Huynh Lam Tinh (sitting) at a competition

In class, he could not sit still for more than five minutes. He did not like playing with friends, but only wanted to talk to teachers.

Tinh had problems with his retina, which made it difficult to see and observe. This was also why he usually lost his temper. Being isolated from friends, Tinh had to look for fun in electronic games and became a game addict. 

Trang, Tinh’s mother, after realizing the signs of autism in her son, brought him to many hospitals. She was advised by physicians to bring the boy to hospitals regularly to have psychological treatment.

Later, Trang and her son came to see Nguyen Phung Phong, a world record holder of memory, for memory training.

The mother said she did not have high expectations from the training. She only wanted her son to be able to control his life when he grows up and integrates with society.

Phong, who knows the national flags of 198 countries and can memorize their positions when they are rearranged, discovered Tinh’s special aptitude and decided to receive the boy.

At the beginning, Tinh practiced with the memory method once a week. Just after a short period, he showed outstanding capability. He could remember things in class and had no need to learn again at home. 

In late 2017, the once autistic boy was officially chosen to attend the world Super Memory Championship.

Good news came in December 2017. The Vietnamese team of super memorizers with three trainers and six competitors, including Tinh, won the teammate prize in China.

Asked what he did with Tinh to promote the boy’s abilities, Phong said he tried to help the boy encode numerals into images.

“Numerals are controlled by the left brain, while images by the right brain. If you only memorize numbers, you will use only a part of brain. When you practice, you can memorize with both hemispheres, so you can remember more things for a longer time,” he said.

Nguyen Phung Phong was officially conferred the World Record Certificate by World Records Union – WorldKings at the 33rd Meeting of Vietnam Record Holders in May 2017.

He achieved the world record with its title 'The person who knows the national flags of 198 countries in the world and can memorize their position within the shortest time when they are accidentally arranged'.

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