How Does One Create Highly Talented Individuals?   The 2008 Beijing Olympics has been awe-inspiring. Incredible world records have been broken. Brilliant sportsmen like Michael Phelps from the USA, and Usain Bolt from Jamaica have held us spellbound.   Even Singapore grabbed a little bit of the limelight when it won a silver medal in table tennis. Never mind many of our table tennis players were born and bred in China.   I have been listening to a considerable amount of discussion asking why Singapore isn't doing so well not only in sports, but in other fields such as the arts, film, and science.   One of the excuses given as to why Singapore has not produced its own international talent is that Singapore has too small a population. The theory is that geniuses are produced in a sort of mathematical ratio of one per x million population.   This cannot be true. Take Jamaica, for example. It only has a population of 2.8 million, and yet it has recently won 11 Olympic medals, compared to Singapore’s one medal. Even Ireland, New Zealand, and Croatia, with a population slightly smaller than Singapore have won more medals.   And it is not confined to just Olympic medals, but right across the board, including Nobel prizes and outstanding artists and filmmakers, and scientists. Singapore lags behind in all these fields.     Country Jamaica Ireland New Zealand Croatia Singapore Population