Friday 27 April 2007

7 for the Rome Police

Italy is a place with rich culture and beautiful streets lined by magnificent architecture. However, the streets and culture are about to be stripped of their farcade.

[Postscript added a day after the rest was posted]
When the Italian national team was KO-ed by the Korean national team in the 2002 soccer world cup 2nd round, the Italians felt so humilated that they turned sore. The Korean player who scored the killer goal, Anh Jung Huan, was sacked by his employer - an Italian club Perugia which boldly stated that they didn't see the need to 'feed the mouth that they feed' and 'he (Anh) can go back and be a pauper'. The Italian players allegedly created a scene at the Seoul airport on the day of their departure. It was reported that some were even seen making obsene signs at the jounalists.The Italians need to go back to the basics of competition, where there is always a winner and a loser. If they are not prepared to lose, then they would do well not to play. Staying in their beautiful country and saying to themselves they can do better whenever they watch the world plays will be a well-cultured suggestion. For the record, the Koreans went on to reached semi-finals where they were eventually eliminated by the Germans. In the third/fourth placing match, which I watched from the streets of Seoul that were, in contrast, lined by not-so-magnificent architecture, the Turks won 3-2. The match ended with the touching scenes of both the Koreans and Turks holding each others' hands and thanking both sets of spectators for their support. This is grace within the highly competitive and some say the most beautiful game on Earth - soccer.

Italian national team was eventually crowned (un)worthy world champions in 2006 for playing disgraceful defensive, boring tactics against fellow world soccer powerhouses and headbutting the most influential player of its opponent enroute to victory. Kuodos to the Italian team for lifting up their heads and the Jules Rimet trophy without any tinge of shame.

A few Italian Serie A teams were found guilty in match fixing in the season 2005/6 and were punished. This is not what the most beautiful game is to be played. You may play the game as flamboyant as the Brazilian, as graceful as the French, as compact as the German but you do not fix the games and cheat the world over. Kuodos to the Italian teams for claiming Serie A is the best league in Europe, and possibly the world, without any strand of shame.

Shame must be accorded when due. When an Italian policeman was killed by an Italian fan post a Serie A match, along with grief and anger came shame. Shame to the fans who, in the name of the game, created havoc across the beautiful streets in Italy. Shame to the police for failure to control crowd trouble, which may now be a characteristic of the Italian police.

When Roma played Manchester United last month, thousands and possibly millions, witnessed how the Rome police so savagely and brutally whacked the United fans in a seemingly legitimate way of curbing the their unruly behaviour that was more beastly displayed by the Roma counterparts at the other side of the fence, where another group of Rome police was seen standing calmly and watching the projectile of hard objects over the fence. The 1st leg of the Champions League quarter-finals match ended 2-1 to Roma. Tragic ending to the injured and bleeding United fans. Tragic scene to the Italian capital. Tragic result to Manchester United, though all was not lost as it was only the first leg.

A week later, revenge was exacted. No, not by means of the booing treatment the Roma players were greeted with. Not even the way the Roma fans were treated by the Greater Manchester police in Old Trafford. Roma was completely outstyled and outplayed by Manchester United's swift and mersmerising attacking play, which recorded a historic 7-1 win over Roma. The 7-1 rout is dedicated to the Rome police for the effort.

Seven for the Rome police. For the Rome police who had lost their numerical skill except their own language which they so proudly speak in a pretence of civilisation, it's sette per la polizia a Roma.

Tuesday 24 April 2007

Positive Thinking

Received this from a friend, whose family member is recently diagnosed to have an illness. Now, I'm dedicating it to this friend of mine, plus a few others friends out there who are currently in difficult times. Me included.

Positive Thinking is...
You walk along the street, look up in the sky and see a bird flies over you and shits right into your face. You wipe it off and thank goodness that elephants don't fly.

Positive Thinking, my friends. Positive Thinking. Everything will be alright.

Thursday 19 April 2007

Exercises Needed Here

I'm on leave. At home. The fifth helicopter just flew over my puny HDB flat. The noise was not puny by any standard. Is there an exercise going on? Or has the NDP practice begun? I would not mind if it's the former. In fact, I would welcome it. More practice is necessary. Just look at the recent accident that took place when the marine patrol was going after the 'human snake'. Mind you, we are talking about 'human snake' trying to sneak into Singapore and not a foreign navy with heavy guns and machinery onboard. With due respect to the deceased, I believe this accident is a joke. If I remember correctly, it was reported that this is the first time a police-and-thief marine chase of this kind had happened in decades. The first time and an accident took place. It might simply be a case of inadequate live exercise.

When a war breaks out, those stunts at the annual NPD will count for nothing. Fighting the enemy planes, safely, does. Kamikaze is one thing, crashing into enemy planes by accident is quite another.

Killing at VT

Watched the TV8 news coverage on the VT Killing last night, which included an interview with a man who graduated from an uni in the States. Loosely translated, his comments were: 'The security measures in States campuses are adequate. For example, there are telephone booths in every few hundred metres in the uni where I studied. If any student needs help, these telephones will come in handy... This incident does make us worry but nobody should worry too much. It's the same in Singapore where students may carry knives. In the States, they carry guns. There is not much of a difference between a knife and a gun; both are weapons'.

My toes laughed, and laughed hard they did. Mobile phones are definitely more convenient than telephone booths that are few hundred metres apart from one another. Though one may argue that the latter would be useful to those who do not have their mobile phones with them at the moment troubles hit them, running to a telephone booth to seek help may sometimes be too late.

A knife and a gun have little difference between them? Maybe. Both have handles. Both kill. Both are intimidating. But it's the one difference that counts - guns kill from a distance. Had the Korean gunman turned up with a knife on that fateful day, how many victims do you think there would be. Most likely zero. It might even turn out to be a joke among the students in VT if he really did.

Tuesday 17 April 2007

Gia Si Dua Suay

Wah lau eh! Gia Si Dua Suay! Gia ni tar deo ji le si beh bian tai eh email. Wu ji le ta bor gon wa de eh Surabaya eh yi gui gan yi chin siao liam wa. Jin bian tai hor? Wa hiam hiam hin ki. Gia si dua suay, gia si dua suay!

Monday 16 April 2007

Soccer Season's Ending

Wow! What if both Man Utd and Chelsea are in Champions League Final, FA Cup Final and fighting for the last points in the last match of the English Premier League to be crowned English Champions? Exciting and fierce but I certainly do not hope the season will end that way. I still believe Liverpool will knock the (blue) daylight out of Chelsea and march on the the Champions League final to meet Man Utd or AC Milan, most likely the latter. EPL title or FA Cup will each go to Man Utd and Chelsea. Hopefully Man Utd will clinch the EPL title but chances are looking thinner by the day as their list of players is growing with every match they play. The team with the least integrity in EPL, Chelsea, seems to be in luck. They certainly did not deserve to win in last night's FA cup semi against Blackburn. If not for their good fortunes, Blackburn would be in the final. If not for their good fortunes, they would have had a few draw matches in the last few weeks. If not for their good fortunes, Valencia would be in the semi's of the Champions League. To Jose Mourinho: stop slamming others with good fortunes. You had your share too. With the fat budget Chelsea has, it's not glorious to be where they are today; it's only expected. And your know what, Chelsea should be relieved that they did not have to play Man Utd this weekend after Man Utd's 7-1 demonition of Roma in midweek, not the other way round. He had got this one wrong.

Come on! Unleash the (red) devils in Chelsea's next opponents: West Ham, Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal! Kill the Chelski dogs! Man should learn to live without the sleighs.

Poverty Near Us

Saw many dark Surabaya streets with adults and children lingering and doing nothing. Some eating, others talking. I guess Singapore was like that in the 60's, 70's. Wonder if education is really the key out of poverty.

Saturday 7 April 2007

Ancient VS Present

Been back from Europe for over a week.

Just over a decade over when I first visited Europe, I was in awe by the punctuality and reliability of the train system and network. It was smooth and trains arrived and departed punctually. I had no problem with my free-and-easy itineraries at all. I was disappointed this time.

On my way from Munich to Rothenburg on a DB train (that belongs to the German train company), all the passengers were asked to disembark and wait for the next train that would arrive in 45 mins' time. It was disappointing and a total waste of time. To add salt to the wound, the subsequent connecting train did not leave on time. All in all, I wasted an hour's time.

On another occasion, another train I was waiting for and was supposed to bring me from Heidelberg to Frankfurt for a connection was 15 mins' late. I was uptight as I had a connection to make in Frankfurt. It was most fortunate that the driver managed to make up for lost time but only a bit. I managed to catch the connecting train but some of the other passengers were not that fortunate. A lot missed their connection. If I had missed mine, I would have to wait for a few hours for the next train to Brussels.

Alas, it had to happen a third time. The train from Brussels to Amsterdam was supposed to be a direct service but again, all the passengers were asked to disembark and board another train from another platform.

Fortunately all these incidents did not dampen my visit to Europe, whose palaces and museums are still peerless. When you marvel at some of the architecture, you can't help but think how they were built with little or no technology century/centuries ago. And I can't help conclude that those living in the past were more capable than those living in the present age.

You don't see many magnificent buildings or structures in the present age. Maybe the upcoming ferris-wheel in Singapore may be considered as grand and magnificient by a group of self-deceiving few who came up with the un-original idea of constructing and so dearly rooted for it. But they ought to know many cities have it many years ago and Osaka has it on top a building.

Monday 2 April 2007

What's Wrong With Me?

Hey hey! What's wrong with me? My life seems ok but I know it's not. It's not in order. There are things I am supposed to do but I'm not doing them. I don't seem keen in doing anything. Deep inside, I know my life is in a mess. Someone clear it up, please.

Besides, like Cactus, I'm addicted to the nights too. I can really feel the fatigue but I just refuse to sleep. For the past 3 nights, I have been sleeping after 3am and I'm beginning to feel that my body is not going to take it any longer. The last time I refused to sleep was when I lost KT. That was sorrow-driven. But this time? I don't know.