Singapore Senior Minister of State Goh Pei Ming gave his son one final challenge after the Primary School Leaving Examination ended — solve a mathematics problem before getting the password to his laptop.
Goh, who is also the Member of Parliament for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights, shared the playful challenge on social media on Sept. 30 after his son completed his PSLE. Goh said he was unable to be there for the boy’s final paper because he had to leave on a work trip.
Instead, he left a note on his son’s laptop congratulating him on finishing the national examination. The note said the boy had earned a break and could have his laptop back — but there was one small problem: the computer had a six-digit PIN.
The password could only be obtained by solving a mathematics question inspired by one of this year’s PSLE Mathematics questions. The challenge asked the boy to work out the minimum number of days he would have needed to study for more than 90 hours over a 25-day revision period.
The problem required the student to consider two possible daily study times. On days when he resisted using his laptop during revision, he studied for four hours. On other days, he studied for three hours.
The answer was 16, which then had to be multiplied by 9,999 to produce the laptop’s six-digit PIN.
Beyond the mathematics challenge, Goh’s message carried a more personal note of encouragement. He told his son that whatever the eventual PSLE results, he was already proud of the effort, resilience and determination he had shown throughout the year.
Goh also told his son that he looked forward to celebrating the milestone properly when he returned from his work trip.
The PSLE is a major national examination taken by Primary 6 students in Singapore. This year’s written examinations ran from Sept. 24 to Sept. 30, following the oral examinations held in August.
The lighthearted post drew attention online, with the unusual laptop password challenge giving parents and students another mathematics problem to work through after the official PSLE had ended.
For Goh’s son, completing the examination may have marked the end of months of preparation, but his father’s final question ensured that the milestone came with one last mathematical test.
