Abacus adds up to 'smarter kids'

JAKARTA (JP): Using a sempoa (abacus) -- the traditional Chinese calculator -- to solve arithmetic problems can exercise and develop the right side of a child's brain, an expert said.

A healthy brain can "optimize" a person's memory capabilities, logic and analytical skills, imagination, perception, discipline, idea generation, independence, listening comprehension and their degree of tolerance and understanding, the chairman of Indonesian Arithmetic Foundation, Thomas W. Ramelan, said recently.

Although Thomas had no medical studies to back up his remarks, his point was made during a demonstration Sunday by students who have used the abacus since an early age.

Participants from Malaysia and Taiwan stunned the audience at Manggala Wanabhakti building in Central Jakarta with their amazing counting skills.

Taiwanese Lee Chieh, 7, correctly answered six difficult arithmetic questions -- involving addition, subtraction, division and multiplication of 12 digit numbers -- in just 26 seconds.

Malaysian students San Junn, Nabil, Diyana and Atika also answered a question involving the addition of 15 digits in just one second.

Nine-year-old Nabil said that doing arithmetic using the abacus was fun and he had been "learning it since the age of three".

The demonstration was held during the 13th International Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Competition which involved 600 students aged between six and 12.

In his opening speech, Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro agreed that the abacus was a helpful medium for children to learn math.

"The abacus has been used for hundreds of years to help children think faster, more accurately and analytically."

But the abacus will not be included in the Indonesian curriculum as it "would burden the existing curriculum set for students", Wardiman said.

Mental arithmetic was first introduced in Indonesia at the end of 1995 due to its popularity in the region.

The Indonesian Arithmetic Foundation has established 82 branches with more than 10,000 students throughout Jakarta's five mayoralties and other cities in Indonesia, including Semarang, Bandung, Palembang, Denpasar, Medan, Tegal, Surabaya, Bogor, Batam, Solo and Ujungpandang.

Every branch meets international standards set by the International Abacus Association and Indonesian Arithmetics Foundation. It costs Rp 220,000 for a three-month course.

"Most parents don't believe that children can have such abilities. The learning process itself is meant to stimulate logic, creativity and analytical ability," Thomas said.

The goal of this program is to make Indonesian people "smarter".

"We start them at an early age because children aged between 6 and 12 are easy to teach," he said. "I want the next generation to be smarter and tougher."

During the international contest Sunday, children from China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and host country Indonesia vied for the fastest time to solve arithmetic problems using formulas and the abacus.

Participants in the annual contest were selected from 10,000 applicants.

They underwent a series of screen tests held in early November and Indonesia topped the eligibility list, accounting for 480 of the 600 participants.

During Sunday's contest, each student took part in a 10-minute mental arithmetic test before the 20-minute sempoa contest.

Maria Fransisca from the South Sumatra capital of Palembang and Andreas Budirahardja from Jakarta won the abacus contest.

Syed Nabil Shahabudin from Malaysia and Lee Chieh from Taiwan grabbed the grand prizes.

The winners were each awarded a trophy and a certificate.

The event was jointly organized by the Taiwan-based International Abacus Association (IAA) and Indonesian Arithmetic Foundation.

Thomas said the competition is held every year to raise parents', teachers' and students' awareness of the importance of studying arithmetic.

Indonesia joined IAA two years ago. (edt)