How can Singapore defeat Iran?

Singapore will take on Iran at the National Stadium in a Asian Cup qualifier game tomorrow. Iran are the powerhouses of Asia whereas Singapore are the underdogs, maybe not even qualified as an underdog

Anyway, underdogs and undercats aside, the three time Asian Cup winners still stand a chance of losing against the Lions. It will not be easy but I believe that our national team can do it

Judging from the two friendly matches played against Oman last week which resulted in a goalless draw and a 1:4 hammering, Singapore looks doomed against an even stronger opponent. Raddy Avramovic looked as though he had just lost ten thousand dollars at a casino during the embarrassing 1:4 match

The current national team has a whole lot of strikers for Avramovic to play. If only he can stop using the slow and unproductive Aleksandar Duric. If only he knows that Indra as the captain should play more often (the only other football captain who hardly plays is Manchester United's Gary Neville). If only I was the coach...

Maybe an attacking formation like 4-2-4 will suit the Lions since the squad does not really possess any good side midfielders. The two most advanced forwards would be the Malay duo of Indra and Noh Alam Shah flanked by the improving Fazrul Nawaz and tricky Khairul Amri

The two central fellows will be Mustafic Fahrudin and the young Hariss Harun. The latter is really one player you should watch. As a holding midfielder, he is definitely better than Liverpool's Lousy Lucas. John Wilkinson should be relegated to the bench. He is better off as a rugby player

Then we have Shaiful Esah, the left-footed wing-back, who takes free kicks with such class. Singapore will be relying on set-pieces taken by Shaiful to score against Iran. I am sure about that. The problem is, if Shaiful is unavailable, then who is his deputy?

Iran will most likely dominate the game but with Hariss as the anchor, Singapore fans can afford not to be worried. I predict a 1:0 win for Singapore although I reckon that it is quite impossible

Can I just go and fill in the job application form for the national team coach? Raddy's face will definitely look as though he had really lost ten thousand dollars
5:27 PM
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To sum up the first working/schooling day of year 2010 in Singapore, I can only use one word to describe it-Interesting

For school students who have to be present in school by 7.30am (I assume most schools have this rule), this morning was definitely a sweet-dream-turned-nightmare experience

It was raining heavily at dawn. People say that the best time to sleep is during a downpour. Unfortunately, the weather scheduled this period at a time where people are supposed to wake up. Of all days since the school holidays started, it happened today, in the morning

Never mind, you finally managed to force yourself out of bed, brush your teeth, wash up, eat breakfast, do some last minute packing of your bag and leave your house. Then you realized that an umbrella was the missing thing which you needed

First day of school, wearing your new white shoes and stepping into puddles of water while holding the umbrella. Is this an ominous sign? Chey, touch wood...

On to myself, got back my Maths paper today during lesson and I am happy that I did pretty well for it. I am not going to post how much I got since I foresee that people will say that I am hao lian

Ate fishball meepok for lunch during noon, not much difference before and after eating it. The only significant difference was that there was two dollars less in my wallet. When I reached home, I straight away ransacked the kitchen and swallowed some biscuits

Called Calvin Siak just now but nobody answered the call. I wanted to ask him if he could spare some time and meet the WTS option people to discuss about our FYP. I believe that a face to face discussion would be more desirable for both parties. The Facebook group created by him is half-dead already after just two days of action

Gonna have a debate with him if I get to see him personally
5:23 PM
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I am not sure about you but I dislike new year resolutions. However, for the sake of your entertainment (since you're at this blog), I have decided to make one. But don't expect a nice-looking one because as what I had mentioned, I dislike new year resolutions

First of all, I wish that the world would be peaceful and safe forever. This one is never going to happen, you and I know it deep down in our hearts. If this wish really came true, then the police and army can start planning for a career change

We cannot take things for granted. We cannot assume that a noob terrorist who can't even bomb a plane, hurt himself in the process and got caught by other passengers while doing it will exist in the future

So how should we solve this problem? If I know, I wouldn't be writing something to entertain you now

Secondly, I hope that the earth would be cleaner and greener. People like American Todd Stern and China's He Yafei should not be shooting invisible arrows via their mouths at each other every other day during a conference

People should be united as one as every one of us is part of this planet and we have a part to play in keeping it green so we should....Ok damn it, these are all nonsense

Like the first one, this one will never happen too

Thirdly, there are too many foreigners in my country so I hope that the government will do something that will appease me. Maybe my millionaire ministers should take a walk in the public and see how many China (we shall just stick to China) people can they see/hear/smell

Foreigners foreigners go away
come again some other day
we are sick of all of you
no no please don't ever come again

Sadly, this one will definitely not happen, again

Number four would be to make new friends. The definition of "friend" is too profound and abstract to explain using the English language. I will need to import all my knowledge and experience to be able to tell you one percent of it

Yes, this one is more realistic, it can happen. But how?

Lastly, as I am starting to feel tired, is to make countless amounts of money. Don't be a copycat, I know what you are thinking, you want have this in your new year resolution too

I told you that it won't look nice since new year resolutions all are bullshit
7:12 PM
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9:08 PM
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On the brink of 2009, I cannot seem think of anything to blog about. Ok, maybe I shall just say Happy New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai! No, that doesn't seem appropriate for the ang moh new year. Who cares, who doesn't want to be prosperous and wealthy?

The first decade of the 21st century will come to an end soon. People like your friends and family would say that 2010 is a new year. But to me, it is a new decade, a new era, like the 70's, 80's, 90's and of course the current 00's or what do you call that? A new society awaits us, a new sense of fashion will conquer the whole world, a new way of living can be foreseen, all in the next ten years

Another financial crisis will occur, new celebrities will pop up in the TV, world records in sports will be broken, new technologies that nobody has ever thought of will be invented, all within the new decade

Imagine that you are ten years older. From now till then, what will change and how should you change to improve yourself? Think of how you want to be like in ten years' time. Then start working on it from the first day which is tomorrow
7:03 PM
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On the eve of new year's eve, I have come up with a list of the top ten people of 2009. They do not necessarily have to be world leaders or someone I know whom impacted me this year. Just people who are, you know, people of the year, get it?




Number 10

Taylor Swift



I don't know why am I posting her name here but she is one of the first few names that came to my mind when writing this post. My cousin who will be a secondary one student next year is mad about her. Taylor Swift pictures flooded her room when I last went to her house. Local teenage girls, mostly the ang moh kind, worship her after throwing away Pink and Avril Lavinge

Like her album's name, this country pop singer is fearless, clinching numerous awards this year. Even the legendary Michael Jackson was not her match in the 2009 American Music Awards's Artist of the Year category. She also won other awards which include Favourite Female Artist and Favourite Country Album during the show

On September 13, singer Kayne West went up stage and snatched the microphone from Swift during her acceptance speech for Best Female Video and claimed that Beyoncé "had one of the best videos of all time". The audience jeered at him and fellow singers like Kelly Clarkson and West's rival 50 Cent condemned him for the incident. Even former US President Jimmy Carter was in the list

It was from this incident or rather accident that I started to notice Swift for the first time. Previously, I had never heard about this singer before, let alone her songs. The only Taylor singer that I know was the grey-haired Taylor Hicks. Speaking about which, I only know one of Swift's songs-You Belong to Me

When I hum the rhythm or casually belt out a few sentences of the song, people will always ask me where did I heard it. My standard reply to them would be "I heard it while I was in a Guardian pharmacy and I think it's nice". I especially like the phrase "a typical Tuesday night". It's a combination of country style plus city buzz

There you go, Taylor Swift for number ten. A promising young girl who has a bright future ahead of her. From my perspective, I think that she was the one who brought country pop back into the music scene after years of hip-hop domination and 2009 was the year when she did it




Number 9

Magicians



Magic has become popular once again. Thanks to the Taiwanese variety show, Big Brother Variety, which has a magic competition. It attracted aspiring magicians from all over Taiwan and wowed viewers from all over Asia

Professional magicians like Liu Qian, who is one of the judges in the show, also shot to fame. More and more people started to learn magic. TV programmes about magic also started to appear on by one

If 2009 was a year where magic was popular, then 2010 would surely not be an illusion because this trend will continue




Number 8

Aunty Lucy



So embarrassing!

Although she (or he) is a fictional character, I still consider her (or him) as a real person. It is because she (ok we'll stick with female) shot to fame in less than two months since the variety show Paris and Milan started airing

So who is she? She is just a commoner like your mum, aunt, neighbour etc. She symbolizes the ordinary Singaporean aunty who goes to the market, spots a permed hairstyle, wears very "aunty" clothes and loves gossiping

The fact that this character seems so real and natural makes thousands of people especially students become overnight fans of her. It has been a very long time since Mediacorp last produced such a classic character since Ah Bee, Bobo, and Ai Yo Yo

Even a movie was created using her as the main character this year. Now how many people can shoot to fame, become a household name and star in a movie as the lead all in less than one year?




Number 7

iPhone users



Without them and their support, the iPhone would just be an ordinary smartphone. Fortunately, that is not the case. The overwhelming global interest in this Apple product has made the it the king of smartphones

When you think of a smartphone, you would think of an Apple iPhone first, followed by HTC Hero, BlackBerry Storm and other brands and models. If Apple's launch of the iPhone was a milestone for the company, then the users' enthusiasm would be a breakthrough for the presence of smartphones in the market

We see long queues of kiasu people when a telco company launches the iPhone, we see people discussing with each other the different apps they had downloaded. We hardly see or hear anyone talking about any other smartphones. Even non-iPhone users like myself are able to talk about this gadget with their Apple fanatic friends

In a nutshell, iPhone users created a world phenomenon with their support of this smartphone. Without their presence, iPhones or rather smartphones would not have been such a hit this year




Number 6

Yukio Hatoyama



He followed the footsteps of Barack Obama to bring change to his country. In September, Hatoyama who is also the President of the Democratic Party of Japan was elected as the Prime Minister of his country after decades of Liberal Democratic Party domination

The 62 year old politician represents a new hope for Japan and its people. He has been seen as the person who will bring a revolution to the land of the rising sun. Like his unusual hairstyle and big eyes, he is quite different from the ordinary world leader

The Japanese were courageous enough for once to vote for the opposition (as in majority of them). They wanted a change in their country, maybe because of Obama's influence during his election campaigns last year. They voted for a new guy to lead them as they believed that a change was necessary

If only Singaporeans were as brave as them




Number 5

Roger Federer




From a dismal 2008 that saw him winning only one Grand Slam title-US Open and losing his world no. 1 ranking, Federer has since bounced back this year to live up to his reputation as the best tennis player ever in history

He finally won his first Roland Garros title this year to become the sixth man in history to complete a career Grand Slam. He also defeated long time rival Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon final to set a world record for number of Grand Slam men's singles titles

Most importantly, after his win in Wimbledon, Federer was back at the top as the world no.1 pushing Rafael Nadal back into second spot. He also secured the year-end number one ranking for the fifth year at the ATP World Tour Finals. Although he finished this season with a loss to Juan del Porto in the semi-final, it was still a great year for Federer to celebrate

On 22 December, Federer was named as the 2009 world champion by the International Tennis Federation for the fifth time in his career

It was a year where he won his first French Open title, set a new record for Grand Slam wins and was ranked the world no. 1 tennis player again. Being able to make one of the greatest comebacks after just one year is no easy feat. It all boils down to perseverance and determination

That is what I call a real athlete with sportsmanship




Number 4

Barack Obama



From my perspective, he has performed as expected in his first year as America's president

At the start of a new journey in his political career in January, he ordered the US military to plan for withdrawal of troops from Iraq and requested the closing of the Guantanamo Bay camp. Although a military judge rejected the request on January 29, a Presidential Memorandum was issued on December 15 to formally close the detention center

In the economic area, he managed the financial crisis with a stimulus package that helped create economic growth which was praised by economists. He took a hand in the automotive industry crisis with renewed loans for GM and Chrysler to continue operations while reorganizing

He tried making a change to foreign relations with European nations including Russia. On June 4, he made a speech in Egypt calling for a new beginning in relations between the Islamic world and America. Only one word can be used to describe his foreign policy. Change

Never mind that his health care reform proposal was met with a considerable number of criticism, he won the Nobel Peace Prize award in October which more than made up for it. He is the first US president in his first year in office to receive the award. Obama was also rated as the most popular world leader from a poll in May

He hasn't changed the world but he changed year 2009




Number 3

Nancy Pelosi




Holding the highest post that no other woman has ever got in US history, the speaker of the US House of Representatives has more power than any of her precedors

She utilized that power to pass every single thing on President Barack Obama's agenda. They ranged from the No Child Left Behind Act to conservation programs and development of new technologies to Medicare and Medicaid benefits

Her unquestionable leadership gives people the impression of her as a stern woman with unconventional strictness. People whom she fought with over the years have mostly been banished

Her disciplined image may make her look firm but she still projects a calm and approachable appearance. It is her style and 2009 is her year




Number 2

H1N1 medical staff



I salute you people. Without you guys, what would the world be like? A big thank you to all of you for your courage, care and determination

and the number 1 is
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You

Nobody decides your fate, only you have control over your own destiny. Give yourself a pat on the back, without yourself, how would you be able to survive yet another year?

Sorry, no pictures for number one because everyone look differently
3:00 PM
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Taken from http://blogs.todayonline.com

Congratulations to Sezairi Sezali! You won the the third season of Singapore Idol and you made me win five bucks from a bet with my cousin

Now it is a hat-trick for this reality TV singing contest. Three Malay male winners for all three seasons

Sylvia Ratonel, you have come so far by being the first female finalist, that's good enough already

Females winning singing competitions in Singapore? Wait long long

This is real evidence of male domination
7:21 PM
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