What would you do if you had time to spare while waiting for the bus during your commute?
Apparently, the folks behind an ad at a bus stop along Bukit Timah think it is the perfect time to do… mathematics.
Reddit user @sixpastfour spotted the ad by the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), but was “too lazy to solve it”.
Redditors couldn’t wait to flex their math-solving skills on the thread, one even boasting that it was “a piece of cake”.
One Redditor even showed how he got the final answer:
(x2 – 106 + 2808)
= (x – 53)2 + 2808 – 532
= (x – 53)2 – 1
= (x – 53 – 1) (x – 53 + 1)
= (x – 54)(x – 52)
The roots are:
1, 52, 54
H, Te, Xe
HTX
Okay, so the hidden message is seemingly Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), but what was the point of the ad in the first place?
The OP initially mistook it for a recruitment poster for job seekers to apply via a QR code if they were able to solve the math question.
However, the QR code leads to a website where there were two other Math questions. Because if you had time to do one, you could do more, right?
The answers to the math questions then bring you to quiz that’s sort of like a personality test where you answer another 10 questions to find out your personality type and what kind of problem solver you are.
Netizens were amused, saying it brought back memories of mugging for A. Maths in secondary school.
One wrote: “Considering it is in an area in Bukit Timah where there are many tuition centres, this fits right in”.
Another joked, “Thought this was an ad for a tuition centre, but nope, it’s HTX”.
However, some were not as trusting. “What if it is a scam?” one asked.
Oops!
