For nearly 2 days, Sam waited in vain for that elusive email. He must have checked his email at least twenty times per day. The last time he checked his email so frequently was to check whether he had been successful in the ballot for Man United vs AC Milan tickets, clearly Melanie meant something to him.
After the 2nd day of waiting, Sam was just about ready to give up and go to sleep when he heard the sound of incoming email from his MSN. Sam had the un-environmentally friendly habit of leaving his laptop on when he goes to sleep; makes him feel connected to the outside world. "Oh please, let this be the one!" Sam mumbled as he jumped out of bed and headed straight for his laptop.
Sam wasn't to be disappointed.
The title of the incoming email simply said "Contacts". "Yippee!!!" Sam nearly did a mini cartwheel in his room as he saw the email. He quickly opened up the MS Excel file (somehow that's the default program used by EVERYONE when they are compiling contact lists) and scanned for Melanie Tan. Now he had her email and handphone number...
Now what?
Sam stared at his laptop blindly. What should he do now? The usual timid and reluctant Sam is back in action again. "Should I send her an email or sms? Should I add her to MSN? Is this even her MSN address? What should I say?" Even after 2 decades on this planet, Sam is still pretty much a nOOb at chasing skirts.
He reverted back to his usual action of scrolling through his MSN contact list. It was littered with plenty of girls whom he had tried to get to know but things fizzled out quickly enough. And everytime Sam told himself that there would be a next time, another second chance. But Sam suddenly remembered what he prayed/told himself when he stepped out of the seminar room 2 days ago, "if you would give me a second chance, I promise to never let it slip again, NEVER! Just let me have another chance."
Sam slapped himself involuntarily when he thought of this. "Come on Sam! What can be so difficult about sending an email? At worst she will just not reply you and you would not see her ever again! You have not even tried, what second chance do you deserve?" Sam gritted his teeth and drafted a quick email; he decided an sms would be too abrupt.
---------------------------------------------------
Hey Melanie,
It's Sam here, hope you remember me :) Just wanna drop a note to say that I added you on MSN, hope that's ok with you. Anyway good luck with your practical for the next month. See you back in HQ soon :)
Sam
--------------------------------------------------
*SENT*
Sam leaned back in his chair. His heart was racing a little bit. He was very excited at the potential reply, but nervous and worried at the same time. "Would she read the email? Is the email address correct? Would she bother to reply?" It has been at least 2 years since he felt something like this. But all his previous attempts had ended up with nothing but tears. Would this be yet another case?
"BAH!" Sam jumped back into bed, determined to push the past memories away as he covered his head with his blanket.
"At least now I can dream again...." and off he drifted to sleep.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Boy meets Girl - Episode 2 - The Introduction
After what seemed like an eternity, the facilitator of today's session took a break. The facilitator asked the various groups to take this opportunity to do a round of proper self introduction. Sam was very happy at that prospect because he hasn't heard the girl speak since she came late. It was a good chance for him to know a little bit more about her.
The self introductions were generally short. Everyone centred around the topic of what courses they took in university and some of the other careers they had been in before they joined this company. Sam tried to pay attention to the self introductions of the others in the group. He felt that they were at times cliche-d and usually boring. In truth, his own introduction was not much better either. But he didn't quite care, all he was waiting for was for her to speak. Finally, it came to her turn. Her voice was sweet and soothing to the ears; he was smitten. Her name was Melanie and she had just graduated from university. "She must be at least one year younger than me," Sam reasoned to himself after some mental calculations.
"Besides this job, I never really thought of doing anything else," Melanie spoke after some thought. Sam's interest was truly aroused by this statement. "Wow, she must be a very nice girl to have said that." This job isn't the most financially rewarding and requires lots of patience and love - something which Sam was quite ashamed of as he is not the nicest of persons around. She certainly did not need to lie or say that sentence. That statement certainly made a strong impact on Sam, much stronger than he realised it would...
Soon after the self introductions, it was time for tea break. The discussions moved out of the room to the refreshment area. Sam did his usual thing: listening to others speak. He was never the best conversationalist around, and over time had mastered the art of listening to others. But even when listening to others, his attention never shifted away from Melanie. When Melanie moved away from the group to get another cup of coffee, Sam decided to move over to get a cup of tea too. Finally! Some one-on-one chance to speak to her! He helped her to fill her cup and with all his courage, brought up some random topic. To his surprise, her reply was earnest and the conversation continued smoothly. He told her (with some pride) that he went overseas for his degree while she lamented that she missed the chance to go overseas for exchange as she felt that it was way too expensive. He felt that it was a waste as the overseas experience would be really incredible and he began to relate some of his experiences overseas. He felt really excited and nervous when he looked into her eyes as she listened. "Am I appearing to be too obnoxious?" he wondered.
The rest of the day and the day after followed a similar pattern. During the lesson in the classroom, Sam would occupy himself by observing Melanie. Her gentle smile at every joke that the facilitator made attracted him the most. At times, she would look over and Sam would smile back at her, to indicate that the joke was funny to him too. She would also smile back. Ahhhh, it was almost enough to lift him into cloud nine. Whenever there were tea breaks, Sam found small little chances to talk to her, but it was never for long stretches as he was not confident of talking. But each little snippet of information he gained was good enough for him.
Very quickly, the 2 day workshop was fast coming to an end. They would soon be deployed to different branches of the company for practical experience. Sam's mind was racing, should he ask for her number? Would it appear too abrupt?
"God or whoever up there might never give you a second chance you know?"
"But, I don't really know her that well, is it all right to ask for her hp number?"
Sam struggled within himself to come to an answer. In the meantime, the clock ticked towards 530pm. Sam twiddled his pen and notebook and contemplated whether to pass them to Melanie. As he glanced towards her, he noticed that she was feeling a bit cold, and offered to switch places with her. She politely refused. The notebook and pen remained on his table.
"Sigh, I'm such a loser..." Sam's thoughts were cut off by another member of the group. He had offered to compile a contact list for the group! "Yippee!" Sam thought as he did a mental cartwheel. As the note was passed to him, he tried to memorise Melanie's email but could not. He wanted to copy it down but was afraid that the people around him might realise it. Feeling helpless, he had to pass the note on.
"Maybe I will offer to give her a lift to the nearest train station, and then ask for her number," Sam's mind kicked into overdrive. There was just the little question of plucking up the courage to ask though. And also having as little people follow them as possible. But after the session, Melanie seemed to want to ask the facilitator some questions, and the queue was pretty long. At the same time, Sam needed to use the toilet urgently - and most definitely unfortunately. He decided to dash to the toilet quickly and come back to look for her. As you would've guessed it, he came back to a nearly empty room, empty to him anyway as Melanie was nowhere to be seen.
"Aarghhhhhhh!" Sam grumbled as he walked out quickly to try and catch a glimpse of the yellow Mango top that Melanie had worn that day. Sadly, she was long gone. Sam made his way down the hill and steps to his car dejectedly. Now he had to wait for the group contact list. "I hope that guy compiles the list quickly," Sam muttered to himself as he drove out of the company.
For the next 2 days, Sam checked his email regularly for the contact list. It did not arrive. "Damn damn damn, I should have gotten her number myself, how silly of me!" Sam felt like whacking his brain for his stupidity. Silly thoughts filled his mind as he tried to recall Melanie's email, and whether he had written his own email correctly. "I might never see her again!" Sam wailed in his heart.
Feeling helpless, he prayed to the One up there. "Please God, if you would give me a second chance, I promise to never let it slip again, NEVER! Just let me have another chance."
His email inbox remained empty.
The self introductions were generally short. Everyone centred around the topic of what courses they took in university and some of the other careers they had been in before they joined this company. Sam tried to pay attention to the self introductions of the others in the group. He felt that they were at times cliche-d and usually boring. In truth, his own introduction was not much better either. But he didn't quite care, all he was waiting for was for her to speak. Finally, it came to her turn. Her voice was sweet and soothing to the ears; he was smitten. Her name was Melanie and she had just graduated from university. "She must be at least one year younger than me," Sam reasoned to himself after some mental calculations.
"Besides this job, I never really thought of doing anything else," Melanie spoke after some thought. Sam's interest was truly aroused by this statement. "Wow, she must be a very nice girl to have said that." This job isn't the most financially rewarding and requires lots of patience and love - something which Sam was quite ashamed of as he is not the nicest of persons around. She certainly did not need to lie or say that sentence. That statement certainly made a strong impact on Sam, much stronger than he realised it would...
Soon after the self introductions, it was time for tea break. The discussions moved out of the room to the refreshment area. Sam did his usual thing: listening to others speak. He was never the best conversationalist around, and over time had mastered the art of listening to others. But even when listening to others, his attention never shifted away from Melanie. When Melanie moved away from the group to get another cup of coffee, Sam decided to move over to get a cup of tea too. Finally! Some one-on-one chance to speak to her! He helped her to fill her cup and with all his courage, brought up some random topic. To his surprise, her reply was earnest and the conversation continued smoothly. He told her (with some pride) that he went overseas for his degree while she lamented that she missed the chance to go overseas for exchange as she felt that it was way too expensive. He felt that it was a waste as the overseas experience would be really incredible and he began to relate some of his experiences overseas. He felt really excited and nervous when he looked into her eyes as she listened. "Am I appearing to be too obnoxious?" he wondered.
The rest of the day and the day after followed a similar pattern. During the lesson in the classroom, Sam would occupy himself by observing Melanie. Her gentle smile at every joke that the facilitator made attracted him the most. At times, she would look over and Sam would smile back at her, to indicate that the joke was funny to him too. She would also smile back. Ahhhh, it was almost enough to lift him into cloud nine. Whenever there were tea breaks, Sam found small little chances to talk to her, but it was never for long stretches as he was not confident of talking. But each little snippet of information he gained was good enough for him.
Very quickly, the 2 day workshop was fast coming to an end. They would soon be deployed to different branches of the company for practical experience. Sam's mind was racing, should he ask for her number? Would it appear too abrupt?
"God or whoever up there might never give you a second chance you know?"
"But, I don't really know her that well, is it all right to ask for her hp number?"
Sam struggled within himself to come to an answer. In the meantime, the clock ticked towards 530pm. Sam twiddled his pen and notebook and contemplated whether to pass them to Melanie. As he glanced towards her, he noticed that she was feeling a bit cold, and offered to switch places with her. She politely refused. The notebook and pen remained on his table.
"Sigh, I'm such a loser..." Sam's thoughts were cut off by another member of the group. He had offered to compile a contact list for the group! "Yippee!" Sam thought as he did a mental cartwheel. As the note was passed to him, he tried to memorise Melanie's email but could not. He wanted to copy it down but was afraid that the people around him might realise it. Feeling helpless, he had to pass the note on.
"Maybe I will offer to give her a lift to the nearest train station, and then ask for her number," Sam's mind kicked into overdrive. There was just the little question of plucking up the courage to ask though. And also having as little people follow them as possible. But after the session, Melanie seemed to want to ask the facilitator some questions, and the queue was pretty long. At the same time, Sam needed to use the toilet urgently - and most definitely unfortunately. He decided to dash to the toilet quickly and come back to look for her. As you would've guessed it, he came back to a nearly empty room, empty to him anyway as Melanie was nowhere to be seen.
"Aarghhhhhhh!" Sam grumbled as he walked out quickly to try and catch a glimpse of the yellow Mango top that Melanie had worn that day. Sadly, she was long gone. Sam made his way down the hill and steps to his car dejectedly. Now he had to wait for the group contact list. "I hope that guy compiles the list quickly," Sam muttered to himself as he drove out of the company.
For the next 2 days, Sam checked his email regularly for the contact list. It did not arrive. "Damn damn damn, I should have gotten her number myself, how silly of me!" Sam felt like whacking his brain for his stupidity. Silly thoughts filled his mind as he tried to recall Melanie's email, and whether he had written his own email correctly. "I might never see her again!" Sam wailed in his heart.
Feeling helpless, he prayed to the One up there. "Please God, if you would give me a second chance, I promise to never let it slip again, NEVER! Just let me have another chance."
His email inbox remained empty.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Boy meets Girl - Episode 1 - The Meeting
"Can't believe I have to wake up at 7am and climb up this stupid hill everyday for the next year or so," Sam thought as he trudged up the steps wearily. Sam had never been the most optimistic of persons. He hated the whole new day at new place sort of thing; the self introductions, the trying-to-be-polite conversations, the awkward silences etc. This was another one of those occasions.
"I hope today ends early," Sam thought as he took out the timetable that he received over the mail. It said the day would be over at 530pm. "Don't think I should hold out too much hope, better to mentally prepare myself for a long day," Sam replied to himself as he struggled to stifle a yawn; clearly he is not a day person.
As usual, Sam was one of the earliest to reach the place. He is always early, especially for official things such as today. He was very afraid of authority, and would rather obey than to get into unnecessary trouble. He scanned the room for a while; there were only 4 people inside, including the facilitator. He mentally decided to avoid all small talk, and hence chose the unoccupied corner of the room. He slumped himself into an empty seat, and proceeded to do his usual routine. It usually consist of him closing his eyes and trying to take a nap in any position. It was his way of telling the world - I am cool. I had a late night, a very happening night and now I am too tired to attend this thing but I am here because I have to. He had always been trying to fit in since young. To fit in, you have to be cool. And this was his way of being 'cool'.
But the truth is he can never really get to sleep, too much of a light sleeper.
It wasn't long before the room started to get filled up. One after another, men and women, the old and young, the hip and the not-so-trendy, trooped into the room. Some came with friends, most came alone. They did the usual thing, scanned the room, chose the seats, sat down and tried to make small talk with their neighbours. As is usually the case, Sam's "corner" is always the last to be filled. It always is.
"Here we go again, same old boring things again." Sam thought. On one hand he wished some nice and pretty girls would come to his corner, on the other hand he didn't really wish to make meaningless small talk. But as the room got filled up slowly, it was inevitable that his part of the room would be filled up too. Not wanting to appear too rude, he started making small talk with the people around him, and they were mainly guys. The chatter of voices soon reached cacophonous levels.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the facilitator spoke. He did some quick self introductions and began to touch on his agenda for the day. He was an entertaining speaker, but the eternal cynic in Sam dismissed it as propaganda or outdated, irrelevant advice. He was listening, but he wished there was something else to occupy his mind instead...
That "something" else soon arrived. She was late. "15 minutes late," Sam thought as he stole a glance at his watch. She came in, spotted an empty seat (about 3 seats away from Sam), and sat down. There was minimal contact with the people around her, and she simply looked in front with barely an expression on her face.
It didn't matter much to Sam though, as he adjusted his seat slightly such that he was facing her side profile. Trained in the fine art of fake-you-are-paying-attention from NS, he was listening AND observing her at the same time. "She is really very pretty," he concluded, his day having brightened up considerably. She was wearing a black cardigan over a blue top, with a pair of berms. He also noticed that she wore a necklace with a cross. She had slightly longer than shoulder length hair, with a clip at the back of her head. He liked her hair a lot. But he liked her smile even more. Whenever the facilitator told a joke, she would smile in such a sweet manner that Sam was totally captivated.
"I think I can sit here all day and see her smile," Sam mumbled to himself. It has been a long time since he felt this warm fuzzy feeling inside him. "Perhaps today might turn out to be quite all right after all!"
"I hope today ends early," Sam thought as he took out the timetable that he received over the mail. It said the day would be over at 530pm. "Don't think I should hold out too much hope, better to mentally prepare myself for a long day," Sam replied to himself as he struggled to stifle a yawn; clearly he is not a day person.
As usual, Sam was one of the earliest to reach the place. He is always early, especially for official things such as today. He was very afraid of authority, and would rather obey than to get into unnecessary trouble. He scanned the room for a while; there were only 4 people inside, including the facilitator. He mentally decided to avoid all small talk, and hence chose the unoccupied corner of the room. He slumped himself into an empty seat, and proceeded to do his usual routine. It usually consist of him closing his eyes and trying to take a nap in any position. It was his way of telling the world - I am cool. I had a late night, a very happening night and now I am too tired to attend this thing but I am here because I have to. He had always been trying to fit in since young. To fit in, you have to be cool. And this was his way of being 'cool'.
But the truth is he can never really get to sleep, too much of a light sleeper.
It wasn't long before the room started to get filled up. One after another, men and women, the old and young, the hip and the not-so-trendy, trooped into the room. Some came with friends, most came alone. They did the usual thing, scanned the room, chose the seats, sat down and tried to make small talk with their neighbours. As is usually the case, Sam's "corner" is always the last to be filled. It always is.
"Here we go again, same old boring things again." Sam thought. On one hand he wished some nice and pretty girls would come to his corner, on the other hand he didn't really wish to make meaningless small talk. But as the room got filled up slowly, it was inevitable that his part of the room would be filled up too. Not wanting to appear too rude, he started making small talk with the people around him, and they were mainly guys. The chatter of voices soon reached cacophonous levels.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the facilitator spoke. He did some quick self introductions and began to touch on his agenda for the day. He was an entertaining speaker, but the eternal cynic in Sam dismissed it as propaganda or outdated, irrelevant advice. He was listening, but he wished there was something else to occupy his mind instead...
That "something" else soon arrived. She was late. "15 minutes late," Sam thought as he stole a glance at his watch. She came in, spotted an empty seat (about 3 seats away from Sam), and sat down. There was minimal contact with the people around her, and she simply looked in front with barely an expression on her face.
It didn't matter much to Sam though, as he adjusted his seat slightly such that he was facing her side profile. Trained in the fine art of fake-you-are-paying-attention from NS, he was listening AND observing her at the same time. "She is really very pretty," he concluded, his day having brightened up considerably. She was wearing a black cardigan over a blue top, with a pair of berms. He also noticed that she wore a necklace with a cross. She had slightly longer than shoulder length hair, with a clip at the back of her head. He liked her hair a lot. But he liked her smile even more. Whenever the facilitator told a joke, she would smile in such a sweet manner that Sam was totally captivated.
"I think I can sit here all day and see her smile," Sam mumbled to himself. It has been a long time since he felt this warm fuzzy feeling inside him. "Perhaps today might turn out to be quite all right after all!"
Friday, February 22, 2008
Toyota vs Mercedes
Thought that the article below made quite a lot of sense, compared to some of the nonsense (such as that LTA guy which appeared on Frontline) that we have been subjected to in recent days. It is all very well getting people to retrain and retrain and retrain. But if employers value a cheap Toyota Corolla rather than a Mercedes Benz which is expensive but offers much more, there really is not much point in upgrading yourself to become a Mercedes.
From The Straits Times
She's all for hiring foreigners but...
LINK QUOTA TO FIRM'S PRODUCTIVITY
Labour MP Josephine Teo wants the Government to think twice before giving companies higher foreign worker quotas. She tells GOH CHIN LIAN what led her to write on this issue in a recent NTUC newsletter
By Goh Chin Lian
AS MRS Josephine Teo steps into a lift, a powerful stench sends her reeling as a cleaner - a foreign worker - walks away.
'It was so smelly. I was thinking, 'Was it him? Was he the sweaty one?''
Later, she sees him cleaning the windows of the building with a black dish cloth that was once white, and realises her mistake. The cloth was the smelly one.
'I asked myself, how can they use this smelly cloth and make the whole elevator smell so bad when it didn't smell so bad before he cleaned it?' she tells Insight.
The incident happened six months ago when she was on her way to a meeting at a 'high-end' office in the Central Business District.
But it remains vivid in her memory, and is fodder for the labour MP - along with her encounters of messy hawker centres and dirty public toilets - when she tackles Singaporeans' resentment over jobs landing in the lap of foreign workers when locals can do them just as easily.
'By all means, if bringing in foreigners helps raise standards and output, go for it. But let's think harder when they don't.'
MRS JOSEPHINE TEO, on being careful about raising the foreign worker quota
... more
'If the productivity levels have not improved or even declined, is continued reliance on foreign workers desirable, or indeed sustainable? Wouldn't we worsen the situation by further relaxing the criteria?'
MRS TEO, on her proposal that the Government scrutinise a sector's productivity levels before granting it more foreign workers
... more
'Security, landscape and the town councils - they are the ones that have moved. How about the rest? I think they can move faster.'
MRS TEO, on the need for more sectors to redesign jobs to raise productivity and, in turn, salary levels
... more
At the core of the problem is employers' indifference to improving productivity, she indicates.
Most would rather pay foreign workers a pittance and accept shoddy standards, than improve the job with proper training and tools, expand its scope - and pay Singaporeans more to do it.
Although Mrs Teo eschews words such as 'indifference' or 'pittance', they underscore the stubborn attitude of bosses that prompted her to write a commentary in a recent weekly newsletter of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
In urging the Government to think twice before raising the foreign worker quota, she wrote: 'By all means, if bringing in foreigners helps raise standards and output, go for it. But let's think harder when they don't.'
She took pains, she confesses, to strike a balance in the column to avoid being labelled a typical 'very anti-foreign worker, standard unionist type'.
Indeed, her opening line at the interview was: 'I fully appreciate the contributions of foreign manpower in Singapore at all levels.'
She traces the awareness to her 15 years of working in several government organisations, such as the Economic Development Board (EDB), which markets Singapore to foreign investors, and the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park.
While the Suzhou locals did not always like foreigners and people from other Chinese provinces taking up jobs, they accepted it because 'everybody saw their salaries, their work conditions and their lives improve'.
'Also, for about two years, 2000 and 2001, when my household had three children under the age of four, we coped with the help of two foreign domestic workers!' adds the 39-year-old with a laugh.
'And now that I have only one maid, I have to equip her with better tools like Magiclean dry wiper sheets so she does not have to spend so much time mopping.'
But beyond these experiences, it is her current positions that have led her to see 'a lot more from the worker's standpoint'.
A first-term MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, she is also executive secretary of the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees Union, and assistant secretary-general of the NTUC with an elected seat in its top policymaking body representing workers' interests.
She is also the labour organisation's director of human resources.
She cited especially an encounter with a resident at her Meet-The-People Session. The man complained bitterly about foreign workers, after he was forced to take a $1,200 job when his company closed down and he lost his $2,000 job.
'If my boss didn't have a worker from China, then he'd be short-handed and have to pay me $2,000,' he told her.
But for Mrs Teo, the more pertinent question is: Are these jobs paying the right salary level for a Singaporean to feel he can survive on it and do reasonably well?
For instance, why are there still cleaner jobs that pay $450? 'Part of the reason is that we allow people who are willing to take the job at $450 to come in,' she says.
The way to curb such practices, she argues, is for the Government to step in to demand that companies show proof that their productivity is improving before agreeing to raise their foreign worker quotas.
But does this not amount to micro-managing?
Probably challenged many times on this point, her answer was swift: 'If you're bringing in so many foreigners, shouldn't you take a closer look at which sectors aredeserving of them and which sectors you should maybe let them die an even faster death?'
If shutting the door on foreign workers may be too harsh, Mrs Teo believes such companies should, at least, be given a 'warning sign that it's not sustainable'.
Her proposal for closer government scrutiny stems from her 10 years at EDB, where she was a senior officer and later, head of human resources.
EDB officers, she explains, would look at a project's value-add per worker - which measures productivity levels - before agreeing to a request for investment incentives.
'Hence, with manufacturing, I'm less worried,' she adds.
Her main concern is the services sector. 'It's so broad. Is all the value-add per worker that good? I don't know.'
The sector covers businesses in such diverse areas as transport, wholesale trade, foodcourts and beauty shops. Further, it has many 'small employers' who she believes can raise productivity by redesigning and upgrading jobs for Singaporeans.
'Yes, it may be true that it will be hard for SMEs, but there are SMEs that have made the effort and they have succeeded,' she says, citing the BreadTalk bakery, snack-food chain Old Chang Kee and apparel chain Crocodile.
Other examples can be found in the security and landscaping industries where, in the past three years, NTUC has driven hard - and succeeded - in getting many low-paying jobs upgraded.
NTUC is not sitting still, she adds, disclosing that she is working on a project to upgrade the jobs in yet another service industry:building maintenance.
Since the end of last year, she has been visiting building owners to quiz their maintenance technicians about their job, salary and work conditions.
'My argument is this: Every year, we invest billions of dollars in building factories and tall, beautiful buildings. So, in the next 10 years, Singapore's building assets will grow significantly in value.
'How do you preserve their value? Only if you take very good care of them. So if I were a building owner, I'd be interested in high-quality building maintenance services.'
Industry players have informed her thatowners are willing to spend more on such maintenance, but they face a shortage of technicians who can do the job well, notwithstanding the hiring of foreigners, mainly from Myanmar.
Crucial to tackling this problem, she says, is getting providers of building maintenance services to jump on the job-redesign bandwagon.
Her mission is to convince them to transform jobs like changing a light bulb and carrying out rudimentary checks to managing maintenance schedules or projects.
It would then justify a pay packet bigger than the current $1,000 to $1,300 paid monthly to technicians. The jobs can then be reclaimed for Singaporeans.
She hopes her work will, in a way, deliver a pre-emptive strike before employers cry out for more foreign workers as a quick fix-it, instead of raising standards or productivity.
'Before they ask for more, I will offer them the opportunity to bring more Singaporeans to the sector first.'
From The Straits Times
She's all for hiring foreigners but...
LINK QUOTA TO FIRM'S PRODUCTIVITY
Labour MP Josephine Teo wants the Government to think twice before giving companies higher foreign worker quotas. She tells GOH CHIN LIAN what led her to write on this issue in a recent NTUC newsletter
By Goh Chin Lian
AS MRS Josephine Teo steps into a lift, a powerful stench sends her reeling as a cleaner - a foreign worker - walks away.
'It was so smelly. I was thinking, 'Was it him? Was he the sweaty one?''
Later, she sees him cleaning the windows of the building with a black dish cloth that was once white, and realises her mistake. The cloth was the smelly one.
'I asked myself, how can they use this smelly cloth and make the whole elevator smell so bad when it didn't smell so bad before he cleaned it?' she tells Insight.
The incident happened six months ago when she was on her way to a meeting at a 'high-end' office in the Central Business District.
But it remains vivid in her memory, and is fodder for the labour MP - along with her encounters of messy hawker centres and dirty public toilets - when she tackles Singaporeans' resentment over jobs landing in the lap of foreign workers when locals can do them just as easily.
'By all means, if bringing in foreigners helps raise standards and output, go for it. But let's think harder when they don't.'
MRS JOSEPHINE TEO, on being careful about raising the foreign worker quota
... more
'If the productivity levels have not improved or even declined, is continued reliance on foreign workers desirable, or indeed sustainable? Wouldn't we worsen the situation by further relaxing the criteria?'
MRS TEO, on her proposal that the Government scrutinise a sector's productivity levels before granting it more foreign workers
... more
'Security, landscape and the town councils - they are the ones that have moved. How about the rest? I think they can move faster.'
MRS TEO, on the need for more sectors to redesign jobs to raise productivity and, in turn, salary levels
... more
At the core of the problem is employers' indifference to improving productivity, she indicates.
Most would rather pay foreign workers a pittance and accept shoddy standards, than improve the job with proper training and tools, expand its scope - and pay Singaporeans more to do it.
Although Mrs Teo eschews words such as 'indifference' or 'pittance', they underscore the stubborn attitude of bosses that prompted her to write a commentary in a recent weekly newsletter of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
In urging the Government to think twice before raising the foreign worker quota, she wrote: 'By all means, if bringing in foreigners helps raise standards and output, go for it. But let's think harder when they don't.'
She took pains, she confesses, to strike a balance in the column to avoid being labelled a typical 'very anti-foreign worker, standard unionist type'.
Indeed, her opening line at the interview was: 'I fully appreciate the contributions of foreign manpower in Singapore at all levels.'
She traces the awareness to her 15 years of working in several government organisations, such as the Economic Development Board (EDB), which markets Singapore to foreign investors, and the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park.
While the Suzhou locals did not always like foreigners and people from other Chinese provinces taking up jobs, they accepted it because 'everybody saw their salaries, their work conditions and their lives improve'.
'Also, for about two years, 2000 and 2001, when my household had three children under the age of four, we coped with the help of two foreign domestic workers!' adds the 39-year-old with a laugh.
'And now that I have only one maid, I have to equip her with better tools like Magiclean dry wiper sheets so she does not have to spend so much time mopping.'
But beyond these experiences, it is her current positions that have led her to see 'a lot more from the worker's standpoint'.
A first-term MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, she is also executive secretary of the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees Union, and assistant secretary-general of the NTUC with an elected seat in its top policymaking body representing workers' interests.
She is also the labour organisation's director of human resources.
She cited especially an encounter with a resident at her Meet-The-People Session. The man complained bitterly about foreign workers, after he was forced to take a $1,200 job when his company closed down and he lost his $2,000 job.
'If my boss didn't have a worker from China, then he'd be short-handed and have to pay me $2,000,' he told her.
But for Mrs Teo, the more pertinent question is: Are these jobs paying the right salary level for a Singaporean to feel he can survive on it and do reasonably well?
For instance, why are there still cleaner jobs that pay $450? 'Part of the reason is that we allow people who are willing to take the job at $450 to come in,' she says.
The way to curb such practices, she argues, is for the Government to step in to demand that companies show proof that their productivity is improving before agreeing to raise their foreign worker quotas.
But does this not amount to micro-managing?
Probably challenged many times on this point, her answer was swift: 'If you're bringing in so many foreigners, shouldn't you take a closer look at which sectors aredeserving of them and which sectors you should maybe let them die an even faster death?'
If shutting the door on foreign workers may be too harsh, Mrs Teo believes such companies should, at least, be given a 'warning sign that it's not sustainable'.
Her proposal for closer government scrutiny stems from her 10 years at EDB, where she was a senior officer and later, head of human resources.
EDB officers, she explains, would look at a project's value-add per worker - which measures productivity levels - before agreeing to a request for investment incentives.
'Hence, with manufacturing, I'm less worried,' she adds.
Her main concern is the services sector. 'It's so broad. Is all the value-add per worker that good? I don't know.'
The sector covers businesses in such diverse areas as transport, wholesale trade, foodcourts and beauty shops. Further, it has many 'small employers' who she believes can raise productivity by redesigning and upgrading jobs for Singaporeans.
'Yes, it may be true that it will be hard for SMEs, but there are SMEs that have made the effort and they have succeeded,' she says, citing the BreadTalk bakery, snack-food chain Old Chang Kee and apparel chain Crocodile.
Other examples can be found in the security and landscaping industries where, in the past three years, NTUC has driven hard - and succeeded - in getting many low-paying jobs upgraded.
NTUC is not sitting still, she adds, disclosing that she is working on a project to upgrade the jobs in yet another service industry:building maintenance.
Since the end of last year, she has been visiting building owners to quiz their maintenance technicians about their job, salary and work conditions.
'My argument is this: Every year, we invest billions of dollars in building factories and tall, beautiful buildings. So, in the next 10 years, Singapore's building assets will grow significantly in value.
'How do you preserve their value? Only if you take very good care of them. So if I were a building owner, I'd be interested in high-quality building maintenance services.'
Industry players have informed her thatowners are willing to spend more on such maintenance, but they face a shortage of technicians who can do the job well, notwithstanding the hiring of foreigners, mainly from Myanmar.
Crucial to tackling this problem, she says, is getting providers of building maintenance services to jump on the job-redesign bandwagon.
Her mission is to convince them to transform jobs like changing a light bulb and carrying out rudimentary checks to managing maintenance schedules or projects.
It would then justify a pay packet bigger than the current $1,000 to $1,300 paid monthly to technicians. The jobs can then be reclaimed for Singaporeans.
She hopes her work will, in a way, deliver a pre-emptive strike before employers cry out for more foreign workers as a quick fix-it, instead of raising standards or productivity.
'Before they ask for more, I will offer them the opportunity to bring more Singaporeans to the sector first.'
Friday, February 15, 2008
Failure
Not sure if it was due to stress or what, but you didn't seem too happy. Sigh, maybe I am just not good enough. Not good enough to touch your heart...
All I wish is to see that smile again...
All I wish is to see that smile again...
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Munich air disaster :(
Admittedly, there is much to hate about the current Manchester United set up, but if one wants to find out why United are so universally popular, one need look no further than the Munich air disaster. A team so oyung and so talented was so cruelly cut down in its prime. Perhaps critics have a point that it's weird that eulogies are still flowing in whereas people who have died in wars etc are forgotten. But that misses the point altogether. This was a team that defied all odds, by being so young, by defying the FA to participate in the European Cup, by playing attractive attacking football. This was a team that united many people. And may they be remembered forever...
From Soccernet:
The Busby Babes: Munich remembered
Phil Holland
Archive
It is the summer of 1968 and on Wembley's hallowed turf, underneath the famous twin towers and in front of 100,000 fans Manchester United have just beaten Benfica 4-1 to lift the European Cup.
On the pitch the celebrations soon engulf Matt Busby. One by one his players find him, shake him by the hand and embrace him. Each expressing in these brief emotional moments feelings of joy, of thanks, excitement and something more; empathy.
It can be seen best in the fleeting glimpses the archives show of Busby with George Best and with Manchester-born Nobby Stiles, who shares a particularly poignant exchange with his manager.
Ten years on from February 6th, 1958 and Busby and United had achieved greatness.
It was an achievement born out of the necessity to honour the memories of Busby's Babes who died in Munich.
The scale of the Munich air disaster, the sheer tragedy of the events and their subsequent impact is difficult to impart to a new a generation of football fans. This was a team that had achieved considerable success and while so-doing won the hearts of a nation, not just the red half of Manchester.
Two consecutive league championships, a runners-up place in the 1957 FA Cup final, five back-to-back FA Youth Cups between 1953-57, a place in the 1957 European Cup semi-finals and the same again in 1958.
The Busby Babes were on the brink of greatness, the future was theirs. There seemed to be no limit on what they could achieve.
That they had managed to accomplish so much is remarkable in itself, but it was the manner in which it was achieved that endeared so many to that Manchester United team. It was a side that not only played with style and panache, but they did so with players who broke the mould.
The commonly held belief at the time was that to compete at the highest level required experience in every position, blooding a youngster represented a considerable risk. While Busby recognised the importance of experience he believed that youth was an undervalued asset and could give him the edge.
So rather than buying seasoned professionals, as was the norm, Busby built a side around youth; it was a gamble, but one that paid off. The average age of his 1956 championship winning side was just 22. The average age of the side which flew back from Belgrade in February, 1958 after securing a place in the European Cup semi-finals was 23.
Busby is a close as you can get in football to being regarded as a pioneer, as a visionary; with his ground-breaking youth scheme he re-wrote the way football teams were constructed and by recognising the potential of the European Cup he embraced a new frontier.
Under pressure from the English football authorities champions Chelsea did not enter the European Cup in its inaugural season in 1955/56, but despite the same opposition Busby led his championship winners into Europe for the competition's second season and managed to reach the semi-finals where they lost to Real Madrid.
After securing the league title again in 1956/57 United qualified once more for the European Cup in the 1957/68 season, and after their success in the competition the previous season United were automatically amongst the favourites.
Those walking the corridors of power at the Football Association and the Football League were diametrically opposed to the European Cup fearing it would undermine the integrity of the game at home, and so strove to make United's decision to compete as difficult as possible by dismissing any pleas to alleviate fixture congestion.
Under new league rules any team competing in Europe had to be back in England a full 24 hours before their next domestic fixture. In fact United's decision to charter a plane from British European Airways for that ill-fated round trip to Belgrade in February 1958 for the European Cup quarter-final against Red Star owed itself to this ruling.
In the previous round United had struggled to get home in time for their league fixture against Birmingham City when their flight home after a game against Dukla Prague was delayed.
This time Busby wanted no such delays, no such worries ahead of United's vital game on Saturday February 8th against league leaders Wolves, a game of great importance to Busby who was aiming to secure the league title for a third straight season.
So against this background of opposition from the powers that be and restrictive time constraints Busby and his young convention-defying team, which was already on the path to glory, began its last fateful journey together.
Having beaten Red Star 2-1 at Old Trafford a draw would be enough to see them into the semi-finals of the European Cup for the second successive season. On an icy pitch in Belgrade on the February 5th United raced into a 3-0 lead but, perhaps betraying United's youthful naivety, Red Star got back into the game. Nevertheless, despite a 3-3 draw on the day United won 5-4 on aggregate and secured a place in the semis.
The players and club officials enjoyed a cocktail reception at the British Embassy after the game before beginning their journey home the following day aboard BEA Flight 609. The Elizabethan class aircraft, the 'Lord Burleigh', landed in heavy snow for refuelling at the Munich-Riem airport in West Germany. It would never to fly again.
Twice the aircraft tried to take off, and twice it failed. After each attempt the passengers were all asked to return to the terminal building. The second time Duncan Edwards, like some of the other players, was convinced they would not be travelling home that afternoon, and so sent his landlady a telegram which read: 'All flights cancelled. Returning home tomorrow. Duncan.' The telegram was delivered at 5pm.
Despite their reading of the situation the passengers were called to the plane for a third time. In the cabin the laughing and joking of the previous attempts was replaced by a sense of apprehension.
At 3.04pm Captain James Thain attempted a third take off. As a result of the slush and snow on the runway the plane could not reach take off speed and so failed to gain height.
The plane crashed through the airport's perimeter fence and careered into an unoccupied house. The port wing and part of the tail was ripped off and the house caught fire. The port side of the cockpit slammed into a tree, the starboard side of the plane hit a wooden hut causing the fuel truck and tyres it housed to explode.
Twenty-one of the 44 people aboard perished in the crash, while a further two were to succumb to their injuries in hospital. Seven of the players who had played in Belgrade a day earlier died instantly: Geoff Bent (25), Roger Byrne (28), Eddie Colman (21), Mark Jones (24), David Pegg (22), Tommy Taylor (26) and Liam 'Billy' Whelan (22).
Duncan Edwards lost his fight for life 15 days later on February 21, while the careers of Johnny Berry and Jackie Blachflower were ended as a result of the injuries they sustained.
The bodies of the dead were flown back to Manchester and lay overnight in the Old Trafford gymnasium before being collected by the families.
Over 100,000 people lined streets as the hearses delivered their coffins to the stadium and thousands more lined the streets for the subsequent funerals and memorial services, while two minutes of silence were observed at matches across the country.
Busby himself, the father of the team, suffered fractured ribs, a punctured lung and injuries to his legs. So grave was his condition that the last rites were administered in the hours following the crash. Two weeks on and entombed in an oxygen tent Busby was again read the last rites.
Remarkably he recovered enough to continue his convalescence in Switzerland where he was accompanied by his wife, Jean. Busby did not return to Manchester until April 18. He made his journey by rail and sea.
In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, amid the grief, shock, sorrow and pain there was James Patrick Murphy, Busby's assistant and the man who did all in his power to keep the club functioning.
Manchester United owes a great debt of gratitude to Jimmy Murphy, it is thanks to his dogged determination and devotion that the shattered club and community were able to continue.
Bobby Charlton recalls that on a visit to the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich Murphy was a tower of strength as he tended to the injured players and relayed to the infirm the scale of the tragedy and the grief being experienced in Manchester.
In Charlton's autobiography he remembers how Murphy's heartening displays of strength were revealed to have been a brave face worn to protect others: 'One day he was discovered in a back corridor of the hospital, sobbing his heart out in pain at the loss of so many young players.'
Murphy implored the survivors to fight through the suffering for the good of the club and the memory of their fallen team-mates. It was Murphy who took charge as Busby fought for life and Murphy who sought to find the players necessary to field a team for the first game after the disaster.
Through death and injury the United squad was decimated, such was the shortage of players facing Murphy that players were brought in from outside the club and, 17-year-olds were called up from the second reserves.
In stark a illustration of the problems facing the club, United winger Kenny Morgan recalls: 'I was back playing about a month after the crash. I shouldn't have played until the following year. But there were no players at United. All the wingers were killed.'
Morgan, who was only rescued hours after the crash when two German reporters were scouring the wreckage for the film of the Red Star game, never reclaimed the form he showed before the disaster.
On February 19th 60,000 fans crammed into Old Trafford for the postponed FA Cup 5th round tie against Sheffield Wednesday; it was United's first game after the disaster. In the programme for that game 11 blank spaces appeared where the United players should have been.
Amazingly, two of the survivors took the pitch for what was to be a 2-0 win; Bill Foulkes, who Murphy made skipper that day, and Harry Gregg who just two weeks earlier had helped pull survivors from the wreckage, including Charlton and Busby.
United went on to reach the FA Cup final, but lost at Wembley to Bolton Wanderers, they were also defeated in semi-final of the European Cup by AC Milan. As a mark of respect UEFA invited United to compete in the competition the following season, but the invitation was declined.
While tragedy and football are no strangers, from the relatively recent disasters at Heysel and Hillsbrough to the 66-fans who died at Ibrox in 1971 and 1949's Superga air disaster, which claimed the lives of 18 Torino players, the events and aftermath of Munich still resonate.
Perhaps the sense of loss was so acute and is still remembered today because it stemmed from the loss of young, talented people not yet close to fulfilling their potential.
The Babes may not be young by today's standards when 21-year-old footballs are far from a rarity. The same was not true in 1958. The youngest to perish was Eddie Colman just 21 years and 3 months old; the eldest, the captain of the side, Roger Byrne, who died aged 28.
While the city of Manchester and United as a club felt the loss most acutely, Munich was also a tragedy for English football, European football and the game as a whole and perhaps this is why their memories remain so cherished.
Of those that died Tommy Taylor was already an established part of the England national team with 16 goals in 19 appearances, as was Byrne with 33 caps to his name, while David Pegg had just broken into the national side and Duncan Edwards had broken the post-war record as the youngest player to represent England aged just 18, he went on to win 18 caps.
Charlton still says Edwards is the best player he ever saw play the game. That Charlton played with and against players of the calibre of Puskas, Beckenbauer, Pele and Best makes such a statement all the more remarkable and further echoes the tragedy of talent lost.
Another reason the Babes are still important today is that their legacy has always been at the forefront of everything Manchester United stands for and strives to attain, and it is as important today as it was 50 years ago.
From the 'Flowers of Manchester' banner inside Old Trafford to the ethos of fast flowing football, complete with an emphasis on youth, employed by Alex Ferguson today, the memory and achievements of Busby and his Babes informs and moulds the club.
Thirty-one years on from the European Cup triumph of 1968 Manchester United are training at the Camp Nou ahead of their appearance in the final of Champions League.
May 26 1999 is set to be another momentous day in the club's history. By coincidence it will mark the 90th birthday of Busby, who died in 1994 having seen Ferguson end the club's 26-year wait for a league title last won in the season prior to the triumph at Wembley.
On the pitch Alex Ferguson wears a replica shirt from the 1968 triumph. It is at once a gesture which pays homage to those who went before, a show of pride, of honour and of heritage. It is also, in no small part, a canny device designed to inspire his players.
The challenge for Ferguson and his players was to emulate and honour Busby and his players, those who triumphed in 1968 and those who perished in 1958.
In memorium:
Players: Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor, Liam Whelan.
Journalists: Alf Clarke, Don Davies, George Follows, Tom Jackson, Archie Ledbrooke, Henry Rose, Eric Thompson, Frank Swift.
Also killed: Walter Crickmer (club secretary), Bert Whalley (chief coach), Tom Curry (trainer), Capt Kenneth Rayment (co-pilot), Bela Miklos (travel agent), Willie Satinoff (supporter), Tom Cable (steward).
From Soccernet:
The Busby Babes: Munich remembered
Phil Holland
Archive
It is the summer of 1968 and on Wembley's hallowed turf, underneath the famous twin towers and in front of 100,000 fans Manchester United have just beaten Benfica 4-1 to lift the European Cup.
On the pitch the celebrations soon engulf Matt Busby. One by one his players find him, shake him by the hand and embrace him. Each expressing in these brief emotional moments feelings of joy, of thanks, excitement and something more; empathy.
It can be seen best in the fleeting glimpses the archives show of Busby with George Best and with Manchester-born Nobby Stiles, who shares a particularly poignant exchange with his manager.
Ten years on from February 6th, 1958 and Busby and United had achieved greatness.
It was an achievement born out of the necessity to honour the memories of Busby's Babes who died in Munich.
The scale of the Munich air disaster, the sheer tragedy of the events and their subsequent impact is difficult to impart to a new a generation of football fans. This was a team that had achieved considerable success and while so-doing won the hearts of a nation, not just the red half of Manchester.
Two consecutive league championships, a runners-up place in the 1957 FA Cup final, five back-to-back FA Youth Cups between 1953-57, a place in the 1957 European Cup semi-finals and the same again in 1958.
The Busby Babes were on the brink of greatness, the future was theirs. There seemed to be no limit on what they could achieve.
That they had managed to accomplish so much is remarkable in itself, but it was the manner in which it was achieved that endeared so many to that Manchester United team. It was a side that not only played with style and panache, but they did so with players who broke the mould.
The commonly held belief at the time was that to compete at the highest level required experience in every position, blooding a youngster represented a considerable risk. While Busby recognised the importance of experience he believed that youth was an undervalued asset and could give him the edge.
So rather than buying seasoned professionals, as was the norm, Busby built a side around youth; it was a gamble, but one that paid off. The average age of his 1956 championship winning side was just 22. The average age of the side which flew back from Belgrade in February, 1958 after securing a place in the European Cup semi-finals was 23.
Busby is a close as you can get in football to being regarded as a pioneer, as a visionary; with his ground-breaking youth scheme he re-wrote the way football teams were constructed and by recognising the potential of the European Cup he embraced a new frontier.
Under pressure from the English football authorities champions Chelsea did not enter the European Cup in its inaugural season in 1955/56, but despite the same opposition Busby led his championship winners into Europe for the competition's second season and managed to reach the semi-finals where they lost to Real Madrid.
After securing the league title again in 1956/57 United qualified once more for the European Cup in the 1957/68 season, and after their success in the competition the previous season United were automatically amongst the favourites.
Those walking the corridors of power at the Football Association and the Football League were diametrically opposed to the European Cup fearing it would undermine the integrity of the game at home, and so strove to make United's decision to compete as difficult as possible by dismissing any pleas to alleviate fixture congestion.
Under new league rules any team competing in Europe had to be back in England a full 24 hours before their next domestic fixture. In fact United's decision to charter a plane from British European Airways for that ill-fated round trip to Belgrade in February 1958 for the European Cup quarter-final against Red Star owed itself to this ruling.
In the previous round United had struggled to get home in time for their league fixture against Birmingham City when their flight home after a game against Dukla Prague was delayed.
This time Busby wanted no such delays, no such worries ahead of United's vital game on Saturday February 8th against league leaders Wolves, a game of great importance to Busby who was aiming to secure the league title for a third straight season.
So against this background of opposition from the powers that be and restrictive time constraints Busby and his young convention-defying team, which was already on the path to glory, began its last fateful journey together.
Having beaten Red Star 2-1 at Old Trafford a draw would be enough to see them into the semi-finals of the European Cup for the second successive season. On an icy pitch in Belgrade on the February 5th United raced into a 3-0 lead but, perhaps betraying United's youthful naivety, Red Star got back into the game. Nevertheless, despite a 3-3 draw on the day United won 5-4 on aggregate and secured a place in the semis.
The players and club officials enjoyed a cocktail reception at the British Embassy after the game before beginning their journey home the following day aboard BEA Flight 609. The Elizabethan class aircraft, the 'Lord Burleigh', landed in heavy snow for refuelling at the Munich-Riem airport in West Germany. It would never to fly again.
Twice the aircraft tried to take off, and twice it failed. After each attempt the passengers were all asked to return to the terminal building. The second time Duncan Edwards, like some of the other players, was convinced they would not be travelling home that afternoon, and so sent his landlady a telegram which read: 'All flights cancelled. Returning home tomorrow. Duncan.' The telegram was delivered at 5pm.
Despite their reading of the situation the passengers were called to the plane for a third time. In the cabin the laughing and joking of the previous attempts was replaced by a sense of apprehension.
At 3.04pm Captain James Thain attempted a third take off. As a result of the slush and snow on the runway the plane could not reach take off speed and so failed to gain height.
The plane crashed through the airport's perimeter fence and careered into an unoccupied house. The port wing and part of the tail was ripped off and the house caught fire. The port side of the cockpit slammed into a tree, the starboard side of the plane hit a wooden hut causing the fuel truck and tyres it housed to explode.
Twenty-one of the 44 people aboard perished in the crash, while a further two were to succumb to their injuries in hospital. Seven of the players who had played in Belgrade a day earlier died instantly: Geoff Bent (25), Roger Byrne (28), Eddie Colman (21), Mark Jones (24), David Pegg (22), Tommy Taylor (26) and Liam 'Billy' Whelan (22).
Duncan Edwards lost his fight for life 15 days later on February 21, while the careers of Johnny Berry and Jackie Blachflower were ended as a result of the injuries they sustained.
The bodies of the dead were flown back to Manchester and lay overnight in the Old Trafford gymnasium before being collected by the families.
Over 100,000 people lined streets as the hearses delivered their coffins to the stadium and thousands more lined the streets for the subsequent funerals and memorial services, while two minutes of silence were observed at matches across the country.
Busby himself, the father of the team, suffered fractured ribs, a punctured lung and injuries to his legs. So grave was his condition that the last rites were administered in the hours following the crash. Two weeks on and entombed in an oxygen tent Busby was again read the last rites.
Remarkably he recovered enough to continue his convalescence in Switzerland where he was accompanied by his wife, Jean. Busby did not return to Manchester until April 18. He made his journey by rail and sea.
In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, amid the grief, shock, sorrow and pain there was James Patrick Murphy, Busby's assistant and the man who did all in his power to keep the club functioning.
Manchester United owes a great debt of gratitude to Jimmy Murphy, it is thanks to his dogged determination and devotion that the shattered club and community were able to continue.
Bobby Charlton recalls that on a visit to the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich Murphy was a tower of strength as he tended to the injured players and relayed to the infirm the scale of the tragedy and the grief being experienced in Manchester.
In Charlton's autobiography he remembers how Murphy's heartening displays of strength were revealed to have been a brave face worn to protect others: 'One day he was discovered in a back corridor of the hospital, sobbing his heart out in pain at the loss of so many young players.'
Murphy implored the survivors to fight through the suffering for the good of the club and the memory of their fallen team-mates. It was Murphy who took charge as Busby fought for life and Murphy who sought to find the players necessary to field a team for the first game after the disaster.
Through death and injury the United squad was decimated, such was the shortage of players facing Murphy that players were brought in from outside the club and, 17-year-olds were called up from the second reserves.
In stark a illustration of the problems facing the club, United winger Kenny Morgan recalls: 'I was back playing about a month after the crash. I shouldn't have played until the following year. But there were no players at United. All the wingers were killed.'
Morgan, who was only rescued hours after the crash when two German reporters were scouring the wreckage for the film of the Red Star game, never reclaimed the form he showed before the disaster.
On February 19th 60,000 fans crammed into Old Trafford for the postponed FA Cup 5th round tie against Sheffield Wednesday; it was United's first game after the disaster. In the programme for that game 11 blank spaces appeared where the United players should have been.
Amazingly, two of the survivors took the pitch for what was to be a 2-0 win; Bill Foulkes, who Murphy made skipper that day, and Harry Gregg who just two weeks earlier had helped pull survivors from the wreckage, including Charlton and Busby.
United went on to reach the FA Cup final, but lost at Wembley to Bolton Wanderers, they were also defeated in semi-final of the European Cup by AC Milan. As a mark of respect UEFA invited United to compete in the competition the following season, but the invitation was declined.
While tragedy and football are no strangers, from the relatively recent disasters at Heysel and Hillsbrough to the 66-fans who died at Ibrox in 1971 and 1949's Superga air disaster, which claimed the lives of 18 Torino players, the events and aftermath of Munich still resonate.
Perhaps the sense of loss was so acute and is still remembered today because it stemmed from the loss of young, talented people not yet close to fulfilling their potential.
The Babes may not be young by today's standards when 21-year-old footballs are far from a rarity. The same was not true in 1958. The youngest to perish was Eddie Colman just 21 years and 3 months old; the eldest, the captain of the side, Roger Byrne, who died aged 28.
While the city of Manchester and United as a club felt the loss most acutely, Munich was also a tragedy for English football, European football and the game as a whole and perhaps this is why their memories remain so cherished.
Of those that died Tommy Taylor was already an established part of the England national team with 16 goals in 19 appearances, as was Byrne with 33 caps to his name, while David Pegg had just broken into the national side and Duncan Edwards had broken the post-war record as the youngest player to represent England aged just 18, he went on to win 18 caps.
Charlton still says Edwards is the best player he ever saw play the game. That Charlton played with and against players of the calibre of Puskas, Beckenbauer, Pele and Best makes such a statement all the more remarkable and further echoes the tragedy of talent lost.
Another reason the Babes are still important today is that their legacy has always been at the forefront of everything Manchester United stands for and strives to attain, and it is as important today as it was 50 years ago.
From the 'Flowers of Manchester' banner inside Old Trafford to the ethos of fast flowing football, complete with an emphasis on youth, employed by Alex Ferguson today, the memory and achievements of Busby and his Babes informs and moulds the club.
Thirty-one years on from the European Cup triumph of 1968 Manchester United are training at the Camp Nou ahead of their appearance in the final of Champions League.
May 26 1999 is set to be another momentous day in the club's history. By coincidence it will mark the 90th birthday of Busby, who died in 1994 having seen Ferguson end the club's 26-year wait for a league title last won in the season prior to the triumph at Wembley.
On the pitch Alex Ferguson wears a replica shirt from the 1968 triumph. It is at once a gesture which pays homage to those who went before, a show of pride, of honour and of heritage. It is also, in no small part, a canny device designed to inspire his players.
The challenge for Ferguson and his players was to emulate and honour Busby and his players, those who triumphed in 1968 and those who perished in 1958.
In memorium:
Players: Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor, Liam Whelan.
Journalists: Alf Clarke, Don Davies, George Follows, Tom Jackson, Archie Ledbrooke, Henry Rose, Eric Thompson, Frank Swift.
Also killed: Walter Crickmer (club secretary), Bert Whalley (chief coach), Tom Curry (trainer), Capt Kenneth Rayment (co-pilot), Bela Miklos (travel agent), Willie Satinoff (supporter), Tom Cable (steward).
Monday, February 04, 2008
There's nothing in the world I want except...
You cannot imagine how much joy you bring to me.
With just a little smile, you take away all my frustrations...
With just a little smile, you take away all my frustrations...
Friday, February 01, 2008
United v Liverpool in Fans' Quest for the Holy Grail
United v Liverpool in Fans' Quest for the Holy Grail
MUST STATEMENT:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 5.00pm THURSDAY 31st JANUARY 2008
MUST, the Manchester United Supporters Trust, is challenging Liverpool's
fans to a race to become the first to attain the Holy Grail of a supporter-
owned football club.
'Share Liverpool FC' was today launched with the aim of raising £500m to
buy-out American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett by persuading 100,000
fans to each pay £5,000.
MUST, with 32,000 members, is the largest Supporters Trust in the country
and began campaigning for supporter ownership during the failed BSkyB bid
in 1998-99.
Since the bitterly-opposed hostile takeover of United by the Glazers in
2005, which brought with it vast levels of debt and hugely inflated ticket
price rises, fans at all clubs are waking up to the fact that something
needs to be done now or we risk losing our national game forever.
MUST chief executive Duncan Drasdo said:
"This is bound to spark fierce competition between the two sets of rival
fans.
"We've been working on our own plans, which we'll reveal later in the
season. But, whilst we believe that supporter-led bids for any of the big
clubs are likely to require a mixture of investment bank finance and money
raised directly from fans, we'll be watching this latest scheme with great
interest.
"There is a huge financial dividend that flows from supporter-ownership,
and we'd hate to see Liverpool being able to take advantage of it before we
can at United."
Supporters everywhere should be greatly encouraged that, in an interview
with the Observer last Sunday, the newly appointed Culture & Sport
Secretary, Andy Burnham MP said that: "The Barcelona model, to me, is how a
football club should be run. They are one of the most pre-eminent names in
world football, yet the club is owned by its supporters on a one-member,
one-vote basis and they control it. That strengthens it because it's never
subject to the whim of one person; it's a collective endeavour. English
football should see that as a big strength. I'd love to see if we could
grow the Barcelona model here."
Drasdo continued:
"Supporter-ownership has a great many advantages, especially when compared
to the rash of exploitative, profit-draining, debt-laden and out-of-touch
regimes that we've seen pervading football in recent times.
"First and foremost, a supporter-owned club is able to re-invest all
profits back into the football club, rather than seeing it being siphoned
off by private owners – whether to pay interest on loans, finance their
other businesses, or simply buy bigger yachts. Currently, at United, that
represents a £70m windfall that could be spent on players.
"Secondly, the increased affinity between 'customer' (supporter) and
'provider' (club) makes the business more attractive to sponsors, as has
been demonstrated in Germany, where supporter-ownership is the norm.
"With supporters' priorities placed at the heart of everything a club does,
the experience for the loyal match-going fan in particular would be greatly
enhanced, leading to an improved atmosphere inside grounds – benefiting
fans and players alike.
"The bottom line is simple: supporters are currently paying for these
takeovers anyway, through increased ticket prices and the like, but will
end up with nothing to show for it. So it makes far more sense for us to
own the clubs ourselves." [ENDS]
MUST STATEMENT:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 5.00pm THURSDAY 31st JANUARY 2008
MUST, the Manchester United Supporters Trust, is challenging Liverpool's
fans to a race to become the first to attain the Holy Grail of a supporter-
owned football club.
'Share Liverpool FC' was today launched with the aim of raising £500m to
buy-out American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett by persuading 100,000
fans to each pay £5,000.
MUST, with 32,000 members, is the largest Supporters Trust in the country
and began campaigning for supporter ownership during the failed BSkyB bid
in 1998-99.
Since the bitterly-opposed hostile takeover of United by the Glazers in
2005, which brought with it vast levels of debt and hugely inflated ticket
price rises, fans at all clubs are waking up to the fact that something
needs to be done now or we risk losing our national game forever.
MUST chief executive Duncan Drasdo said:
"This is bound to spark fierce competition between the two sets of rival
fans.
"We've been working on our own plans, which we'll reveal later in the
season. But, whilst we believe that supporter-led bids for any of the big
clubs are likely to require a mixture of investment bank finance and money
raised directly from fans, we'll be watching this latest scheme with great
interest.
"There is a huge financial dividend that flows from supporter-ownership,
and we'd hate to see Liverpool being able to take advantage of it before we
can at United."
Supporters everywhere should be greatly encouraged that, in an interview
with the Observer last Sunday, the newly appointed Culture & Sport
Secretary, Andy Burnham MP said that: "The Barcelona model, to me, is how a
football club should be run. They are one of the most pre-eminent names in
world football, yet the club is owned by its supporters on a one-member,
one-vote basis and they control it. That strengthens it because it's never
subject to the whim of one person; it's a collective endeavour. English
football should see that as a big strength. I'd love to see if we could
grow the Barcelona model here."
Drasdo continued:
"Supporter-ownership has a great many advantages, especially when compared
to the rash of exploitative, profit-draining, debt-laden and out-of-touch
regimes that we've seen pervading football in recent times.
"First and foremost, a supporter-owned club is able to re-invest all
profits back into the football club, rather than seeing it being siphoned
off by private owners – whether to pay interest on loans, finance their
other businesses, or simply buy bigger yachts. Currently, at United, that
represents a £70m windfall that could be spent on players.
"Secondly, the increased affinity between 'customer' (supporter) and
'provider' (club) makes the business more attractive to sponsors, as has
been demonstrated in Germany, where supporter-ownership is the norm.
"With supporters' priorities placed at the heart of everything a club does,
the experience for the loyal match-going fan in particular would be greatly
enhanced, leading to an improved atmosphere inside grounds – benefiting
fans and players alike.
"The bottom line is simple: supporters are currently paying for these
takeovers anyway, through increased ticket prices and the like, but will
end up with nothing to show for it. So it makes far more sense for us to
own the clubs ourselves." [ENDS]
MUST's response to Manchester United Financial Results
MUST's response to Manchester United Financial Results
Summary
United have announced record turnover and profits but the question is - is
this good news for supporters?
On the face of it record profits might appear to be something that
supporters would welcome and certainly if United was a supporter owned club
with all the profits being reinvested then this would be fantastic news.
However, under private ownership, the Glazers will be keen to extract every
penny of profit for themselves and so the extra revenue contributed by
supporters through the huge ticket price rises will be flowing straight
back out of the club with no benefit for the club or its loyal support.
From a supporter viewpoint increased profit is actually bad news if that
increase in profit has been achieved through either reducing expenditure on
the playing squad (both transfers and wages) or through massive hikes in
ticket prices. Both of these factors have contributed significantly to
these profit figures.
As ever, supporters have questions that are not answered by these results
or by the Glazers directly: What is the debt situation? Where is the profit
going? Why are ticket prices still shooting up if profits are so high?
The Glazers will no doubt be paying themselves a juicy dividend out of
these profits – after all there is a large debt to service and they won’t
want to be paying that themselves when they can get Manchester United
supporters to do it for them.
It is about time the Glazers stopped thinking only about their own pockets
and started to look at the long term damage they are doing to the
Manchester United support with more loyal fans being priced out every
season. These profits should be reinvested in the club, putting ticket
prices back to the pre-takeover levels and removing the compulsory element
of the automatic cup scheme would be a good start.
Government has already taken an interest in the abusive ticket prices at
Premier League clubs and these figures can only serve as further evidence
that they need to take action now to protect the ordinary supporter from
having their loyalty exploited for the benefit of already wealthy owners.
Analysis of the headlines in the MUL statement:
Group turnover increased 27% to £210m (2006 - £165m)
This increased turnover figure is attributed by MUL to stadium expansion,
increased sponsorship and on-field success. Interestingly, the substantial
ticket price increases in April 2007 are not mentioned. The new TV deal
does not kick in until next year, so further increases in turnover can be
projected next year, especially if ticket prices rise again (as expected).
Gross turnover (including sales from Nike merchandise and MUTV not
consolidated in these results) rose 21% to £245m (2006 - £202m)
It is not technically correct to include ‘sales’ from the Nike deal and
from MUTV in the gross turnover figure as neither of these companies are
included in the MUL group in accounting terms – Nike is a profit share
arising from a contract and United’s minority stake in MUTV was loss-making
again this year (as in every year since its launch).
EBITDA rose 72% to £79.8m (2006 - £46.3m)
This number exceeds the Glazers EBITDA target in their refinancing business
plan of £73.8m by less than the amount raised by the ticket price rises and
the compulsory Automatic Cup Scheme membership for all season ticket
holders. Why continue to make it painful for loyal supporters when you have
already met your target?
Profit before tax jumped 93% to £59.6m (2006 - £30.8m)
The net profit number was boosted by a couple of exceptional items – an
£11m profit on player disposal and the fact that no interest was payable on
the £575m Senior Secured debt which was transferred into MUL in August
2006, according to a Note to the 2005-6 Accounts. The Accounts show no sign
of that debt still being a liability of MUL. From what David Gill has been
telling journalists recently, it appears that this debt and the outstanding
hedge fund PiK (which stood at some £155m at the 2007 year end) has been
transferred back to Red Football.
Matchday revenue up 30% to £92.6m, (2006 - £71.3m) reflecting successful
expansion of Old Trafford, increasing capacity to over 76,000
The stadium expansion was largely completed and operational in the 2005-6
financial year, so for the year 2006-7 the matchday revenue increase can
largely be attributed to price increases across the board at Old Trafford
(parking, pies & pints etc) and particularly the ticket price rises which
caused such pain to loyal fans on top of two consecutive huge rises in
previous years.
Media revenue up 35% to £61.5m (2006 - £45.5m) due to semi-final appearance
in the UEFA Champions League, finalists in the FA Cup and winning the
Barclays Premier League
This number will undoubtedly increase next year as the new Sky deal kicks
in.
Commercial revenues up 15% to £56.0m (2006 - £48.6m) due to the first year
of the world record AIG shirt and accompanying financial services
sponsorship deals, increase in the Nike contract and new platinum sponsors,
Kumho Tires, Betfred and Hestiun
Who?
So where is the debt?
If the Glazers have taken the debt back into the books of their own company
Red Football, then this is good news for MU supporters in that the debt
becomes the direct liability of the Glazers’ company and is not hanging
over the club, weighing its finances down – the effects of this can be seen
from the results. The reason for doing this is not clear – it may be for
tax reasons, but more likely is the explanation that the Glazers wanted to
clear the debt from MUL in preparation for a securitisation of United’s
matchday and stadium revenues, and banks would look askance at adding a
potential £400m bond liability to a company which already had up to £700m
of existing debt. Of course the securitisation plan was put on hold last
year because of the credit crunch and the resulting inability to do a deal
on attractive terms.
It also needs to be said that even though the debt seems no longer to a
liability of the club, the Glazers will have had to pledge their shares in
MUL to the banks providing the debt finance to Red Football, so any failure
to repay that debt could result in the banks taking ownership and control
of United through the shares. There is still a debt risk hanging over the
club, but it is certainly less dangerous than before.
So where is the profit going?
What is clear is that the increase in net profits from not having to
service the debt will result in a large dividend (up to £40m cash) which is
payable to the owners, and which they can use to service the £660m debt
which is now in Red Football. The question is – will there be enough to
both service the debt and make enough cash available to strengthen the
squad if Sir Alex needs to? The credit crunch has made the debt more
expensive than ever.
So why are ticket prices still shooting up if profits are so high?
Fans are paying ever higher ticket and matchday prices at Old Trafford,
normal practice for the Glazers just as fans of the Tampa Bay Bucs have
experienced, and just as tenants of the Glazers’ trailer parks found to
their cost. Last year’s increase was an astronomical 12% (the third such
rise in a row) despite the Glazers saying in their refinancing documents
that the price rise would be 2.5%. The reason for this would be that the
cost of servicing the £660m debt for the Glazers has risen substantially
because of the current credit crunch - we estimate that the debt interest
bill could run to £52m this year, as against £42m last year. They may well
have to extract more cash from fans just to keep up payments on the debt.
Clearly the higher revenues are mainly driven by the cash being generated
from fans at the stadium. While everyone welcomes the success that the club
is achieving on the pitch and the performances of the team, the effect on
many fans has been substantial. Thousands have now been priced out of Old
Trafford, and for those that continue to struggle to pay for their season
tickets, it is no consolation to see that the hard-earned money they pay
for higher ticket prices is going back to the owners to pay off huge debts
they took on to buy the club.
It's time for the Glazers to consider the many thousands of Manchester
United season ticket holders who were priced out and unable afford their
season tickets this season, some of whom had supported the club for over
forty years. MUST is calling for a ticket price reduction so that the
growing exodus of fans from Old Trafford is stemmed, with the resultant
reduction in atmosphere currently being experienced. The Glazers also
compounded supporters’ hardship by implementing the hugely unpopular
Compulsory ACS (Automatic Cup Scheme) which takes the potential cost of a
season ticket to over £1000 for many. MUST is also calling for the ACS to
be returned to its voluntary status.
If prices go up next season, thousands more traditional supporters will be
on the edge of being 'priced out' of following the club at Old Trafford.
Summary
United have announced record turnover and profits but the question is - is
this good news for supporters?
On the face of it record profits might appear to be something that
supporters would welcome and certainly if United was a supporter owned club
with all the profits being reinvested then this would be fantastic news.
However, under private ownership, the Glazers will be keen to extract every
penny of profit for themselves and so the extra revenue contributed by
supporters through the huge ticket price rises will be flowing straight
back out of the club with no benefit for the club or its loyal support.
From a supporter viewpoint increased profit is actually bad news if that
increase in profit has been achieved through either reducing expenditure on
the playing squad (both transfers and wages) or through massive hikes in
ticket prices. Both of these factors have contributed significantly to
these profit figures.
As ever, supporters have questions that are not answered by these results
or by the Glazers directly: What is the debt situation? Where is the profit
going? Why are ticket prices still shooting up if profits are so high?
The Glazers will no doubt be paying themselves a juicy dividend out of
these profits – after all there is a large debt to service and they won’t
want to be paying that themselves when they can get Manchester United
supporters to do it for them.
It is about time the Glazers stopped thinking only about their own pockets
and started to look at the long term damage they are doing to the
Manchester United support with more loyal fans being priced out every
season. These profits should be reinvested in the club, putting ticket
prices back to the pre-takeover levels and removing the compulsory element
of the automatic cup scheme would be a good start.
Government has already taken an interest in the abusive ticket prices at
Premier League clubs and these figures can only serve as further evidence
that they need to take action now to protect the ordinary supporter from
having their loyalty exploited for the benefit of already wealthy owners.
Analysis of the headlines in the MUL statement:
Group turnover increased 27% to £210m (2006 - £165m)
This increased turnover figure is attributed by MUL to stadium expansion,
increased sponsorship and on-field success. Interestingly, the substantial
ticket price increases in April 2007 are not mentioned. The new TV deal
does not kick in until next year, so further increases in turnover can be
projected next year, especially if ticket prices rise again (as expected).
Gross turnover (including sales from Nike merchandise and MUTV not
consolidated in these results) rose 21% to £245m (2006 - £202m)
It is not technically correct to include ‘sales’ from the Nike deal and
from MUTV in the gross turnover figure as neither of these companies are
included in the MUL group in accounting terms – Nike is a profit share
arising from a contract and United’s minority stake in MUTV was loss-making
again this year (as in every year since its launch).
EBITDA rose 72% to £79.8m (2006 - £46.3m)
This number exceeds the Glazers EBITDA target in their refinancing business
plan of £73.8m by less than the amount raised by the ticket price rises and
the compulsory Automatic Cup Scheme membership for all season ticket
holders. Why continue to make it painful for loyal supporters when you have
already met your target?
Profit before tax jumped 93% to £59.6m (2006 - £30.8m)
The net profit number was boosted by a couple of exceptional items – an
£11m profit on player disposal and the fact that no interest was payable on
the £575m Senior Secured debt which was transferred into MUL in August
2006, according to a Note to the 2005-6 Accounts. The Accounts show no sign
of that debt still being a liability of MUL. From what David Gill has been
telling journalists recently, it appears that this debt and the outstanding
hedge fund PiK (which stood at some £155m at the 2007 year end) has been
transferred back to Red Football.
Matchday revenue up 30% to £92.6m, (2006 - £71.3m) reflecting successful
expansion of Old Trafford, increasing capacity to over 76,000
The stadium expansion was largely completed and operational in the 2005-6
financial year, so for the year 2006-7 the matchday revenue increase can
largely be attributed to price increases across the board at Old Trafford
(parking, pies & pints etc) and particularly the ticket price rises which
caused such pain to loyal fans on top of two consecutive huge rises in
previous years.
Media revenue up 35% to £61.5m (2006 - £45.5m) due to semi-final appearance
in the UEFA Champions League, finalists in the FA Cup and winning the
Barclays Premier League
This number will undoubtedly increase next year as the new Sky deal kicks
in.
Commercial revenues up 15% to £56.0m (2006 - £48.6m) due to the first year
of the world record AIG shirt and accompanying financial services
sponsorship deals, increase in the Nike contract and new platinum sponsors,
Kumho Tires, Betfred and Hestiun
Who?
So where is the debt?
If the Glazers have taken the debt back into the books of their own company
Red Football, then this is good news for MU supporters in that the debt
becomes the direct liability of the Glazers’ company and is not hanging
over the club, weighing its finances down – the effects of this can be seen
from the results. The reason for doing this is not clear – it may be for
tax reasons, but more likely is the explanation that the Glazers wanted to
clear the debt from MUL in preparation for a securitisation of United’s
matchday and stadium revenues, and banks would look askance at adding a
potential £400m bond liability to a company which already had up to £700m
of existing debt. Of course the securitisation plan was put on hold last
year because of the credit crunch and the resulting inability to do a deal
on attractive terms.
It also needs to be said that even though the debt seems no longer to a
liability of the club, the Glazers will have had to pledge their shares in
MUL to the banks providing the debt finance to Red Football, so any failure
to repay that debt could result in the banks taking ownership and control
of United through the shares. There is still a debt risk hanging over the
club, but it is certainly less dangerous than before.
So where is the profit going?
What is clear is that the increase in net profits from not having to
service the debt will result in a large dividend (up to £40m cash) which is
payable to the owners, and which they can use to service the £660m debt
which is now in Red Football. The question is – will there be enough to
both service the debt and make enough cash available to strengthen the
squad if Sir Alex needs to? The credit crunch has made the debt more
expensive than ever.
So why are ticket prices still shooting up if profits are so high?
Fans are paying ever higher ticket and matchday prices at Old Trafford,
normal practice for the Glazers just as fans of the Tampa Bay Bucs have
experienced, and just as tenants of the Glazers’ trailer parks found to
their cost. Last year’s increase was an astronomical 12% (the third such
rise in a row) despite the Glazers saying in their refinancing documents
that the price rise would be 2.5%. The reason for this would be that the
cost of servicing the £660m debt for the Glazers has risen substantially
because of the current credit crunch - we estimate that the debt interest
bill could run to £52m this year, as against £42m last year. They may well
have to extract more cash from fans just to keep up payments on the debt.
Clearly the higher revenues are mainly driven by the cash being generated
from fans at the stadium. While everyone welcomes the success that the club
is achieving on the pitch and the performances of the team, the effect on
many fans has been substantial. Thousands have now been priced out of Old
Trafford, and for those that continue to struggle to pay for their season
tickets, it is no consolation to see that the hard-earned money they pay
for higher ticket prices is going back to the owners to pay off huge debts
they took on to buy the club.
It's time for the Glazers to consider the many thousands of Manchester
United season ticket holders who were priced out and unable afford their
season tickets this season, some of whom had supported the club for over
forty years. MUST is calling for a ticket price reduction so that the
growing exodus of fans from Old Trafford is stemmed, with the resultant
reduction in atmosphere currently being experienced. The Glazers also
compounded supporters’ hardship by implementing the hugely unpopular
Compulsory ACS (Automatic Cup Scheme) which takes the potential cost of a
season ticket to over £1000 for many. MUST is also calling for the ACS to
be returned to its voluntary status.
If prices go up next season, thousands more traditional supporters will be
on the edge of being 'priced out' of following the club at Old Trafford.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
爱一个人好难
I can't get to sleep, suddenly feeling super duper emo. I guess I need to breakdown once in a while, to let everything out. I really wanna just get super drunk and forget everything, even if it's just for a short while. But life's multiple show means that I still have to play the good son, the promising teacher role, and that means wake up at 7am tomorrow, and the only thing that I am allowed to get drunk on is my tears...
爱一个人好难(国)
苏永康
你说你还是喜欢孤单
其实你怕被我看穿
你怕属于我们的船
飘飘荡荡靠不了岸
时到如今没有答案
我的真心为你牵荡
不管相见的夜多么难堪
渐渐淡淡的说
爱是不爱
想要把你忘记真的好难
思念的痛在我心里纠缠
朝朝暮暮的期盼
永远没有答案
为何当初你选择一刀两段
听你说声爱我真的好难
曾经说过的话风吹云散
站在天平的两端
一样的为难
唯一的答案
爱一个人好难
时到如今没有答案
我的真心为你牵荡
不管相见的夜多么难堪
渐渐淡淡的说
爱是不爱
想要把你忘记真的好难
思念的痛在我心里纠缠
朝朝暮暮的期盼
永远没有答案
为何当初你选择一刀两段
听你说声爱我真的好难
曾经说过的话风吹云散
站在天平的两端
一样的为难
唯一的答案
爱一个人好难
想要把你忘记真的好难
思念的痛在我心里纠缠
朝朝暮暮的期盼
永远没有答案
为何当初你选择一刀两段
听你说声爱我真的好难
曾经说过的话风吹云散
站在天平的两端
一样的为难
唯一的答案
爱一个人好难
爱一个人好难(国)
苏永康
你说你还是喜欢孤单
其实你怕被我看穿
你怕属于我们的船
飘飘荡荡靠不了岸
时到如今没有答案
我的真心为你牵荡
不管相见的夜多么难堪
渐渐淡淡的说
爱是不爱
想要把你忘记真的好难
思念的痛在我心里纠缠
朝朝暮暮的期盼
永远没有答案
为何当初你选择一刀两段
听你说声爱我真的好难
曾经说过的话风吹云散
站在天平的两端
一样的为难
唯一的答案
爱一个人好难
时到如今没有答案
我的真心为你牵荡
不管相见的夜多么难堪
渐渐淡淡的说
爱是不爱
想要把你忘记真的好难
思念的痛在我心里纠缠
朝朝暮暮的期盼
永远没有答案
为何当初你选择一刀两段
听你说声爱我真的好难
曾经说过的话风吹云散
站在天平的两端
一样的为难
唯一的答案
爱一个人好难
想要把你忘记真的好难
思念的痛在我心里纠缠
朝朝暮暮的期盼
永远没有答案
为何当初你选择一刀两段
听你说声爱我真的好难
曾经说过的话风吹云散
站在天平的两端
一样的为难
唯一的答案
爱一个人好难
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The One?
Because your smile is the 1 thing that can make me smile everytime.
Because of the way you shake your head when someone teases you.
Because of the way you go "har.....?" whenever the answer is not good.
Because of the nice smell of your hair.
Because of the way you stone when you look out the window of my car.
Because of the "anti-vulgarities" campaign.
Because you are mature.
Because you have a cheerful outlook.
Because you always think for others.
Because you are perfect in everyway, as though I dreamed you into life...
Because of the way you shake your head when someone teases you.
Because of the way you go "har.....?" whenever the answer is not good.
Because of the nice smell of your hair.
Because of the way you stone when you look out the window of my car.
Because of the "anti-vulgarities" campaign.
Because you are mature.
Because you have a cheerful outlook.
Because you always think for others.
Because you are perfect in everyway, as though I dreamed you into life...
Friday, January 11, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
SIngapore...lovely island?
Some interesting reads....
http://www.oikono.com/wordpress/?p=395
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKSP21069220071221?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
http://www.reason.com/news/show/123474.html
http://www.oikono.com/wordpress/?p=395
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKSP21069220071221?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
http://www.reason.com/news/show/123474.html
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