I had wanted to read this book for a long time ever since Deneng said it was an interesting book about a year or so ago. But I simply could not find where it was hiding at Toa Payoh library. So when I needed a book to make up the minimum order over Amazon, I decided to buy it. And I certainly wasn't disappointed. For a fiction book, it wasn't dreary. The story telling style made it highly readable and the fact that it had so much accusations about McDonald's and other companies but the author never got sued went some way to proving it had to be mostly right and thus highly convincing.
The first part of the book predictably went about describing the rise of the fast food industry which really took off after WWII. As cities grew in size and boundaries were pushed back, fast food restaurants began sprouting all over the place. Perhaps more importantly was the invention of the automobile, which allowed large scale inter city travel and thus major highways were built. People needed to take breaks while travelling and thus drive thru fast food restaurants began to appear along highways and this contributed immensely to their growth.
The second slightly disturbing part concentrated on the marketing efforts of McDonald's and other chains. They targeted small children explicitly, believing that they would in turn bring their parents and grandparents. And they made huge use of child psychology. So the idea that Ronald McDonald's was your friend, Happy Meal coming with small toys, those children clubs that they ran, and even the small little playgrounds that they had were all designed to get you hooked. Hooked until you would frequent them even when you are an adult, even when you die. How scary! I think I am glad to say that I wasn't a victim. I did like some of the toys and Happy Meals but I certainly wasn't hooked. Think back to Hello Kitty queue days....*shudder*
The book then got slightly more disturbing. It now went on to the people who worked in the restaurants. Those people that you see behind the counter and in the kitchens etc. I had heard all along that McDonald's job is shit and pays shit as well blah blah but all along I had thought "well yeah, its a simple job, so of course the pay is low". But this book showed the other side of the story. That the major fast food chains had deliberately kept wages low. Since they were big and powerful and often contributed funds to politicians, they were able to oppose minimum wage laws from being implemented. At the same time, they were also strongly anti labour unions, firing any employee who attempts to join unions blah blah. In addition, they threw out my favourite economic theory in the process. There is this theory about how specialization for workers would lead to higher productivity and thus good for firms as well as good for workers as they earn higher wages due to their productivity. But when fast food chains made workers specialise in doing certain stuff in kitchens, they also had machines which were "idiot proof" so to speak, taking the skill away from the job. And thus they were able to fire workers as and when they wish since training another worker is damn easy. And this also makes wages low.
The next section well and truly got me very very disturbed. It talked about the food sources of the fast food chains, how the french fries taste so nice because of the flavouring. But the most disturbing part of all are the meat packing factories in the USA. In the USA, meat is processed by several large meat packing factories and in turn these factories provide meat for the few fast food chains. Like the fast food chains, the meat packing firms wield enormous power over politicians and so are able to keep wages low, and continue to have poor working conditions etc. But thats not the only thing. It's one thing to work in poor conditions, but it's quite another thing to have to risk your life in your job. The book describes how cheap and unskilled Latino workers are forced to cut meat quickly to keep up with production speeds, risking being cut by knifes held by other fellow workers who are working very fast as well. Others risk having their hands crushed or their heads ripped off. Yet some others have to stand in ankle deep pools od blood. And others have to expose themselves to chlorine and stuff when they clean the meat packing factory at night. I nearly wanted to puke at the details written in the book. A weird sense of injustice came over me and I was really angry at the fast food chains and meat packing factories. I nearly swore never to eat another fast food meal again. That was how disturbed I was by that section. But then I realised that sweatshops of other brands for clothes and shoes might also have the same problem. Would I boycott them as well?
In a way, this represents the long standing problem in Economics of efficiency and equity. From the meat packing firm's perspective, there is a steady flow of cheap Latino labour, so why not make use of it? Using them is efficient. Forcing them to work faster and harder is productivity. But as a society, do we want to progress down that path? Do we just want to be concerned about the numbers? whether we fulfill the production quotas? whether we keep costs to the minimum in whatever way we can think of? So much so that when people die, we simply replace them with another guy. BECAUSE THEY ARE CHEAP? Or do we sometimes have to stop and take stock of ourselves and think: "Hey that guy is a human too. He is not just a number in the payroll, or a money making machine. Let's give him a break. And give him what is humanly acceptable, not just what is economically acceptable or what will look best to your bottom line. It is a struggle, and we are no nearer a solution than when Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations. Socialism tried to be equal, but "some people turned out to be more equal than others". Sweden tried to be a welfare state and achieve economic efficiency at the same time, but they also failed to a large extent. I hate having limited knowledge....
Well I guess I will continue to eat my KFC because I like it a lot. But I will give McDonald's or BK a miss next time, simply because their food sucks in my opinion. I don't want to be swept into a vegetarian movement or an anti sweat shop movement just because of a book, because like what Li Yeng said we must take everything with a pinch of salt, and I also feel I would need to learn more about such issues before I make a stand. But at the same time I hate the feeling of just typing on my blog and moaning about how traumatised I am by the conditions described in the book.
HOW?
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Liverpool 231004
Finally have time to relate my Liverpool trip last Saturday. Overall the trip was pretty good, but the beginning of the trip was horrible. The coach was supposed to set off at 730am but the stupid driver only started to let people get on at 725am. And as expected, it set off late at 750am++. God damn it, couldn't he let people on earlier since he was doing NOTHING on the empty bus before that? But never mind, the best thing is the 2 drivers were not National Express coach drivers. They were drivers from some private company. And guess what? They had never been to Stoke-on-Trent and Liverpool before, the 2 destinations on the trip. GOD DAMN IT. How can they send drivers who have never been to any destination before? (there were 2 of them as well!!!) Let alone TWO destinations. Luckily the guy sitting beside me ( I was sitting in front) had been to Stoke before and so we were not that lost in Stoke. But still valuable time was lost. The same thing again happened in Liverpool as we drove around in circles trying to look for the bloody coach station. When we had made 1 big round, one Liverpool fan came up to the driver to tell him where to go. Thank goodness...if not I don't know how long more we have to go on circling Liverpool city centre. I had already lost 1 hour by then, reaching at 130pm instead of 1230pm. The match was supposed to kickoff at at 515pm. Lots of things to do before then.
First of all, a quick walk around the city centre. I thought it would just be another mundane and ordinary gloomy UK city and my first impression proved to be correct. I failed to understand how it can be European City of Culture in 2008. But......
I soon sensed that this was no ordinary city. The buildings look that little bit nicer than Manchester and it had a river!!!! I am a sucker for rivers. Most of you would have been bored by my numerous pictures of rivers in Paris, London, Prague etc. So shall not bore you all anymore. The Mersey river (is that its name? Please correct me if I am wrong....) is not that nice, but still saw a lot of couples sitting on the benches beside it... now that's nice :P
Liverpool's position beside a river meant that its history was inextricably (is there such a word? My English is failing me..jia lat) linked to the river. But due to time constraint I could not visit the museum.
Yet another name synonymous with Liverpool is The Beatles. I have not heard many of their songs, think only heard of Yesterday before. They had a museum dedicated to the Beatles at the Albert Dock area beside the river. But again, I decided not to go in due to the lack of time. It was about 230pm now....
At about this time, I received a call from the guy whom I was supposed to pick up my match ticket from. He was supposed to be at the stadium by 2pm to meet his friend and I was supposed to meet him before the match to collect the ticket. But screw up again!!! He was stuck in traffic on the stupid motorway (should be called SLOWWAY) and he is scared that he might not be able to make it on time. But he also didn't want to dua me. So he said he know that tickets were still on general sale (a lot of returns apparently, but pathetic Liverpool. Ordinary league match also cannot sell out.) and so he would phone the ticket office and book one for me and I can collect it at the ticket office at the stadium. Nice of him to do that, but that means I have to go early (because I am kiasu :P) to collect the ticket. Bummer. Got to quicken my footsteps now. But not before......
....I get to the most famous building in Liverpool! Well at least I found this out after I came back. The following description is from this website :
The Liver Building
Probably the most photographed and well known building in Liverpool. It is located at Pier Head and stands proud and majestic against the skyline of Liverpool and the riverfront. The building is made of reinforced concrete and was the first large scale building of its type. It was built in 1911 for the Royal Liver Friendly Society.
This impressive architectural masterpiece features a pair of clock towers from which shipping could tell the time as they passed en route along the river. The clock faces are actually larger than the clock face of Big Ben in London. In fact, they are the largest clock dials in Britain. In 1953 electronic chimes were installed to serve as a memorial to the members of the Royal Liver Friendly Society who died during the two World Wars. At night time the clock dials are illuminated.
A statue of a Liver Bird spreading its wings from the top of each clock tower enhances the glory of the building and its impressive features. The Liver Bird, the official mascot of Liverpool is a cormorant (seaweed bird) which in bygone times could often be seen flying alongside the Mersey River with seaweed in their beaks.
The Royal Liver Building is still the Head Office for the Royal Liver Friendly Society.
I noticed the 2 Liver birds from far and thought that the building looked magnificent and I just had to take a photo with it in the background. Only now do I realise the building in the foreground is not the actual building itself. Bummer...oh well, it was the only way I could capture the building with the 2 birds anyway since the building was so tall :(
Name of the nice boulevard in front of the Royal Liver building is:
Clearer shot of the clock facing the river:
With no time to lose, I headed straight to the bus station to take the bus to Anfield. A bus had to be faster than walking the 4km to Anfield right? WRONG. I reached the bus station at about 245pm. And waited until about 310pm for the bus when the poster clearly said 248pm and 256pm like that would have buses. God damn it, why put the poster there when it isn't accurate! And there were supposed to be 3 services running to Anfield. If the frequency is like that with 3 services, I shudder to think what would happen with only 1 service.
But oh well I should not be surprised by anything since I am in my third year. Finally managed to reach Anfield at about 330pm.
It felt very much like Highbury, in the sense that there are 2 storey terrace houses surrounding it, restricting its development. No wonder Liverpool are eager to move to a bigger stadium. But would they be able to fill it? :P After some quick photos I quickly went to queue to collect my ticket. And was I in for a big big surprise....
THE KOP END!!! THE KOP END!!!! My ticket was in the world famous Kop End!! The stand where thousands of Liverpool supporters stood on the terraces singing "You'll never walk alone". And me, a non-Liverpool supporter gets to sit there! How unfair life is :P (I had overheard some Liverpool supporters complaining on the coach that their seat was not in the Kop End but at Anfield Road Stand, where I think my original ticket is supposed to be. Hehe)
So with this pleasant surprise, my day brightened considerably (in contrast to the gloomy weather all day long in Liverpool...) and I realised I had about one and a half hours to kickoff. I quickly proceeded to...
Goodison Park...home of Everton FC. There is this long standing joke among Liverpool supporters. Liverpool has 2 big clubs: Liverpool FC and Liverpool FC Reserves. It's a dig at their rivals across Stanley Park, Everton, whose achievements pale in comparison to Liverpool's. But still it is a big club in its own right and my stadium fetish kicked in once again.
PS: My "take photo of myself with timer" skill not bad eh? :P
With that, I began to walk back towards Anfield, cutting across Stanley Park which I had read about numerous times.
Who would have thought such a tranquil park divided such an intense rivalry...
Goodison Park as seen from Stanley Park. That unmistakable shade of blue....
Finally had time to go around Anfield itself.
Statue of Bill Shankly, legendary Liverpool manager in 70s (I think?)
The inscription reads: He made the people happy
What it doesn't say: He made the people of Manchester miserable
Gate dedicated to Bill Shankly.
Hillsborough memorial. The day when people died when they were only supporting their football club. Sad....
Gate dedicated to Bob Paisley. Another legendary Liverpool manager in the 70s to 80s (again I am not entirely sure). He brought them 3 European Cups, as can be seen on the gate.
Kop End again.
Could not resist laughing at the T-shirt shown above. You've got to hand it to them, there's a certain amount of resemblance between Rooney and Shrek (both ugly like hell) and Van Nistelrooy and the Donkey (both look like horses). Really funny =)
And so it was on to the match itself. Think I forgot to mention the opposition was Charlton. But strangely enough, I did not even see a single Charlton jersey around, not on the coach, not anywhere around Anfield or in the city centre. Before the kickoff, the entire stadium sang their "anthem", "You'll never walk alone". Men and boys standing up, raising their scarfs, and singing in one voice. Pretty moving stuff. Thought that the atmosphere would be like this throughout the match but was pretty disappointed. The atmosphere was not any better than Old Trafford on an off-day. And they have the cheek to laugh at Old Trafford for being quiet. Bah... But got to see 2 excellent goals scored at my end. The one by Luis Garcia was an absolute beauty. I could see it was special from the field. But I was even more amazed when I saw the highlights. Seems like a good buy for Liverpool for now. More pictures (yes unfortunately its not the end of this post yet :P):
Above and below: The Kop End, with a ghostly figure in the bottom picture :S
Getting ready for the 1 minute silence in memory of Bill Nicholson of Tottenham Hotspurs who died, as well as Ken Bigley, the British hostage beheaded in Iraq.
Me in Anfield! Thanks to the nice old man behind me who helped me take this photo. He even offered to take a photo of me when Liverpool had scored! But his son was shocking though. Think he was about 8 or 9 years old but he was spewing vulgarities like twat, cunt, fuck and flying paper aeroplanes throughout the match. But think I am the least qualified person in the world to criticise other people for scolding vulgarities :P
Final score. And final photo of stadiums. *phew*
After the match, I had about four and half hours to kill. Walked round Anfield again while trying to wait for the guy (whom I was supposed to get the match ticket from) and pass him his Millwall ticket (which I had helped him collect from another guy. I am such a nice helpful young man :O) but could not reach him on his mobile so decided to heck care (that guy stays in London anyway...). And so back to the city centre.
Apparently there's this "world-famous" Mathew Street in Liverpool which is supposed to be the birthplace of Beatles. not sure how true it is but the touristy side of me surfaced and I went to take a look.
Banner reads: Welcome to Mathew Street, Birthplace of the Beatles
The street itself was not long, perhaps just about 100m++. But there were lots of clubs and pubs on both sides. I looked through some of them and saw some really HOT ang moh babes dancing, and they were dressing really *gulp* skimpily. Certainly raised the temperature despite it raining heavily :P
The street itself
One of the pubs
Isn't Liverpool just so nice at night? =)
Is that the end? Unfortunately no. Just as the coach was about to leave the station after everybody had boarded, well almost, two guys starting arguing with the driver. I suspect that the coach is full already and the 2 guys probably had one of those "open" tickets which does not guarantee them seats and so the driver could not let them on. The 2 guys probably got pissed because they waited and so they started scolding the driver "You fucking cunt, don't say anymore. You bastard. blah blah blah...." And horror upon horror, 1 of them even started pushing the driver and shoved him to the ground. Not once, not twice, but three times. Nobody went to help the driver. I wanted to, but I was in the inner seat of the upper deck and..and...oh well yes I am humji also lah ok? But the 2 guys left after the fight had broke out for like 7 or 8 minutes and the driver phoned the police and so we were delayed yet AGAIN. The police siren was soon heard and after some time they apparently caught the 2 guys hiding in the bushes somewhere. Well, violence never pays..... and so I finally left Liverpool at 1215am (supposed to be 1140pm). It's been a long day...and congratulations on managing to read until the end =)
First of all, a quick walk around the city centre. I thought it would just be another mundane and ordinary gloomy UK city and my first impression proved to be correct. I failed to understand how it can be European City of Culture in 2008. But......
I soon sensed that this was no ordinary city. The buildings look that little bit nicer than Manchester and it had a river!!!! I am a sucker for rivers. Most of you would have been bored by my numerous pictures of rivers in Paris, London, Prague etc. So shall not bore you all anymore. The Mersey river (is that its name? Please correct me if I am wrong....) is not that nice, but still saw a lot of couples sitting on the benches beside it... now that's nice :P
Liverpool's position beside a river meant that its history was inextricably (is there such a word? My English is failing me..jia lat) linked to the river. But due to time constraint I could not visit the museum.
Yet another name synonymous with Liverpool is The Beatles. I have not heard many of their songs, think only heard of Yesterday before. They had a museum dedicated to the Beatles at the Albert Dock area beside the river. But again, I decided not to go in due to the lack of time. It was about 230pm now....
At about this time, I received a call from the guy whom I was supposed to pick up my match ticket from. He was supposed to be at the stadium by 2pm to meet his friend and I was supposed to meet him before the match to collect the ticket. But screw up again!!! He was stuck in traffic on the stupid motorway (should be called SLOWWAY) and he is scared that he might not be able to make it on time. But he also didn't want to dua me. So he said he know that tickets were still on general sale (a lot of returns apparently, but pathetic Liverpool. Ordinary league match also cannot sell out.) and so he would phone the ticket office and book one for me and I can collect it at the ticket office at the stadium. Nice of him to do that, but that means I have to go early (because I am kiasu :P) to collect the ticket. Bummer. Got to quicken my footsteps now. But not before......
....I get to the most famous building in Liverpool! Well at least I found this out after I came back. The following description is from this website :
The Liver Building
Probably the most photographed and well known building in Liverpool. It is located at Pier Head and stands proud and majestic against the skyline of Liverpool and the riverfront. The building is made of reinforced concrete and was the first large scale building of its type. It was built in 1911 for the Royal Liver Friendly Society.
This impressive architectural masterpiece features a pair of clock towers from which shipping could tell the time as they passed en route along the river. The clock faces are actually larger than the clock face of Big Ben in London. In fact, they are the largest clock dials in Britain. In 1953 electronic chimes were installed to serve as a memorial to the members of the Royal Liver Friendly Society who died during the two World Wars. At night time the clock dials are illuminated.
A statue of a Liver Bird spreading its wings from the top of each clock tower enhances the glory of the building and its impressive features. The Liver Bird, the official mascot of Liverpool is a cormorant (seaweed bird) which in bygone times could often be seen flying alongside the Mersey River with seaweed in their beaks.
The Royal Liver Building is still the Head Office for the Royal Liver Friendly Society.
I noticed the 2 Liver birds from far and thought that the building looked magnificent and I just had to take a photo with it in the background. Only now do I realise the building in the foreground is not the actual building itself. Bummer...oh well, it was the only way I could capture the building with the 2 birds anyway since the building was so tall :(
Name of the nice boulevard in front of the Royal Liver building is:
Clearer shot of the clock facing the river:
With no time to lose, I headed straight to the bus station to take the bus to Anfield. A bus had to be faster than walking the 4km to Anfield right? WRONG. I reached the bus station at about 245pm. And waited until about 310pm for the bus when the poster clearly said 248pm and 256pm like that would have buses. God damn it, why put the poster there when it isn't accurate! And there were supposed to be 3 services running to Anfield. If the frequency is like that with 3 services, I shudder to think what would happen with only 1 service.
But oh well I should not be surprised by anything since I am in my third year. Finally managed to reach Anfield at about 330pm.
It felt very much like Highbury, in the sense that there are 2 storey terrace houses surrounding it, restricting its development. No wonder Liverpool are eager to move to a bigger stadium. But would they be able to fill it? :P After some quick photos I quickly went to queue to collect my ticket. And was I in for a big big surprise....
THE KOP END!!! THE KOP END!!!! My ticket was in the world famous Kop End!! The stand where thousands of Liverpool supporters stood on the terraces singing "You'll never walk alone". And me, a non-Liverpool supporter gets to sit there! How unfair life is :P (I had overheard some Liverpool supporters complaining on the coach that their seat was not in the Kop End but at Anfield Road Stand, where I think my original ticket is supposed to be. Hehe)
So with this pleasant surprise, my day brightened considerably (in contrast to the gloomy weather all day long in Liverpool...) and I realised I had about one and a half hours to kickoff. I quickly proceeded to...
Goodison Park...home of Everton FC. There is this long standing joke among Liverpool supporters. Liverpool has 2 big clubs: Liverpool FC and Liverpool FC Reserves. It's a dig at their rivals across Stanley Park, Everton, whose achievements pale in comparison to Liverpool's. But still it is a big club in its own right and my stadium fetish kicked in once again.
PS: My "take photo of myself with timer" skill not bad eh? :P
With that, I began to walk back towards Anfield, cutting across Stanley Park which I had read about numerous times.
Who would have thought such a tranquil park divided such an intense rivalry...
Goodison Park as seen from Stanley Park. That unmistakable shade of blue....
Finally had time to go around Anfield itself.
Statue of Bill Shankly, legendary Liverpool manager in 70s (I think?)
The inscription reads: He made the people happy
What it doesn't say: He made the people of Manchester miserable
Gate dedicated to Bill Shankly.
Hillsborough memorial. The day when people died when they were only supporting their football club. Sad....
Gate dedicated to Bob Paisley. Another legendary Liverpool manager in the 70s to 80s (again I am not entirely sure). He brought them 3 European Cups, as can be seen on the gate.
Kop End again.
Could not resist laughing at the T-shirt shown above. You've got to hand it to them, there's a certain amount of resemblance between Rooney and Shrek (both ugly like hell) and Van Nistelrooy and the Donkey (both look like horses). Really funny =)
And so it was on to the match itself. Think I forgot to mention the opposition was Charlton. But strangely enough, I did not even see a single Charlton jersey around, not on the coach, not anywhere around Anfield or in the city centre. Before the kickoff, the entire stadium sang their "anthem", "You'll never walk alone". Men and boys standing up, raising their scarfs, and singing in one voice. Pretty moving stuff. Thought that the atmosphere would be like this throughout the match but was pretty disappointed. The atmosphere was not any better than Old Trafford on an off-day. And they have the cheek to laugh at Old Trafford for being quiet. Bah... But got to see 2 excellent goals scored at my end. The one by Luis Garcia was an absolute beauty. I could see it was special from the field. But I was even more amazed when I saw the highlights. Seems like a good buy for Liverpool for now. More pictures (yes unfortunately its not the end of this post yet :P):
Above and below: The Kop End, with a ghostly figure in the bottom picture :S
Getting ready for the 1 minute silence in memory of Bill Nicholson of Tottenham Hotspurs who died, as well as Ken Bigley, the British hostage beheaded in Iraq.
Me in Anfield! Thanks to the nice old man behind me who helped me take this photo. He even offered to take a photo of me when Liverpool had scored! But his son was shocking though. Think he was about 8 or 9 years old but he was spewing vulgarities like twat, cunt, fuck and flying paper aeroplanes throughout the match. But think I am the least qualified person in the world to criticise other people for scolding vulgarities :P
Final score. And final photo of stadiums. *phew*
After the match, I had about four and half hours to kill. Walked round Anfield again while trying to wait for the guy (whom I was supposed to get the match ticket from) and pass him his Millwall ticket (which I had helped him collect from another guy. I am such a nice helpful young man :O) but could not reach him on his mobile so decided to heck care (that guy stays in London anyway...). And so back to the city centre.
Apparently there's this "world-famous" Mathew Street in Liverpool which is supposed to be the birthplace of Beatles. not sure how true it is but the touristy side of me surfaced and I went to take a look.
Banner reads: Welcome to Mathew Street, Birthplace of the Beatles
The street itself was not long, perhaps just about 100m++. But there were lots of clubs and pubs on both sides. I looked through some of them and saw some really HOT ang moh babes dancing, and they were dressing really *gulp* skimpily. Certainly raised the temperature despite it raining heavily :P
The street itself
One of the pubs
Isn't Liverpool just so nice at night? =)
Is that the end? Unfortunately no. Just as the coach was about to leave the station after everybody had boarded, well almost, two guys starting arguing with the driver. I suspect that the coach is full already and the 2 guys probably had one of those "open" tickets which does not guarantee them seats and so the driver could not let them on. The 2 guys probably got pissed because they waited and so they started scolding the driver "You fucking cunt, don't say anymore. You bastard. blah blah blah...." And horror upon horror, 1 of them even started pushing the driver and shoved him to the ground. Not once, not twice, but three times. Nobody went to help the driver. I wanted to, but I was in the inner seat of the upper deck and..and...oh well yes I am humji also lah ok? But the 2 guys left after the fight had broke out for like 7 or 8 minutes and the driver phoned the police and so we were delayed yet AGAIN. The police siren was soon heard and after some time they apparently caught the 2 guys hiding in the bushes somewhere. Well, violence never pays..... and so I finally left Liverpool at 1215am (supposed to be 1140pm). It's been a long day...and congratulations on managing to read until the end =)
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Somebody left his dick at Old Trafford?
Reyes PRE match comments..
"What can they do to me? They can shout at me, they can spit at me but they haven't got a gun to shoot me, so why should I be afraid?"
Post Match
'In all my sporting life I have never received so many kicks as in Manchester,' said Reyes.
'It was the hardest match I have played in England and the referee should have stopped the violence of the Manchester United players.
'I received more blows in that match than I have ever done in the Spanish League and I finished on the ground covered in bruises.'
Fuck off back to Spain if you can't play like a man. Otherwise there's always Porto to join.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Time of my life? You bet...
Video of Ruud celebrating after his penalty
Sorry I can't stop writing about football recently. But the video above was just so good that I keep on repeating it. His face told it all. How much playing for Manchester United meant to him. Have you ever seen Henry smile, let alone celebrate, after scoring? Sometimes it isn't just records that make you a legend...
Video of Rooney's goal with really funny commentary
Video of Ruud's goal again
Sorry I can't stop writing about football recently. But the video above was just so good that I keep on repeating it. His face told it all. How much playing for Manchester United meant to him. Have you ever seen Henry smile, let alone celebrate, after scoring? Sometimes it isn't just records that make you a legend...
Video of Rooney's goal with really funny commentary
Video of Ruud's goal again
Monday, October 25, 2004
It's just another game, or is it??
Can there be another moment as wonderful as that when Ruud rolled the ball into the Arsenal net? Can there be another moment as sweet as that? I don't know. All I do know is that I jumped out of my seat when the ball rolled in, hugged another guy and generally just went berserk. AND I haven't had that feeling for a long long time now. That feeling when you just felt that you can kill me there and then and I would have died with a smile on my face. Maybe a bit extreme but you get my drift...
As for the game itself, a war of attrition would have been the word to describe it. And no doubt that the main talking point will be was it or wasn't it a penalty? First of all, I freely admit that I am the most biased fan there can be, but I shall still try to be as fair I can be. Hands on heart, I would say it was not a penalty. The contact, if there was (I do believe there was slight contact), was soft to say the least. And in any case, I think Rooney was looking for it. But I remember Andy Gray saying this a long time ago (while trying to defend Pires add!):
What we tend to forget [when watching slow motion replays] is that these are players who are going at high speed or twisting and turning and any sort of contact, no matter how slight, will send them tumbling even if it is not intentional...
As for the game itself, a war of attrition would have been the word to describe it. And no doubt that the main talking point will be was it or wasn't it a penalty? First of all, I freely admit that I am the most biased fan there can be, but I shall still try to be as fair I can be. Hands on heart, I would say it was not a penalty. The contact, if there was (I do believe there was slight contact), was soft to say the least. And in any case, I think Rooney was looking for it. But I remember Andy Gray saying this a long time ago (while trying to defend Pires add!):
What we tend to forget [when watching slow motion replays] is that these are players who are going at high speed or twisting and turning and any sort of contact, no matter how slight, will send them tumbling even if it is not intentional...
Though I was pissed off when he said that, I actually find that it makes a lot of sense. But more importantly, it boils down to the fact that a penalty is never given if the players DOES NOT fall down even though he has been impeded. How many times when you yourself are playing and you push the ball past a the player and then the player touches you, stops you from progressing but yet the foul can't really be considered a foul since the contact was slight. Campbell stuck his foot out, intent on halting Rooney's progress when Rooney had clearly gotten the better of him, and then tried to withdraw it slightly seeing that he could not get anywhere near the ball. The truth of the matter is THAT foot is going to impede Rooney's progress since Rooney was turning so quickly, whether there was a touch or not (You would have to jump up or get around Campbell's foot to continue the run and that is hard to do in such a split second and the chance will be gone) . And that is a 'foul' in the moral sense. So in Rooney's position, do you dive and ask for it? That's the question... The argument by David Moyes that Rooney is a big strong lad and can't be brought down with that contact does not hold water at all in my opinion, especially when you consider the statement by Gray.
Another thing to observe is that if you watch the replay of the second goal. Vieira did not track Rooney or Saha running into the box. He simply stopped running after Saha had gotten past him. His team may have been attacking to look for the equaliser, but mentally they had lost. How do you explain the fact that their captain, who had been at his imperious best all afternoon simply stopped running and let Saha get away other than he had given up? This brings me back to the point that Arsenal lack BOTTLE. Once you put pressure on them, they can't respond. I was amazed at their ability to take the physical game but once United scored, they had given up. They have no plan B. So pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease United don't fuck up next weekend, maintain the pressure...and we will see what the outcome is.
Positives: The defending was marvellous most of the time, Silvestre looks like he sleeps with Ferdinand or something. The second goal was a joy to watch, the type of football that has been missing, with wingers going down the channel, cutting the ball back across goal.
Negatives: Surrendering possession cheaply (73% Arsenal to 27% United at one stage...what the fuck...) and I was in a pub, not at Old Trafford =(
We'll keep the Red flag flying high, coz Man United will never die.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Travel
A fan's tale of an away trip to the Prague game
This is the reason why I have always been so fascinated by the game of football. It's not just the game itself, its also the act of following YOUR team all around the country, overcoming travel screw ups, braving vicious opposition fans but at the same time also enjoying yourself. Such as travelling to a foreign country and taking in the sights and sounds before a game of football. I have been lucky enough to do that during Euro 2004 and I absolutely enjoyed it. Having a seafood lunch by the river Douro in Porto and enjoying some red wine, before going to a magnificent stadium to watch football in perfect weather. What a way to enjoy life. Shame that Singapore is no longer in the Malaysia Cup.
And this is also the reason I am going to Liverpool this Saturday to watch Liverpool take on Charlton. Besides Man United, Liverpool are the only other club I consider a giant of the English game and Anfield also intrigues me. Hopefully nothing screws up and I can be there on Saturday. Also going to watch Ajax Amsterdam in February. Really looking forward to that. Thanks Irving!! Maybe it would be nice to jot down other games which I would really like to watch.
1. World Cup final
2. European Championships final
3. Champions League final
4. UEFA Cup final
5. Rangers vs Celtic
6. Barcelona vs Real Madrid
7. AC Milan vs Inter Milan
Guess that's all for now....
This is the reason why I have always been so fascinated by the game of football. It's not just the game itself, its also the act of following YOUR team all around the country, overcoming travel screw ups, braving vicious opposition fans but at the same time also enjoying yourself. Such as travelling to a foreign country and taking in the sights and sounds before a game of football. I have been lucky enough to do that during Euro 2004 and I absolutely enjoyed it. Having a seafood lunch by the river Douro in Porto and enjoying some red wine, before going to a magnificent stadium to watch football in perfect weather. What a way to enjoy life. Shame that Singapore is no longer in the Malaysia Cup.
And this is also the reason I am going to Liverpool this Saturday to watch Liverpool take on Charlton. Besides Man United, Liverpool are the only other club I consider a giant of the English game and Anfield also intrigues me. Hopefully nothing screws up and I can be there on Saturday. Also going to watch Ajax Amsterdam in February. Really looking forward to that. Thanks Irving!! Maybe it would be nice to jot down other games which I would really like to watch.
1. World Cup final
2. European Championships final
3. Champions League final
4. UEFA Cup final
5. Rangers vs Celtic
6. Barcelona vs Real Madrid
7. AC Milan vs Inter Milan
Guess that's all for now....
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Irritants
Malcolm Glazer is at it again. That bastard. Some things just don't change.
Yes somethings just don't change. Not sure if you VS 4A guys out there remember our dear Jonathan. Yes that nerdy and loser Jonathan. I forgot to tell you all that he is in UCL. He is studying Physics. AND he is also from MOE. What the hell. Was trying to do work with my friend in the refectory (aka canteen) today when he came and sat with us. (Had met him on the road earlier in the morning) And SOMETHINGS JUST DON'T CHANGE. He still laughs hilariously at jokes which are not funny, and then adds in a comment which is also not funny. How?? Help! I don't want to hang around losers. Other girls might mistake me for a loser.
On another note, visit this BBC Radio program on "Is ownership of the club important?"
Its a 3 hour long talk show discussing ownership of football clubs. Though the focus is primarily on Man United, there are lots of perspectives from small clubs as well. Pretty interesting. The important parts are all in the first 1 hour 50 minutes.
And yeah, the empire has crumbled. 7 draws out of 10 games is no good. Fuck. You can officially add Prague to the list of places I hate now. Fuck.
Yes somethings just don't change. Not sure if you VS 4A guys out there remember our dear Jonathan. Yes that nerdy and loser Jonathan. I forgot to tell you all that he is in UCL. He is studying Physics. AND he is also from MOE. What the hell. Was trying to do work with my friend in the refectory (aka canteen) today when he came and sat with us. (Had met him on the road earlier in the morning) And SOMETHINGS JUST DON'T CHANGE. He still laughs hilariously at jokes which are not funny, and then adds in a comment which is also not funny. How?? Help! I don't want to hang around losers. Other girls might mistake me for a loser.
On another note, visit this BBC Radio program on "Is ownership of the club important?"
Its a 3 hour long talk show discussing ownership of football clubs. Though the focus is primarily on Man United, there are lots of perspectives from small clubs as well. Pretty interesting. The important parts are all in the first 1 hour 50 minutes.
And yeah, the empire has crumbled. 7 draws out of 10 games is no good. Fuck. You can officially add Prague to the list of places I hate now. Fuck.
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Keep the faith
The kingdom has fallen. People are fleeing in all directions or kneeling down begging for mercy. The merciless red tide pours forward. Waves and waves of attack relentlessly eroding away the confidence of the people. "It's all over!"
Yes, it's now a massive 11 point gap between United and Arsenal.
But wait! Has Shihua given up?
The answer is a big fat NO. Certainly not in the next 7 days. I will reserve my judgment until United play Arsenal on 24th October. (But actually I think even if United loses that game I will still remain optimistic =) )
Here's why. Everybody has been going on about the 11 point gap. Let's actually analyse the fixtures. If you look at the games United have already played, they had actually faced everybody in the top eight besides Arsenal already. Arguably, the really bad results have come against Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham, and perhaps Chelsea since they didn't even get a point. Well you can argue that you can only beat those in front of you (for implying the opposition faced by Arsenal aren't as strong) and even though teams like Middlesborough and Everton are in the top 8, United should really have beaten them like days of old. I really can't say anything against that. But if the likes of Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea do manage to get a draw off Arsenal, voila! They've dropped 6 points AND still technically UNBEATEN. Which brings me to the game next week. As Schmeichel said during the highlights show, it could be 14 point gap, but it could very well be reduced to 8 points too! And United still remain the best equipped team to beat Arsenal. For one good reason, they aren't AFRAID to go out and kick those arses. Too many teams have been afraid to have a good go at attacking Arsenal and just packed their defenders in front of the box. it might work against Chelsea who have consierably less creativity but if you jsut sit in front of the box waiting for Henry, Reyes, Pires and Bergkamp to come at you, you are just inviting trouble. For one thing, United will go out there and press the fuckers all over the pitch AND keep the ball decently when they win the ball back.
Hmm, but even if they win, 8 points is still a huge gap. Yeah no doubt about that. But I must point out one thing, Arsenal have never won the league when they have been put under huge pressure. In 97/98, United collapsed and Arsenal cantered home with 2 games to spare. Same case as in 01/02 when United failed to put any form of sustained pressure. And I don't even need to mention last season. But when you look at 98/99 and 02/03, when United do manage to hang onto their coat tails, they start faltering in late March etc. Yeah so what is my point? Get to within 4 points by beginning of March, and Arsenal would start feeling the heat. 2 consecutive draws or a lost and then United would be right back in it. So if United win on Sunday, its 8 points, and that means 4 points to make up from then till February. Doesn't sound too daunting now right?
Relying on a team who have not lost in 49 matches to lose 4 in the next 29 games is nigh on impossible you say?
Absolute rubbish. If football worked on the law of averages, we should all just shut up shop and go home. THE BALL IS FUCKING ROUND! Anything can happen! if Henry and Campbell get injured, they are fucked rather big time. And as I said, you don't need to lose 4 games, a couple of draws here and there and you STILL DROP POINTS (EXACTLY like what United are doing now). There's still 6 months more of football to be played. As the saying goes, a week is a long time in football, what more 6 months?
AND most importantly, FORM IS TEMPORARY, CLASS IS PERMANENT.
Keep the faith.
Yes, it's now a massive 11 point gap between United and Arsenal.
But wait! Has Shihua given up?
The answer is a big fat NO. Certainly not in the next 7 days. I will reserve my judgment until United play Arsenal on 24th October. (But actually I think even if United loses that game I will still remain optimistic =) )
Here's why. Everybody has been going on about the 11 point gap. Let's actually analyse the fixtures. If you look at the games United have already played, they had actually faced everybody in the top eight besides Arsenal already. Arguably, the really bad results have come against Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham, and perhaps Chelsea since they didn't even get a point. Well you can argue that you can only beat those in front of you (for implying the opposition faced by Arsenal aren't as strong) and even though teams like Middlesborough and Everton are in the top 8, United should really have beaten them like days of old. I really can't say anything against that. But if the likes of Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea do manage to get a draw off Arsenal, voila! They've dropped 6 points AND still technically UNBEATEN. Which brings me to the game next week. As Schmeichel said during the highlights show, it could be 14 point gap, but it could very well be reduced to 8 points too! And United still remain the best equipped team to beat Arsenal. For one good reason, they aren't AFRAID to go out and kick those arses. Too many teams have been afraid to have a good go at attacking Arsenal and just packed their defenders in front of the box. it might work against Chelsea who have consierably less creativity but if you jsut sit in front of the box waiting for Henry, Reyes, Pires and Bergkamp to come at you, you are just inviting trouble. For one thing, United will go out there and press the fuckers all over the pitch AND keep the ball decently when they win the ball back.
Hmm, but even if they win, 8 points is still a huge gap. Yeah no doubt about that. But I must point out one thing, Arsenal have never won the league when they have been put under huge pressure. In 97/98, United collapsed and Arsenal cantered home with 2 games to spare. Same case as in 01/02 when United failed to put any form of sustained pressure. And I don't even need to mention last season. But when you look at 98/99 and 02/03, when United do manage to hang onto their coat tails, they start faltering in late March etc. Yeah so what is my point? Get to within 4 points by beginning of March, and Arsenal would start feeling the heat. 2 consecutive draws or a lost and then United would be right back in it. So if United win on Sunday, its 8 points, and that means 4 points to make up from then till February. Doesn't sound too daunting now right?
Relying on a team who have not lost in 49 matches to lose 4 in the next 29 games is nigh on impossible you say?
Absolute rubbish. If football worked on the law of averages, we should all just shut up shop and go home. THE BALL IS FUCKING ROUND! Anything can happen! if Henry and Campbell get injured, they are fucked rather big time. And as I said, you don't need to lose 4 games, a couple of draws here and there and you STILL DROP POINTS (EXACTLY like what United are doing now). There's still 6 months more of football to be played. As the saying goes, a week is a long time in football, what more 6 months?
AND most importantly, FORM IS TEMPORARY, CLASS IS PERMANENT.
Keep the faith.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Pictures and Videos speak a thousand words
Got so many things to write about...both good and bad...but very very mundane...so if you got lots of work to do like I do, better not read on.
First the various pieces of good news :). I finally got my Man United membership pack after it had gone MIA at my old apartment.
AND....
Yeah right~ like it's real....
But you just have got to hand it to the marketing people at Man United for coming up with silly ideas such as this one and the one below:
Notice the name right at the bottom of the list :P Perhaps they did see my post a few days ago :)
Now the next happy thing:
YES YES!!!! I have my FIRST Man United ticket for this season!!!! Yippee~~ I can just imagine the Champions League music playing now with both teams lining up. But I won't be facing the teams but rather behind them since I am in North Stand :(
"Stop complaining! You have a bloody ticket!" I hear you say? Well I do have a right to complain. The tickets for this match went on general sale, which means any dude can just log onto the net and buy tickets for this game now (which is pretty disappointing actually since Man United are supposed to be so popular). And that means people like me who are members and applied long ago are ASSURED of a ticket.
Sometimes in life, your words can come back to haunt you. I was thinking about the previous paragraph last night and then this morning, I received the following email *grrrrrr*:
Dear Mr Shihua Toh,
MANCHESTER UNITED V Charlton Athletic
OLD TRAFFORD, 20/11/2004
KICK OFF 12:45
Further to your application in respect of the above game, we have to advise that, because we were oversubscribed, a ballot was held and unfortunately you were unsuccessful on this occasion. Please accept our apologies for the disappointment our response will inevitably cause but trust you understand the difficulties we are faced with when demand far exceeds supply.
If you would like further information, please contact the Ticket and MatchInformation line on +44 (0) 870 757 1968. If you would like to apply fortickets for another match simply visit the website at: http://www.manutd.com
Thank you for your continued support which is very much appreciated.
Yours faithfully
Mr A Chubb
Ticket Office and Turnstile Operations Manager
GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! Absolutely pissed off. Never been rejected twice before during last season but now I have been rejected 3 times in a row!!! What the hell man. If I can get my hands on that Mr A Chubb, he will KNOW what is the true meaning of DEMAND and SUPPLY.
And still more unhappy stuff. Happily bought the books below from Amazon after being influenced by Lynne to READ and Li Yeng pointed out that book in Waterstones which I should really read as an Economics student.
But before I could open the book and read a single page....this happened:
Yes...my readings are piling up like nobody's business....perhaps taking 2.5 units this term is not such a good idea after all since EVERY course requires a lot of reading. AND the last 2 books were on average 40 pounds each. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? 120 Sing dollars for a textbook?? Bloody hell. If not for the hassle of photocopying the books I would have done it. Screw copyright laws. Think somebody should start putting online versions of these books on Kazaa *pissed*
Pissed but perhaps not as pissed as the Taiwan Foreign Minister:
Video of "speech" on Bi Sai and Lam Par
Scroll to the middle of the page and click on either the second or third pink box. I know that this is a bit late... but still wanted to share it in case Singapore's censorship didn't allow the video to be shown.
I am probably the least qualified person to comment or criticise on what he said (since according to official estimates in BMT 7 out of 10 sentences I speak contain expletives :P). But what amazed me the most was the Foreign Ministry's initial defence of the minister which said he was just using language which is closer to the people in the audience and trying to be closer to them blah blah blah. What a load of crap! As my friend pointed out, did that guy mean Taiwanese all speak like that all the time? And most importantly, would you select me as Foreign Minister of Singapore since I am so good in expletives? I rest my case...
First the various pieces of good news :). I finally got my Man United membership pack after it had gone MIA at my old apartment.
AND....
Yeah right~ like it's real....
But you just have got to hand it to the marketing people at Man United for coming up with silly ideas such as this one and the one below:
Notice the name right at the bottom of the list :P Perhaps they did see my post a few days ago :)
Now the next happy thing:
YES YES!!!! I have my FIRST Man United ticket for this season!!!! Yippee~~ I can just imagine the Champions League music playing now with both teams lining up. But I won't be facing the teams but rather behind them since I am in North Stand :(
"Stop complaining! You have a bloody ticket!" I hear you say? Well I do have a right to complain. The tickets for this match went on general sale, which means any dude can just log onto the net and buy tickets for this game now (which is pretty disappointing actually since Man United are supposed to be so popular). And that means people like me who are members and applied long ago are ASSURED of a ticket.
Sometimes in life, your words can come back to haunt you. I was thinking about the previous paragraph last night and then this morning, I received the following email *grrrrrr*:
Dear Mr Shihua Toh,
MANCHESTER UNITED V Charlton Athletic
OLD TRAFFORD, 20/11/2004
KICK OFF 12:45
Further to your application in respect of the above game, we have to advise that, because we were oversubscribed, a ballot was held and unfortunately you were unsuccessful on this occasion. Please accept our apologies for the disappointment our response will inevitably cause but trust you understand the difficulties we are faced with when demand far exceeds supply.
If you would like further information, please contact the Ticket and MatchInformation line on +44 (0) 870 757 1968. If you would like to apply fortickets for another match simply visit the website at: http://www.manutd.com
Thank you for your continued support which is very much appreciated.
Yours faithfully
Mr A Chubb
Ticket Office and Turnstile Operations Manager
GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! Absolutely pissed off. Never been rejected twice before during last season but now I have been rejected 3 times in a row!!! What the hell man. If I can get my hands on that Mr A Chubb, he will KNOW what is the true meaning of DEMAND and SUPPLY.
And still more unhappy stuff. Happily bought the books below from Amazon after being influenced by Lynne to READ and Li Yeng pointed out that book in Waterstones which I should really read as an Economics student.
But before I could open the book and read a single page....this happened:
Yes...my readings are piling up like nobody's business....perhaps taking 2.5 units this term is not such a good idea after all since EVERY course requires a lot of reading. AND the last 2 books were on average 40 pounds each. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? 120 Sing dollars for a textbook?? Bloody hell. If not for the hassle of photocopying the books I would have done it. Screw copyright laws. Think somebody should start putting online versions of these books on Kazaa *pissed*
Pissed but perhaps not as pissed as the Taiwan Foreign Minister:
Video of "speech" on Bi Sai and Lam Par
Scroll to the middle of the page and click on either the second or third pink box. I know that this is a bit late... but still wanted to share it in case Singapore's censorship didn't allow the video to be shown.
I am probably the least qualified person to comment or criticise on what he said (since according to official estimates in BMT 7 out of 10 sentences I speak contain expletives :P). But what amazed me the most was the Foreign Ministry's initial defence of the minister which said he was just using language which is closer to the people in the audience and trying to be closer to them blah blah blah. What a load of crap! As my friend pointed out, did that guy mean Taiwanese all speak like that all the time? And most importantly, would you select me as Foreign Minister of Singapore since I am so good in expletives? I rest my case...
Thursday, October 14, 2004
A Whole New Look
Heh~ completely changed the look of the blog. Nice eh?
Had to figure out how to add in the HTML code for quite a bit of stuff since the original blog skin didn't come with a lot of stuff like the comments link after posts, title of posts etc. But nothing is ever too difficult for me! Am I smart or what? :P
AND most importantly there's a tag board now! NOW that is what I call a blog. Yippee~~
Had to figure out how to add in the HTML code for quite a bit of stuff since the original blog skin didn't come with a lot of stuff like the comments link after posts, title of posts etc. But nothing is ever too difficult for me! Am I smart or what? :P
AND most importantly there's a tag board now! NOW that is what I call a blog. Yippee~~
So near yet so far...
My next door neighbour (yes the one who blasts music) has a PS2/X Box/W rectangle (or whatever game console there is on the market).
AND he is playing a football game. I can hear the in game commentary going "Ashley Cole....Zidane"
DAMN DAMN DAMN. I WANT A PS2.
Talk about burning your bridges.
Evil and jealous me: Go and complain about the noise. AGAIN.
AND he is playing a football game. I can hear the in game commentary going "Ashley Cole....Zidane"
DAMN DAMN DAMN. I WANT A PS2.
Talk about burning your bridges.
Evil and jealous me: Go and complain about the noise. AGAIN.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
When reality clashes with idealism...
Once upon a time, there was a course in the Economics Department in UCL called Economic Policy Analysis:
The course aims to provide final year students with the opportunity to explore the way in which economic theory and evidence can be used to analyse topical policy issues. The course should be of particular value to students who intend to work as professional economists in government departments or other agencies, where they will be expected to provide economic analysis and advice on specific issues of policy, including new and unfamiliar issues about which textbooks say very little.
Wow! Sounds interesting yeah? And in truth it is.
BUT it has no fixed textbook (duh! the introduction already says so!). Need to go library to find readings, and there are tonnes of readings to do. And there is a part on analysis of an unseen document in the exam. So guess what I did?
I took
1. Urban economics (just need the textbook)
2. Maths (no reading at all, no textbook, just do questions)
I hate taking the easy way out all the time. But I just cannot help it. At the end of the day, grades matter. And no matter how hard I try to convince myself, I can't tell myself that doing a lot of work is worth it if the subject is interesting. So much for being positive about this academic year :S
Remember the time when you were in kindergarten and lower Primary? The time when you stepped and walked on the TOP of monkey bars instead of merely hanging from them? The time when you climbed tress in school or climbed the structure holding the basket of the basketball court? The time when you SMUGGLE rubber balls to school to play football even though the school bans them?
Remember how much energy, courage and ingenuity (is there such a word?) that you had at that time? Stupid school rules (ban balls?!?! ban country flag erasers?!?! ban Dragonball cards?!?!) were meant to be broken. Obstacles were meant to be overcome. Structures and everyday stuff had uses other than what they were meant for.
But what happened in the intervening years? Years when responsibilities were added to our shoulders. Responsibilities as "representatives of our school" (CANNOT tuck out shirt! WEAR your school badge!!) Responsiblities as filial children (your PARENTS work so hard for you!! how can you not study hard???). Responsibilities towards your CCA (cross country finals coming! Cannot waste energy playing football!! Must train!!).
Years in which the fear of failure was instilled deep within us. Fail your mid years in Sec 4 will mean affecting your overall Prelim score, which will affect your chance of getting into a good JC in the first 3 months, which will mean that you will have to play catch up with those who were already in the JC for 3 months even after you score well in O levels, which will mean you put your chances of doing well in A levels in jeopardy, which in turn means you might not be able to get into university. Causes and effects, actions and consequences. Very clear cut, very cruel. There's no running away from it. So what do you have to do? Keep on running, try to stay ahead of the rest. What an irony.
Years when you were introduced to the harsh realities of the outside world. University graduates are everywhere on the streets now. (And the government is still not satisfied!) If you do not graduate, go be office boy, take home $1000+ Who the fuck wants to marry you? Who the fuck do you think you can support? Even better would be to do a post grad and STAY AHEAD. Grades are the most important thing, other things are secondary. INCLUDING your emotional development, your social development. ITS OK to be a nerd/egoistic bastard/selfish prat/irritating twat/scheming liar/hypocrite/ or just a plain loser... AS LONG AS YOU HAVE THE GRADES, NOBODY would say ANYTHING. YOU would have the LAST LAUGH. But you know what's the most laughable thing of all? When you think you have done all that is required to MAKE IT, you find that all those things that you consciously or subconsciously ignored or neglected all those years ago are EXACTLY what other people look out for. Scholarship boards look out for people with leadership potential, with the ability to APPLY what they have learnt. Girls look for guys who are sensitive/caring blah blah blah. All the time spent in making that 75 marks into 95 marks turned out to be futile. It would have been better spent in your CCA room. All the time spent in solving those ridiculously difficult/what's the point Physics Olympiad questions could have been spent talking cock with your friends in the canteen instead. Social skills you say. So in the end what happens? You are fucked.
And perhaps the harshest reality of all. You CAN'T fulfill your dream of being a football player or a manager of Man United/Barcelona/AC Milan/Real Madrid. There is simply no future in it in Singapore. When your school banned any balls (so that you all won't accidentally kick out of the bball court, onto the road, and thus put yourselves in danger by trying to go out of school to pick up balls) so that you all can't play football, kids of the same age in other countries are already trapping full sized balls in professional academies. Is it any wonder?
Years in which you just get lethargic of work, sick of learning, scared of playing, while at the same time shouldering more and more expectations and responsibilities which you were completely ill-prepared for.
Is this an excuse for me to take the easy way out all the time?
The course aims to provide final year students with the opportunity to explore the way in which economic theory and evidence can be used to analyse topical policy issues. The course should be of particular value to students who intend to work as professional economists in government departments or other agencies, where they will be expected to provide economic analysis and advice on specific issues of policy, including new and unfamiliar issues about which textbooks say very little.
Wow! Sounds interesting yeah? And in truth it is.
BUT it has no fixed textbook (duh! the introduction already says so!). Need to go library to find readings, and there are tonnes of readings to do. And there is a part on analysis of an unseen document in the exam. So guess what I did?
I took
1. Urban economics (just need the textbook)
2. Maths (no reading at all, no textbook, just do questions)
I hate taking the easy way out all the time. But I just cannot help it. At the end of the day, grades matter. And no matter how hard I try to convince myself, I can't tell myself that doing a lot of work is worth it if the subject is interesting. So much for being positive about this academic year :S
Remember the time when you were in kindergarten and lower Primary? The time when you stepped and walked on the TOP of monkey bars instead of merely hanging from them? The time when you climbed tress in school or climbed the structure holding the basket of the basketball court? The time when you SMUGGLE rubber balls to school to play football even though the school bans them?
Remember how much energy, courage and ingenuity (is there such a word?) that you had at that time? Stupid school rules (ban balls?!?! ban country flag erasers?!?! ban Dragonball cards?!?!) were meant to be broken. Obstacles were meant to be overcome. Structures and everyday stuff had uses other than what they were meant for.
But what happened in the intervening years? Years when responsibilities were added to our shoulders. Responsibilities as "representatives of our school" (CANNOT tuck out shirt! WEAR your school badge!!) Responsiblities as filial children (your PARENTS work so hard for you!! how can you not study hard???). Responsibilities towards your CCA (cross country finals coming! Cannot waste energy playing football!! Must train!!).
Years in which the fear of failure was instilled deep within us. Fail your mid years in Sec 4 will mean affecting your overall Prelim score, which will affect your chance of getting into a good JC in the first 3 months, which will mean that you will have to play catch up with those who were already in the JC for 3 months even after you score well in O levels, which will mean you put your chances of doing well in A levels in jeopardy, which in turn means you might not be able to get into university. Causes and effects, actions and consequences. Very clear cut, very cruel. There's no running away from it. So what do you have to do? Keep on running, try to stay ahead of the rest. What an irony.
Years when you were introduced to the harsh realities of the outside world. University graduates are everywhere on the streets now. (And the government is still not satisfied!) If you do not graduate, go be office boy, take home $1000+ Who the fuck wants to marry you? Who the fuck do you think you can support? Even better would be to do a post grad and STAY AHEAD. Grades are the most important thing, other things are secondary. INCLUDING your emotional development, your social development. ITS OK to be a nerd/egoistic bastard/selfish prat/irritating twat/scheming liar/hypocrite/ or just a plain loser... AS LONG AS YOU HAVE THE GRADES, NOBODY would say ANYTHING. YOU would have the LAST LAUGH. But you know what's the most laughable thing of all? When you think you have done all that is required to MAKE IT, you find that all those things that you consciously or subconsciously ignored or neglected all those years ago are EXACTLY what other people look out for. Scholarship boards look out for people with leadership potential, with the ability to APPLY what they have learnt. Girls look for guys who are sensitive/caring blah blah blah. All the time spent in making that 75 marks into 95 marks turned out to be futile. It would have been better spent in your CCA room. All the time spent in solving those ridiculously difficult/what's the point Physics Olympiad questions could have been spent talking cock with your friends in the canteen instead. Social skills you say. So in the end what happens? You are fucked.
And perhaps the harshest reality of all. You CAN'T fulfill your dream of being a football player or a manager of Man United/Barcelona/AC Milan/Real Madrid. There is simply no future in it in Singapore. When your school banned any balls (so that you all won't accidentally kick out of the bball court, onto the road, and thus put yourselves in danger by trying to go out of school to pick up balls) so that you all can't play football, kids of the same age in other countries are already trapping full sized balls in professional academies. Is it any wonder?
Years in which you just get lethargic of work, sick of learning, scared of playing, while at the same time shouldering more and more expectations and responsibilities which you were completely ill-prepared for.
Is this an excuse for me to take the easy way out all the time?
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Kiasuism at work
This blog is becoming easier and easier to write as time goes by. Just received the following email and just could not resist taking a dig at it.
Subject: Wednesday afternoons, UCL policy
Dear all,
Another reminder to everyone that all undergraduate teaching should finish
at 12.55pm on Wednesday afternoons and that graduate teaching after this
time should be avoided if at all possible.
Wednesday afternoons are extremely important for all our students, since
this is the time when they can take advantage of UCL's many opportunities
for personal development through taking part in extra curricular
activities. The need for teaching to finish at 12.55pm is especially acute
for those students taking part in field sports, since the completion of
matches and training in daylight hours is essential for the safety of the
participants.
I have learned that two Departments have scheduled undergraduate classes on
Wednesday afternoons and would be most grateful if these and, indeed, all
undergraduate classes scheduled for Wednesday afternoons could be
re-scheduled. If re-scheduling poses a problem, it is extremely important
that a decision to hold classes on Wednesday afternoons be discussed and
agreed with all students involved. If it proves absolutely impossible for
one reason or another to hold the classes at any other time but a Wednesday
afternoon, arrangements should be put in place for students who wish to
take part in extra-curricular activities on Wednesday afternoons.
The Wednesday afternoon policy is extremely important to our students and I
would ask you all to observe this policy. We should remember that several
of the league tables of universities are now taking into account sports
rankings. As the Sunday Times University of the Year, we clearly have a
position to defend...
With thanks to all for your cooperation in upholding this important policy.
Many thanks.
Michael Worton
Professor Michael Worton
Vice-Provost
email vp.arts@ucl.ac.uk
Tel 020 7679 7854
Fax 020 7916 8505
Pay special attention to the last paragraph. Now whoever said that only Singaporeans are kiasu are clearly way off the mark! This email is soooo kiasu!! Imagine your vice dean or whatever you call it in NUS sending an email to ALL undergraduates in NUS to say that "league tables of universities are taking into account sports rankings blah blah blah". Oh man that would immediately be picked up as kiasuism!! Hope you had a nice little chuckle at this email like I did. =)
Subject: Wednesday afternoons, UCL policy
Dear all,
Another reminder to everyone that all undergraduate teaching should finish
at 12.55pm on Wednesday afternoons and that graduate teaching after this
time should be avoided if at all possible.
Wednesday afternoons are extremely important for all our students, since
this is the time when they can take advantage of UCL's many opportunities
for personal development through taking part in extra curricular
activities. The need for teaching to finish at 12.55pm is especially acute
for those students taking part in field sports, since the completion of
matches and training in daylight hours is essential for the safety of the
participants.
I have learned that two Departments have scheduled undergraduate classes on
Wednesday afternoons and would be most grateful if these and, indeed, all
undergraduate classes scheduled for Wednesday afternoons could be
re-scheduled. If re-scheduling poses a problem, it is extremely important
that a decision to hold classes on Wednesday afternoons be discussed and
agreed with all students involved. If it proves absolutely impossible for
one reason or another to hold the classes at any other time but a Wednesday
afternoon, arrangements should be put in place for students who wish to
take part in extra-curricular activities on Wednesday afternoons.
The Wednesday afternoon policy is extremely important to our students and I
would ask you all to observe this policy. We should remember that several
of the league tables of universities are now taking into account sports
rankings. As the Sunday Times University of the Year, we clearly have a
position to defend...
With thanks to all for your cooperation in upholding this important policy.
Many thanks.
Michael Worton
Professor Michael Worton
Vice-Provost
email vp.arts@ucl.ac.uk
Tel 020 7679 7854
Fax 020 7916 8505
Pay special attention to the last paragraph. Now whoever said that only Singaporeans are kiasu are clearly way off the mark! This email is soooo kiasu!! Imagine your vice dean or whatever you call it in NUS sending an email to ALL undergraduates in NUS to say that "league tables of universities are taking into account sports rankings blah blah blah". Oh man that would immediately be picked up as kiasuism!! Hope you had a nice little chuckle at this email like I did. =)
Monday, October 11, 2004
I lurve Lillywhites
I can't believe the incredible bargain I found today at Lillywhites. (Lillywhites is this gigantic sports store which is one of the cheapest in London. Unfortunately that is also where most of my money goes to after buying Man United tickets.)
I bought the above jersey for just 10 pounds. 10 pounds!!! 30 Sing dollars!! You would even struggle to find this price in Peninsula Plaza. The grumpy auntie in Champion Sports Store confirm won't give such a price until like 10 years down the road.
This is my 5th jersey already, damn it I am such a sucker for jerseys.
Now if only Lillywhites can lower the price of Barcelona's centenary jersey to 20 pounds.. *prays*
I bought the above jersey for just 10 pounds. 10 pounds!!! 30 Sing dollars!! You would even struggle to find this price in Peninsula Plaza. The grumpy auntie in Champion Sports Store confirm won't give such a price until like 10 years down the road.
This is my 5th jersey already, damn it I am such a sucker for jerseys.
Now if only Lillywhites can lower the price of Barcelona's centenary jersey to 20 pounds.. *prays*
Saturday, October 09, 2004
International Week
I hate international week. It leaves me with a numb feeling. There is football going on, but it does not really concern me. Instead of looking at the weekend and noticing England vs Wales is on, its a blank weekend for me because United are not playing. No rushing down to Mortimer Arms after footy sessions on Saturday mornings for 1230pm kickoffs, or rushing back to my room to turn on ManUtd.com's match tracker if the match is not shown live on TV. Even in Singapore, I seldom out on Channel 21 and 22 on international week unless I have absolutely nothing to do.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the European Championships and World Cup. Matches like Brazil vs Argentina, Holland vs Germany and England vs Scotland still intrigue me. But while I watch for the good football that may occur and I cheer the goals, the blood inside me does not stir watching such matches. And I hate that kind of feeling. Perhaps its the "anti-apathy" feeling I have. I NEED to feel involved, and this neccesitates me to be a true-blue (or more accurately, true-red) fan of a team. Matches involving United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle etc affect United directly or indirectly, and thus I like to watch them. International matches do not stir me because I do not really support any team. After Euro 2004, I thought I had been converted into an English fan when I feel how passionate the "blokes" are, but watching England vs Austria in the first qualifier still left me numb when England conceded the 2 late goals. That's when I knew that I am still not a fan.
Maybe I am a true blue Singaporean after all.
I really should not question such a feeling of mine. It is perfectly normal. After all why should I get excited about England? Other than her being past colonial masters of Singapore and I am currently studying here, ostensibly there is no reason why I should support her national team. Ultimately when it comes to international football, I should still support Singapore and I think I do. When United played Singapore in 2001, I found myself cheering more for Singapore than for United. And I got mightily pissed off whenever we lose to Malaysia. I don't know how others think, but I REALLY REALLY hope that Singapore does make it to a World Cup in my lifetime. When I went to Euro 2004, I really envied those who were there to support their countries, holding their flags and scarfs up high and singing their national anthems with pride. I really want to be a part of that. But I can never do it really passionately unless its Singapore. So maybe its high time that I went for a match with the Singapore national team. Maybe I should try to get more of my friends to go, and they in turn get more of THEIR friends to go. I might just spark off some interest there. So hang on Singapore football, here I come!
Don't get me wrong, I still love the European Championships and World Cup. Matches like Brazil vs Argentina, Holland vs Germany and England vs Scotland still intrigue me. But while I watch for the good football that may occur and I cheer the goals, the blood inside me does not stir watching such matches. And I hate that kind of feeling. Perhaps its the "anti-apathy" feeling I have. I NEED to feel involved, and this neccesitates me to be a true-blue (or more accurately, true-red) fan of a team. Matches involving United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle etc affect United directly or indirectly, and thus I like to watch them. International matches do not stir me because I do not really support any team. After Euro 2004, I thought I had been converted into an English fan when I feel how passionate the "blokes" are, but watching England vs Austria in the first qualifier still left me numb when England conceded the 2 late goals. That's when I knew that I am still not a fan.
Maybe I am a true blue Singaporean after all.
I really should not question such a feeling of mine. It is perfectly normal. After all why should I get excited about England? Other than her being past colonial masters of Singapore and I am currently studying here, ostensibly there is no reason why I should support her national team. Ultimately when it comes to international football, I should still support Singapore and I think I do. When United played Singapore in 2001, I found myself cheering more for Singapore than for United. And I got mightily pissed off whenever we lose to Malaysia. I don't know how others think, but I REALLY REALLY hope that Singapore does make it to a World Cup in my lifetime. When I went to Euro 2004, I really envied those who were there to support their countries, holding their flags and scarfs up high and singing their national anthems with pride. I really want to be a part of that. But I can never do it really passionately unless its Singapore. So maybe its high time that I went for a match with the Singapore national team. Maybe I should try to get more of my friends to go, and they in turn get more of THEIR friends to go. I might just spark off some interest there. So hang on Singapore football, here I come!
Friday, October 08, 2004
Mourning the passing of another...
KOI!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I feel so du lan...and useless. I wonder if my tiny pond back in Singapore is jinxed, and every other week a fish has to die as sacrifice.
This morning, my sister told me that another of my koi died. This is the third one in like 2 months. The first one got eaten up by a cat (I knew it because I heard a splash and saw a cat running away and one of the koi disappeared), and so we put up those wire gauzes (dun know the proper name) which you use during BBQs to stop the cat. The second one had a wound by the side and apparently was attacked by one of the smaller "African" fish. So we removed the African fish and I thought that's that, all my koi can swim around peacefully and grow up happily. BUT NO!!! Another one had to die. Apparently it had not been eating had was becoming really thin. My dad took it out and put it into a pail and tried to feed it but it stil lwould not eat. By morning, it died. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I had chosen most of the koi MYSELF. I had rescued them from that overcrowded tank in Chong Pang Market!!! They can't die on me!!!!! The weird thing is that I seem to have a spritual connection with my koi. Had wanted to msg my sis last night to ask whether the koi were fine (I think I am going mad...), about the same time as it died I think. I really really hope none of them die anymore. I still want to feed them myself and see them swimming around :(
In loving memory of my koi:
The one which just died was either the one at the top or the one on the right. My sister isn't sure which. I seem to be the only one who can recognise each and everyone of them. The one which died of injury is the one with yellow head and black spots. My second favourite :(
This morning, my sister told me that another of my koi died. This is the third one in like 2 months. The first one got eaten up by a cat (I knew it because I heard a splash and saw a cat running away and one of the koi disappeared), and so we put up those wire gauzes (dun know the proper name) which you use during BBQs to stop the cat. The second one had a wound by the side and apparently was attacked by one of the smaller "African" fish. So we removed the African fish and I thought that's that, all my koi can swim around peacefully and grow up happily. BUT NO!!! Another one had to die. Apparently it had not been eating had was becoming really thin. My dad took it out and put it into a pail and tried to feed it but it stil lwould not eat. By morning, it died. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I had chosen most of the koi MYSELF. I had rescued them from that overcrowded tank in Chong Pang Market!!! They can't die on me!!!!! The weird thing is that I seem to have a spritual connection with my koi. Had wanted to msg my sis last night to ask whether the koi were fine (I think I am going mad...), about the same time as it died I think. I really really hope none of them die anymore. I still want to feed them myself and see them swimming around :(
In loving memory of my koi:
The one which just died was either the one at the top or the one on the right. My sister isn't sure which. I seem to be the only one who can recognise each and everyone of them. The one which died of injury is the one with yellow head and black spots. My second favourite :(
Being evil and happy to be screwing
Things have finally come to a head. It's war now. There is no turning back. It's time to stand up and be counted. Fuck my corridor!!! As I have mentioned earlier, the graduate tutor on my level is staying opposite me. She had finally had enough of the noise too and asked me to write a complaint letter. She had already filled in an incident report but nothing seems to have been done. So she hopes that by having 2 letters, the warden would do something about it.
Initially I had my misgivings about writing the letter. After all, it is still early in the term and people do tend to be more playful and stuff. But after last night, I feel that I simply have to write that bloody letter. I was in the basement last night doing my laundry when that same group of people walked past the laundry room. As they were walking past the laundry room, they saw me inside and started making "Shhhhhhh" sounds (mocking me for telling them to shut up the previous night when they were talking loudly in the corridor outside my room) and then started laughing among themselves. A mixture of humiliation and anger overcame me. It is exactly the same feeling that I got for the last 2 years whenever idiots in the lecture (British Indians) make noise and I tell them to shut up and get ridiculed by them instead. WHO THE FUCK IS IN THE WRONG?!?!?! Why is the level of apathy so high in modern society? Why should the majority suffer in silence and allow the minority who are in the wrong to continue whatever they are doing? If everybody tells them off, then this kind of situation would not happen at all. But instead, nobody does anything about the situation, and when somebody does try, they get ridiculed and become the butt of the jokes instead. And this means less people are willing to speak out. And thus perpetuates the vicious cycle. It's exactly the same situation EVERYWHERE. For example, I tell the stupid Indians behind me to shut up during lecture, and that piece of shit replied "No." and his friends laugh at me. What the hell? During the Twins Effect II preview in Singapore, a lady who was in front of me in the queue was not happy with the way there was no proper queuing system and complained to the security. The security did not do enough and more and more people were cutting queue by standing at the sides of the main queue. She told off a guy in front who was trying to cut queue and guess what? The guy told her off.
"Why cannot stand here? Don't stand here stand where? Stand at the back meh?"
At this point I got so du lan that I had to scold the guy. And I am not exaggerating here. I raised my voice against him (older than me) and said that he was wrong in the first place and he still dare to raise his voice against someone in the right. He could only mumble out a weak reply. Some people just have to be put in their place then they won't be so yaya. I also explained to a group of teenage girls in front of me that we cannot allow such people to "win" (ok ok I admit one of them was quite cute so I was eager to impress :P) and they nodded in agreement. I hope they would do so next time. In these times of heightened security concerns and globalisation, we must ditch this mentality of "what doesn't affect me doesn't concern me". Coz everything that happens will somehow find a way back to hit us. Iam sometimes guilty of this thinking of course. But at least I would like to think I do try my best to change it. I don't know how this whole apathetic situation can be changed, but I do know that we must change it. The majority MUST NOT SUFFER!
And now something more pleasing. Finally managed to fix up the table from IKEA in my friend's apartment. Was there on Monday to try and fix it but it was so difficult to screw the legs in because the screws were fucked up (cross head worn out pretty quickly and soon it was too difficult to turn it) and the screw driver wasn't really much help either. There were a total of 20 screws that needed to be in, by the end of 3 hours I only managed to screw in 6 completely, and my screwdriver in my jack knife was totally messed up by then. Felt so useless then. I am a GUY for goodness sake, screwing in stuff should not be DIFFICULT. Resolved to fix up the table properly no matter what. But it seems that I wouldn't be able to do it though. The 3 hardware mama stores around my area only sold flat head wooden screws (those with a rivet sort of head). The table needed self tapping or round headed screws. Finally today I found them at Robert Dyas' , a hardware chain. And even better they were plain slot (compared to cross slot, "-" instead of "+" slots in the head) screws which were not so easily worn out. So with those screws and a new screw driver, I headed over to the apartment and YESH the screws fitted perfectly and the job was all done within 20 min or so. Really felt a deep sense of accomplishment. It's always nice to see things fit together and work just as they should.
Perhaps something good came out of the Design and Technology classes in VS after all. Hated the design part but quite liked the part when we actually got to go to the workshops and use all sorts of equipment to create our pieces. Different types of saws, files, clamps, rivets, heat equipment (to bend acrylic I remember) and even solder were all introduced to us. Perhaps I should continue this technical work and learn more from my father. He knows how to do simple repairs on electrical stuff and also water pipes and all. I have always admired that and should have watched more last time when he was doing all those stuff. A lot of the problems around the house can be solved simply with a few tools and a visit to a hardware shop. I guess that shall be one of my aims when I go back to Singapore!
Oh another happy thing, did I mention I have no school tomorrow? :)
Initially I had my misgivings about writing the letter. After all, it is still early in the term and people do tend to be more playful and stuff. But after last night, I feel that I simply have to write that bloody letter. I was in the basement last night doing my laundry when that same group of people walked past the laundry room. As they were walking past the laundry room, they saw me inside and started making "Shhhhhhh" sounds (mocking me for telling them to shut up the previous night when they were talking loudly in the corridor outside my room) and then started laughing among themselves. A mixture of humiliation and anger overcame me. It is exactly the same feeling that I got for the last 2 years whenever idiots in the lecture (British Indians) make noise and I tell them to shut up and get ridiculed by them instead. WHO THE FUCK IS IN THE WRONG?!?!?! Why is the level of apathy so high in modern society? Why should the majority suffer in silence and allow the minority who are in the wrong to continue whatever they are doing? If everybody tells them off, then this kind of situation would not happen at all. But instead, nobody does anything about the situation, and when somebody does try, they get ridiculed and become the butt of the jokes instead. And this means less people are willing to speak out. And thus perpetuates the vicious cycle. It's exactly the same situation EVERYWHERE. For example, I tell the stupid Indians behind me to shut up during lecture, and that piece of shit replied "No." and his friends laugh at me. What the hell? During the Twins Effect II preview in Singapore, a lady who was in front of me in the queue was not happy with the way there was no proper queuing system and complained to the security. The security did not do enough and more and more people were cutting queue by standing at the sides of the main queue. She told off a guy in front who was trying to cut queue and guess what? The guy told her off.
"Why cannot stand here? Don't stand here stand where? Stand at the back meh?"
At this point I got so du lan that I had to scold the guy. And I am not exaggerating here. I raised my voice against him (older than me) and said that he was wrong in the first place and he still dare to raise his voice against someone in the right. He could only mumble out a weak reply. Some people just have to be put in their place then they won't be so yaya. I also explained to a group of teenage girls in front of me that we cannot allow such people to "win" (ok ok I admit one of them was quite cute so I was eager to impress :P) and they nodded in agreement. I hope they would do so next time. In these times of heightened security concerns and globalisation, we must ditch this mentality of "what doesn't affect me doesn't concern me". Coz everything that happens will somehow find a way back to hit us. Iam sometimes guilty of this thinking of course. But at least I would like to think I do try my best to change it. I don't know how this whole apathetic situation can be changed, but I do know that we must change it. The majority MUST NOT SUFFER!
And now something more pleasing. Finally managed to fix up the table from IKEA in my friend's apartment. Was there on Monday to try and fix it but it was so difficult to screw the legs in because the screws were fucked up (cross head worn out pretty quickly and soon it was too difficult to turn it) and the screw driver wasn't really much help either. There were a total of 20 screws that needed to be in, by the end of 3 hours I only managed to screw in 6 completely, and my screwdriver in my jack knife was totally messed up by then. Felt so useless then. I am a GUY for goodness sake, screwing in stuff should not be DIFFICULT. Resolved to fix up the table properly no matter what. But it seems that I wouldn't be able to do it though. The 3 hardware mama stores around my area only sold flat head wooden screws (those with a rivet sort of head). The table needed self tapping or round headed screws. Finally today I found them at Robert Dyas' , a hardware chain. And even better they were plain slot (compared to cross slot, "-" instead of "+" slots in the head) screws which were not so easily worn out. So with those screws and a new screw driver, I headed over to the apartment and YESH the screws fitted perfectly and the job was all done within 20 min or so. Really felt a deep sense of accomplishment. It's always nice to see things fit together and work just as they should.
Perhaps something good came out of the Design and Technology classes in VS after all. Hated the design part but quite liked the part when we actually got to go to the workshops and use all sorts of equipment to create our pieces. Different types of saws, files, clamps, rivets, heat equipment (to bend acrylic I remember) and even solder were all introduced to us. Perhaps I should continue this technical work and learn more from my father. He knows how to do simple repairs on electrical stuff and also water pipes and all. I have always admired that and should have watched more last time when he was doing all those stuff. A lot of the problems around the house can be solved simply with a few tools and a visit to a hardware shop. I guess that shall be one of my aims when I go back to Singapore!
Oh another happy thing, did I mention I have no school tomorrow? :)
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Teachers' Day?!?!
Was wondering what to write about until I chanced upon the following article on VJC alumni page. Mr Lee was my Econs tutor in Year 2. Though I was really interested in Econs, but my first Econs tutor was really lousy. When Mr Lee took over in Year 2, he totally transformed the classes and though it was not really VERY interesting, but it was engaging and effective teaching. If only I can become half as good as him next time.
http://www.vjc.moe.edu.sg/alumni_parents/viclink/viclinkleekienseng.htm
Interview With Mr. Lee Kien Seng
When did you start teaching in VJC?
I started teaching in 1992 and joined VJC in 1998.
Why did you choose to leave the teaching profession?
I have always told my friends that if I were to leave teaching, it would be because I wanted to serve God in a fulltime Christian ministry. Otherwise, I would most likely retire as a teacher because I thoroughly enjoyed my interaction with students.
What did you enjoy [or what do you miss] most about teaching?
I loved to see the glitter in the eyes of the students when I succeeded in clarify certain difficult concepts. It is always good to know that I have played a part, be it big or small, in helping students to appreciate economics and, for some, to fall in love with the subject.
What did you enjoy most about teaching at VJC?
The students were engaging. They asked intelligent questions which required me to think about the concepts in ways that I had not thought about before. I also enjoyed working with colleagues, who were very motivated, and who would go many extra miles in helping the students.
Where do you pastor at?
I am not pastoring any church yet. I am still doing my theological studies at Trinity Theological College, and my course will last three years.
Tell us a bit about your family.
I am the husband of one wife, and the father of two children. Gaius is 7 (Primary one), and Gracia is 6 (Kindergarten 2). My wife is an accountant, working part time with a training company which is under the umbrella of a Christian organisation. My family has our ups and downs, but one thing's for sure, and I thank God for it - there is a lot of laughter in the home; we laugh a lot!
What do you do for leisure?
Sleep. I always do not have enough of it. I do not have any hobbies. In my free time, I'll try to bring the children out. We cycle, we go to the playground, we even take the MRT and LRT rides to nowhere.
Tell us a bit about your daily life now.
4 Ls - Lectures, Lunch, Library and Loo
Is your lifestyle very different now compared to when you were teaching?
I think so. When I was a teacher, I gave assignments and I marked them. Now, I do assignments, and my lecturers mark them. I definitely enjoy my status now. I learn a lot while doing my assignments. I have to read and digest. I am expected to be critical and creative and my effort has to be captured in the final product - an essay of some sort.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
To Victorians, continue to keep the college flag flying high. As you have received much from the college, from the teachers, have the "pay it forward" mentality. After you graduate, as you have received much, seek to give much when the opportunity arises. To my colleagues, continue to remain positive in spite of the many changes in the education system. It's tough going on, but as long as we are touching lives, it is always worthwhile.
Sheena Cheong (02S13) Shermeen Tan (02a51)
Copyright VicLink 2003
Another teacher which made a deep impression on me was Miss Loh Sing Huay.
She taught me Science in Sec 1 and 2. Being at an impressionable age then, she was like an elder sister (a very elderly one...) to all of us in the class. Her lessons were often filled with jokes and laughter. Met her recently at Balestier Hill Sec while I was on attachment in Bendemeer. She is now a HOD there (she deserves it!) and it was really a pleasant surprise. Great to see her still going strong.
Other teachers who made deep impacts on me included:
Mrs Chia (taught me English, Maths in Poi Ching Primary)
Mr Hu and Mr Choo (Chinese teachers in Poi Ching, any wonder why my Chinese so tok gong?)
Miss Tan Geok Choo (E.Maths and A.Maths teacher in Victoria School. Boring but highly effective)
Miss Goh Hui Hua (GP teacher in VJ, our class loved her to bits, glad we didn't disappoint her)
Mrs Neo (Maths tutor in VJ, surprisingly funny as she always looked very fierce in lectures)
Again, hopefully I can be half as effective as them, and not screw up my students next time.
http://www.vjc.moe.edu.sg/alumni_parents/viclink/viclinkleekienseng.htm
Interview With Mr. Lee Kien Seng
When did you start teaching in VJC?
I started teaching in 1992 and joined VJC in 1998.
Why did you choose to leave the teaching profession?
I have always told my friends that if I were to leave teaching, it would be because I wanted to serve God in a fulltime Christian ministry. Otherwise, I would most likely retire as a teacher because I thoroughly enjoyed my interaction with students.
What did you enjoy [or what do you miss] most about teaching?
I loved to see the glitter in the eyes of the students when I succeeded in clarify certain difficult concepts. It is always good to know that I have played a part, be it big or small, in helping students to appreciate economics and, for some, to fall in love with the subject.
What did you enjoy most about teaching at VJC?
The students were engaging. They asked intelligent questions which required me to think about the concepts in ways that I had not thought about before. I also enjoyed working with colleagues, who were very motivated, and who would go many extra miles in helping the students.
Where do you pastor at?
I am not pastoring any church yet. I am still doing my theological studies at Trinity Theological College, and my course will last three years.
Tell us a bit about your family.
I am the husband of one wife, and the father of two children. Gaius is 7 (Primary one), and Gracia is 6 (Kindergarten 2). My wife is an accountant, working part time with a training company which is under the umbrella of a Christian organisation. My family has our ups and downs, but one thing's for sure, and I thank God for it - there is a lot of laughter in the home; we laugh a lot!
What do you do for leisure?
Sleep. I always do not have enough of it. I do not have any hobbies. In my free time, I'll try to bring the children out. We cycle, we go to the playground, we even take the MRT and LRT rides to nowhere.
Tell us a bit about your daily life now.
4 Ls - Lectures, Lunch, Library and Loo
Is your lifestyle very different now compared to when you were teaching?
I think so. When I was a teacher, I gave assignments and I marked them. Now, I do assignments, and my lecturers mark them. I definitely enjoy my status now. I learn a lot while doing my assignments. I have to read and digest. I am expected to be critical and creative and my effort has to be captured in the final product - an essay of some sort.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
To Victorians, continue to keep the college flag flying high. As you have received much from the college, from the teachers, have the "pay it forward" mentality. After you graduate, as you have received much, seek to give much when the opportunity arises. To my colleagues, continue to remain positive in spite of the many changes in the education system. It's tough going on, but as long as we are touching lives, it is always worthwhile.
Sheena Cheong (02S13) Shermeen Tan (02a51)
Copyright VicLink 2003
Another teacher which made a deep impression on me was Miss Loh Sing Huay.
She taught me Science in Sec 1 and 2. Being at an impressionable age then, she was like an elder sister (a very elderly one...) to all of us in the class. Her lessons were often filled with jokes and laughter. Met her recently at Balestier Hill Sec while I was on attachment in Bendemeer. She is now a HOD there (she deserves it!) and it was really a pleasant surprise. Great to see her still going strong.
Other teachers who made deep impacts on me included:
Mrs Chia (taught me English, Maths in Poi Ching Primary)
Mr Hu and Mr Choo (Chinese teachers in Poi Ching, any wonder why my Chinese so tok gong?)
Miss Tan Geok Choo (E.Maths and A.Maths teacher in Victoria School. Boring but highly effective)
Miss Goh Hui Hua (GP teacher in VJ, our class loved her to bits, glad we didn't disappoint her)
Mrs Neo (Maths tutor in VJ, surprisingly funny as she always looked very fierce in lectures)
Again, hopefully I can be half as effective as them, and not screw up my students next time.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
UCL - University of the year?!?
UCL named University of the Year for 2004
University College London, our University of the Year, is an intellectual powerhouse with a world-class reputation, writes Alastair McCall
A symbol of academic excellence throughout the world, University College London is the 2004 Sunday Times University of the Year.
Ranked fifth in our league table, it is the leading multi-faculty alternative to Cambridge and Oxford. It offers a very different university experience to the only two English universities with a longer history, less of the Pimms and punts and more a steely mix of the pioneering and the pragmatic.
UCL has never finished lower than eighth in our league table and this year comes within a whisker of being ranked fourth, the first time the top four have been seriously at risk of being disturbed.
Our award, however, does more than recognise one-off performance in the Sunday Times league table. It is a reflection of the sustained academic excellence offered by UCL, an institution at once frighteningly strong in biomedical science with a clutch of leading London hospitals within its purlieu, but also home to creative gems such as the Slade school of fine art and the Bartlett, UCL’s faculty of the built environment that takes in architecture and urban planning. UCL also has arguably the finest economics department in the UK and one of just two nationally to earn the highest 5* research rating in successive assessments in 1996 and 2001.
UCL is one of the intellectual powerhouses of British higher education, able to compete with the best nationally and internationally. A recent survey which ranked the world’s leading universities based on academic citations, Nobel prize and Fields medal winners among staff and alumni, and performance relative to size, placed UCL 25th (see Table: World Ranking).
It is a truly multi-disciplinary organisation. Professor Malcolm Grant, the provost and president of UCL, believes this is at the heart of its strength. Not for him the niche specialities favoured by some institutions. He wants academics to break out from their traditional subject areas and make use of the university’s strength in related disciplines.
“There is so much knowledge in universities brigaded into Victorian silos,” says Grant. “You have to have scholars who have the ability to be masters of their own field but are intellectually flexible enough to understand other disciplines.”
To this end, the college is to group research into seven centres or institutes: the environment, genetics and society, bioinformatics, intercultural studies, health and wellbeing, enterprise and the management of innovation and human communication.
Grant, a 56-year-old lawyer who specialises in environmental law, believes UCL has a “social responsibility” to conduct research relevant to current human problems.
“If the leader has a role, it is to ensure that we bring together the different disciplines towards objectives that are of basic value to humankind,” he says. “It is not sufficient that we have a responsibility on the teaching front; there has to be a correlating one in research.”
The quality of research at UCL underpins a teaching record few can rival. No less than 31 subjects have been rated excellent for teaching in the past decade. They range from the unusual such as Dutch and Scandinavian studies to the ubiquitous, English, law and politics, to the unique such as economics within the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, one of the world’s leading schools for the study of this region.
Competition to study here is fierce, with more than seven applicants chasing every place, but it is the most accessible university in our top 10. The 383 A- and AS-level points garnered on average by last year’s entrants is high (three As at A-level is the equivalent to 360pts) but lower than its immediate competitors. Students can even get a place through clearing; one in 11 came in via this route in 2003.
UCL is one of a dwindling band of universities that still interviews all those likely to be offered a place. It helps it to sift through often uniformly strong applications on paper.
With seven other institutions it has developed and is introducing the Laws National Admissions Tests from this year in an attempt to identify the very strongest applicants for the 150 places on its law courses.
The care taken over admissions is followed through when students begin their courses. Only once in 10 years of teaching assessments did UCL record anything but a perfect score for student support and guidance, one of the six measures that inform each subject review.This helps to translate into a remarkably low dropout rate. Despite the extra attendant costs of studying in the capital, UCL loses just 1% of its students before they complete their courses. The rate expected by the funding council taking account of the social and subject mix is seven times greater.
Grant is modest about the university’s part in this success. “Our students are pretty sturdy, independent and socially aware; they are able to stand on their own two feet. Dropout rates tend to be lower in research- intensive institutions, but, of course, our staff are very conscientious and keep an eye on the students, too.”
UCL is the biggest college within the University of London federation. Founded in 1826, it was the first to admit students regardless of religion and the first to admit women on the same terms as men. This distinctive, liberal tradition remains in evidence, although the university’s figures for social diversity show many more students drawn from independent schools (40%-plus) than expected by the funding council, and shortfalls in recruitment from the working classes and deprived areas.
Grant is adamant that any change to this pattern will not come about by social or political gerrymandering. He points to UCL’s excellent record for recruitment from ethnic groups, who currently account for about one-third of the intake once overseas students are taken into account.
“We have the same problem everyone else does,” he says. “But we are not willing to bend our academic entry standards other than at the margins. There remains a strong correlation between A-level and degree performance.”
To ensure UCL remains in the vanguard of academic endeavour long into the 21st century, it is about to launch a £300m fundraising campaign, Advancing London’s Global University. This aims to make UCL the leading centre in Europe for biomedical research.The sheer scale of UCL’s medical presence in the capital is hard to take in. The medical school spans four hospitals: University College, the Middlesex, the Royal Free and the Whittington. In addition, the Institute of Child Health is based at Great Ormond Street Hospital; the Institute of Ophthalmology is based at Moorfields eye hospital, and the Institute of Neurology at the national hospital for neurology and neurosurgery.
The new campaign will raise funds for new institutes for the ear, women’s health, and cancer sciences. Plans are also ready for a new museum, the Panopticon, to house the university’s extensive art collection and the Petrie museum of Egyptian archeology.
Four other universities are shortlisted for our University of the Year award. One of them, the University of Dundee is named Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year today after a string of excellent teaching assessments helped push it into the top 30 of our league table for the first time. Dundee has maintained steady progress through our rankings since 1998 when it was ranked 48. It has never dropped a place in our table, a feat matched only by Cambridge and Oxford, ranked first and second throughout.
Our award recognises sustained excellence in an institution that does not believe in doing things by halves. Dundee is not just educating students in the most advanced way it can, it is at the forefront of fighting two scourges of contemporary life: cancer and diabetes.
Dundee has an impressive pedigree in medical and life science research. It also boasts one of the top three art schools in the UK, a huge output of professionals, substantial investment in its infrastructure and high-quality teaching. Its graduates are also the highest paid north of Oxford and ninth overall in the UK, earning £18,884 compared to an average of £16,393.
Its roll call of distinguished academics includes two of the three most cited scientists in the UK, cancer expert, Sir David Lane and diabetes guru Sir Philip Cohen, along with Sir Alfred Cuschieri who pioneered keyhole surgery.
Durham, the biggest riser in the top 20 this year, is also shortlisted. More than two-thirds of its teaching assessments have recorded excellent scores. Although it is one of Britain’s oldest universities, it has moved with the times, developing a more vocationally-oriented campus in Stockton which has helped the university diversify its intake.
The University of Manchester also makes our shortlist. It has reached its highest-ever rank (13 =) this year. Kingston University completes the nominations. A vocational university with a fine teaching record, it produces some of the best-paid graduates in the UK.
University College London, our University of the Year, is an intellectual powerhouse with a world-class reputation, writes Alastair McCall
A symbol of academic excellence throughout the world, University College London is the 2004 Sunday Times University of the Year.
Ranked fifth in our league table, it is the leading multi-faculty alternative to Cambridge and Oxford. It offers a very different university experience to the only two English universities with a longer history, less of the Pimms and punts and more a steely mix of the pioneering and the pragmatic.
UCL has never finished lower than eighth in our league table and this year comes within a whisker of being ranked fourth, the first time the top four have been seriously at risk of being disturbed.
Our award, however, does more than recognise one-off performance in the Sunday Times league table. It is a reflection of the sustained academic excellence offered by UCL, an institution at once frighteningly strong in biomedical science with a clutch of leading London hospitals within its purlieu, but also home to creative gems such as the Slade school of fine art and the Bartlett, UCL’s faculty of the built environment that takes in architecture and urban planning. UCL also has arguably the finest economics department in the UK and one of just two nationally to earn the highest 5* research rating in successive assessments in 1996 and 2001.
UCL is one of the intellectual powerhouses of British higher education, able to compete with the best nationally and internationally. A recent survey which ranked the world’s leading universities based on academic citations, Nobel prize and Fields medal winners among staff and alumni, and performance relative to size, placed UCL 25th (see Table: World Ranking).
It is a truly multi-disciplinary organisation. Professor Malcolm Grant, the provost and president of UCL, believes this is at the heart of its strength. Not for him the niche specialities favoured by some institutions. He wants academics to break out from their traditional subject areas and make use of the university’s strength in related disciplines.
“There is so much knowledge in universities brigaded into Victorian silos,” says Grant. “You have to have scholars who have the ability to be masters of their own field but are intellectually flexible enough to understand other disciplines.”
To this end, the college is to group research into seven centres or institutes: the environment, genetics and society, bioinformatics, intercultural studies, health and wellbeing, enterprise and the management of innovation and human communication.
Grant, a 56-year-old lawyer who specialises in environmental law, believes UCL has a “social responsibility” to conduct research relevant to current human problems.
“If the leader has a role, it is to ensure that we bring together the different disciplines towards objectives that are of basic value to humankind,” he says. “It is not sufficient that we have a responsibility on the teaching front; there has to be a correlating one in research.”
The quality of research at UCL underpins a teaching record few can rival. No less than 31 subjects have been rated excellent for teaching in the past decade. They range from the unusual such as Dutch and Scandinavian studies to the ubiquitous, English, law and politics, to the unique such as economics within the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, one of the world’s leading schools for the study of this region.
Competition to study here is fierce, with more than seven applicants chasing every place, but it is the most accessible university in our top 10. The 383 A- and AS-level points garnered on average by last year’s entrants is high (three As at A-level is the equivalent to 360pts) but lower than its immediate competitors. Students can even get a place through clearing; one in 11 came in via this route in 2003.
UCL is one of a dwindling band of universities that still interviews all those likely to be offered a place. It helps it to sift through often uniformly strong applications on paper.
With seven other institutions it has developed and is introducing the Laws National Admissions Tests from this year in an attempt to identify the very strongest applicants for the 150 places on its law courses.
The care taken over admissions is followed through when students begin their courses. Only once in 10 years of teaching assessments did UCL record anything but a perfect score for student support and guidance, one of the six measures that inform each subject review.This helps to translate into a remarkably low dropout rate. Despite the extra attendant costs of studying in the capital, UCL loses just 1% of its students before they complete their courses. The rate expected by the funding council taking account of the social and subject mix is seven times greater.
Grant is modest about the university’s part in this success. “Our students are pretty sturdy, independent and socially aware; they are able to stand on their own two feet. Dropout rates tend to be lower in research- intensive institutions, but, of course, our staff are very conscientious and keep an eye on the students, too.”
UCL is the biggest college within the University of London federation. Founded in 1826, it was the first to admit students regardless of religion and the first to admit women on the same terms as men. This distinctive, liberal tradition remains in evidence, although the university’s figures for social diversity show many more students drawn from independent schools (40%-plus) than expected by the funding council, and shortfalls in recruitment from the working classes and deprived areas.
Grant is adamant that any change to this pattern will not come about by social or political gerrymandering. He points to UCL’s excellent record for recruitment from ethnic groups, who currently account for about one-third of the intake once overseas students are taken into account.
“We have the same problem everyone else does,” he says. “But we are not willing to bend our academic entry standards other than at the margins. There remains a strong correlation between A-level and degree performance.”
To ensure UCL remains in the vanguard of academic endeavour long into the 21st century, it is about to launch a £300m fundraising campaign, Advancing London’s Global University. This aims to make UCL the leading centre in Europe for biomedical research.The sheer scale of UCL’s medical presence in the capital is hard to take in. The medical school spans four hospitals: University College, the Middlesex, the Royal Free and the Whittington. In addition, the Institute of Child Health is based at Great Ormond Street Hospital; the Institute of Ophthalmology is based at Moorfields eye hospital, and the Institute of Neurology at the national hospital for neurology and neurosurgery.
The new campaign will raise funds for new institutes for the ear, women’s health, and cancer sciences. Plans are also ready for a new museum, the Panopticon, to house the university’s extensive art collection and the Petrie museum of Egyptian archeology.
Four other universities are shortlisted for our University of the Year award. One of them, the University of Dundee is named Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year today after a string of excellent teaching assessments helped push it into the top 30 of our league table for the first time. Dundee has maintained steady progress through our rankings since 1998 when it was ranked 48. It has never dropped a place in our table, a feat matched only by Cambridge and Oxford, ranked first and second throughout.
Our award recognises sustained excellence in an institution that does not believe in doing things by halves. Dundee is not just educating students in the most advanced way it can, it is at the forefront of fighting two scourges of contemporary life: cancer and diabetes.
Dundee has an impressive pedigree in medical and life science research. It also boasts one of the top three art schools in the UK, a huge output of professionals, substantial investment in its infrastructure and high-quality teaching. Its graduates are also the highest paid north of Oxford and ninth overall in the UK, earning £18,884 compared to an average of £16,393.
Its roll call of distinguished academics includes two of the three most cited scientists in the UK, cancer expert, Sir David Lane and diabetes guru Sir Philip Cohen, along with Sir Alfred Cuschieri who pioneered keyhole surgery.
Durham, the biggest riser in the top 20 this year, is also shortlisted. More than two-thirds of its teaching assessments have recorded excellent scores. Although it is one of Britain’s oldest universities, it has moved with the times, developing a more vocationally-oriented campus in Stockton which has helped the university diversify its intake.
The University of Manchester also makes our shortlist. It has reached its highest-ever rank (13 =) this year. Kingston University completes the nominations. A vocational university with a fine teaching record, it produces some of the best-paid graduates in the UK.
Not For Sale Campaign
http://www.mufcnotforsale.com/index.php
An excellent website which exposes all the myths and media hype about the proposed takeoever bid by Glazer, or anybody else for that matter.
Maybe I am crazy like what my mother said after all. I get all worked up when Man United concede a goal. I get worked up too when a person tells me he wants to go to Old Trafford and I tell him there are tickets on general sale and then he turns around with a stupid excuse like he MIGHT have a test then and he can't go. I get all worked up when people tell me Alex Ferguson should be sacked because he has lost it. And last but not least, I get most pissed off when a person asks me when I am going up to Old Trafford and then he says must jio him. When i urge him to sign for membership, he tells me its not worth it because the cost of membership + ticket is more than what you would get from a tout. FOR FUCKS SAKE get it from a tout then!!! Ask me for what?!? Do I PRINT tickets? I have my fair share of matches which I want to go for, and any spares which I land my hands on ought to go round to as many DIFFERENT people as possible because I want more people to share this experience. IF you want to go for a few more times, please do not come to me!! It hurts me when I typed out a lengthy email explaining how to go about applying for membership and tickets, only to have people tell me its not worth it (when that is how I get the spares for them in the first place) or ask me all over again how to apply.
Nobody likes to be called a muppet, and everyone have different commitment levels to Man United. Let's face it, most of us just want to watch Man United play good football and win trophies. The board and finances of the club are but just interesting footnotes to us in the colourful story of Manchester United. I feel this way too. It might be too much to ask Sporeans to join SU and buy shares but at least be AWARE of the consequences and arguments against a takeover. It cannot be good in ANY way for a wealthy guy to take over a football club when he is only interested in profits. And it is definitely not good for football in general. Where is the continuity and stability going to come from? These people can just screw supporters andsell off their shares when no longer profitable. Who's left holding the stick? Supporters. What can they do if they are screwed by higher ticket prices? Support Man City, Liverpool, Leeds or Arsenal? OF COURSE NOT. So please at least be aware. Do not let others say supporters from Far East and Southeast Asia only know how to buy Nike nylon fabric for 40 pounds. It pains me to see how ignorant and foolish some Singaporeans behave. In the programme for the Chelsea game last season, there was a feature on overseas friendlies United had played and the 2001 trip to Singapore was highlighted BUT for the wrong reason. A Singaporean journalist had actually asked Ferguson at the press conference if he had a selection policy whereby better looking players are chosen ahead of uglier ones. What the fuck?!?! PLEASE!!!!
An excellent website which exposes all the myths and media hype about the proposed takeoever bid by Glazer, or anybody else for that matter.
Maybe I am crazy like what my mother said after all. I get all worked up when Man United concede a goal. I get worked up too when a person tells me he wants to go to Old Trafford and I tell him there are tickets on general sale and then he turns around with a stupid excuse like he MIGHT have a test then and he can't go. I get all worked up when people tell me Alex Ferguson should be sacked because he has lost it. And last but not least, I get most pissed off when a person asks me when I am going up to Old Trafford and then he says must jio him. When i urge him to sign for membership, he tells me its not worth it because the cost of membership + ticket is more than what you would get from a tout. FOR FUCKS SAKE get it from a tout then!!! Ask me for what?!? Do I PRINT tickets? I have my fair share of matches which I want to go for, and any spares which I land my hands on ought to go round to as many DIFFERENT people as possible because I want more people to share this experience. IF you want to go for a few more times, please do not come to me!! It hurts me when I typed out a lengthy email explaining how to go about applying for membership and tickets, only to have people tell me its not worth it (when that is how I get the spares for them in the first place) or ask me all over again how to apply.
Nobody likes to be called a muppet, and everyone have different commitment levels to Man United. Let's face it, most of us just want to watch Man United play good football and win trophies. The board and finances of the club are but just interesting footnotes to us in the colourful story of Manchester United. I feel this way too. It might be too much to ask Sporeans to join SU and buy shares but at least be AWARE of the consequences and arguments against a takeover. It cannot be good in ANY way for a wealthy guy to take over a football club when he is only interested in profits. And it is definitely not good for football in general. Where is the continuity and stability going to come from? These people can just screw supporters andsell off their shares when no longer profitable. Who's left holding the stick? Supporters. What can they do if they are screwed by higher ticket prices? Support Man City, Liverpool, Leeds or Arsenal? OF COURSE NOT. So please at least be aware. Do not let others say supporters from Far East and Southeast Asia only know how to buy Nike nylon fabric for 40 pounds. It pains me to see how ignorant and foolish some Singaporeans behave. In the programme for the Chelsea game last season, there was a feature on overseas friendlies United had played and the 2001 trip to Singapore was highlighted BUT for the wrong reason. A Singaporean journalist had actually asked Ferguson at the press conference if he had a selection policy whereby better looking players are chosen ahead of uglier ones. What the fuck?!?! PLEASE!!!!
Monday, October 04, 2004
Pathetic attempt at writing
The teacher blabbers on and on. Cue furious scribbling all around the classroom. Not HIM though. Didn't see the point. He twirled his pen around his fingers, and rested his right foot on his beloved Nike Geo Merlin football, moving it about aimlessly. Training was still a good few hours away, the football field is still empty. But in his mind, it was full of cheering school mates. He was on the field, ready to face the 5th penalty kick of the shootout in the final. The taker is the star midfielder of the opposition, but he didn't give a damn. Save this kick and the A division champions will be....
"Eileen, could you come up to the white board to show us the solution to this question?"
The teacher had disrupted his day dreaming. It was the only thing which could have disrupted him in truth. He followed her every movement as she got up gracefully to walk to the white board. Her hair was tied neatly into a ponytail. He liked the way she left her fringe curling over the sides of her face. Her cheek bones were prominent, giving her cheeks a radiant glow.
As she turned around to go back to her seat, he looked down at his desk in double quick time. He was guilty that he was staring, or perhaps even ogling at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw her glancing in his direction, and hence pretended to scribble furiously onto his empty sheet of paper.
"How useless can you get Michael?" He reprimanded himself. But how else can he feel? He was the stereotypical school athlete. His score was grotesquely over the cut off point for the school and he only got in on appeal as his coach had a good relationship with the principal. Without his height or agility, he would have shooed to a vastly inferior school. His presence in the school either brought envious glances as part of the elite football team, or condenscending glares from those who deem him unfit to step through the hallowed gates of this school.
She was in a totally different world altogether. The apple of every teacher's eye. Being smart, helpful, hardworking, polite and responsible, she was easily the model student. It helps too that she was really pleasing to look at. So pleasing that he had been looking at her for the past 1 month since JC started. He knew that she was too good from him in real life, but in his dreamland it didn't matter, they were the happiest couple in the whole school, and perhaps even the whole world....
To be continued...
"Eileen, could you come up to the white board to show us the solution to this question?"
The teacher had disrupted his day dreaming. It was the only thing which could have disrupted him in truth. He followed her every movement as she got up gracefully to walk to the white board. Her hair was tied neatly into a ponytail. He liked the way she left her fringe curling over the sides of her face. Her cheek bones were prominent, giving her cheeks a radiant glow.
As she turned around to go back to her seat, he looked down at his desk in double quick time. He was guilty that he was staring, or perhaps even ogling at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw her glancing in his direction, and hence pretended to scribble furiously onto his empty sheet of paper.
"How useless can you get Michael?" He reprimanded himself. But how else can he feel? He was the stereotypical school athlete. His score was grotesquely over the cut off point for the school and he only got in on appeal as his coach had a good relationship with the principal. Without his height or agility, he would have shooed to a vastly inferior school. His presence in the school either brought envious glances as part of the elite football team, or condenscending glares from those who deem him unfit to step through the hallowed gates of this school.
She was in a totally different world altogether. The apple of every teacher's eye. Being smart, helpful, hardworking, polite and responsible, she was easily the model student. It helps too that she was really pleasing to look at. So pleasing that he had been looking at her for the past 1 month since JC started. He knew that she was too good from him in real life, but in his dreamland it didn't matter, they were the happiest couple in the whole school, and perhaps even the whole world....
To be continued...
Sunday, October 03, 2004
Fuck off Glazer
Ok let's get the daily kao beh routine out of the way. Yet another typical example of British inefficiency or fucked-up-ness. When I left my apartment last year, I phoned up London Energy to check out to settle to gas bill, I had received none throughout the year. And they said they did not have my account. No matter how many times I tried they did not have it. The operator promised to phone me back but never did. And so I did not bother. And yesterday when I went back to the apartment to settle stuff with my landlord, guess what? I received a gas bill. What the fuck?!??! What is wrong with them? I phoned up the company and the account was still running!!, more than 3 months after I left. Bloody hell. Luckily the operator said she will send a new bill for the period before I moved out. Hopefully there are no more screw ups, but I doubt so.
And now for the more serious business. Malcolm Glazer is at it again. He is now said to be preparing to takeover Man United entirely and take the company off the stock exchange. Fucking hell. Why can't he just leave the club alone. He is no Roman Abramovich!! (In any case, i also do not think Abramovich is good for Chelsea.) Malcolm Glazer is just buying shares off existing shareholders. No NEW money is being put into Manchester United. Do you think he is interested in making United successful?? Don't be naive!!! His sole purpose is making as much money as possible!!!! While to a certain extent the 2 are correlated, it is not fully so. The prize money in winning the Champions League will never be enough to recoup the huge amounts of transfer fees that United are paying. There will never be anymore 27 million pound purchase of Wayne Rooney, and even anything more than 12 million pounds is a serious doubt. United will always be forced to go for bargains LIKE Eric Djemba Djemba (whether he is a bargain is another debate however...). Even if he sanctions fairly big transfers, is the money going to come from his pocket?? Don't be naive!!!! Its US supporters who are going to pay for it! Through merchandise, through increased ticket prices, through increaed pay tv subscription to watch United, and even car parking on match days!! Already United are doing wonderfully well financially, but why are ticket prices still increasing? Its because of Glazer and Cubic Expression who want to screw supporters even more for their money! Bah I wish some assassin can just shoot them to death. Just when United seems to have turned the corner, they are once again trying to screw things up. FUCK THEM!!!
For more information, read the following:
From Red Issue:
"THE DIRTY WAR STARTS HERE
So, what are you gonna do about it? "Gold Trafford" screamed the Sun that September day back in 1998. The dirty war was under way. News International’s mouthpiece (prop. Rupert Murdoch) ran away with the implication that Sky (prop. Rupert Murdoch) would be good for Manchester United; that Sky would pump millions into Manchester United; and that Sky’s dearest wish would be for the greater glory of Manchester United. At the time IMUSA and SUAM (Shareholders United Against United) begged people to see beyond the guff and realise what b*ll*cks this insane notion was. Many didn’t listen; they’d read it in the Sun after all - it must be true. Many didn’t care. Other listened, but adopted a "wait and see" attitude. Fast forward to April 1999: United are racing towards The Treble (a feat unsurpassed, and achieved without the need of any help or guidance from the likes of Sky or Glazer) and the Monopolies and Mergers Commission had ruled out the possibility of Sky being allowed to takeover Manchester United. Martin Edwards and his cronies were apoplectic, their (further) riches had been denied them, whilst Rupert Murdoch publicly hit out against Blair’s government. With the war over, the bullsh*t was exposed, and by the very people who had fermented it. Just as IMUSA and SUAM had always insisted, the Sun’s promises to spend millions into making United the best team were hopelessly untrue. David Gill (now United’s Chief Exec) was quoted in April 1999: "We were looking to grow our top line from a marketing perspective [through the BskyB bid]. It [the takeover] was never designed to give us millions more to spend on players." Even Martin Edwards himself (now United’s, ugh, President), the high priest overseeing the sacrifice of United’ history on the altar of greed was forced to admit: "There were no figures mentioned as to how much Sky would pump into the club. Obviously no one is going to give you a blank cheque." In other words they had NISH. Exactly as IMUSA and SUAM had claimed all along. And people were prepared to see Manchester United sold down a dark river on that basis. Murdoch himself later admitted that the purchase of United was aimed at a wider BskyB strategy solely designed to secure the next television rights to Premiership football - just as IMUSA and SUAM had suggested. So to today and the threat to Manchester United’s independence from Malcolm Glazer. Amazingly there are those who claim he could be good for our club. Amazingly there are those who think he will invest in our club. Amazingly there are those who are deluded enough to believe that this BUSINESSMAN may have other aims for our club than making as much money from it as possible. Pah! All over Europe there are clubs owned by businessmen looking to make a quick buck who are foundering hopelessly and yet somehow people think that the on-pitch success of the team will be either guaranteed by the arrival of Glazer or a priority for someone like Glazer. Well tell that to the fans of Paris St Germain, owned by Canal Plus for so many years. They’ve not much of a recent track record of success or holding on to star names. Tell that to the fans of Spurs or Rangers, owned in large part by the ENIC group - the key player behind which is Joe Lewis, a multi-BILLIONaire. IMUSA and SUAM were consistently right, and later proved so, in every argument they put forward in the Murdoch War. Their record, and the plight of the likes of PSG, Spurs and Rangers, demands that they are listened to again. Every Red, everywhere should do whatever they can to help ward off the clutches of Glazer on our club the minute the likes of IMUSA, SU (Shareholders United) or the fanzines call for it. It may "only" be closing a bank account with those lining up the finance for Glazer but it all counts, it all makes a difference. You may think "what does it matter", you may think "what difference can we make?". Don’t. That sort of attitude was prevalent amongst many back in September 1998. Amazingly there are those who believe IMUSA and SUAM had no impact on Murdoch’s failure to takeover Manchester United. Such rewriting of history would make Josef Stalin blush. Without IMUSA and SUAM’s pressure there would have been no referral of the bid to the Office of Fair Trading, and from there to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. A lot of little effort makes all the difference. It’s no good you sitting there moaning about what is, or what will be. You’re expected to pay £45 (50p per minute) to watch United play Birmingham. What have you done about it? Accepted the fact. Moaned about it perhaps? Well get used to it, unless you wanna make a difference, just like IMUSA and SUAM did back in 1998. Glazer would have to borrow in the region of £600m to buy United - that means £25m-30m worth of INTEREST payments alone each year. Equal to our entire annual profits. We’re all gonna be paying for this "purchase", both on and off the pitch. This won’t be the same sort of fight as the Murdoch War. This will be played out with different tactics for a different enemy. The principle remains the same though - Manchester United fans acting together can stop Glazer’s advances. The independence and the future of OUR football club should be all that matters. Unless of course you truly believe the destiny of OUR club is that it should be the private plaything of some right wing freak American c*&t who has treated fans and tenants in his own country with utter contempt and who would have no qualms about doing likewise to Manchester United supporters in his lust for ever greater wealth. Manchester United was not built up over the decades by the likes of Ernest Magnall, James Gibson, Walter Crickmer, Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson for this. People have not given their lives for Manchester United to expand the bank account of Malcolm Glazer. Manchester United is ours. Let’s keep it that way. So, what you gonna do about it…….. "Far better to die on your feet than live on your knees" ".
From Duncan Drasdo on the Shareholders United Forum:
"Some thoughts to address the inevitable 'Gold Trafford' debate that the media will spin out and the more gullible supporters will buy into ...
Summary 1. A takeover would not bring in a single penny ot NEW money into the football club. It is a transaction between shareholders – one buying shares off another. 2. Supporters are being asked to lend the money for someone to take over our own club. He intends to borrow against future earnings. OUR EARNINGS. Leeds did this and look where it left them. 3. We already make excess profits but big shareholders like Glazer cream them off in dividends. Imagine how much more would go out if he owned the club himself. 4. If we need a cash injection we could suspend the dividend that Glazer has been only to happy to take. And if we need more money a new issue of shares would bring NEW money into the club and give supporters the chance to get something in return instead of just paying through increased ticket prices The first thing we need to do is address the constant ‘Gold Trafford’ spin which emerges every time a bid is rumoured. No doubt as an initial PR exercise Glazer would put some money up (money borrowed against our club!) for new players to buy off the most gullible fans (are you that gullible?). After that he'd obviously be looking to maximise his return on investment. In the end all United's profits come from one source - us - the supporters. Whether its tickets, TV subscriptions, merchandise it all comes from us. So why have a middle man like Glazer creaming off the profits before the residue goes into the Football Club. The current big shareholders (Glazer, Magnier, McManus) have made no secret of the fact that they want to keep a tight reign on transfers (and have made this clear to the board) while screwing as much out of supporters on ticket prices etc. as they can. We know they have been pushing the board to maximise ticket revenue (i.e. push the prices up just to the point where sales start to fall). We have also been told that the big shareholders also asked for increased dividends and special dividends taking yet more money out of the club. If Glazer or any other investor-shareholder took the club private they would be able to take as much money as they liked (and they do like it) out of the club. Most likely after a splurge on transfers for a season or two to buy off the really gullible fans. Don’t forget that money would be “our” money anyway because it would be borrowed against future earnings of Manchester United. After that they could screw us all and there would be nothing we could do about it. Pay up or go and support city? The only shareholders who were against the increased dividend were the supporter-shareholders like Shareholders United who actually voted against the increased dividend on the basis of keeping the money in the club for spending on players and keeping ticket prices at reasonable levels. Glazer, Magnier etc all voted in favour of an increased dividend. If they are happy to take more money out of the club (and they have never put a penny in) when its public knowledge imagine how much they'd be secretly siphoning out if they took the club private and no longer had to publish public accounts or hold AGMs where people could call them to account? Why do people believe the PR spin that Glazer could bring money into the club? How could a private owner make more money for themselves while also creating a bigger transfer fund? Where would the extra money come from? There is only one source - the same one as it has always been. One way (ticket prices) or another (TV subscriptions, merchandise) the supporters will pay. Do you think the PLC is not screwing as much as they can out of fans already? Is there a margin left to squeeze fans more? Glazer appears to think so. So why add in a middle man who screws the supporters even more and then creams off his profit before the residue goes into transfer funds etc? It makes more sense to cut out the middle man and for supporters to own the club (or a sizeable portion) themselves. That way a professional board could run the club as an efficient business and keep all the profit (if that's what the supporter-shareholders wanted) in the club to spend on players/stadium/reduced ticket prices. A takeover will not put a single penny of NEW money into Manchester United. They are just buying shares off other shareholders. If we do need an injection of cash why don't we could simply suspend the dividend - the millions that Glazer etc have insisted on taking out of the club every season? Excess profits are already being generated its just that the cash is flowing out in dividends. And if we do need more money we could easily raise this without selling the soul of the club. A new issue of shares for supporters would bring NEW money into the club and would give supporters greater ownership in return. That is far better than being screwed with increased ticket prices which simply serve to make someone else richer and give us nothing back in return. For the sake of your club don't be fooled into selling out 126 years of history and tradition. For your own sake don't be fooled into higher ticket prices and siphoning off of United's huge future earnings. Money that should be going into the Football Club, not Glazer's pocket. Stand up for your club and join more than 10,000 United supporters who’ve already signed up to Shareholders United – The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust. www.shareholdersunited.org"
And now for the more serious business. Malcolm Glazer is at it again. He is now said to be preparing to takeover Man United entirely and take the company off the stock exchange. Fucking hell. Why can't he just leave the club alone. He is no Roman Abramovich!! (In any case, i also do not think Abramovich is good for Chelsea.) Malcolm Glazer is just buying shares off existing shareholders. No NEW money is being put into Manchester United. Do you think he is interested in making United successful?? Don't be naive!!! His sole purpose is making as much money as possible!!!! While to a certain extent the 2 are correlated, it is not fully so. The prize money in winning the Champions League will never be enough to recoup the huge amounts of transfer fees that United are paying. There will never be anymore 27 million pound purchase of Wayne Rooney, and even anything more than 12 million pounds is a serious doubt. United will always be forced to go for bargains LIKE Eric Djemba Djemba (whether he is a bargain is another debate however...). Even if he sanctions fairly big transfers, is the money going to come from his pocket?? Don't be naive!!!! Its US supporters who are going to pay for it! Through merchandise, through increased ticket prices, through increaed pay tv subscription to watch United, and even car parking on match days!! Already United are doing wonderfully well financially, but why are ticket prices still increasing? Its because of Glazer and Cubic Expression who want to screw supporters even more for their money! Bah I wish some assassin can just shoot them to death. Just when United seems to have turned the corner, they are once again trying to screw things up. FUCK THEM!!!
For more information, read the following:
From Red Issue:
"THE DIRTY WAR STARTS HERE
So, what are you gonna do about it? "Gold Trafford" screamed the Sun that September day back in 1998. The dirty war was under way. News International’s mouthpiece (prop. Rupert Murdoch) ran away with the implication that Sky (prop. Rupert Murdoch) would be good for Manchester United; that Sky would pump millions into Manchester United; and that Sky’s dearest wish would be for the greater glory of Manchester United. At the time IMUSA and SUAM (Shareholders United Against United) begged people to see beyond the guff and realise what b*ll*cks this insane notion was. Many didn’t listen; they’d read it in the Sun after all - it must be true. Many didn’t care. Other listened, but adopted a "wait and see" attitude. Fast forward to April 1999: United are racing towards The Treble (a feat unsurpassed, and achieved without the need of any help or guidance from the likes of Sky or Glazer) and the Monopolies and Mergers Commission had ruled out the possibility of Sky being allowed to takeover Manchester United. Martin Edwards and his cronies were apoplectic, their (further) riches had been denied them, whilst Rupert Murdoch publicly hit out against Blair’s government. With the war over, the bullsh*t was exposed, and by the very people who had fermented it. Just as IMUSA and SUAM had always insisted, the Sun’s promises to spend millions into making United the best team were hopelessly untrue. David Gill (now United’s Chief Exec) was quoted in April 1999: "We were looking to grow our top line from a marketing perspective [through the BskyB bid]. It [the takeover] was never designed to give us millions more to spend on players." Even Martin Edwards himself (now United’s, ugh, President), the high priest overseeing the sacrifice of United’ history on the altar of greed was forced to admit: "There were no figures mentioned as to how much Sky would pump into the club. Obviously no one is going to give you a blank cheque." In other words they had NISH. Exactly as IMUSA and SUAM had claimed all along. And people were prepared to see Manchester United sold down a dark river on that basis. Murdoch himself later admitted that the purchase of United was aimed at a wider BskyB strategy solely designed to secure the next television rights to Premiership football - just as IMUSA and SUAM had suggested. So to today and the threat to Manchester United’s independence from Malcolm Glazer. Amazingly there are those who claim he could be good for our club. Amazingly there are those who think he will invest in our club. Amazingly there are those who are deluded enough to believe that this BUSINESSMAN may have other aims for our club than making as much money from it as possible. Pah! All over Europe there are clubs owned by businessmen looking to make a quick buck who are foundering hopelessly and yet somehow people think that the on-pitch success of the team will be either guaranteed by the arrival of Glazer or a priority for someone like Glazer. Well tell that to the fans of Paris St Germain, owned by Canal Plus for so many years. They’ve not much of a recent track record of success or holding on to star names. Tell that to the fans of Spurs or Rangers, owned in large part by the ENIC group - the key player behind which is Joe Lewis, a multi-BILLIONaire. IMUSA and SUAM were consistently right, and later proved so, in every argument they put forward in the Murdoch War. Their record, and the plight of the likes of PSG, Spurs and Rangers, demands that they are listened to again. Every Red, everywhere should do whatever they can to help ward off the clutches of Glazer on our club the minute the likes of IMUSA, SU (Shareholders United) or the fanzines call for it. It may "only" be closing a bank account with those lining up the finance for Glazer but it all counts, it all makes a difference. You may think "what does it matter", you may think "what difference can we make?". Don’t. That sort of attitude was prevalent amongst many back in September 1998. Amazingly there are those who believe IMUSA and SUAM had no impact on Murdoch’s failure to takeover Manchester United. Such rewriting of history would make Josef Stalin blush. Without IMUSA and SUAM’s pressure there would have been no referral of the bid to the Office of Fair Trading, and from there to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. A lot of little effort makes all the difference. It’s no good you sitting there moaning about what is, or what will be. You’re expected to pay £45 (50p per minute) to watch United play Birmingham. What have you done about it? Accepted the fact. Moaned about it perhaps? Well get used to it, unless you wanna make a difference, just like IMUSA and SUAM did back in 1998. Glazer would have to borrow in the region of £600m to buy United - that means £25m-30m worth of INTEREST payments alone each year. Equal to our entire annual profits. We’re all gonna be paying for this "purchase", both on and off the pitch. This won’t be the same sort of fight as the Murdoch War. This will be played out with different tactics for a different enemy. The principle remains the same though - Manchester United fans acting together can stop Glazer’s advances. The independence and the future of OUR football club should be all that matters. Unless of course you truly believe the destiny of OUR club is that it should be the private plaything of some right wing freak American c*&t who has treated fans and tenants in his own country with utter contempt and who would have no qualms about doing likewise to Manchester United supporters in his lust for ever greater wealth. Manchester United was not built up over the decades by the likes of Ernest Magnall, James Gibson, Walter Crickmer, Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson for this. People have not given their lives for Manchester United to expand the bank account of Malcolm Glazer. Manchester United is ours. Let’s keep it that way. So, what you gonna do about it…….. "Far better to die on your feet than live on your knees" ".
From Duncan Drasdo on the Shareholders United Forum:
"Some thoughts to address the inevitable 'Gold Trafford' debate that the media will spin out and the more gullible supporters will buy into ...
Summary 1. A takeover would not bring in a single penny ot NEW money into the football club. It is a transaction between shareholders – one buying shares off another. 2. Supporters are being asked to lend the money for someone to take over our own club. He intends to borrow against future earnings. OUR EARNINGS. Leeds did this and look where it left them. 3. We already make excess profits but big shareholders like Glazer cream them off in dividends. Imagine how much more would go out if he owned the club himself. 4. If we need a cash injection we could suspend the dividend that Glazer has been only to happy to take. And if we need more money a new issue of shares would bring NEW money into the club and give supporters the chance to get something in return instead of just paying through increased ticket prices The first thing we need to do is address the constant ‘Gold Trafford’ spin which emerges every time a bid is rumoured. No doubt as an initial PR exercise Glazer would put some money up (money borrowed against our club!) for new players to buy off the most gullible fans (are you that gullible?). After that he'd obviously be looking to maximise his return on investment. In the end all United's profits come from one source - us - the supporters. Whether its tickets, TV subscriptions, merchandise it all comes from us. So why have a middle man like Glazer creaming off the profits before the residue goes into the Football Club. The current big shareholders (Glazer, Magnier, McManus) have made no secret of the fact that they want to keep a tight reign on transfers (and have made this clear to the board) while screwing as much out of supporters on ticket prices etc. as they can. We know they have been pushing the board to maximise ticket revenue (i.e. push the prices up just to the point where sales start to fall). We have also been told that the big shareholders also asked for increased dividends and special dividends taking yet more money out of the club. If Glazer or any other investor-shareholder took the club private they would be able to take as much money as they liked (and they do like it) out of the club. Most likely after a splurge on transfers for a season or two to buy off the really gullible fans. Don’t forget that money would be “our” money anyway because it would be borrowed against future earnings of Manchester United. After that they could screw us all and there would be nothing we could do about it. Pay up or go and support city? The only shareholders who were against the increased dividend were the supporter-shareholders like Shareholders United who actually voted against the increased dividend on the basis of keeping the money in the club for spending on players and keeping ticket prices at reasonable levels. Glazer, Magnier etc all voted in favour of an increased dividend. If they are happy to take more money out of the club (and they have never put a penny in) when its public knowledge imagine how much they'd be secretly siphoning out if they took the club private and no longer had to publish public accounts or hold AGMs where people could call them to account? Why do people believe the PR spin that Glazer could bring money into the club? How could a private owner make more money for themselves while also creating a bigger transfer fund? Where would the extra money come from? There is only one source - the same one as it has always been. One way (ticket prices) or another (TV subscriptions, merchandise) the supporters will pay. Do you think the PLC is not screwing as much as they can out of fans already? Is there a margin left to squeeze fans more? Glazer appears to think so. So why add in a middle man who screws the supporters even more and then creams off his profit before the residue goes into transfer funds etc? It makes more sense to cut out the middle man and for supporters to own the club (or a sizeable portion) themselves. That way a professional board could run the club as an efficient business and keep all the profit (if that's what the supporter-shareholders wanted) in the club to spend on players/stadium/reduced ticket prices. A takeover will not put a single penny of NEW money into Manchester United. They are just buying shares off other shareholders. If we do need an injection of cash why don't we could simply suspend the dividend - the millions that Glazer etc have insisted on taking out of the club every season? Excess profits are already being generated its just that the cash is flowing out in dividends. And if we do need more money we could easily raise this without selling the soul of the club. A new issue of shares for supporters would bring NEW money into the club and would give supporters greater ownership in return. That is far better than being screwed with increased ticket prices which simply serve to make someone else richer and give us nothing back in return. For the sake of your club don't be fooled into selling out 126 years of history and tradition. For your own sake don't be fooled into higher ticket prices and siphoning off of United's huge future earnings. Money that should be going into the Football Club, not Glazer's pocket. Stand up for your club and join more than 10,000 United supporters who’ve already signed up to Shareholders United – The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust. www.shareholdersunited.org"
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