When you encounter somebody being bullied, what do you do?

This is not something that happen to me but it happen to my friend. He witness his colleague being bullied by fellow co-workers with some real nasty comments. I'll not reveal the details on a public blog but it is definitely something that make a normal person feel very injustice for the victim. Though I only hear one side of the story but I do feel strongly against those work bullies.

How does one handle such situation?

a. Will one speak up against those bullies & risk their own relationship or risk being marked?

b. Will one just offer only a listening ear & perhaps a few comforting words?

c. Will one just accept that this is the fact of life that the weak will get bullied by the aggressive or scheming one and nothing can be done to help the weak if they don't become stronger on their own?

d. Will one think we shouldn't be busybody to meddle into other issue? We have other better things to do in life like enjoyment and $$$ making.

e. Will one help to offer strong recommendations to the victim on how to handle such bullies in a no win situation?

Which of the above options would you take? Realistically, most people would probably go for option d because as long as it doesn't impact us, it doesn't matter. Some suggested option c, the self-acceptance choice.

I think I have a problem because my feeling towards the matter are non c and d options type. I don't like watching bullies get their way especially against innocent people. At the same time, I'm aware that we need to adopt an intelligent approach to handle these bullies rather than going head-on. The problem is what is the intelligent approach? There's seem no easy answer to this. Frequently, one will encounter lots of doubts or questions being posed regarding whether to help or support the victim against such bullies. Someone pointed out the fault is likely to lies with the victim because he's powerless to defend himself. Why should one help him? Accept the fact of working life. This is normal.

I remember when I wanted to rescue the stray cat out from death penalty, there are many roadblocks. It is never a straightforward process. One will encounter resistance, the book says, the high costs, the deterring thoughts of whether if this is worth the effort since its only an animal, the inconvienence, the future consideration etc. It is never easy when you wanted to do something for the weak or less fortunate and it may also not necessary pay off. You may get disappointed when things don't turn out well. Some may also think you're wasting your time, better spend on more important things in life. Some may even say there you see, I told you so when things didn't work out. Feel if one is to help the weak or less fortunate, it will be beneficial to know it is never smooth sailing, you'll get into choppy waters and rock real bad. Preseverance is key at this stage and just got to bit the teeth & go with the wind direction flow & live with the choppy waves. Calm sea and maybe the harbour will eventually come one's way. The cat was finally rescued and started to eat well. There are challenges ahead but its a encouraging sign that it did not lose its life unnecessarily. So what's the big deal about a cat life? Does it make me richer? No, in fact poorer. But it make me feel better that I did something that my heart wanted rather than brushing it off as none of my business or this is a fact of life.

How about the bully problem on my friend's end? For now, I think I'll advice him option B and possibly E if he can understand the situation better.

Sir Bobby Robson Day

I remember today is exactly one year after English football lost one of its most popular, highly respected & inspirational figure, Sir Bobby Robson. Times change but beautiful memories of Sir Bobby Robson will always remain in my mind. Salute to a true English gentleman of the football world.

I like the line in the song:

"Becoz he's wor Sir Bobby

And he took the National chair

MAKE ENGLAND FLY , SAW GAZZA CRY

AND ALMOST WON IT THERE."

(England were the better team on that 1990 night in Turin)

"Becoz he's wor Sir Bobby, He gives football a spark..."

Message about Sir Bobby from his former England team striker Gary Lineker

I'm no Geordie fan but feel very happy that Sir Bobby got to manage Newcastle Utd towards the late stage of his managerial career, the club that he supported as a boy. Though he was 70 years old then & grand-daddy manager, his passion to do well for the Magpies is still there. In fact, he gave the Toon Army fans their best performance for a few seasons since Kevin Keegan 1st reign as manager.

An interview with Sir Bobby Robson on his 75th Birthday

My good feeling for Sir Bobby Robson started with the England football team, mainly from the good performances in the Italia 90 World Cup. I still remember before Italia 90 & during pre-world cup final qualifying campaign, Sir Bobby Robson didn't give a lot of playing time for Paul Gascoigne. The media and football fans were all screaming for Gazza inclusion but very often, Sir Bobby brush it off and choosing to give minimal attention to English football most talented player. Gazza wasn't impressed at that time if I remember correctly. Maybe he was protecting Gazza or keeping his secret weapon. He launched this weapon on the biggest show in football, Italia 90. And as we all know, Gazza put up a fantastic show at Italia 90. I think Gazza is still very grateful for the influence that Sir Bobby has on his career during his prime All great managers have their strong ideas and Sir Bobby Robson wasn't afraid to change his very strong idea of a 4-4-2 formation to a new sweeper system midway through Italia 90. This was also one of the factor that enabled England to progress to the semi-finals.

Aside from Newcastle, Ipswich & England, Sir Bobby Robson is also very well-respected across European continent where he has managed teams such as Barcelona, PSV, Sporting Lisbon and Porto and lead them to football triumph. He also played an important role in the success of 1976 born Ronaldo, the Brazilian World Cup striker, who used to play for him @ Barcelona. Sir Bobby is the also the "shifu" /teacher of Jose Mourinho. The special one was understudy to Sir Bobby Robson at both Sporting & Barcelona.

Sir Bobby Robson is also a survivor of harsh reality of life and battled cancer many times in his life. He lost the battle last year but setup a cancer foundation organization to fund research efforts. More details can be found at : http://www.sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.org.uk/

I miss the football days of Sir Bobby Robson but will remember him for his immense contribution to English football. He is the manager of the finest England team that I've watch during my time. Thank you very much, Sir Bobby Robson. May you be well and happy wherever you're now. I believe your football passion will link you back to the game one day.

Yesterday Once More: 1990 AISS Inter-class Football

July, 1990 Part 2 Flashback

AISS interclass 7-a-side soccer competition 2nd round, Sec 3G vs Sec 3K. There was unrest in the 3K camp as one senior who missed the 1st game voiced his opinion on the team selection against 3F. There was a reshuffle but I retain my place in the starting line-up. YQ came on as a sub for 3K... and came closest to scoring when his shot hit the crossbar. It ended 0-0 again. Penalty shootout.

‎3G star players include good dribbler Weiyao, former sec1D/2D classmate Jincai (can cross wonderful ball but scared of muddy pitch - don't want to get dirty), Goh Kar Peng (not the least interested in football but can play it well), Nasen (senior player). 3K star players include Peiqing (schoolteam), Rudy (tall & pack powerful shot) & Senior player manager.

Prior to the kickoff of the game in the late afternoon, my suppose to be opponent Goh Kar Peng from 3G brought me for a p/t job interview at Burger King Thomson after school.Was happy to see friendly girls at BK Thomson. We took bus together back to school for the game. The match finished goalless and penalty time again as the crowd gather around the goalpost.

Ghazali was 3K goalie for the penalty shootout and for 3G, they have a tall goalie in Jinshun. 3G will take the penalty kick first and it is their goalie Jinshun who'll take it. He misses (or save). Now 3K turn and yes, I volunteer to go first this time, still nervous though much better than the last time. Among the crowd watching is a guy from the other class, who has spoken to me earlier that he notice my glancing tactic used against 3F. He was near the goalpost and man, my mind was thinking which side should I do it this time. I was a little affected by his comment. I made up my mind to slot it to the keeper left side again. 1..2..3, my right foot hit the ball but it never goes left, it went unobediently straight and Qingshun easily keep it out and make up for his earlier miss. I was disappointed with myself. What happen today?

‎3G Weiyao was next for the kick and he smacked his shot hard and it went in off the right post. Likewise, 3K Peiqing repeated the same feat by scoring in off the inner post. It was 1-1 after 2 penalty kicks. From then on for the next few kicks, everytime 3G score or miss, 3K would follow suit. I remember Senior player manager try an audacious effort to score the penalty by hitting the ball with the outside of his foot but it went wide of the right hand post. I can't remember exactly what was the final penalty kick score but pressure eventually cracked for 3K as 3G ended up the winners with the winning penalty. 3K was dumped out of the inter-class tournament and I was disappointed. I remember senior player manager tried to comfort me. I didn't cry, just disappointed because we wanted to win it for the class.

That was the year where 3K soccer championship hopes were dashed. I can't remember who won the Sec 3 championship in 1990, maybe 3A? On a positive note, 3K may have found a striker for next year tournament in YQ who earned good review for performance as a sub. I remember he ever told me that though many of us may not agree with the senior player manager approach, it is him that enable him to have a chance to play.

3K Football Reunion on Sunday morning

Last Friday, received a surprise sms from Eddy, my ex-secondary schoolmate, who is organising a football kickabout session on Sunday in Yishun for ex-AISS folks. So Yongquan, Huiyang and myself went for the football session on Sunday morning at 8am. We met Eddy and Rudy, both from Sec 3K during our upper secondary school days. This is the first time that we played with them since 1991. It was a good workout. Looking back at those sec school days, I decide to recall one of the Inter-class football games that we played in 1990.

July, 1990 Flashback:

AISS interclass 7-a-side soccer competition 1st round, Sec 3F vs Sec 3K. I was playing in defence for 3K with my double-coin brand school shoes against the opponents in boots. My buddy YQ, a frequent scorer in basketball court football was a sub and didn't get to play. Still remember his disappointment. 3K was the favourite to win but 3F managed to secure a goalless draw. So the game went into a penalty shootout.

‎3K star players include Peiqing (schoolteam), Rudy (tall & pack powerful shot) & handsome Mohd Noor. 3F star players: Karthi (school x-country runner), Guangmin (my ex 1D/2D captain). Karthi was to become the 3F goalie for the penalty shootout whereas Ghazali keep goal for 3K.

So the penalty kicks begin. 1st penalty taker from 3K & 3F both misses the penalty. Then somebody (i think Karthi) scored the 1st penalty for 3F. 3K Peiqing misses.Oh Gosh. After 3 penalty kicks from each side, it was 1-0 to 3F and an upset was on the cards. WT Tey was to be the 4th penalty taker for 3K, his face was pale and hands shivering. I was really nervous, worried I might miss.

I remember I place the ball on the penalty spot and look towards Karthi on his right hand side. With a left glance, I proceed to placed the ball towards Karthi left hand post & yes, Karthi was decieved by the left glance & didn't dive left ...side & GOAL.3K has equalised in the penalty shootout. I scored and I remember running after behind the goalpost to pick the football, don't know why I did that but I was relieved. 3F went on to miss another two penalties. 3K Imran (i think) then scored the winning penalty to make the final score via penalty shootout: Sec 3K 2 Sec 3F 1. What a nervy 1st penalty shootout experience for me. 3K to advance to next round to meet 3G.

Burnley visit to Singapore football

English Championship league side Burnley, which defeated Spurs 4-2 on the last day of last season visit Singapore this week. $6 match ticket is a big bargain to catch a former EPL Premier league side in action compared to the hefty sum that many pay to watch the likes of Liverpool, Man U,etc play holiday football. Bought the tickets yesterday and met a very helpful V Sundramoorthy @ Jalan Besar Stadium. Oh boy, he still looks in good shape. Legend, made my day.

Went to the game early today at 5pm because Alan, a hardcore fan of junior football wanted to catch the Singapore Youth Olympic team (U-15) against the NFA U-18 team. This is the curtain raiser and the YOG team was given a lesson by their senior counterpart with a 4-0 loss. They also have their Indian leftback sent off. He put in a very strong but fair sliding tackle but the kayu referee didn't see it that way and send him straight to the dressing room. The last goal by the NFA U-18 team was a beautiful volley. Lots of improvement beckons the YOG team if they want to succeed against strong teams in the YOG.

As the curtain raiser game concludes, the crowd begin to fill up the relatively small capacity Jalan Besar Stadium. Was puzzled why FAS doesn't want to prolong the National Stadium lifespan by making it a venue for YOG football games. Joachim highlight that it would be embarrasing that the 60,000 stadium can't be filled and would look like an white elephant if football matches are played there. Such is the local interests of the YOG games that the organizers might be worried about poor attendance & hence put the 6000 capacity Jalan Besar Stadium as the venue. Insurance plan or cosmetics @ work for face saving objective. On the crowd, I realize many fans were wearing Red, not Singapore jerseys but that of Manchester United. There's even a big group, all wearing Man U jerseys, singing Man U tunes loudly as they walk across the stands to their seats at the far end. The Red devils are not playing tonight but many Red devils fans are interested in this game, presumably because of a former Man U player playing for Burnley now, he is Chris Eagles. Many of the crowd around me wasn't that impressed with this group. One of the other group even use a Chelsea banner to wave back at the group. Colourful atmosphere but I'm not too impressed with the EPL elite obession because tonight it is about Singapore and Burnley, not your other EPL teams.

Wayne Rooney was sitting in front of us for the game.



A feminine Ronaldo was also at the stadium

The group of Manchester Utd supporters attracting attention by singing loudly Man U songs.

Response from the Chelsea Supporters towards the Man U group.

Now to the big game @ 7.30pm. I didn't know a lot about the Clarets. They were managed by Brian Laws, one of Brian Clough former rightback @ Nottingham Forest. Burnley came into this game with two consecutive 5-0 victories over S-league sides Home & Gombak Utd. Aside from Chris Eagles, the other player that I knew was Dean Marney, who was with Spurs several years back. He's an important player for Burnley.Both have been named in Burnley starting line-up. On Singapore lineup, Raddy put up a very young team with several players from the Singapore U-23 team. Good match exposure.

The Singapore Lions in warm up mode.

The visiting Burnley team



The 3 match officials doing their warmup

Singapore vs Burnley tonight @ Jalan Besar Stadium

Singapore started the game very well with Singaporean forward Khairul Amri being much the focal point in attack. Khairul did very well to threaten the Burnley defence in the opening exchange with his darting runs and crisp cutback, which in fact, set-up a goalscoring opportunity for the Singapore No.23. He put the ball into the net after a Khairul Amri sidepass but the effort was ruled out for offside. From the angle that we were seated, both Khairul and no.24 appeared to onside. Poor linesman decision but well played Khairul Amri. Sharil Ishak also looks good with his touches and penetrative passes. These two players are the key players if Singapore is to do well. Burnley too had their chances, with two clear almost one-one situations but Dean Marney placed his shot over the bar. Burnley didn't play the long-ball game and play it on the ground. They're fairly well organized but the lions were matching them stride for stride. Khairul Amri after a bright start, fizzle out. Shairul Ishak still show good touches for the whole of first half. The defenders including leftback Erwan Shah well too. The Singapore media rates highly of Singapore captain Haris Harun, who plays as a defensive midfielder. I observe this lad for some time now and still don't get why they rate him so high. I do not doubt his hard tackling enthusiasm but I do not see anything extra special about his football skills. He lost couple of balls in the first half by trying to do too much on his own where a simple pass would have work wonders. The players that impress me are the Singapore central defenders. The Singapore right midfielder Yasir Hanapi was impressive for me. He doesn't show too much respect for the big size English players and show good technique and ball sense. One of the bright spot for Singapore football if it is solely based on this game performance. Our foreign talent Shi Jiayi played as a rightback in this game and did ok. It ended 0-0 at the break.

The Singapore crowd

2nd half resumes and Raddy made an expected change. Khairul Amri who has drifted out of the game in the latter stages of the first half, make way for Agu Casmir. Go go Agu! I think he's the team most dangerous striker due to his experience. Sharil Jantan the Singapore goalie also came onboard in the 2nd half. Burnley started to attack more in the 2nd half and got a freekick outside the box. In came Chris Eagles and he scored. For me, I feel Sharil Jantan could have done a bit better covering the angle. Nevertheless, it was 1-0 to Burnley. Singapore brought on a few other players which include Farul Nawaz and Joachim cheered very loud for him. I didn't agree because I observed him for a while, he doesn't really look one that could change the game for Singapore. Ordinary is the word. He went on to miss 2 clear chances in the later stage, one of which is a one-one with the Burnley keeper. He fluffed it. The crowd was also not happy with the referee Abdul Malek performance and chants of referee kayu could be heard throughout the game. I think the referee pay a bit too much respect to the Europeans. Some of the cheeky nudges by the Englishmen went un-noticed while the Singaporeans get penalised for the slightest of body contact. Final score: Singapore Selection 0 Burnley 1.

Chris Eagle freekick

I think it was a positive team performance by Singapore team today especially in the first half. The players that caught my eyes are No. 4 (Yasif Hanapi) and No. 2 central defender (not sure if he call Yunos). The Singapore jersey No.2 central defender played extremely well and cut out many threats from the Burnley forwards. It is to Singapore advantage that Burnley did not choose to play the long ball game to their tall players and S'pore No.2 did well to contain the threats. Shahril Ishak though having a forgettable 2nd half performance, is definitely a key player for Singapore as he possess creative qualities. Both him and Khairul are important players for the current Singapore team. If any goalscoring chances is to come, it is likely to be through these two fellows. In summary, a good competitive match and I'm glad to see a good Singapore performance.

FIS Asian Challenge Cup Final Score

Encounter with a Mini Petty Car Thief

I encounter a mini petty thief today. Never see him or her but guess what has been taken away from me. Lucky me, just one piece of my car tire valve caps. This is the first time (hopefully last time) such item has been stolen from my vehicle.

I was at HP @ Depot Road for a customer meeting and parked my car at the open carpark with few cars. I remembered parking next to a Nissan on my left. On my right side, it was empty slot. After I return from my meeting, look at my tire on the right and discover the missing tire valve cap. Has a habit of checking my tires because I have changed new tires a week plus ago. So I'm pretty sure it must have happen today either at HP carpark or my office one. Wonder who in the world would be interested in a tiny piece of tire valve cap from my 4 year old plus VIOS. I recall my ex-colleague's story that his got stolen before and he has to get from another vehicle. Someone could be in the same situation as him and got mine.

Luckily, not big item loss otherwise, will spoil my week . I drove to the Sembawang Road car tires shop where I change my tires a week ago and the kind mechanic gave me a handful of free replacement tire valve caps. Straight forward method of resolving the tire valve cap loss. No hassle , no costs and no guilt. Why the mini thief never think of this approach?

Anyway, did a search from the web and discover there's anti theft tire valve cap available from a local company called Avani. It has a key to lock the tire valve cap but pretty time-consuming when one need to pump up the tires. Never check the cost because I have spare supply of tire valve caps in my car from the tires shop.

My 2010 World Cup Diary : The Aftermath of the World Cup Final

At 2.30am yesterday, I was part of the crowd at Chong Pang CC , hoping to witness history in the making of a new World Cup winner in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finale. The final game, however didn't do justice to the world most beautiful game. Howard Webb, the English referee made history first by dishing out the most yellow/red cards ever for a Cup final. Once again, a football game has been marred by this referee, never failing to cause controversy especially during big games. The Cup Final was a negative one, football shouldn't be play and officiate in such manner. It doesn't deserve a mention in my personal blog as I wish to remember the positive side of the first ever World Cup tournament held in African continent.

Shakira sang at the closing ceremony with hot number Waka Waka, This Time to Africa. Will always remember this World Cup song, very sporting song.

Here's a list of Golden Ball (Player of the World Cup tournament nominees:

And the Golden Ball goes to Diego Forlan of Uruguay. He has been voted by the football world as the best player in South Africa 2010 World Cup. For me, he thoroughly deserve the award. The former Man United flop has found a new lease of life in the La Liga and has displayed his talent & goalscoring power in the biggest football tournament. Bear in mind, he's playing in a team that is consider weaker than the other big boys. With Forlan, they progress till the semi-final, a remarkable 4th place finish.

For 2010 World Cup, I also remember the beautiful Paraguayan model who became the most popular World Cup fan in this year competition. She definitely enjoying all the media attention but there are plenty of beautiful babes out there from different nations, beautifying the South Africa 2010.

While pretty babes are common sight on the television screen during world cup matches, there are some crazy fans too. Remember during Slovenia vs Algeria game, there is this Algerian fan that climb to the top of the stadium lighting. How did he get up there in the first place ?

Denmark was the team that I wanted to support for the tournament but the once mighty Danish dynamite didn't have the best of luck with injuries to key players. Age has caught up with the once dangerous Martin Jorgensen and Tomasson. They were eliminated in the group stage after losing to surprise package Japan. The Japanese surprised me and played very well in the tournament. No more Nakamura, this is the times of Keisuke Honda and Tulio.

The team that I enjoyed watching the most is USA. Well, the Americans is no longer weak in soccer. They are fast, skillful , talented and has great fighting spirit. Really enjoyed their draw with England and fightback against Slovenia. Great future for USA football.

Let's relax and enjoy some of the greats goals of South Africa 2010 World Cup.

Finally, this is the biggest star of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Paul the Octopus who holds the 100% record of right predictions for all Germany matches. He also correctly predicted that Spain will win the World Cup. A retired legend now.