students sitting here my students who
whom I taught maybe 40 years ago but I’m
ladies and gentlemen we live in the
world today there are besiege with
problems nations face problems societies
face problems family face problems and
individually we face problems of
different kinds this afternoon
I would like to share with you some of
my experiences when we do with problems
in life inability to deal with problems
can sometimes bring serious implications
disappointments that we fight sometimes
so frustrating and problems if not
hinder properly can even lead to
disasters and tragedies however problems
are not necessarily bad when we are able
to deal and overcome problems they boost
our confidence self-confidence we
broaden our outlook and erase our
self-esteem and sharpen our skills
now the will pay well for those who are
able to solve problems as a mathematics
educator I find solving mathematics
problems very enjoyable and stimulating
and enjoyable let me illustrate this
with a few problems too to be exact
because I don’t want to be carried away
when I start solving mathematics
problems
this is an example by putting in the
correct mathematical operations and
symbols we are able to solve this
problem at a glance it may look very
difficult but when we analyze when we
look deep into it we can solve these
problems we will focus only on the first
for the first problem we want to take is
this one all of us can do it quite
easily the second one a little bit not
so difficult we can solve them the third
one if you know some basic algebra this
can be solved
well the difficult one is the first one
how do we solve the with three ones how
if you know some basic probability
you’ll be able to solve it you put a
bracket you add up all the ones and you
put an exclamation mark actually in
mathematics that is called factorial
then you get 3 factorial 3 factorial
means 3 times 2 times 1 that equals to C
I’ll give you another one the first one
easy the second one not too difficult
but the challenging one will be the last
one as a mathematic student probably you
use arithmetic progression to solve
these problems you apply the formula but
you don’t really know how the formula
but you can solve it but as a
mathematics enthusiast I will solve it
this way we think that a second one one
plus two plus nineteen plus twenty I
take the first number and add to the
last number I get 21
I think the second number I add to the
19 the second last number I get 21 and
in that sequence of numbers I have 10
pairs of 21 is that correct
I following me 21 times 10 is 210 okay
but you use your arithmetic progression
formula you will also get the same
answer it takes a bit longer the last
one you can still use the formula to
solve but I use my method to solve I am
i I solve it by adding the first number
to the last number the second number to
the second last number they will come to
a thousand and one and how many pairs of
1001 are they how many are they
500 so 500 times 101 will give you five
hundred five million and 500 that’s how
a mathematic enthusiasts would think and
we solve this problem but this afternoon
I am NOT going to go on because I can go
on and on and on and you you probably
wouldn’t share my enthusiasm but I want
to talk about something more practical
how do we solve relational problems
because as an individual we have to face
all kinds of problems financial problems
health problems emotional problems
relational problems are usually
difficult to deal with they are complex
and they often causes heartaches and
relational problems are common among the
rich the famous the well-educated and
however these problems can be overcome
when we treasure relationships bond and
benefits very often we consider our
benefits more important our opinion more
important our ego more important and
need to be safeguarded at all cost we
don’t care much about what the other
people feel or how the relationship will
lead to 10 years ago I went through a
difficult time in my life I have devoted
30 years of my time 30 years of my
energy my passion my resources to the
well-being and the purposes of this
organization but due to some
irreconcilable differences I have to
live someone told me don’t live we fight
and we will stand by you to fight
autoflight is a difficult position it’s
a painful struggle that I have to deal
with finally I decided to live I left
with no confrontation no ill feelings no
arguments no fight
am glad that I made the right decision
because today I can walk with my head
held high with my conscience clear and
with a smile in my face because those
relationships remain intact I did this
simply because I treasure the
relationships that have I’ve taken 30
years to build so one of the ways to
overcome relational problems is that we
must treasure the relationships more
than the benefits of self benefits
they’re leaders to the number two
principle very often we see family or
close friends dispute beings flesh in
the public eye and they do use reason
reasoning they use Authority they use
office they use some seniority financial
superiority to solve to try to solve
these problems that they encounter but I
would like to suggest that we embrace
positive attitudes such as love
generosity empathy sacrifice forgiveness
gentleness compassion to deal with all
these problems because we know that when
we accept our Authority sometimes we do
it with criticism sometimes we do it
with skeptism and they never will lead
to good results I’m always reminded with
this story
that stays with me
this is an ancient story ancient Jewish
history recorded that this man Abraham
who was Jewish leader he was wealthy men
he lived thousands of years ago and he
was a wealthy man in those days if you
are wealthy you have goal you have
silver you have flocks and you have tens
his nephew lot also has become very rich
but unfortunately the place that they
lived in is too small for the two of
them and furthermore the herdsmen began
to quarrel and Abraham has the wisdom to
tell lot let’s not quarrel
let’s pop company so he told odd you go
to the left I will go to the right you
go to the right I will go to the left we
don’t find so lot look around and he saw
that the land he could see the land in
Jordan was fertile and well watered so
he chose of course he chose and left
with brahim he chose the uncertain and
unknown land
Abraham as the uncle he could have made
the choice first because he was more
senior he could exert his authority but
he didn’t because he treasured his
relationship with lot so history
recorded that brahim became a great
Jewish leader and his story is being
told until today and to me is a reminder
and is an inspiration that lead us to
the last point the last principle all of
us are very familiar it is more blessed
to give than to receive when we apply
this principle appropriately
a lot of relationships can be overcome
you will make a positive difference in
your relationship especially with your
loved ones when we are willing to give
of our time our resources our
encouragement to resolve problems we can
be amazed by what the outcome may be
this story happened in Stanford
University 1892 this young man who was
an orphan was struggling with paying his
university fees he and his friend had an
idea they want to organize a concert to
raise money to pay the fees so they
approached this famous pianist at that
time Ignasi Paradis key and he agreed on
a fee of $2,000 for a piano recital so
the big day came but unfortunately he
could only sell 1,600 Ringgit so he
disappointed he and a friend went to see
paddle ski after the event with the
$1,600 and a $400 check which they
promised to honor as soon as possible
but Podolski say this is not acceptable
he toured a check and you returned the
$1,600 to this young man and he said you
did and all the expenses pay your fees
paris key later became the prime
minister of poland he was a great leader
but unfortunately the war the first
world war broke out and his people the
Polish people 1.5 million of them were
starving
because
there was not enough food Persky reach
out to the American food and Relief
Administration for help and the men
they’re hearing this organization was
Herbert Hoover who later became the 31st
US president during the Great Depression
very soon who worship all the food grain
risky was very grateful immediately
after the war he went over to America to
want to thank kuba for his noble gesture
but when he was thanking him Hoover said
who were interjected him and said mr.
prime minister you do not have to thank
me you may not remember but many many
years ago you helped two young men to go
through use university I was one of them
the world is a wonderful place what goes
around comes around when we apply this
principle of giving sometimes the
outcome can be beyond our comprehension
and understanding
Jake math has this thing to say in his
life’s journey we need to be healthy in
order to be happy health does not
involve only the physical well-being and
also the financial well-being which the
world focusing when we say health it
encompasses our emotional health our
relational health and our mental health
this afternoon
I share with you this trip in sports
because I live by these principles I
experienced this principles
in my life and I believe if you
appropriate ly apply this principle you
have to use your discretion I’m not
saying that you you simply like take the
principle and apply in every situation
there is not going to be very wise but
you need to exercise wisdom to exercise
a wisdom to apply them when we apply
this we can live I am sure happier more
meaningful and fulfilling lives I leave
you with this note be a problem-solver
don’t be a problem thank you
[Applause] [Music]