Pinoy whiz kid gets perfect score in Australian math contest

MANILA, Philppines - A Filipino math whiz was one of 27 students from around the world who got a perfect score in the 2011 Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC).

Reginald Sy, 14, of St. Jude Catholic School-Manila aced the test along with eight participants from Singapore, five from Taiwan, five from Hong Kong, three from Bulgaria, two from Indonesia, and one each from Malaysia, Australia and China.

Australian Math Trust executive director Professor Peter Taylor announced this at the awarding ceremonies held at the Century Park Hotel in Manila Monday night.

Sy received an AMC medal and a Peter O’Halloran certificate.

Around 300,000 students from around the world took the AMC test last Aug. 4.

Some 3,650 primary and secondary students from the Philippines took the test.

The contest was conducted here by AMC representatives in coordination with the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology and the Mathematics Trainers’ Guild-Phils. (MTG).

MTG president Simon Chua said the performance of Filipino students in AMC this year is “very encouraging.”

“This is really an accomplishment for our country and it boils down to one thing our participants are getting more competitive in mathematics,” he said. Most of the Filipino contestants in the 2011 AMC are wards of the MTG.

In 2010, Sy won a Prize award for scoring 99.7 percent in the same correspondence-type contest.

In an interview with reporters at the sidelines of the award ceremonies, Sy admitted that the AMC test this year was tough, but only gave it a rating of 7.5 in level of toughness in a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the toughest.

Ten Filipino participants received the Prize award this year. They are: Audrey Sy, Jinger Chong, Matthew Angelo Isidro, Andrea Jaba, and Seanne Daphne Ng, all from St. Jude Catholic School; Andrew Lawrence Sy from Xavier School; Miguel Lorenzo Ildesa from Paref-Westbridge School; Justin Yturzaeta from Jubilee Christian Academy; Sterling Alvin Tiu from St. Stephen’s High School; and Henry Jefferson Morco from Chiang Kai Shek College.

Sixty other Filipino students placed in the top two percent of the total number of examinees.

These include Clyde Wesley Ang from Chiang Kai Shek College; Dion Stephan Ong from Ateneo de Manila University; Belinda Corinne So, Austin Edrich Chua, Matthew Ryan Tan and Hans Leighton Liu, all from St. Jude Catholic School; Mario Antonio Ongkiko, Ryan Shao and Ethan Chua, all from Xavier School; Jesse Yu Gaw from UNO High School; Juan Pablo Abola from Paref-Southridge School; Miguel Bradford Lao from Philippine Cultural College; Rajo Christian Cadorna from Puerto Princesa Pilot Elementary School; Jasper John Segismundo from Pasig Catholic School; Manuel Vito Ortiz from Solomon Integrated School-Iloilo; and Jose Ignacio Locsin from St. John’s Institute.

Neil Joshua Patiag from SPED Center for the Gifted-Olongapo; John Thomas Chuatak, Gabriel Joseph Pua and Shamira Liao, all from St. Stephen’s High School; Patrick Nio Policarpio from Greenpark Montessori; Jan Joshua Cruz from Pasig Catholic School; Farrell Eldrian Wu from MGC New Life Christian Academy; Xavier Jefferson Go from Zamboanga Chong Hua High School; Raphael Villaluz, Joan Lyn Fadri and Gabriel Estampador, both from San Beda College-Alabang; and Allen Cedrick Domingo, Emilio Paul Nogales, Miguel Sebastian Santos, Niel Benjamin Kho, Kenneth Co, and Marco Vincenzo Karaan, all from Philippine Science High School-Main.

Andrew Byrne, deputy head of mission of the Australian embassy in Makati City, cited the Filipino awardees for their “mastery of math, the language of modern life.”

He said that “the Philippines continues to do so well in the AMC.”

The University of Canberra-based AMT limited the first AMC, held in 1976, to Australian students. Two years later, students from New Zealand were allowed to join the contest.

Since 2005, the AMC has spread to 40 nations worldwide.

The contest paper consists of 30 multiple-choice questions, which are ordered in increasing difficulty.

In the AMC, students are given 75 minutes to solve the problems, which cover arithmetic, algebra, geometry and problem solving.