Managing geniuses

Aside from the local political issues, Malaysians seem to follow with great interest the story of Sufiah Yusof. Her success story was first told way back in 1998 - both here in Malaysia and the UK. But when her latest story was published on Sunday, many people were shocked. The shock was felt not only in Malaysia but also in the UK. Some of the common responses could be read here. Even her ex-husband who is now working in Saudi Arabia was shocked when the news reached him.

Sufiah - then and now

If this story is indeed true, then most definitely it's a sad fate that had befallen the one-time math prodigy. Whether we want to admit or not, a successful person is not necessarily the most intelligent or brilliant person. One may possess a high intellectual prowess, but intellectuality is only one dimension that makes up a person's complete self. The physical, psychological, mental, emotional and spiritual dimensions should never be ignored. If any one of these dimensions are ignored, we would end up being an unstable or insecure person. One wonders what could have driven Sufiah to prostitution taking up the pseudonym Shilpa Lee?

Sometimes I worry when I read about young children with great academic abilities. Throughout the years, we have seen many of these child prodigies. When stories about their uniqueness come out, all are in awe - which is very much expected. Everyone applauds them. They are idolised by society. No doubt, all this is well and good.

But I have these questions to ask: Do we monitor their progress? More importantly, are the children's success being managed correctly? And the one million dollar question is, where are they now?

Oft-times I wondered whatever happened to the prodigies of yesteryears. I have heard many stories about the fate that has befallen them, with Sufiah's fate being the latest. I have always said to many people that, while it is good to score a string of A's in your SPM or A-Level or whatever, at the end of the day, these A's are just your ticket into universities. What is more important is your success at the university level. I have seen many who didn't do so well (read: didn't get a string of A's at the school level), but came out from university with flying colours. It would be a shame if the student who scored at the school level couldn't do as well at the tertiary level.

Success is not measured by how many A's you get on paper because the fact of the matter is that one needs not be a genius at the school level to be a true genius in life.

Sadly, I believe that we should shoulder part of the blame for our inability, or rather, failure to manage success stories such as our child prodigies.