WAAMA Document No. 6 /2021

Minutes of the Third Enlarged Meeting of the Fifth Council & the Sixth Seminar for Academic Exchanges on Abacus and Mental Arithmetic of the World Association of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic

The Third Enlarged Meeting of the Fifth Council & the Sixth Seminar for Academic Exchanges on Abacus and Mental Arithmetic of the World Association of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic (hereinafter referred to as “WAAMA”) was held on the morning of November 10, 2021, Beijing time in the form of online video, with the main venue located in Beijing Yulong International Hotel. A total of 48 representatives and experts from 32 council member units and member units from 13 countries and regions including Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China attended the meeting. The Council of WAAMA is comprised of 38 members. The representatives of 29 council members attended the Third Enlarged Meeting of the Fifth Council. (Kudo Toshikazu (Council Member, Japan) sent a letter to entrust President Liu Jianhua to vote on his behalf on the matters considered at the meeting.) The number of attendees has reached two-thirds and met the requirement of the Articles of Association, so the results of the meeting is valid. The meeting was chaired by Secretary-General Cheng Beiping. The meeting was mainly about the following topics: Review and approval of the Work Report of the Third Meeting of the Fifth Council of WAAMA; Vice President Sally Chou and Executive Director Lisa Wang giving work reports; council members at the meeting putting forward suggestions on the development of WAAMA The main issues discussed at the meeting are as follows:

I. The Third Enlarged Meeting of the Fifth Council of WAAMA

1. The meeting reviewed and approved the Work Report of the Third Meeting of the Fifth Council of WAAMA.

President Liu Jianhua reported to the Council on the work of WAAMA in the past two years. “In the past two years, WAAMA has made steady progress in all its work and achieved fruitful results. Thanks to the support and cooperation of all member units, WAAMA has made remarkable achievements in organizational construction, theoretical research, competition appraisal, teacher education, exchanges and publicity, etc. In the context of the global epidemic, the member units of WAAMA actively changed their way of thinking and innovated work methods, and carried out online teacher training, teaching and research, and competition Q&A activities, which achieved positive results”, said she. Liu Jianhua emphasized that it is necessary to adhere to exchanges and cooperation to promote common development; adhere to abacus and mental arithmetic education to inspire wisdom and promote scientific development of the cause; adhere to the intangible cultural heritage position of abacus, promote mutual cultural learning, and effectively promote the long-term healthy development of the global abacus career. The representatives at the meeting fully affirmed the work done by WAAMA over the past two years.

2. Ms. Sally Chou, Vice President of WAAMA and President of Chinese American Abacus Association, gave a work report entitled “Development Prospects of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Education in the Post-epidemic Era”, and introduced the successful experience of Chinese American Abacus Association in conducting online abacus and mental arithmetic competitions and training. Ms. Lisa Wang, Executive Director of WAAMA and Head of ISTAR Education of Canada, introduced the institution’s teaching practice that covers different age groups, and put forward work suggestions to WAAMA from three aspects: teacher training, teaching exchanges, and competition development.

3. Hwang Ho Joong (Vice President of WAAMA) (South Korea), Chiu-Yung Hsiao (Taiwan, China), Chong Tai Kaw (Malaysia), Alexsander K. Taslim (Indonesia), Huey ChiangHuang (Consultant of WAAMA) (United States), Nip Tin Sing (Executive Director of WAAMA) (Hong Kong, China), Wong Hoon Wan (Malaysia), and Li Sheng (Council Member of WAAMA) (Taiwan, China) fully affirmed the work of WAAMA, and actively suggested that the 20th anniversary celebration and commemorative activities of the establishment of WAAMA be held in Beijing next year.

II. The Sixth Seminar of WAAMA for Academic Exchanges on Abacus and Mental Arithmetic

This seminar focused on the subject of “Protection and Development of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Abacus”, and a total of five experts made keynote speeches.

1. Alexsander K. Taslim, Vice President of WAAMA and President of SEMPOA SIP Indonesia, gave a speech entitled Major Progress of Online Learning. Taking online teaching, online competitions and other activities as examples, he focused on the ten innovative measures taken by SEMPOA SIP Indonesia in response to the epidemic in the past two years.

2. Liu Qinying, Deputy Secretary-General of CAMAA and Invited Expert, gave a speech entitled Modern Educational Value of Abacus -- An Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. She introduced the integration path of abacus and mathematics education from the perspective of arithmetic algorithms, as well as the value and research progress of abacus in inspiring and improving intelligence.

3. Ma Xin, Director of the Development Research Center of Beijing Shenmo Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. and Invited Expert, gave a speech entitled Methods and Theoretical Analysis of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic in Educational Practice and Cultural Communication Direction. He took the practice of Shenmo education as an example to introduce the positive role of Chinese abacus skill in cultural communication and educational practice.

4. Bin Tan Davidson, Council Member of WAAMA and Founder of UK-SINO GUILD LTDn, gave a speech entitled Education and Learning of Chinese Wisdom: Abacus and Mental Arithmetic in the UK. Combining scientific theories and local practice, he expounded the value of abacus learning in improving learning efficiency, enhancing learning ability, and cultivating excellent quality, and called on everyone to “be a happy inheritor of abacus culture”.

5. Shumeiko Elena, Representative of WAAMA’s Member Unit and Director of AMMA of Russia, gave a speech entitled Outlook for the Modern Value of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Abacus. She fully recognized the cultural value and educational function of the intangible cultural heritage of abacus and wished that abacus could play a greater role in modern society.

              The World Association of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic

        November 12, 2021