God and Science

I received this very interesting article in my email...

A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, 'Let me explain the problem science has with religion' The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'

'Yes sir,' the student says.

'So you believe in God?'

'Absolutely.'

'Is God good?'

'Sure! God's good.'

'Is God all-powerful?

God can do anything?'

'Yes.'

'Are you good or evil?'

'The Bible says I'm evil.'

The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible!' He considers for a moment.

'Here's one for you. Say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him.You can do it.Would you help him? Would you try?'

'Yes sir, I would.'

'So you're good...!'

'I wouldn't say that.'

'But why not say that?

You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could.... Most of us would if we could. God doesn't.' The student does not answer, so the professor continues.

'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him.How is this Jesus good? Hmmm?
Can you answer that one?'

The student remains silent.

'No, you can't, can you? The professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

'Let's start again, young fella.Is God good?'

'Er...yes,' the student says.

'Is Satan good?' The student doesn't hesitate on this one.'No.'

'Then where does Satan come from?' The student falters. God'

'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son.

Is there evil in this world?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? God did make everything, correct?'

'Yes.'

'So who created evil?' The professor continued,

'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'

Again, the student has no answer.

'Is there sickness? Hatred? Ugliness? These terrible things, do they exist in this world?'

The student squirms on his feet.

'So who created them?'

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question.

'Who created th em?' There is still no answer.

Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.

'Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?

'The student's voice betrays him and cracks.'Yes, professor, I do.'

The old man stops pacing. Says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. You ever seen Jesus?' '

No sir, never seen Him.'

'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'

'No, sir, I have not.'

'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'

'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'

'Yet you still believe in him?'

'Yes.'

'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?'

'Nothing,' the student replies, 'I only have my faith.'

'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science has with God, is no evidence, only faith.'

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own. Is there such thing as heat?'

'Yes,' the professor replies.

'And is there such a thing as cold?'

'Yes, son, there's cold too.'

'No sir, there isn't.'

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet.

The student begins to explain. We can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, aheat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can reach up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees..' 'Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. See, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy.Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?'

'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation, 'what is night if it isn't darkness?'

'You're wrong again, sir.

Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something.... You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word.' 'In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him.This will be a good semester. What point are you making, young man?'

'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. Can you explain how?'

'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains.

'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God.You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.' 'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. It is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.'

'Now tell me, professor, Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?'

'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.'

'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'

The class is in uproar.

The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.'

The student looks around the room.

'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?

'The class breaks out into laughter.

'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain?

No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain; with all due respect, sir.' 'So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'

Now the room is silent.

The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers,

'I guess you'll have to take them on faith.'

'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues. Now sir, is there such a thing as evil?'

Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. You see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man.It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil....'

To this the student replied,

'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. It is simply the absence of God.. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart.

It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'

The professor sat down....

I hope this gives you a better understanding each time you read about my posting on faith ;)

Geography and Science

Bought these two activities for the kids, in their short stay here, they have learned about the world. Ann could recognise the flags of the various countries in Asia and I was amazed that she could also identify some flags from North America.


Great geography lesson even for me!



Science lesson

Remember when I was younger and was doing the science lesson on electricity. How I made use of wires, batteries and a bulb to show how electricity helped the bulb to get lighted up. Now, things are made much easier for the kids. With this, Kai and Ann had lots of fun making the bulb light, the radio sound, the propeller fly...

More activities for the kids

While waiting for school to start, apart from doing school work, I try to make my outings with the kids a learning experience too. I found this Shanghai Kids Museum on the map and decided to bring the kids there. It was really a museum especially built for the kids. Kai and Ann had a really great time.


The Shanghai Discovery Children's Museum


Inside and outside a submarine. Very well done, very real


Kids in space


Very realistic space landing

From the future to the past...


Playing with the different types of vintage phone


Kai sending out a telegram


Ann trying to do a film on her brother



This one was really interesting and the kids loved it. First you draw or pick a picture from the machine,
then you send it out, next you run to the giant screen and blocked little signals and soon you would be able
to see what you have sent out. Amazing! Now, you know why China is moving so fast.


Pretending to be doctor


This how you should brush your teeth...hmm, where should we put the heart?


This is the arch bridge puzzle. You have to form the arch bridge with the help of a support, once you are done,
remove the support and your bridge should not fall


Ta-da...Kai did it. The clue is to put the right brick at the right place


Ann, the cashier and the kids on a tree house


Kai the actor, trying to do a flim from Kai's acting



This was another activity which the kids really enjoyed. Creating waves which would sink the boat


Waiting to see the launch...


...of the spaceship


You know the greatest harvest from this trip was this wind-up tin robot. The vintage type and Kai was the happiest
boy when he was able to buy it home using his own savings


50 cents note?

We all have seen 50 cents coin but to see a 50 cents note, that was our very first.


50 cents note

Bored kids

Have you seen any?


Waiting for school to start, waiting for our cargoes to arrive...wait, wait, wait

This is NOT a posted photograph. I caught it while Ann was watching Discovery and Kai was playing with his small robot. For once, the kids are dying to get back to school. Inspite of all the activities I have for them, nothing beats getting back to school!

p/s: there are no cartoons on TV, no cartoon network, no disney channel, no nothing....Now, I know why China kids work so very hard.


Read Chinese

Believe it or not, I have learned to read Chinese. English publications are hard to come by even if I managed to find them, it would cost alot more because they would be considered imported goods. Thankfully, I still have one English novel given by the kids' Uncle Moses at the airport when he came to see us off. I am 'rationing' my reading, so I am also reading ELLE in Chinese! But I have always find that the Chinese language is a very beautiful language, it is more wordy but very expressive. The same scene described in the Chinese language and the English language can bring out very different emotions. Thankfully, the Chinese characters used in China are in the simplifed form...also must thank our leaders for making Chinese a compulsory subject! So, children, LEARN YOUR CHINESE!

Our words and our actions

Saw this notice...and I found it to contain so much truth.


Translated, it read, "parents are the children's first teacher. Your words and actions will affect your children for
the rest of their lives."

So often, we don't realise that our children are slowly picking up our habits and our actions. Quietly, they are observing our movements and listening to what we are saying. The good and the bad, our kids are taking them in...for example, Kai's habit of lying down to read comes from dh. DH has the habit of lying down to read and even when he is reading bedtime stories to him. So now, dh had to stop this habit. As for Ann, she has cultivated the habit of always wanting to munch something...yes, she got it from me. Often, I could also hear her 'lecturing' her brother, exactly the same way I did it to Kai. Sometimes, even word for word. I have to really be selective with my words, words which help to discipline with love and not words that belittle and discourage them.

Happy Birthday, Singapore!

Time really files, just last year, we celebrated Singapore National Day at Macungie with a small group of Singaporeans. In one short year, we flew across the earth and landed in China this year.

Thank God for friends who cross our paths. We got to know this lady who runs a Singapore restaurant which serves very close-to-home dishes. Just knowing us for the first time, she invited us to the Singapore National Day celebrations which was held at her restaurant. It was a good time to meet up with fellow Singaporeans in Shanghai. Next year, we'll probably try to have one at our home.


Celebrating Singapore National Day! That's the Singapore restaurant!


Their waitress' uniform is the same as those worn by the Singapore Airlines stewardess. Slideshows of all the various National Day Parade...through the years


Of course, never complete without fellow Singaporeans!

Happy National Day!!!!