KUALA LUMPUR: Fifteen-year-old prodigy Rayyann Haron Alqadry has become the latest pride of the nation after scoring in the top one per cent of the world in the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).
He is among the youngest to be invited to join the Dalyell Scholars programme at the University of Sydney.
Scoring 1,530 out of 1,600, Rayyann achieved a perfect score of 800 on the mathematics paper.
While most of his peers are preparing for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, home-schooled Rayyann is set to start his undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney in February and aims to go for a double-degree majoring in physics and computer science.
The Dalyell Scholars programme is an elite university entrance path for high achievers. It has a very strict entry point where candidates have to obtain at least a score of 98 out of the full 99.95 points to achieve the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).
Not content with being just a student, Rayyann also volunteers to teach at Schoolhouse (a free online tutoring platform), where he gets to tutor other SAT candidates while waiting for his degree to commence.
To date, Rayyann has hosted 132 sessions, with a total of 10,536 tutoring minutes benefiting 179 learners from 22 countries.
Quoting his favourite physicist, Richard Feynman, Rayyann said, "I don't believe I can really do without teaching.
"It's fun because whenever I teach them, I'm able to gauge myself and see how well I understand the topic. There's really no other way to learn something besides making sure that you understand it by explaining it to others because all of our minds work differently."
MAKING OF A PRODIGY
His parents, who run a homeschool, first recognised his gift when, at the age of 2, he began assembling jigsaw puzzles designed for 6-year-olds.
His mother, Shariffah Hazwany Alqadry, 47, said she and her husband, David Haron, 50, would do the puzzles themselves and find that he would complete them even quicker.
"He could recognise the pieces without referring to the pictures. He was just recognising shapes, and that ability happened to show very early."
David said he was stunned when Rayyann began working on sixth-grade mathematics at the age of 6.
"We decided to make him try pre-algebra, and to our surprise, he understood pre-algebra, and there was no end to that," he said.
His parents nurtured his love of science, particularly astronomy, by bringing him to the National Planetarium when he was 5.
Rayyann said to this day, that that remains his favourite field trip.
"It was the culmination of everything that I had been looking for, like a kid who had been waiting to go on a roller coaster and finally does.
"There was something about the cosmos and astronomy in the sky that intrigued me at the time — how vast and close the outer space was," he said, adding that this continued with trips to the Penang Science Centre and Penang Tech Dome.
RISE TO FAME
Rayyann's cheekiness, coupled with his outspokenness, earned him the opportunity to be featured on Al Jazeera at the age of 7.
During dinner at a restaurant, Rayyann went to another table and began speaking to the customers, arguing about the moon. As it turned out, diners at that table comprised diplomats, as well as professors from Mumbai universities.
A diplomat from Oman was so taken by Rayyann's knowledge and precocious nature that he arranged for the boy to be featured on Al Jazeera.
The channel ran a clip on the parents' education centre and how providing a creative learning space for gifted children can foster and develop their talents.
Rayyann, in the clip, said his ambition was to be an astronaut while also "part-timing as a biochemist to invent the cure for cancer".
PASSION FOR PHYSICS
At 10, his interest in astronomy grew into a lifelong passion after reading The Grand Design by his favourite author, Stephen Hawking.
"Astronomy opened me up to this world. I was still trying to find what it was that I wanted to do. And it was that book that led me down the path of theoretical physics.
"I think every child at some point wanted to be an astronaut. As soon as I learnt more about space, it became astronomy, then astrophysics. And eventually, I told my parents about my interest in pursuing theoretical physics."
At just 13, Rayyann received an offer from the University of California, Santa Cruz. However, taking into consideration his young age and the Covid-19 pandemic, his parents decided to put it on hold.
"We always tell him the world is your classroom, it is not confined to four walls," said Shariffah.
As for universities in the United Kingdom, the minimum age of 16 put a damper on his application plans there.
"It's in those times that I have to remind myself that it's okay, I am 15. I have to work even harder to make sure that people understand what I am trying to say."
Outside of his studies, he is no different than any other 15-year-old boy who enjoys playing games such as Dungeon and Dragons.
Rayyann indulges in diverse hobbies, including playing the piano and mastering taekwondo, where he holds a black belt.
He has also mastered two programming languages and learnt to speak French and Mandarin on his own, besides being bilingual in English and Bahasa Melayu.
Looking at Rayyann's achievements now, his parents are glad that he is pursuing subjects he is passionate about.
"I'm always happy with whatever he does because he enjoys it," said Shariffah.
"All we want to do is provide him with support or advice whenever he needs it," added David.