APOSL Melawan sains palsu mesin dan pad detox

2014: Disagreement, censorship and shaming in APOSL

Yesterday, Afiq posted this and some APOSLs voiced their distaste:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/aposlmy/permalink/1002040719839473/?comment_id=1002330653143813&ref=notif&notif_t=group_comment_follow

APOSL will be 4 years old this year. I remember starting this club with the target of getting 100 members. Today there are over 900 members in our Facebook group!

Our goal is to propagate science and we have done as much as we could over the last four years. We have held monthly meetings, invited speakers to give talks, done street surveys, produced science videos, visited science museums, supported projects and connected with other science-based bodies.

There are two areas we do not touch: politics and religion. Both are touchy subjects. Both bring out the worst of people at times. Now, there is little connection between politics and science, however, I know APOSL will have to face religion and science sometime, sooner or later.

The comments on Afiq's post were interesting to me because a few APOSL members countered him with facts and evidence. I have met Afiq before and I am sure he is not a bigot nor xenophobic. I guess he could have framed his concerns better in his post but I get the gist of what he is trying to say. I must say, I have learned new things by his post and the responses posted.

I feel shaming and censorship should only be left as the last option, for the extreme, dog-headed, die-die-cannot-be-wrong, won't-change-his-mind, loud-mouth person.

Opinions by members are just opinions, they do not represent the club. We should respond to genuine concerns and questions. If we shame and censor people, who will ask any more questions or open new discussions? Instead, we should continue to respond in a civilised manner and be nice.

I do not think APOSL will accept posts that belittle religion (see example below) but we should open ourselves to genuine questions and concerns that may step in the area of religion

Not something to post on APSOL's FB group.

 APSOLs could respond to questions like:

• Age of the Earth
• Origin of the universe
• Origin of life
• Angels and demons 

2016, we can do it!

Talk: Malaysia's Nuclear Age

This talk was given by Kok Boon Cheong, a theoretical physicist. He had done some research into nuclear power and came over to share his findings with us.

He thinks is a bad idea for Malaysia to go nuclear for several reasons:

• The cost is very high. A generation 3 or generation 4 nuclear power plant will cost billions and given Malaysia's record of corruption (think PKFZ, KLIA2 etc), the final cost will probably be several times more.
• The level of expertise needed is very high. Over 30 fields of expertise are needed to run a nuclear power plant efficiently. However, Boon is not confident that Malaysia can sustain a high level of professionalism to ensure the plant is run properly.

It seems Malaysia and Korea experimented with nuclear reactors in the 1980's but today, the Malaysia Nuclear Agency conceeds we are now 30 years behind Korea.

He suggested the country look into solar, wind, biomass and tidal energy.

Melawan Sains Palsu Bloopers 22.8.15

To shoot 2 one-minute videos took us half a morning. We started at 7.30am with breakfast and finished at 10am. Here is the reason why.

Manusia Memakai 10% Otak Saja?

APOSL Melawan Sains Palsu. Script by Muhammad Musoddiq Bin Jaafar. Please share!

Apa Itu Deria Ke-6?

APOSL's Melawan Sains Palsu video shoot. Muhammad Musoddiq Bin Jaafar wrote the script. Shot at Penchala Terrace.

A.R. Wallace: Exploratory Journeys in Melaka & Sarawak, and his Influences on Malaysian Natural History Study

This wonderful talk was given by  Lim Tze Tshen, a research assistant at University Malaya.

I fetched the speaker at 4.15pm and made our way to Lake Gardens. Kian Keong was already eaiting for us there.

Upon arrival, we ate and chit chatted while waiting for the rest to show up.

This is the first time we have held a talk in the open, without the use of a projector. Participants had to download the presentation and load it into their smart phones so they could follow the speaker as he presented.

The talk was very intersting. It was obvious Tshen is a fan of Wallace's work and life. The man discovered and catalogued many thousands of species of flora and fauna found in our home country. His study was so extensive and authoratative that several animals and regions were named after him! Yet, until the talk, I did not know much about Wallace.

Tshen only covered Wallace's explorations in Malacca and Sarawak, and did not touch on his research into the theory of natural selection. Part 2 of his talk will be held another day, probbaly next year as APOSL already has events every month till October.

PS. Tshen is giving the same talk at People's Merdeka Exhibition (https://www.facebook.com/events/1456072861364575/permalink/1457800061191855/)