Two weeks ago, a Singapore TV presenter shared a Mathematics question on his facebook feed. It involved a character called Cheryl and her friends Albert and Bernard.

As good friends go, Albert and Bernard wanted to find out about Cheryl’s birthday and perhaps send over some greetings via facebook or such. Cheryl was coy though, and only told each of them separate pieces of information about her birthday. Albert and Bernard had to work together to figure out her birthday before they could even get close.

Love triangles are fascinating. This one is no different and it captured the imagination of the population. It went viral in a flash. For a few days, no conversations I had with my friends went by without any mention of Cheryl and her birthday. The international news networks picked it up and CNN, BBC and the New York Times all ran articles on ...