Dr. Simon Chua: First Filipino recipient of the Paul Erdos Award for mathematics

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

By Jonathan M. Hicap

UNDER his leadership, he catapulted young Filipino mathematicians to world competitions, which produced a string of awards and medals for the country. Now, his time has come to be recognized by the world for his efforts.
Dr. Simon Chua, president of the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines (MTG) and principal of the Zamboanga Chong Hua High School, is the first Filipino to receive the Paul Erdos Award, given by the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions (WFNMC), an affiliated study group of the International Commission for Mathematical Instruction. Chua received the award in Cambridge, England, during the federation’s conference from July 22 to 28.
Chua is proud that through his award, the Philippines was recognized in mathematics.
“It would be an understatement to say that I only felt happy. Indeed, I was on cloud nine. I felt a real sense of achievement for my country and the Filipino people. Since I have been working hard to bring the Philippines into the frontline of international mathematics competition, I feel honored to dedicate this recognition to every Filipino,” Chua told The Manila Times.
When he arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on July 30, he was surprised to find that a welcome party was eagerly waiting for him composed of MTG trainers, parents and students.

The big challenge
For the last 10 years, the MTG, composed of teachers, has been training Filipino students to compete in international competitions. The MTG started in 1995 as a movement called “The Mathematical Challenge for Filipino Kids Training Program” founded by Chua and Rechilda Villame, MTG vice president. Today the MTG has almost 1,000 member-schools and 28 training centers nationwide.
Besides Chua and Villame, other officers of the MTG are Dr. Eduardo de la Cruz Jr., dean of the Institute of Education of Arellano University and MTG vice president for training and development; Robert Degolacion; Lucy Sia; Eugenia Guerra; Sanet Hipolito; Isidro Aguilar; Anthony Ang; Alma Luz Pasiliao and Josephine Tan.
Chua started as a substitute teacher in a Chinese school and spent two years teaching trigonometry, advanced algebra and analytic geometry.
After getting his BS Math degree in college, he quit his job and became the assistant manager to the family’s chemical business. After a while of soul-searching, he went back to teaching and became the chairperson of the math department in a Manila university. He taught college students that mathematics was a fun subject.
Establishing the MTG opened doors for young mathematicians to compete and win in international competitions.
This year alone, young Filipino mathematicians won in the 2006 Indonesia Elementary Mathematics International Contest in Bali, Canadian Math Competition, 7th Invitational World Youth Intercity Mathematics Competition in Wenzhou, China, and the 10th Po Leung Kuk Primary World Mathematics Olympiad held in Hong Kong.
Before students can be selected for international math contests, they must undergo rigorous training by the MTG.
Chua said that in the training, MTG emphasizes commitment from every student who want to make it in the international scene.
“Nothing can substitute care and affection for these MTG kids. I always make them feel that they are important in which they are. Any student for that matter would try to achieve excellence if the teacher shows trust on his/her students. As for discipline, well, I only show my commitment and dedication to make them learn and good things follow. Students, in return, give their sense of commitment to excel in international competition. I believe that students can never show their potential and their giftedness in an atmosphere of fear and harsh discipline. What MTG does with these kids is to draw the best from them and for sure the best just come out,” he said.
Under Chua’s leadership, MTG became a formidable force in mathematics training in the country. Dr. De la Cruz praises Chua for his personal commitment to ensuring the highest level of training.
“[Dr. Chua] is a man of work, a man of service and a man of numbers. He always thinks of how he can help students and teachers improve their math abilities. He is always there to share his expertise and even materials to those who love math,” he said.
Degolacion, MTG office director, says Chua is an epitome of someone who “has a great passion for mathematics. Such passion is oftentimes translated to his commitment in making mathematics shine in Philippine education.”
He describes Chua as a person with full of humility and a big heart.
“Dr. Chua always makes himself available to everybody. He never makes himself first in anything he does. For him, the welfare of others is his top priority,” Degolacion said.
For many students, math is a dreaded subject in school but Chua assures that math is a great subject to learn. He says students should “first open their hearts to mathematics.”
“I know there are so many students who have adverse attitude toward this subject. If they can open only their hearts for mathematics, they will see the beauty of the subject. Second, understand its language. Anyone who knows its language that comes in number form learns to appreciate mathematics. Third, students must feel its importance in life. Since mathematics makes the world go round, then, students must consider how math influences our daily life. With these inputs, I can encourage them to give their best foot forward for mathematics and achieve proficiency and excellence,” said Chua.
Chua said the Paul Erdos Award has only encouraged him even more to dedicate his life to uplifting math education among students.
“Receiving this award makes feel challenged to do better than my best. It gives me more responsibility to make the mathematics education in the Philippines achieve a greater height so that every student shall be more competitive in any international math challenge,” he said.