Mensa Madness

The Mensa logo.

Way back when I was still a secondary school student in Malaysia, I applied for Mensa membership so that it would improve my resume - Mensa is one of the oldest high IQ societies in the world - and I thought that joining it would improve my chances of receiving a scholarship.

I didn't have a problem clearing the entrance IQ exam, but it just felt weird to me because I felt that Mensa was just a whole bunch of higher-than-average-paper-IQ folks just getting together to do stuff and who send you a newsletter (which I couldn't care less about) and meet up every now and then for activities. If I remember correctly, one of the last newsletters I got from the club mentioned something about a treasure hunt and a scrabble tournament.

It really sounds like any other random social club out there, and they had quite a substantial membership fee! So what if you score at the 98th percentile or higher on an IQ test? I had no reason to continue on with the club and so left it, pretty disappointed at the sunk cost I incurred taking the test and joining the club.

Fast forward to 2009.

Two good friends of mine, Kok Xian and Chong Xian are heading NTU's Mensa club. And guess who got dragged in to help promote their club?

I believe that their vision for the club - to make it one that is less elitist, open for all, and focused on the personal development of it's members would be a marked improvement from what I experienced back in Malaysia. I guess with such fun people heading the club, joining Mensa NTU would probably be a great decision!

Enjoy!