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Adi Putra, a mathematics genius who wrote a book and completed the A-Levels by the age of 11, laments the
lack of proper attention from the government to nurture above average and truly intelligent Malaysian children,
causing a brain drain from the country. The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, May 24, 2015.
Some years ago, child genius Adi Putra Abd Ghani made waves with his speed and skill at solving
mathematical problems at a tender age.
Now 16, Adi is still pursuing his mathematical passion locally and overseas but on his own, a
forgotten genius let down after various promises made to him by the Federal government fizzled out.
Crowned the Islamic Mathematician of the century by the Riau University in Indonesia in 2009, Adi
had produced 235 mathematical formulas and published 12 of them in a book titled "Seni Matematik
Islam" (The art of Islamic Mathematics).
His book is used as a reference for primary and secondary students in Brunei, but has not gained
recognition in Malaysia.
"I launched the book at the International Book Festival in November 2011 at the Putra World Trade
Centre.
"After that I used the book to teach in Brunei. The government there had adopted this book as a
reference book for their students," he told The Malaysian Insider at his home in Tanjung Malim, Perak,
recently.
"I am quite disappointed because if possible, I would like to share this knowledge with my own
countrymen. That is the priority. The problem is when decisions are made by people at higher levels,"
he said.
"When I teach in schools, I use the book for motivation. The feedback from teachers and students has
been really good. It makes them more interested in Mathematics," he added.
Still actively giving lectures on the subject, Adi said he used to feel like a "guinea pig" for the
government's education development programme.
But it was his experience under a government programme for child geniuses where he tasted the
disappointment of unfulfilled promises, he said.
The book 'Seni Matematik Islam', which Adi Putra launched in 2011, is
now part of the school curriculum in Brunei. The Malaysian Insider pic
by Afif Abd Halim, May 24, 2015.
"I was like a guinea pig. That's what I feel about what happened because I was promised a module for
child geniuses.
"I was six years old then. In the morning I went to the International Islamic School studying Year 5
for Science, Year 6 for Mathematics and Year 3 for English. This went on for a year," he said.
In the afternoon, he would attend classes at the International Islamic University (UIA) to study ALevel Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Additional Mathematics.
This resulted in him stopping school halfway to focus on the A-Levels. He completed the school-leaving
qualification but was never issued a certificate by the university, on grounds that at age 6, he was too
young.
Adi, whose ambition is to build a satellite, said that he no longer wants to remember that period.