The Lion Used To Roar

As far as I could remember, I've never commented on anything football (soccer to you Americans) related on my blog. Partly because of the disgust I felt as to how the football administering body in my country handled the supposed 'nourishing of local football' more than a decade ago. And I suppose I still hold such a resentment, if slightly, to this day.

Singapore was once a nation that produced footballing talent good enough for export to football clubs beyond the shores of this island city. Even if some were just clubs north of the Causeway. Players that included the likes of Malek Awab, David Lee, V. Sundramoorthy and the football legend and once Golden Boy of Singapore Football, Fandi Ahmad. With the latter two even having a chance to play for top teams in their respective European countries, namely FC Basel and FC Groningen, respectively. Not to mention that the country's participation in the then Malaysian Football League also helped with raising interest and fostering unity amongst all football loving Singaporeans. It was as close to being patriotic as I have ever felt my entire life. Bellowing my support for my fellow countryman and hurling scathing insults at visiting teams. A behaviour when collectively combined gave birth to the Kallang Roar, of which a movie shares that very same name.

So when it was decided by the Football Association of Singapore to pull the country, my country out of the Malaysian Football League with the infamous quote of "Now we shall shift our focus from twenty-two men to more than two hundred men...." post the 1994 season, I instantly became one of the greatest cynics of this 'new dawn in Singapore football'.

And so the funds were allocated into the creation of the S-League where it was touted as an avenue that could produce more Fandis and Sundrams for the future of Singapore football. Not to mention the goal (though it seemed more like a dream then as it does still now) for Singapore to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, inaptly named Goal 2010. Should've been Wishful Thinking 2010.....

The S-League did help with the producing of more job opportunities, not only for footballers but for administrative positions within the club, physiotherapists and the likes. Apart from that, the aim of producing more talented footballers as well as qualifying for the FIFA World Cup proper, never truly materialized. The induction of clubs from other countries such as Dalian Shide Shiwu FC (China), Super Reds FC (South Korea) and Albirex Niigata FC (Japan) amongst other foreign clubs that have already left the S-League though somewhat key in helping to improve the standard of play in the league and the local players as a whole, is detrimental, I think, to Singapore actually focusing on developing its clubs and indirectly also the job opportunities for locals. That is if you don't count the jobs created in Singapore Pools through the betting of S-League games.

I would not dare say that Singapore football had not improved over the course of this whole experiment. The inclusion of naturalized Singaporeans such as John Wilkinson (England), Mustafic Fahruddin (Serbia), Daniel Bennet (England), Precious Emuejeraye (Nigeria) and Aleksandar Duric (Bosnia and Herzegovina) along with a few other pioneers of this naturalization program named the Singapore Foreign Sports Talent Scheme have helped to somewhat raise the level of competitiveness between footballers within the country. Though these players are talented in and off themselves, I for one, would argue on whether some of them are far better than the crop of locally born players that we currently have.

With that said though, Singapore is still some ways far off from even dreaming of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup. Which can be seen from their performance in the on-going World Cup Qualifiers, especially highlighted in the recent 2-0 defeat to Saudi Arabia on home soil in a must win match. And though Singapore was dubbed the Asian Football Confederation's 'Mover of the Year' in 2005 by achieving a rank of 20 that year, their world ranking hovers around the 100-140 range. Which is a far cry from the heyday of Singapore football when Fandi and Sundram were around when Singapore was ranked 73 in the world in 1993. And that team couldn't qualify for the World Cup either..... So I guess it'll be far beyond 2010 before, if ever Singapore will qualify for the World Cup. Or perhaps we could host it, since Singapore's been hosting a lot of such big sports events lately.

I am all for the naturalization of talented foreigners, however focus must not be lost on the development of young Singapore born talent.

The inclusion of the Singapore U-23 team into the local league for the purposes of improving the crop of young players for the future is commendable. Though I felt that more could be done such as sending the Singapore U-23 team to play in the leagues of overseas countries or possibly even in the lower leagues in European countries. The purpose of this would be two-fold. One to improve the players and secondly to put our young players up in the overseas market. A younger set of players, perhaps the U-19 team should then compete in the S-League proper. This would help to speed up their maturity on the pitch against faster, stronger and wiser opponents.

I know that the Football Association of Singapore might never do this and will probably continue their Singapore Foreign Sports Talent Scheme until the whole team is full of unwanted Brazilians and Argentinians. And I shall continue saying that unless the focus remains on the youth that is Singapore born, we are not going to get anywhere football wise.

Onto Goal 2100!

Where can I get me some films....

I'm miffed....pissed more like it. There were three damn good movies that were scheduled for release in the first quarter of this year (and one that was already released early in the year) that did not even manage to get picked up by any of the cinema companies here.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for your commercially viable movies like Iron Man, Indiana Jones and all that. At the same time though, I still yearn for movies that are not just a fancy CGI, action packed, blood spilling, wit churning vehicles. I mean, have a look at the trailers for the movies that got passed over and you tell me.....

I know that there are the cinemas like The Picturehouse and Cinema Europa (those are the only two that I know of - if any of you know more, please tell me) that caters to independently made movies and films that veer off the commercial mainstream, of which I am thankful for. And their current line up of Black Book and Shine A Light (respectively) are good in and of themselves, however it is amazing that for a multitude of good, award-winning movies that there's only two cinemas in Singapore dedicated to them. Perhaps the rest of the cinema operators need to consider having a single cinema dedicated to such films, which would ultimately increase the number of cinemas to at least four.

Now if the problem was in the assessing on whether a movie is good enough to be shown (or bring in economic returns) then look to hire me. I am in need of a new job... *hint* I'd be more than happy to screen award winning films for potential future screenings in Singapore and of course get paid to do it (yeah, I wish)

And to think this country of mine has its own film festival when in truth such films are not even supported well enough by the industry the rest of calendar year.....

True Pretense

I pretend to live
To be alive, to be in existence
Executing installed programming
Like a robot, some humanatronic device
The whim of a mad scientist gone insane
Silent whirring gears
Clicking beats of an animated clock

I pretend to work
To act with busy-ness, with presence
Neither caring nor wanting to
Zombiefied
Diluted by fabricated barriers
Of coulds and could nots
On a path preset, premade and unrelenting
A routine washing, waning
Of my once dogged interest

I pretend to know
Of this world, within and beyond
Of each grief and bliss
The suffering of the one, the many
Innumerable, transcending, esoteric, hysteric
A gospel-less prophet
Regurgitating epiphanies of ancient times
In a modern era of cynicism

I pretend to care
Of your plight and of mine
Of the need to render assistance
To the oppressed, suppressed
In the eradication of poverty, inequality
Upholding freedom and liberty
And the very causes that were and are noble

I pretend to pretend
So that I need not live
Need not love, need not wish
For hope and dreams are just concepts
Never to be realized, never to manifest
In the truest facet of life's reality

To be or not to be
I choose to pretend

M.O.V.I.E.S.

Got myself an injection of movies these past few days. Yes, yes I have been procrastinating from writing my manuscripts. And reading too but there’s this block that I felt needed some smashing to smithereens. Recent happenings haven’t helped matters either. My granddad’s sick again. I guess those things only left for a short vacation or something. Either way, it has got me severely drained…..

On to more distracting things.

Managed to catch the latest Indiana Jones movie today - Kingdom of The Crystal Skull. I have always been an Indiana Jones fan since my younger days. The most original American treasure seeker/archeologist/part-time lecturer/ government agent (at times) in my book and with this fourth installment of the Indie-series, nothing has changed in the character. Apart from a lot of grey hairs and wrinkles of course. Harrison Ford’s most notable character still sports that brown hat, trademark whip and still dishes out that signature wit in times of distress.

Set in the early 70s (or at least I think it was) when anti-Communist sentiment was rampant in the U.S and when the seeds of the cold war were beginning to be planted (or were already growing, take your pick), an aged Indiana Jones set forth to find another treasure that could spell the end of the known world. This time with the KGB as the main protagonists, led by a sublimely cool but unmistakably deadly Dr. Irina Spalko played by the ever alluring (to me anyway) Cate Blanchett.

If you were once an Indy fan, then you won’t be disappointed with this one. It has all the adventure promised from previous franchises. Insects and snakes too….well one snake but what’s an Indiana Jones movie without snakes. I particularly enjoyed the short 2 seconds or so where the Ark of the Covenant (link) could be seen housed within a semi-thrashed crate. The standard chase scenes that is a must for any good American movie and the whole I’ve-gotten-away-oh-no-I’m-caught-again-now-I’ve-run-away thing that is the trademark of any Indiana Jones really makes it an interesting ride. Best of all though, the storyline was the most feasible I’ve seen for some time where revived franchises are concerned.

If you are not an Indy fan though, I doubt this would be a good movie for you to start. The movie can get heavy on background dependency for a first time Indiana Jones watcher to follow, at least at the start. By the time the middle of the movie sets in, you’re pretty much in it for the ride.

A must watch from me then again I am biased when it comes to Indiana Jones. Besides if the ending is any indication then there might just be more Indiana Jones movies to come….. well I can hope can’t I.

Next up is a movie that I planned to watch when it came out some time last year but for some reason just didn’t get around to doing it. And unlike The Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl, this one involved a compass that actually works. Though like Captain Jack Sparrow’s compass, it doesn’t necessarily point north.

The Golden Compass is a movie based on the book Northern Lights by Phillip Pulman. And seeing as I’ve read the book, you might find that the written impressions of this movie can be quite partial.

The premise of the movie was great. In a billion worlds connected by Dust, there are those like in our world where our souls are housed within and there are also those who have their souls walk beside them and are called daemons. That got me hooked and it would have been line and sinker if they had just taken the time to flesh out the characters and plot a tad more.

My main gripe was that everything felt rushed. And the Magisterium didn’t really feel like the threatening totalitarian regime that it did in the book. Bits and parts were missing that would have made more sense on why the Gyptians kept watch over Lyra other than the matter of fact manner that was delivered. This also includes the involvement of the Witches added with Scoresby’s and Iorek’s backstories. Lyra's character also did not respect the leap in change in her role at the appropriate moments. Definitely did not help....

Regardless it is still a good watch if you are not a stickler for details like me, especially when it comes to book-to-movie adaptations.

Last but definitely not least is a movie that I practically reprimanded myself on missing when it aired here.

El laberinto del fauno

Or rather Pan's Labyrinth. Though there was this whole confusion on the name as the literal translation should be The Labyrinth of The Fawn. Oh well, whatever the reason might be, I was definitely placated by this movie.


Set in Spain of the 1940s during a time of the Spanish Civil War, it tells the tale of how a child (Ophelia) deals with the events occurring around her by creating (and living too I guess) a world of fantasy and hope. Without exposing too much for those who have yet to cast their eyes upon this wondrous Spanish masterpiece from Guillermo Del Toro who both wrote and directed the film, I can safely say that this movie is a heartwrencher from beginning to end. And the end is such a fitting one for a tale of this beauty. I wish I could've written something this wonderful.

Can't say much more than I already have without spoiling it. Excellent story telling. Definitely, certainly a must must must watch.

Well, that's all from me for now.... You guys have a nice productive life, k.

Liberation By Pen

So the school holidays have started and so that meant a vacation from work for me. Or at least in theory..... Nothing like inquiries from work about when you're going to get working to throw you off your down time....

Had a rather interesting Monday. Won't share too much of it here, rather than it was a day of mixed outcomes, planned or otherwise. Tuesday though was slightly more satisfying.

Woke up late as I normally do during these periods of expected inactivity. And after the usual routines of freshening up, I popped in this DVD I acquired a week or so back from my trip to Johor Bahru. One of ten that I purchased.

The title of the movie was Freedom Writers, starring more notably Hilary Swank and Patrick Dempsey. It was a movie that I've been aiming to get ever since I saw the trailers. Mainly because it was based on actual real life accounts of the struggles of youths in our twisted world, secondly was because it was a movie about writing and lastly but not least its a movie about the teaching profession. Now all this, if you haven't already noticed, are issues that I either hold close to my heart or are things I am involved in work-wise on a daily basis.

The movie didn't disappoint. The actors (those playing the teens included) were more than convincing. Add that to the excellent cinematography and editing and self-narration of each of the stories within this tale gives the show more impact. You have the usual moral dilemmas faced by the youths of today, peer pressure vs being an individual, survival vs doing what is right. More compelling is the way in which this tale is told, each journal entry interweaving and interlaced between the rest and with present occurrences. It was heartening to know there are those who do attempt and succeed at making a difference in the lives of others.

Needless to say this movie did loads to help boost my hopes for my own dreams.

To sum it up - Insightful, uplifting, inspiring and yet somehow extremely real. A definite must get if you are budding writer (like me), teacher or someone who works closely with the community.

Did a check on what happened to the real life persons of which this movie is based on and I'm glad to know that they are alive and well. More than that, they have formed the Freedom Writers Foundation that aims to help those that are caught up in the mess of a world we are in, much like they were.

Please click on the logo below to visit their webpage learn more about them or on how you can help......

The Guitar Man

He stood in the tunnel
Fingers strumming rusty strings
Singing of angels without wings
In a period of many kings
And queens without crowns
A tale of great renown
For a pence for a shilling
His meal time yet to come

And the townsfolk
They walk by, conversing tales of happy cries
Still caught in the sorrow that they wallowed
Once in

And the guitar man played on

A ballad of hope, a ballad of love
From beautiful roses
To gentle doves
Flying high in a diamond clear sky
Without a care
Life in its fullest flair
For a pence for a shilling
His meal time yet to come

Awkward murmurs had now gathered
From the crowd that now converged
Upon this ragged man, worn out clothes
That were once already bland
Casting judgement, throwing pity

Still the guitar man played on

He sang of justice, of causes lost
The whims of fate
And the incurring cost
Of blue moons and fabled tales
Of when peace once reigned
And compassion and virtue
Were not yet a stain
For a pence for a shilling
When would his meal time come