识和技术,让他学会以“快、狠、准”的方式答题。
身为已经步入高一的学生,学校的课业想必也相当繁重,那究竟邱永明同学是如何在监督学业之时也为数学竞赛抽出时间呢?他表示,就像面对着一个个必须遵守的截止日期一般,备赛过程确实让他感到“压力山大”。因此,他认为一切都取决于他管理时间的方法。因此,在备赛过程中,他通常都会坚持按照自己计划的时间表,尽力在百忙之中抽出一些时间做数学练习。当然,这一路的积累学习和也少不了坚定的决心和毅力,而相信这也是他成功的秘诀。
邱同学也指出,这场竞赛本应在线上举行,因此没有受到新冠肺炎疫情的影响,令他感到十分庆幸。“ 不过,我个人更喜欢线下比赛,因为我更习惯于在纸上写下自己的答案。” 虽然我们出生于科技蓬勃发展的年代,但使用科技偶尔也会造成一些不必要的麻烦,甚至影响他的表现。然而,他表示,由于该比赛涉及了来自世界各地的参赛者,他确实理解线上竞赛的必要性和便利性。不仅如此,他认为线上竞赛有助于减缓紧张的情绪,毕竟你不知道你的竞争对手是谁。
“ 对于这个成就,我最想向我校教务主任—-林松锦老师道谢。” 他坦言,林老师在这些日子以来都会不断地在他有需要时帮助他,并且监督他参加IYMC的决赛。这不仅让他可以顺利地报名参加该数学竞赛,也给了他很大的鼓励,让他可以更有自信地出战。
“ 永远不要停止尝试参加比赛或做任何你想做的事,获得新的经验不会有任何损失。” 邱同学说道。学习其实是一件非常美好的事,虽然过程中必定会充满未知的挑战,又或是令人沮丧的挫折,但这些经验可以让我们不断往知识的深度前进,从而获得最好的塑造和磨练。因此,他希望未来的自己可以继续尽力做到最好,永远不会惧怕挑战与失败。
再次恭喜邱永明同学荣获佳绩,希望他以后可以保持那份对数学的热爱,继续为他的中学生涯书写一页页闪闪发光的篇章。
Math Whizz-kid Triumphs Again
Once again has he etched his unforgettable name on the long-standing history of our school students’ outstanding achievements, hefting our school’s name on his shoulder and conveying it to nations across the globe even during this dreadful period of the pandemic; Khoo Yun Meng from SE11 has established yet another milestone by whipping home the national award in the International Youth Math Challenge 2020 (IYMC), emerging as the champion of the whole of Malaysia.
What is IYMC?
The International Youth Math Challenge is an online competition that aims to establish a global contest giving youths from 98 countries all around the world an opportunity to connect with one another through nothing but their ardent passion for Mathematics — a common ground where they could stand and confer with one another homogenously, diminishing any existing distinctions between each other. It also provides youths from all over the globe an opportunity to unleash their creativity, knowledge as well as Math skills, be encouraged and rewarded, and ultimately, to indulge and relish in the complex world of Mathematics.
Established since 2018, the IYMC has ushered in a total of more than 6,500 participants from all over the world. Available to students up to university level, the contestants of the IYMC is divided into two categories: Junior (under 18 years of age) and Youth for the rest. Upon registering, each contestant has to advance through three stages, namely the qualification round, the pre-final round and the final round. All participants are required to solve the same problems in every round, varying in topics, difficulty levels and subjects, enabling a fair evaluation. Students can only progress to the subsequent round given that they achieve a set benchmark unique to each category.
National Award Wraps the Year
Following the commencement of the final round on the 7th of December, Khoo Yun Meng has done exceptionally well and managed to emerge as the winner of the national award, outmatching each competitor in our nation and victoriously claiming the honourable title of the national champion. Khoo Yun Meng stated that the competition was first brought to his attention when the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition (IAAC) sent him an email informing him about the IYMC, which is one of its close partners, earlier this year. He has always had a particular keenness for academic challenges, especially math competitions, so he thought, why not go for it and try out something new? “I so happen to like challenges and I do not mind failures. Even if you know nothing about the subject of the competition, you can gain knowledge in the process.”
Sticking by Schedules Set in Place
Throughout the course of preparation for the challenge, Yun Meng found it incredibly important to be disciplined with his schedule, finding time to practice Math whenever he could to familiarise himself with the countless ways questions are presented, so that he could have an edge when similar problems come up in the competition. “It can be stressful, just like in any other situation where deadlines have to be met. However, I persisted in following my schedule and tried to learn as many techniques as I could in a short period of time so that I can keep sight of my goal.”
As the topics covered in the competition are in the school syllabus, any additional math knowledge and techniques learned would help besides supplementary exercises available online. Due to the fact that each competitor is up against the strongest representatives from all around the world, speed plays as important a role as accuracy as it might be the determining factor that decides the ultimate winner. “This is especially so in the final round as the participants would have to answer 30 questions with only a minute for each question.”
Has the Pandemic Affected the IYMC?
Since the IYMC was already supposed to be an online challenge, the pandemic has not affected it much except for the fact that finalists this year were given the additional choice to film their final round process at home instead of registering a teacher to supervise them throughout the final round. “Although I personally prefer physical competitions where I am more used to writing out my answers on paper, I do realise the importance and convenience of online competitions, as there exists a certain amount of challenges in getting participants all over the world to write their scripts at the same time and to gather them at a single place.” He also believed that the online competition managed to help calm his nerves as he was unaware of who his fellow competitors were, thus eliminating the inevitable tension that hangs in the air during face-to-face competitions.
Feelings and Gratitude
When Yun Meng got the news that he had won the national award, he described his feelings as “pleasantly surprised”. However, this wasn’t his first time this year to have won a national award. He managed to secure one as well for the IAAC earlier this year. “I believe that determination and perseverance are what ultimately aided me through the obstacles presented to me throughout my journey to my success.” He would like to thank Mr Lim Seong Gim for assisting with his registration process and invigilating him when taking the final round.
Words of Encouragement
As for the future, Yun Meng just looks forward to participating in more of such competitions and he will cross the rest of the bridges when he comes to them. As a final word, Yun Meng would like to encourage students in our school that aspire to be like him to never refrain from trying out competitions or anything that they would like to do in general; you will never know until you try it.
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