How to fix the maths problem for Singapore's school children that has stumped the world

A TV presenter in Singapore has sparked an unlikely viral craze after posting a maths problem that was posed to the nation’s children.

Initially confusing but very doable, it has sparked thousands of comments and shares – particularly when it was initially thought to have been posed to 10-year-olds.

"Hello Singapore" presenter Kenneth Kong has since clarified that it was actually a problem set to 14-year-olds in the Singapore and Asean Schools Math Olympiads.

But that hasn’t stopped people testing their mettle against Singapore’s youngest and brightest.

So can you solve the question? Stop reading now if you don't want to be told the answer:

And here's the answer, courtesy of a debate on Singapore's Study Room:

First we need to figure out if Albert knows the month or the day. If he knows the day, then there is no chance that Bernard knows the birthday, so it must be that Albert knows the month.

From the first statement, we know that Albert is sure that Bernard doesn't know the birthday, so May and June should be ruled out (the day 19 only appears in May and the day 18 only appears in June). In other words, if Albert had May or June, then he cannot be sure that Bernard doesn't know, since Bernard could have had 18 or 19.

Following that statement, Bernard knows that May and June are ruled out.

Then, Bernard is able to know which month it is. So it must be either July 16, August 15 and August 17 (not 14th as then he can't know).

Since Albert subsequently can also be sure of the date, he must know it's July. If it's August, he can't be sure as there is August 15 and 17.

So the answer is July 16.