Little Bits of the Job I Like

This afternoon a bunch of girls from a local secondary school popped by my research institute for a visit to find out more about the research work being done here. I was invited (ah, a very politically correct word to use!) to give a short introductory talk about who and what we are before they broke up into three groups and headed around for the lab tour.

I like doing these sort of things, for the simple reason of seeing eyes light up when the children suddenly understand a mysterious bit of physics. You know, that sense of curiosity that seems to have been lost as we grow older? These kids still have it in them. It was amazing how when I spoke about using water as lenses and how they could try it out themselves, they just sat up and got so intrigued. It made the day that bit more pleasant although usually Mondays don't quite cut as "pleasant days".

I spoke to a teacher after the session and asked if there were ways to better improve the outreach that was being done. She mentioned that some of the students, especially those in the lower secondary, couldn't grasp some details in the lab tour. And yet she also brought up the fact that there were many interested students around who wanted to find out much more than that which were posted out to them.

Ah, there is hope yet.

Some of the students even lingered around the scientists to ask questions. I'm not sure if this necessarily is intrinsic of this particular school's students, or innate in the younger generation these days. Teachers used to chide us for being too quiet in class back during the days when I was still a student. We just ate off whatever spoon they fed us with, and never quite questioned what was being taught. It was only when I grew older that I realised that, inevitably, there were many loopholes in the education that was disseminated to us. This in part because it was necessary to simplify abstract concepts into more palatable portions, so that although the education given was not complete, it gave one sufficient material to understand at a very basic level, without killing any interest in the subject.

Which brings to mind the Lab in a Lorry which I read about a few weeks ago. It's a mobile science lab (hence the name) with many hands-on experiments that students can try out and get their hands dirty. The scientists involved in the programme were themselves passionate about science outreach, and keen in simplifying arcane concepts so the younger students can learn and be intrigued to find out more. Somehow I never felt I had that sort of excitement in science labs in Singapore, back when I was a student.

Experiments were usually, in my opinion, mundane and predictable. Easy to do, yet tedious to get sorted. But we're such visual beings, and I think pictures stick better than just pure ranting of theories and formula. Sure, we're all different by nature, but I still think to catch the attention of youths into science it demands more than just enticing them into the job because the country's moving on to a "knowledge-based economy".

Someone on Sunday told me that Ability + Passion = Genius

I wonder if, in our haste and rigour to produce the brains, we have erroneously left out the cultivation of passion. Have we killed the joy in studying, venturing and finding things out?

It'll be sad if we're only left with half-geniuses. Or as I told a friend: there can never be half geniuses. They either are or aren't, and for those of us who are in the capacity to make a difference, do it.