In Retrospect: 2010 FIFA World Cup

The biggest sporting event in the world finally drew its curtains after a pitched month-long battle which saw 32 teams vying for the roll of honour of being crowned the ultimate kings of football – the World Champions – and earn bragging rights for four years at least.

However, the 2010 FIFA World Cup threatens to be overshadowed and be long remembered for the exploits of one certain Paul the Octopus instead of the dramatic goal that Andres Iniesta scored deep into extra-time to win Spain their first ever World Cup after decades of underachievement.

That hardly comes as a surprise given that the action on the pitch was certainly not one that football die-hards would have anticipated and relished throughout the four weeks of football, and the competition got off to a bad start as goals came a trickle during the first week of action. What more, yellow and red cards were seemingly dished out by the referees as if they were distributing candies to children.

Villa in action for Spain

Sadly, the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney, Kaka and African stalwarts Drogba and Eto’o failed to live up to their pre-tournament billing as being amongst the elite in the world of football. Perhaps, the weight resting on their shoulders was too enormous a load I guess. But the likes of Villa, Sneijder and Golden Ball winner Forlan rose to the occasion and had great outings for their respective nations.

This World Cup might also prove to be a vital turning point for those who have been lobbying for the introduction of goal-line technology and video replays to assist referees in making their decisions.

We saw a good amount of high-profile gaffes, chief of which was the 'goal' that England didn't score. So, look out for some changes by the time we reach Brazil in 2014.

Then we had all sorts of crazy results in the group stages. France and Italy were sent packing back home, and England, Germany and Spain came perilously close to emulating them.

The best part, who would’ve thought that of all the 32 teams in South Africa, New Zealand would end the tournament as being the only unbeaten team. How bizarre!

Suarez's handball

In the quarter-finals, we witnessed arguably the most blatant handball foul of all time. Luiz Suarez, who is known more for his goal scoring prowess as opposed to his goalkeeping exploits, did fairly well to keep out a Ghanaian header from going in. A calculated foul some claimed it to be but he dashed the hopes of a whole nation and of an entire continent. How unfair!

One of the highlights of the tournament though was the emergence of the young German talents. I would have to concede that although I am a German supporter, I was unfamiliar with names such as Khedira, Oezil, Boateng, Neuer and Mueller before the tournament, all of whom are around 21 years of age and who have very few international caps between them. But it is apparent now that they are future stars in the making.

Besides, to see Germany’s attacking impetus against the likes of England and Argentina was indeed refreshing from both a team supporter and a neutrals point of view.

 The other team that I supported – Argentina – fared quite well in the group stages but were undone by German ruthlessness. I think Maradona has done a pretty good job as a coach, contrary to what some might believe.

The colourful 'Vuvuzelas'

As to how successfully South Africa has hosted this World Cup, I think they deserve to be given the plaudits. Security was as tight as it could get, matches ran on schedule, and the much feared crime rate dropped dramatically in the days before the World Cup.

The only chink in the armour was that the 'Vuvuzela', dubbed the horn of Africa, spoiled the fun by muting the chants and what-not of the fans with its monotonous bee-like buzzing.

Now, with the World Cup over, there is a certain void, or rather emptiness that needs to be filled. You know, after all those late nights watching Argentina playing Mexico and Germany versus Spain. But I guess I can seek solace from the fact that the next World Cup is only, yes ONLY, four years away. In Brazil.

What were your best bits of the World Cup? Feel free to share your thoughts by dropping a comment below.

Severe Disciplinary Cases in a School in Rawang

News reports over the past few days in the New Straits Times (NST) and The Star newspaper have been focusing on the social ills and disciplinary problems that have been plaguing a school in Rawang, with cases ranging from gangsterism and the usage of drugs to rape and vandalism.

It’s hard to imagine that this is going on in a rampant fashion in a school in Malaysia. Such cases have either been isolated cases or one-off cases before, but seeing the magnitude of the cases implicating this school in Rawang (SMK Seri Garing), there has to be cause for serious concern.

The authorities have to wake up from their slumber and face the hard reality that there may be other schools out there suffering from a similar fate, just that they have not got any media attention. This has to be rectified sooner rather than later so as to curtail the spread of these social ills from contaminating the mind and soul of more students all around the country.

How did this school come under media scrutiny?

This particular school in Rawang came under the media spotlight after a 14 year-old female student was cruelly raped by her male classmates during recess. The story spread from there and when the police came to investigate the case, they also found information linking students to underworld gangs and drug dealers among others.

Who is to be blamed?

Is it the society, the parents or the school authorities? Or is it even the police force and the government that is to be blamed for this problem? I think all of the parties should be held accountable because each and every one of them have their own roles to be played.

In addition to that, these students no doubt get influenced by their friends and even those from the 'underworld' too, so if there is no interference from their parents and the school authorities at the initial stage and proper enforcement of the law by the police, matters can get out of hand.

A police car heading to the school (NST Pics)

Who is affected?

The ones on the receiving end from the actions of this small portion of students are the teachers and their school mates. It would be no surprise that these students might go to the extent of threatening the teachers; while there have been reports that they exhort ‘protection’ money from their school mates. Worse still, seeing such behaviour, other students might get influenced and join the bandwagon.

How can this problem be solved?

The solutions should not apply to this school only – it should apply to any school facing these problems. Even if there are one or two individuals from a school involved in cases such as those mentioned above, that school should be put on a watch-list overseen by the police. Police should then keep a more vigilant eye on the schools that are on the watch-list.

At the same time, the Education Ministry should send teams conducting open talks on all these matters. Perhaps the students just act as they wish because they do not know the implications of their actions. Therefore, it is very improtant to create awareness among the students.

More importantly, the hard-core students who still persist with their ungodly actions despite numerous counselling sessions and other forms of rehabilitation should be sent to juvenile or reform schools as they are a threat to their peers, teachers, and the community at large. Hopefully, they will then change.

What is your opinion on this matter? How can it be curbed so that there is no repeat in the future? Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

The Madness in Bangkok

You must be from some other planet if you have heard nothing about the political unrest and the subsequent turmoil on the streets of Bangkok in recent weeks. Scenes of oblivion have been depicted in all our local dailies as well as international news agencies such as CNN and Reuters.

What Happened?

The ‘Red Shirt’ people, supporters of the opposition in the Thai political scene and purported supporters of ousted Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, had called for a fresh elections, citing that the previous election results should be nullified due to discrepancies arising from the voting process and that the present government led by Abhisit Vejjajiva is an illegitimate one.

When the present Thai administration declined to have fresh elections, the ‘Red Shirt’ supporters decided to occupy strategic locations in downtown Bangkok. The main financial and shopping districts of Bangkok were the scenes of violence as-never-seen-before in which more than 50 people have died and 400 more injured.

Is It Over?

As violence raged on and on, the present Thai administration had the last straw. They gave the ‘Red Shirt’ supporters an ultimatum to vacate the areas that they had occupied for the past one month. However, defiant as ever, many did not leave. This resulted in a large scale military offensive that left many of the supporters and their leaders taken under arrest.

The aftermath of the military offensive left the ‘Red Shirt’ supporters deploying tactics such as burning an awful lot of tyres and torching numerous buildings, most notably the biggest shopping mall in the whole of Bangkok.

The good thing though was that the supporters were harried off the streets and order was restored to a certain extent after the month-long stand-off between the ‘Red Shirt’ supporters and the Thai government but at a very high cost as a lot of damage was caused amid all this fighting.

What Next?

It remains to be seen whether the government will hold on to its promise of dissolving the parliament and having fresh elections in November. This is because despite making the promises, the ‘Red Shirt’ supporters continued to defy orders to vacate the areas in central Bangkok that they occupied.

As for now, after the military offensive on the 19th of May, there have been no notable fresh cases of violence. But you may never know, the ‘Red Shirt’ supporters who have a very good support from the rural poor might just strike back and leave not only Bangkok engulfed in massive turmoil but drag the whole of Thailand into a full-blown civil war.

What's your take on the situation in Bangkok? Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Malaysia's Thomas Cup Campaign

Local badminton enthusiasts must surely have been terribly heartbroken to see Malaysia fall easily to China in the semi-finals of the recent Thomas Cup, and that too at our own home. After so much hope, to see our team fall pitifully without giving even a decent fight does not augur well for the future of the national badminton side.

The results

Malaysia's results

Malaysia were handicapped in a sense that they did not play Nigeria, their first opponents in the group stage who did not even arrive in Kuala Lumpur to take part without any reasons given. That was very unsporting of Nigeria as it did not allow Malaysia to have a warm up.

Anyway, next up were Japan who Malaysia had never lost before in the history of the Thomas Cup. Too bad for us though as the history books had to be rewritten.

In the quarter-finals, Malaysia faced Denmark. Some journalists had earmarked Denmark as plausible champions of this edition of the Thomas Cup, but it was not to be. The match seemed to be lost after the tie came down to the third singles, but somehow, Hafiz Hashim conjured some magic to down Joachim Persson.

Things were never looking good as Malaysia faced China in the semi-finals. Lin Dan always had the upper hand over Lee Chong Wei in important international meets, while Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong always succumbed under pressure. And that was exactly what happened. Malaysia were whitewashed ruthlessly by China.

What went wrong?

Wong Choon Han

Everyone could see that Malaysia’s Achilles heel was their second and third singles players. Wong Choon Han is way past his prime, whilst Hafiz Hashim is just about as unpredictable as he can be. If only we had someone as capable as Lee Chong Wei in second singles, things could have been different.

This caused an over-dependency on Chong Wei and Koo-Tan, which resulted in them having to bear a tremendous load of pressure. Inevitably, this was what undid them, for they had to win or else Malaysia’s hopes were as good as lost.

Where do we stand?

Officially, Malaysia were ranked in third place behind China and Indonesia and ahead of Denmark, South Korea and Japan for the Thomas Cup. However, that seems to be marginally misplaced, especially after having lost shockingly to Japan and barely scraping past Denmark.

If nothing is done, and if the players don’t pull up their socks and buck up, then we could very well be behind all the other five countries by the time we line up for the next Thomas Cup in two years time.

What is to be done?

Iskandar Zulkarnian

It is obvious that Malaysia need to invest in younger singles players such as Iskandar Zulkarnian who have done well in the junior stage and should forget about those who have lost their touch such as Choon Han and Hafiz.

The doubles department, on the other hand, actually have enough raw talent to fly Malaysia’s flag high but what is lacking is a strong mental belief and some much needed consistency.

When we have those things settled, then it would be safe to say that Malaysia can have a realistic shot at wresting back the Thomas Cup.


What's your opinion on Malaysia's performance during the recent Thomas Cup? Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

When an Underdog Trumped a Blockbuster

March 7 2010 will go down in the history books of avid moviegoers... not for the right reasons, but for the wrong ones. It will be remembered as the day when Avatar played second fiddle to The Hurt Locker in the two most prestigious categories of the Academy Awards (Oscars), that are the ‘Best Motion Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ categories.

Although I have to concede that I haven’t watched The Hurt Locker as of yet, but the general rule of thumb in the entertainment industry is that the more a movie grosses from its box-office shows, the better it is in the eyes of the public. Therefore, the greater its chances of winning the Oscars.

However, The Hurt Locker has till now garnered a puny 25 million or so US Dollars, which makes it the lowest grossing film in modern history to nick the prestigious best movie award.

Avatar, on the other hand, is in a class of its own, with profits that have spiralled above the $2 billion benchmark. It is the highest grossing film of all time too, and this loss has raised a lot of eyebrows regarding the award system that is implemented at the Oscars.

As the Time Magazine had pointed out in the run-up to the Oscars, at the very least, a split decision was to be expected. This meant that if Avatar won the best picture accolade, then The Hurt Locker would register the best director award, and vice versa. There is a logic there, as it seems so unfair for Avatar just walk away empty handed.

In an analysis done by Reuters, it noted that The Hurt Locket played on 535 screens worldwide at its peak, whilst Avatar has played at probably ten thousand cinemas at every nook and corner of the world, and that too for more than three months running. Not only that, but The Hurt Locker cost a paltry $11 million to make, whilst Avatar’s budget was some 20 times higher – at $230 million.

Interestingly, The Hurt Locker’s reputation was enhanced by the fact that it won many smaller awards that preceded the Oscars. It won numerous honours in the BAFTA, Producers Guild and the National Society of Film Critics awards among others. Sounds familiar? Well, this was the same case for Slumdog Millionaire, if you can recall.

Slumdog Millionaire was an unknown quantity to the world before it suddenly shot to fame after winning numerous awards that culminated with the Oscars. However, back then, Slumdog Millionaire wasn’t up against a heavyweight. Definitely not against a heavyweight like Avatar, which is the case here for The Hurt Locker.

The greatness of Avatar cannot be justified by merely picking up awards for the best Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects, but the sure thing here is that for a movie to top Avatar in such a devastating fashion, then that movie has got to be good. And I mean really good! Hence, I shall go watch The Hurt Locker sometime soon, and see for myself what this fuss is all about.

Who do you reckon deserved the top honours? Is there a flaw in choosing the winners of the Oscar Awards? Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

When Tiger Said Sorry

You gotta be living under a rock if you haven’t heard of Tiger Woods for the wrong reasons in the news recently. Well, I am not going to go into the details regarding his extramarital exploits, but instead, let’s just analyse and see how much trouble and mess this has put him into.

First things first – One of the main dark forces that will try to entail every human being on the face of this planet is lust. It doesn’t only apply to men; it is the same for women too. And if this lustful desire of the mind is not kept in check, then we are bound to put ourselves in hot soup... ‘Tiger Woods’ style.

Actually, I am not an avid golf fan, nor did I really look up to Tiger Woods in the past, but for the amazing man he was, I always admired him. After all, he is the most successful sportsman in terms of personal fortune in history. Not only that, but he always seemed to be a calm and charismatic figure while playing golf.

For that very reason, people were shocked after the beans were spilled regarding his affairs with a dozen or so women. Many asked themselves, “Could Tiger really have done that?”, since this contradicted with their initial perception of him.

Though a bitter pill to swallow, but the reality is that he did have affairs. And he has owned up to his mistakes, like a real man. He confessed, “I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behaviour I engaged in. For all that I have done, I am so sorry. I have a lot to atone for.”

However, is that the end of the story? Say a sorry and return back to live life normally? It can’t be so because he caused so much of pain and heartbreak for his wife, Elin Nordegren. Not just that, but he literally drew chalk on her face by shaming her in public.

The fact is you can’t just erase a mistake like that for the damage has already been done. And definitely not a full-blown, publicly informed mistake like his. The scar will surely be deep, but I have got to applaud Tiger Woods for taking the first step to reconciliation, that is by publicly apologising for his wrongdoings.

Herein, there lies a message for us all. No matter how wealthy, how famous you are, but no one would like you when you do things like what Tiger Woods had done. Just see, all of his major sponsors have left him. The moral of the story is that we should never, not ever, be an infidel to the sanctity of the institution of marriage by having extramarital affairs.