11-year-old mathematics genius

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  Jia Cheng has won many awards from local and oversea contests since he was eight. Photo courtesy: Guang Ming Daily
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  Jia Cheng (R2) posing with his family at the end of the interview. Photo courtesy: Guang Ming Daily
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  Jia Cheng (R) posing with his teammates after the International Mathematical Olympiad in Bali. Photo courtesy: Guang Ming Daily

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SUNGAI PETANI, Kedah: 11-year-old Zhuo Jia Cheng is a Standard Five student at SRJK (C) Sin Min (A) who has developed a strong interest in numbers ever since he was young. He has won countless of awards from domestic and oversea triple calculation competitions (abacus calculation, arithmetic and mathematics) as well as the International Mathematical Olympiad since he was eight years old. Jia Cheng’s father Zhuo Ye Fu, 40, has to set aside RM20,000 every year for his son to travel overseas to take part in mathematics competitions. Zhuo said during an interview with Guang Ming Daily that Jia
Cheng volunteered to learn arithmetic when he was only four. He later
found that his son had an outstanding gift in arithmetic and started to
train his son.
He said Jia Cheng always had great ambitions and had intended to take
part in every Mathematics competition. In order to bring his son's
talent into full play, he has been trying his best to provide his son
the opportunity to explore his talent.
Zhuo said all of Jia Cheng's expenses overseas were funded by him
instead of the education ministry. He hoped the government, in
particular the education ministry, should sponsor talented young people
taking part in oversea competitions as winning these international
awards could help boost the country's reputation.
Zhuo led the team to the International Mathematical Olympiad in Bali
earlier this year and he said no one had thought they could win the
contest until the final results were released.
Jia Cheng is the eldest son of Zhuo and his wife Cai Yan Shi (34,
housewife). His six-year-old younger sister Yi Yin, on the other hand,
is outstanding in Chinese calligraphy, piano, soccer and singing, and
has won many awards from competitions.
Jia Cheng has so far travelled to eight countries for the
competitions, including Taiwan, Japan, the United States, Singapore,
Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and South Korea, and has performed very well
in these competitions.
Jia Cheng admitted that he had faced some difficulties during the
early stage of learning arithmetic, but under the supervision and
guidance of his mother, he has mastered the skill within a short time.
Apart from studying, he also set aside half an hour every day for
physical exercises. He has registered for the swimming and English class
during school holidays.
Jia Cheng plans to pursue an actuary course in the future. He also hopes to study in Singapore after his primary school and further his further studies in actuary either in the United States or China.