Walk down memory lane...

The road runners and the coyotes

The hottest topic in Singapore nowadays other than AIG and the Lehman Brothers has to be the letter F word. Nope, not swearing here. It's the F1 i am talking about. With much fanfare and the buildup by the media as THE event of the year, it's no surprise that most Singaporeans are excited about it, racing fan or not. Afterall, it is the first time that an F1 race was hosted in Singapore.

Personally, I am not hot on racing and the media hype about F1 fail to get me excited. (If Arsenal was coming for an exhibition match...ahhh..that would be a different thing..but that's another story) But being pestered by my friend, J who want to experience the feel of a spectator, I went for the event without a ticket. (By the way, it's the true essence of a Singaporean to be a freeloader so stop calling me a cheapo!)

When I reach City Hall, the first thing that greet me was the endless lines of people and the MRT's continous announcement that the station is full. (How can the station be full anyway? LKY and LHL said we are underpopulated and need more people. If it's over-crowded as the station claims, do they mean that LKY and LHL are lying??? LOL) Once we reach the surface, the first thing that I noticed was the sound of the car engines. Gosh..definiately loud enough to wake the dead. I suddenly felt a sense of respect for the people working in the outside restaurants of Marina Square and Suntec City. I passed by a waitress standing at the door of a restaurant and as the cars start doing their rounds in supersonic speed, everyone nearby was covering their ears. The waitress didn't even flinch or bat an eyelid. We, as normal spectators could not last more than 10 mins under the noise, yet they hear the noise for the duration of their work without being affected. That was truly an remarkable achievement.

Anything I have to announce here is my new-found respect for the government authorities for their effeciency in stopping Singaporeans from being free spectators. On the day the newspapers announced some spots where the people can see the cars zooming by for free, the next moment, the fencing are all covered up with black cloth. However, a round of hands for the typical Singaporean. You might put up restrictions but a resourceful Singaporean always work his way around it. In this case, just pull the bloody old cloth down la!

And so it was that J and I stood at one strategic spot at the Milliemium walk, where we can see the track and wait, my sparkling new Nikon D80 SLR camera in hand. The first shot we tried to take was horrible. We haven't even manage to press the button and the car have zoom past. Don't even bother asking me who was that because I have absolutely no idea. So we resort to the old method of hearing the engine sound. Once it got near enough, we just snap in multi shot mode, hoping that we might be able to capture some of the cars speeding by.

In the end, we did manage to get some blurry images of the cars. Not bad, considering we were at the second storey and a fair distance from the race track. However, it had failed to generate that kind of excitement for me, only a pair of painful eardrums and some blurry images, plus alot of noise pollution.

Olympics summary

The Olympics is well and truly over to much fanfare yesterday and you cannot help but applaude the Chinese for a job well done for being a good host and a great organiser. (And did anyone notice the human pagando yesterday at the closing ceremony?? That was utterly cool and a sight to behold....now how come we can't do that for our National Day?)

Records were broken and the most outstanding ones had to be firstly, Michael Phelps' superhuman eight gold feat. Secondly, Bolt's incredible domination of the race track which is all the more remarkable considering that his blood sample come clean. Thirdly, our Singapore paddlers manage to get a silver medal after valiant battles with their China counterparts.

One interesting thing to note is, Singapore are not the only country to import China-born paddlers. Western countries like Croatia and Asian countries like Korea have also import nationalise China-born paddlers into their ranks. So Singaporeans, please stop moaning about how we depend on foreigners to get our medals. Other countries are also doing the same thing, and it wasn't that much of a fuss.

Of course, there were also fiascos and no shows. The first scandal to break out was totally unrelated to sports. A outroar break out over the lip-synching singing of a Chinese girl for the Olympic theme song. Personally, I felt that that was a big mistake by the Chinese officials. For one thing, lip-synching is frowned upon in the entertainment industry today and can anyone imagine the damage to the self esteem to the girls? One would think she is pretty but can't sing, and the other will think she is too ugly to be seen on TV. One win-win solution would be to let both girls go on stage and sing. That would have been a sight.

The second notable fiasco would be the no-show of Liu Xiang as he prepare to defend his title. No one know exactly what is going on his mind as he decide to quit at the last minute. However, if it is as he claim, that he had been injured for a few years before the race, then I would sympathise with the man. If one was to notice, the nation had expectionally high hopes of the man and in such consequences, it would be hard for him to raise the white flag and say that he won't be racing. Either way, he would have let his nation down. So in the end..poor guy..can only hope that he will be back in 4 years time.

The third fiasco would be the coaching fiasco of Singapore table-tennis men team. The whole table tennis team is still suffering from the aftershocks of this scandal and it look set to continue as the team manager is fired and the national coach for the female team looks to be in danger of suffering the same fate.

The BIG question is, does they deserve this treatment? Was Lee Bee Wah too harsh and too rash at announcing this news at this timing when everyone is celebrating? No doubt that this is the best results in the Olympics for 34 years but there is a burning question: Why are the men not performing as well as the female in the same event? Is there something within the coaching structure that we are not aware of?

In a way, Lee Bee Wah remind me of a Roman Abramovich (for those who don't know, Roman Abramovich sack his most successful coach on a difference of opinion on how the game should be played). It remains to be seen though, on whether the drastic measures will result in better results for Singapore but from the looks of it, she does seem to have a game plan...

All in one, the Olympics have been a period of drama, excitement and the triumph of the human spirit come through once again as all politics and wars are put aside for the love of sports. An enduring image would be one of a Georgian sportswoman embracing a Russian sportswoman, despite the fact that their countries are at war. Wouldn't it be great though, if differences between countries could be settled with sports? (Wishful thinking though...)

There were also no mention of Tibet as the games progress despite the protests in the preparation for the Games.

It was also a period of cheer for the Chinese who had to see their comrades suffer in the Sichuan earthquake and not for one moment did I doubt that all the medals that China won was not dedicated to the victims of the earthquake. It would perhaps also provide them with the inspiration to fight against the odds.

The brilliant show put up by the British in the handing over ceremony also suggest that the 2012 Olympics would be an another great event to look up to..so for now..its adios..land of the dragon and hello to the Union Jack..where the EPL is..where the rock stars are..and where the hippest things happen....

Sporting highlights

Everyone should have been consumed by the current sporting craze, the Olympics but in case no one notice, the EPL is back in business and there are a few weird things happening to the teams from the top 4.

Firstly, Man United had not bought a single player in! What are the chances of that happening even since Alex Ferguson took over? And the eyeball popping issue is..they actually sold their loyal servant Silvestre to their arch-rivals, Arsenal. Is there a conspiracy theory behind these? For instance, Silvestre might have been bought for his experience and knowledge of the Man United set- up but he could actually be a double agent working undercover for Alex Ferguson to rat on his new employer?? Hmmm....who knows...conspiracy theories are such fun!

Chelsea is looking like the Zola-inspired team of old again with their 4-0 demoliation of a shell-shocked Man City. Roman Abramovich must be laughing in his sleep now. The old Chelsea team under Grant and Mourinho would have put anyone to sleep. In fact, I really suspect that is how they score their solitary goal to beat their opponents. (Pass backwards, sideways, backwards, sideways, backwards , sideways..zzzzzzzzzz). You get my drift i gather...With a new coach who (finally!) got them playing attractive football, it's for everyone to see whether they can last the distance and be the champions again.

 Liverpool is another kettle of fish altogether. What was one the best club in Europe is now languishing in 3rd or 4th place and despite Benitez making wholescale changes to the squad every year, they are still someway behind the top 3( though it had to be said that Torres was a piece of investment that went off handsomely..I now consider him the best striker in the league..yes..even better than Adebayor from Arsenal). Even since Liverpool was taken over by the two Yankees, it had been one infighting squabble after another, a total disgrace to the memory of Bill Shankly. It remain to be seen with the inclusion of Robbie Keane(in process breaking up a profitable partnership in Gerrard and Torres), whether Liverpool will get their hands on the trophy come May.

Now to my favourite team Arsenal. They have sold Hleb (whom I like for his amazing ability to dribble out of tight situations but just can't score for nuts) and sign Samir Nasir (the so-called New Zidane). The young lad is looking great and playing well, scoring 4 minutes into his debut. His high work-rate, directness in play and willingness to shoot(even from long range) remind me of a cross between Ljunberg, Pires and Parlour. He could be another signing after Torres to take to the Premiership like duck to water in his debut season. However, the verdict is still out until he face tougher opposition. And you can trust Wenger to drop a clanger by signing Silvestre from archrivals Man United.

Is the professor knowing something that we don't know here?? All along, I have never like Silvestre. Granted, he is strong and fast but he seems to lost his nerve sometimes when caught out and make silly mistakes. But on theory, he is just the experienced defensive back-up we need to partner Senderous or Djourou who are still inexperienced and make mistakes. However, do we have a better option as a back-up defender? That is the question. I really miss Sol Campbell, Tony Adams and Martin Keown in their prime. They could gobble up strikers for supper anyday. That was the days the attackers would attack without any care as they know that the defenders would protect the goal. Maybe, one day, when we have another defender in that mould, or someone in the David O'Leary mould, (I am looking at Harvard Nordveit here in hope)

All in one, its another crazy season again. Let's all hope that we would be entertained fully this season and hope that wonderkid, Fabregas will add on to his international medal tally. :)

A dash of 24.....

It was the first time that such a thing had happen in sunny, calm, safe and some say boring singapore..A detainee arrested on suspicion of terrorism had escaped from the remand centre on the pretext of going to the toilet. Now, every uniformed government servant in Singapore are out in full force, frantically searching for the man of the moment...Mas Selamat. Now, doesn't this scenerio sound and seems like something out of my favourite counter-terrorism drama, 24??.... Only thing is, it is now 32 hours since he escaped. Time for a season 2 already, man.

Who would have imagine it to happen in Singapore? No one would. And perhaps that is where it all went wrong. We were too complacent, too smug in our security (or perhaps too bochap) to feel that a suspected terrorist would never escape once he is in detention. Perhaps even the armed forces in charge of protecting our shores and safety started to believe their own hype too.....a fatal mistake if anyone can remember the events leading up to 911.

With the great escape, a lot of questions would have to be asked and alot of conspiracy theories had abounded. Firstly, why was the escape possible in the first place? Look at Mas Selamat. He is unarmed, alone and lame in one leg. Yet he managed to escape from the remand centre without his guards raising an alarm until he is gone with the wind. Is he, and i repeat myself again, an unarmed man who is lame in one leg able to do it ALONE without any help? If he really did it alone, then a big question mark exist on how tight our security really is. If he did not do it alone; and this is more worrying, who is the one helping him? Is there any more like-minded activists like him or is there someone who is more powerful pulling the strings from behind in assisting him to escape?

The second question is, why did the relevant authorities took four hours to raise the alarm? Is it as what our dear Minister for Defence had stated that there was no immediate danger? In that case, why was Mas Selamat detained in the first place? That means that he was under suspicion of being able to do something dangerous, right? Hence, the explanation really cut no ice. Nice try there, but sorry, Mr Minister...to the mass public now, it just seem like a sorry excuse for a PR disaster or should I say national 'comedy' that had left many people in power red-faced and grappling for answers to questions that had not been answered fully.

In the first place, if the alarm had been raised immediately, the customs and the police would have been informed immediately to keep a lookout for the fugitive. Now, with the four hours lapse, who would bet on him walking incongition and undisturbed through the customs without anyone suspecting anything? Hello, this is Singapore. How long does it take for him to hitch a vehicle and cross the Crossway to the opposite shore? Man, you can reach Tuas from the east side in 2 hours plus. And the distance is wayyyyy longer than the 1km linkbridge linking Singapore to Malaysia.

Is there any use now that the alarm have been raised internationally? In the first place, it should not have happened, and if it had happen, the decision to hush things might have actually worsen things. What happen to the so-called proactive government that is praised so much internationally?All an act for the foreigners to see??

With this incident, I think the authorities and government would have to do a thorough soul-searching. Answers will have to be given to the questions raised and no amount of humbug would work this time. Perhaps we have to accept the fact that we are not as good as we think we are and learn from our mistakes. That might be the only way to improve and ensure that such a thing would not happen again. Hopefully, this escape will not come back to haunt us in tragic ways...