Tourist Bus Hostage Crisis in Manila

Yesterday noon, I came to know that a tourist bus was hijacked in Manila by a former Filipino police officer. Initially the news reported South Korean tourists involved but it later turn out to be Hong Kong tourists. The hostage taker was mentioned to be one of the top 10 policeman back in the 80s but was dismissed last year due to some extortion charges. When I was home and switching channels on my TV, I realise Channel News Asia was reporting about it live from Manila. Only then did I realise that this has turned out to be a tragic event where innocent human lives are lost. As of today, I came to know 9 Hong Kong Tourists has been killed. The hostage killer was also shot dead, reportedly by a sniper. Given by what the media has reported about the hostage taker demands, I'm disappointed that the authorities didn't manage to work out a deal with him and prevent loss of life. Of course, we probably won't ever know the full details of the negotiation. Feel very sad for the victims and their families. Quoting from a friend saying, " a rational person could not find other avenues to air his grievances and was desperate enough to risk (and lose) his life and those of others just to be heard." I think Rolando Mendoza have a story to tell but it should not be at the expense of innocent lives.



Actually, Mendoza story of losing his job is not as bad as that of Sandro, the other bus hostage hijacker that I know. Sandro is a Brazilian who took hostage of a bus #174 in Rio De Janeiro way back in June 2000. The whole incident was captured live on TV and the footage was being used in a documentary movie called Bus 174. Sandro story was a very sad one and reflects on the Brazilian society that fails to deal with street children and juvenile delinquents in a humane manner & instead perpetuates more violence. Read these links about Sandro Rosa and Candelaria Church massacre for Sandro's story. Sandro's story is also play out using real footage in the Bus 174 documentary film.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandro_Rosa_do_Nascimento

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candelaria_church_massacre

Life is unpredictable and vulnerable. I once read a question: If you only have a day to live, who would you call? And why are you waiting?

English Football Season 2010-2011

"You won't catch me making any silly prediction. None of that Tottenham for the title or I'll score 20 goals stuff. These kind of things make a good headline but doesn't bring you anywhere." - Gary Lineker who just signed for Spurs in 1989, in a pre-season interview with Shoot magazine. Spurs was to finish 3rd in that season and Gary Lineker won the Golden Boot. BPL 2010/2011 season start tonight, all I wanna say is Come On You SPURS!!!

I remember when the 1990 England team return from Italia 90, everyone was looking forward to watching the Spurs duo of Gazza & Lineker in action. During those days, normally the season opener live telecast match would feature the present English Champions (Liverpool at that time) game. But the English crowd was overwhelmed by Gazza & Lineker heroics in the world cup, that eventually, it was the Spurs game that got the match of the day live telecast. And they didn't disappoint. Spurs won 3-1 on their opening day with Lineker grabbing two goals and Gazza scoring the other against Manchester City. This year, England football team return from South Africa in shambles, Spurs opening fixture is against Manchester City again. How will Tottenham fare?

One Night In Turin

Recently, I read from the web that a movie called "One Night in Turin" has been released this year. The movie is about my favourite England football team of Italia 90. I was excited and find time this morning to search for it on the internet. Managed to locate it on free online streaming site and enjoyed every minute of it.

This is an excellent, true account & unbiased movie about England football team in Italia 90. Been waiting for a film like this to be made about this great team for 20 years. It made me miss Gazza, Lineker, Waddle, Butcher, Shilton, Platt, Pearce, Bobby Robson, etc even more. Thumbs up.

I have very fond memories of Bobby Robson England team. Maybe because there are my favourite Spurs players in it and they played with lots of heart and passion. I just took out a copy of my old shoot magazine dated 14th July 1990. It was a post 1990 World Cup copy and on the last page, the headline is : " WE"RE PROUD OF YOU. ENGLAND YOU WERE MAGNIFICENT."

Here's the abstract from the July 14th 1990 Shoot magazine view on the Italia 90 England football team:

English football can hold its head high once more.

For not since that glorious day in July 1966 has our national team commanded such worldwide respect.

Derided, patronised and reviled for more than 20 years, it seemed that the days when we could seriously challenged soccer's super powers were a distant memory.

But as Graham Taylor prepares to take up the international challenge, the opportunity is suddenly there for England to build for a glorious football future.

Bobby Robson, disgracefully treated by his critics throughout his eight-year reign, will now be judged by history as an England manager to rank alongside Sir Alf Ramsey.

And even last Wednesday's Semi-final defeat in Turin cannot detract from the achievement of Robson's young lions these past five weeks.

It would be wrong to claim that England were the best of the 24 World Cup finalists. That honour belongs to West Germany. But as proved in the Stadio Delle Alpi, at least they are now in the same class.

No blame has been attached to Stuart Pearce or Chris Waddle for those penalty misses, just as no one player deserves special praise. For it was a team effort which served England so well and, in defeat as well as victory, the players stood side by side.

It is possible to run through the entire England side and single out virtually everyone of them as England's Italia 90 star.

Certainly every department of the team more than fulfilled all expectations.

In goal Peter Shilton proved with saves against Cameroon and West Germany that, even at 40, he's still the best goalkeeper in the world.

In defence the players adapted magnificently to the sudden introduction of the sweeper system. Mark Wright, Paul Parker and Des Walker have rightly been praised, but the contributions of Stuart Pearce and Terry Butcher must not go unnoticed.

In midfield Paul Gascoigne emerged as one of the stars of the tournament. David Platt proved a worthy replacement for the injured Bryan Robson and Trevor Steven's versatility came as an unexpected late bonus.

In attack Gary Lineker showed he is a match for any striker in the world. Van Basten, Degryse, Klinsmann and even Milla couldn't put him in the shade.

Now Graham Taylor will inherit a team confident in the system they are playing in and even more confident in the men around them.

The European Championship qualifying matches kick-off in the next couple of months and the new manager will soon be forced to decide whether to persevere with the likes of Robson, Shilton and Butcher.

It will be a sad day when those England stalwarts are forced into international retirement. But as least they will go with the knowledge that they have laid the foundations for an exciting new era for English football.

Inspirational Monday

Its the first Monday of August 2010 and I feel its like a new start. Yes, it is the start of the week. No, I didn't mean that. I mean I wanted to feel more purposeful in my daily life. Anyway, just some lingering thoughts which probably will go away if NATO comes to play. I went for my evening jog around the neighbourhood, had my dinner & shower and decided to tidy up my room. Its getting very messy and long overdue for some much needed attention. So my purposeful week begin with the task of spring cleaning my nest. Pretty much done for the night though still some touching up to be continue tomorrow.

Its the 2nd day after the 1st anniversary of Sir Bobby Robson day, I'm still watching his video clips. I found a clip which Sir Bobby Robson spoke about life. It was pretty simple words yet sound so inspirational from someone that I had lots of respect for. Yes, I do not know him personally and the English media may played a big part in my perception of him. But I do feel he is genuine.

Sir Bobby Robson say,

"In life, you know you can't succeed and be clever and be bright

and be correct and spot-on all the time.

Cause life is more complicated than that,

life is more difficult than that.

Its a tough world out there

And if you're not a tough guy, you won't survive.

Not to get to where you want to be in your sphere."

I'm not sure how others feel about this speech but I feel inspired. I think he is sharing that there's no perfect person or situation and you gotta take all things in your stride, be it good or bad things to cope with the challenges of life. Then you stand a better chance of attaining or getting where you wanna be. Thank you Sir Bobby. I enjoyed the video clip and will keep these useful pointers in mind especially if I'm going through a rough patch.

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.