World

Girl Genius

January 22, 2001 / 12:12 PM EST / AP

A 6-year-old Singapore girl is believed to be the youngest person admitted to Mensa, an international society for people with high IQs, the president of the group's local chapter said Monday.

Elementary school student Celestine Cai was 3 years and 10 months old when she became a Mensa member, Singapore Mensa president Marina Tay said.

"I do not know of anyone who has been admitted to Mensa at an earlier age," Singapore's Straits Times newspaper quoted Edward Vincent, executive director of London-based Mensa, as saying.

Born in 1994, Cai scored 158 on an IQ test when she was 3 years and 8 months old. She was accepted into Mensa two months later, Tay said. Mensa did not announce Cai's membership until local media in Singapore discovered her story this week.

To join Mensa, a person needs to score among the top 2 percent of those who take a standardized intelligence test.

Cai and her parents could not be reached for comment Monday.

In the United States, Priya Purewal of Valley Ranch, Texas, was admitted last year to Mensa at age 4. Her IQ has been measured at 148 to 170.

There are about 100,000 Mensa members worldwide, Tay said.