Dear Folks,
This has been an eventful month with National Day long week-end, upcoming marketing seminar on 27Aug09, Charity Ride on 12Sep09, Taiqi/Qigong on 19Sep09 and soon our Annual Dinner at Marina One, Sentosa on 06Nov09. Unlike previous years, capability for this event will be smaller at 36 tables. So do book early. Full table order enjoys priority.
I summarized a rushed piece on exhibition which is time sensitive. Should go catch it!
Many hands make for light work–2ndHPACharity RideUpdate
Whilst donation pledges are dribbling in, there are some Samaritans who go the extra mile to assist. A member, on learning that we are only at half way mark, pledges an extra $500. He wants to remain anonymous.
A company donated a bike to be auctioned. Breakfast is sponsored by Qian Hu. Lexus and SPH offered some goodies. SegwayPersonal Transporter persuaded to be there. My friends at NParks will be there to assist. It’s not too late to give and to participate. Every cent matters!
Pledge Details by Cheque OR via Internet Banking
Two Minds, One Theory
Early part of this month, I attended this exhibition entitled ‘Two Minds, One Theory’ at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Botany Centre. This is a month long event ending 31Aug09 as part of 150thanniversary of SBG.
When one discusses the Theory of Evolution, Charles Darwin comes to mind. However, it can be argued that it was the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace who pried opened Darwin’s clenched fist (closed tightly for 20 years!) to reveal his ‘dark secret’. In 1858, while recovering from malaria in this part of the world, Wallace reached the same conclusion as Darwin; natural selection was the factor controlling populations.
He wrote an essay ‘on the tendency of varieties to depart indefinitely from the original type’ and sent to Darwin. He asked that it be published if his ideas are sound. Darwin was totally stunned as both Wallace’s idea and his were identical.
Only Charles Lyell (geologist) and Joseph Dalton Hooker (director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) knew Darwin’s work; kept under wrap for 20 years. They persuaded Darwin to prepare a paper alongside Wallace to prevent his original work from being hijacked. Thus, the can of worms opened and read to the Linnean Society to 30 persons on 01Jul1858. It is believed that Darwin was not knighted by Queen Victoria because he was deemed too controversial for his times. At death, his body was redirected to be buried in Westminster Abbey, a few metres away from Isaac Newton.
Wallace did spent time in Singapore fascinated with the colourful images of biodiverse tropics. His favourite insects from Singapore include beetles, stick insects that mimic twigs, and of butterflies that pretend to be poisonous, all in the name of survival of the species. He was also the first person to call our beloved durian the ‘king of fruits’. This year marks the 200thanniversary of Charles Darwin. Incidentally, Abraham Lincoln shared the same birth date.
References:
Charles Darwin, The concise story of an extraordinary man by Tim M. Berra
On the Origin of Species ‘The illustrated edition’ by David Quammen
Exhibition at Singapore Botanic Gardens, Botany Centre
Welcome On BoardHPAJul09
HPA-Peter Quek Keng Huat
HPA-Chen Kar Poh
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