Dialogue On Evolution with APOSL and Pantai Baptist Church

My good friend Samuel Nesan called me a few months ago to ask if the APOSL science club would like to debate about evolution. I immediately said yes. We met for dinner and talked about it. I envisioned a chance to engage creationists and also to tell them about evolution.

That botak head belongs to my friend.

However, when I approached the rest of the group, they were not too enthusiastic about it. They felt that by having a debate, they would be agreeing that there was something to debate about i.e. creationism had merit or there was still doubt about evolution.
In the end, it was left to Dr Kok Sen Wai to sort out the mechanics of the “debate” with Samuel and they both agreed to change it to a dialogue.

The creationists were represented by Mark (a young pastor) and Silas (a lay pastor). The APOSLs were Howe (a Christian who rejects creationism) and Sen Wai (an agnostic).
Silas opened the dialogue by stating that creationists are not science deniers but they disagree with Natural Selection. He gave examples of how small chihuahuas cannot reproduce great Danes. He touched on how the finches in the Galapagos all came from the finch family since they were all finches. He stated that mutation always resulted in bad offspring such as a two headed turtle and mutant flies with no wings, and he believes that there are no positive mutation. Dogs will reproduce dogs and cats will reproduce cats and never the other way around.

Read more: Dialogue On Evolution with APOSL and Pantai Baptist Church

The Great Big APOSL BBQ 2017

Talk by Teng Yu He on her Fossil Hunting Expeditions

"I found out that Peninsula Malaysia has a suture line that splits it (no volcanoes) and types of fossils found here." Terence Tan

The legal and ethical framework of genetic interventions in reproductive technologies Lau Pin Lean

APOSL is 4 Years Old This Year

Yesterday, APOSL celebrated our 4th birthday. There are over nine hundred people in the Facebook group. I am grateful for the handful of members who drive the events and projects.

 APOSL has always been lucky to have speakers to give talks when we are bored of documentaries.

 

 

Tshen gave a talk on Alfred Wallace in Lake Gardens. 

 

Kok Boon, a theoretical physicist, talked about the future of nuclear power in Malaysia.

 

Terence opened his home for APOSL to have BBQ and social meet ups.

 Some of us went to watch The Force Awakens.

 We made three videos for Melawan Sains Palsu.

 I made memes of Pac Kun just for fun.

And we went for a treasure hunt in Tanjung Sepat to celebrate our birthday. We honoured Alan Turing. We made new friends from Iraq and Iran.

It has been a fun 4 years. Thanks to everyone who contributed big and small to keep APOSL going.

Brown Eggs Vs White Eggs

Dengue and Zika: Irresponsible Claims From University

Recently, a senior lecturer from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Dr Harisun Yaakob, claimed to have found a cure for dengue and Zika. The supposed cure came in the form of herbal pills based on papaya leaves. The news was carried by many local newspapers and portals.

Such claims are very irresponsible and misleading. 

Luckily, the Health Department has countered the claims and produced a guide on what constitutes medicine and what constitutes 'claims'.

It goes on to state, "Semakan yang dibuat mendapati produk ‘Anti D’ngue’ tidak berdaftar dengan PBKD dan juga tidak ada kelulusan untuk produk tersebut digunakan dalam kajian ke atas manusia. ('Anti D'ngue' is not registered with the ministry and also has no approval for the product to be used in a study on humans.)

And, "Sehingga kini juga, belum ada produk dengan formulasi berasaskan herba yang didaftarkan oleh PBKD untuk merawat demam Denggi atau Zika." (To date, there has not been a product with herbal formulations registered by the minitry to treat dengue fever or Zika.)

Kenyataan Akhbar KPK 20 Feb 2016: Isu Kapsul dari Daun Betik, Minyak Kelapa Dara & Beberapa Herba Lain yang Dihasilkan oleh Pihak Universiti Teknologi Malaysia sebagai Anti-Denggi & Anti-Zika (http://kpkesihatan.com/2016/02/20/kenyataan-akhbar-kpk-20-feb-2016-isu-kapsul-dari-daun-betik-minyak-kelapa-dara-beberapa-herba-lain-yang-dihasilkan-oleh-pihak-universiti-teknologi-malaysia-sebagai-anti-denggi-anti-zika/)