a farewell note from my climbing teaching-in-charge when i was 18

Dear Climbers,

The Year 1s asked me if I could write a farewell note for the Year 2 climbers. Of course, this is something I am extremely willing to do and that brings me great pleasure.

Teachers love to do one thing and that is to dispense advice! I submit two for your consideration in this farewell note.

First, I feel that life is like a book with many (related) chapters. Sometimes there is a smooth transition from one chapter to the next; other times, the abrupt change makes your breath catch! Whether you are among the boys (many of whom will be serving NS in the days to come) or among the girls (who will continue on in your academic pursuits), great changes are coming your way. But let’s rewind a bit and look at your situation now…

The chapter about your life in junior college is coming to an end. Yet, the end remains uncertain because of the enormous number of things you can do between now and then. And to a large extent, this ‘end’ then determines the content of the subsequent chapters. Thus, how this chapter ends, has a great consequence.

What’s that? Yes! You’ve guessed it. I am trying to tell you to study hard. But actually, my message goes beyond that – it’s more about making the best of opportunities that come your way. Presented before you, is the opportunity to do well for your ‘A’ levels. What’s that? Well, yes, I agree that doing well for your ‘A’ levels is not everything and certainly, the world is not going to end just because you don’t do well. However, doing well does one very important thing for you – it opens up ‘doors’. In other words, seizing opportunities and making the best of them gives you more opportunities. The result is thus, a widening of options for you. These options are important because they might benefit not only you but also the people around you – such as your family, friends or even a future spouse. Making opportunities work for you opens up new possibilities.

So, time to get down to it! Make some sacrifices and remember that we almost always have to give up something in order to achieve something else more precious. So, please go lock up your X-boxes and tell your friends you will only meet them again after the exams. This is war! You’ve got to set goals, make plans and carry them out. Are you ready for it?

My second piece of advice is harder to write about because it goes beyond exams, opportunities and options. In fact, it goes beyond this life.

Most people believe that a ‘god’, ‘gods’ or a God exists. The remainder of the mankind is made up of people described as ‘atheists’.

Today, much of science is explained in terms of what people call “Darwin’s Theory of Evolution”. Many atheists believe in this theory. While I can’t explain fully what this theory is about in this short note, you can find more information on the Internet or, you can try asking any worthy Biology student among you. To sum it up, Darwin’s theory when taken in its entirety includes the belief that life occurred by chance and that complex organisms (such as ourselves) evolved from simpler ones like unicellular organisms (e.g. an amoeba).

What’s that? Well, yes. I am going to tell you it is not true. What’s that? How can I know for sure since I haven’t been around for the last 200 million years? Well, this can be done by simple reasoning, provided you know something about Darwin’s theory. For the biology students among you, you are already equipped to fully understand what I’ve written below. Oh by the way, Darwin didn’t live long enough to see evolution occurring either but many people believe him anyway.

Here’s the simple reasoning. Evolution takes place slowly. In theory, a significant change in a kind of animal occurs as a result of many accumulated mutations that take place over millions and millions of years. Overtime, the kind of organisms that result would in theory, look very different from its ancestral forms. So, for example, evolutionists say that frog-like animals evolved from fish-like animals by acquiring many useful mutations over a long period of time. Let’s examine this case.

To acquire legs, we are talking about acquiring thousands of useful mutations. Further, these mutations must complement one another in order for the fish-like animals to develop functional legs. But let’s say we have all the time in the world and we believe that one useful mutation remains in those fish-like animals for the next 1 million years or so before the next useful mutation occurs and then the next and so on and so forth, until eventually, functional legs are formed. Sounds possible right? No.

In order for that first useful mutation to remain in the fish-like animal for many generations, it must give some kind of advantage so that the mutant survives better than its peers, thus allowing it to leave more offspring (with similar characteristics). But as you can imagine, one mutation out of thousands required to form functional legs can’t possibly give any kind of advantage. Thus, even if a useful mutation does occur, it will eventually be lost. [You have to read up on Evolution if you don’t understand why I say that it will be lost]

Alternatively, let’s imagine that fish-like animals were to magically acquire legs and a tough skin overnight, allowing them to walk on land. This might be considered a good characteristic – since they are now able to explore the land habitat and perhaps, look for food. Thus, they might become more successful than their peers that are still living in the water. Eventually, they can leave more offspring (also with legs) since they are better off.

Here lies the problem with the theory. In Evolution, the legs could not have been acquired overnight. It takes thousands of mutations to develop functional legs. Further, we know today, that most mutations are in fact, harmful. In humans, mutations commonly cause cancer. This is because mutations are random processes; it is difficult to expect anything useful arising from them.

What I just described is the Principle of Irreducibility. Simply put, complex systems will not function when even a single part is missing. If a part is missing, the system simply doesn’t work and it doesn’t help an organism to have the incomplete system at all. Taking an extreme example to illustrate my point, imagine an eyeball without retina (non-functional). Do you think it could have developed by chance, and be present in a certain kind of animal for a couple of million years before some further mutations occur and the eyeball finally becomes functional? You must think that eyeballs could have developed from simple ones that became more complex over time. Well, that’s what Darwin thought too and it seems logical – at that time.

It was easy at Darwin’s time, to see similarities between a frog and a fish and think that evolution occurred. But today, we deal with things at a molecular level. When you bleed, a series of many proteins that act on one another in a precise sequence allows for the blood to clot. These proteins have to all exist at the same time to work. Having even one protein missing/faulty would result in certain death if one is left bleeding and untreated. Similarly, it is easy for a child, to imagine how a bicycle could have f ‘evolved’ to form a car. But that’s because the child has not understood the complexities of the engine found in the car. The complexity found in organisms suggests that they did no occur by chance but of design. You simply cannot throw a couple of gears in a box, shake the box and hope to get a nice fully-assembled watch, no matter how long you shake the box. You need a watchmaker.

Yes, I watched X-men too but it’s just a movie! By the way, mutations can’t make a Spiderman either. Even if Peter Parker got a mutation, it wouldn’t affect all the cells of his body! He’ll just get cancer and die.
Anyway, here lies the crux of the matter. All you have read implies that life did not occur by chance and what you see around you provides evidence of ‘design’. What’s that? By who? Well, that’s my second piece of advice for you. Find out who it is (if you don’t already know); obviously, it has to be someone incredibly intelligent.

Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. You must be wondering why most of the scientific world still believes in evolution, if such a simple reasoning process allows one to make such an important conclusion against it. Well, the answer is that it’s kind of like a tradition. Many scientists believe it simply because other scientists believe it (you may want to look for this wonderful book at Borders, called “Darwin’s Black Box” by Michael Behe).

As we start examining things especially at the molecular level, something seems very wrong about the theory. What’s that? Is there other evidence that such an intelligent being exists? Yes, and I am glad you asked but I’ll have to direct you to websites listed as follows:

http://www.pblcoc.org/Resources/Apologetics/biblechart.htm

http://www.konig.org/page2.htm

For the Biology students among you, don’t worry; just apply your knowledge as you were taught by your wonderful Biology tutors. You can examine this letter more closely after your exams, if you so wish. But don’t stop asking questions until you find out the answer.

If, in the event, you become convinced that the Theory of Evolution really cannot stand, and that an intelligent being designed and created the universe, you will be put in a spot with new options. At such a time, I recommend the following book and some friends:

Book: Answers to Tough Questions: by Josh McDowell [available at Christian Bookstores, or borrow it from David!]
Friends: Some of your friends already know the answer and they would love to help you. Just ask them.

Phew! That was quite a mouthful! Last, I just want to thank you all for the jokes and good times we shared. I see so much potential in all of you and I am really excited when I think about the many places you will be going and the many things you will be doing with your lives. Remember that I am always an email away.

Warmest regards,
Mr. Tay