AFF Suzuki Cup final second-leg preview

At last, Raddy Avramovic has personally and publicly confirmed that he will step down as Singapore's coach after the AFF Suzuki Cup. This means that the Lions will bid goodbye to him after the second leg of tomorrow's Suzuki Cup final.

Singapore go into the game with a two-goal cushion after crushing Thailand 3:1 in the first leg on Wednesday. Avramovic is arguably the most successful coach of the national team having won two AFF titles and bringing Singapore into the third round of the World Cup qualifiers.

With one hand on this year's trophy, the Serb is expected to make history by winning the competition thrice. Singapore will still continue to attack and try to score in tomorrow's match but expect the support of the home crowd to give the Thais the upper hand.

Both teams look set to cancel out each other in midfield. So, it will be up to both sides' flair players to influence the result of the game. Khairul Amri, who scored with a cool finish Ronaldo will be proud of in the first leg, will be Singapore's trump card again.

Amri netted the equalizer in the second leg of the 2007 final (yeah, against Thailand) to hand Singapore a 3:2 aggregate win. He was also the only player to record a goal in both legs of the semi-final against Philippines in this campaign. Plus, he is a threat at set-pieces as proven in the group-stage game with Laos where he scored a stunning free-kick.

As for the Thais, Teerasil Dangda will still be their star player and the man to mark. Teerasil leads the goalscoring list with five goals, capable of creating chances (as proven in the first leg) and possess great speed to test defenders. But since it's the final, it is likely that he will be heavily marked.

I predict Thailand to dominate the entire game. Goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud will experience one of the most nerve-wrecking nights in his international career while Aleksandar Duric will not score one last goal before retiring from the national team.

Thailand will certainly create several chances but convert none of them. Singapore, for most of the game, will rely on Mustafic Fahrudin to excel as the midfield anchor to try and keep the game under control. A 0:0 draw looks like the most probable result.

And Avramovic will get bombarded by his players after the match and have champagne sprayed on him. Possible?

South Korea presidential election

As North Korea marks the first anniversary of the great Kim Jong-II's death and continue to launch rockets despite international warnings, its southern neighbour gears up for its upcoming presidential election, which will take place on Wednesday.

Although a number of independents have emerged, this election is pretty much a two-candidate race. This competition will see Park Geunhye of the ruling Saenuri party take on the Democratic United Party's Moon Jae-in. Ironically, both presidential candidates are associated to former South Korean presidents.

Park Geunhye is the elder daughter of the late Park Chunghee. After her mother was assassinated in 1974, the young Miss Park held the title of "first lady", appearing with her father at public events. She only returned to politics almost 20 years later since 1979 when her father was also assassinated.

Moon Jae-in, who is a lawyer because he did not make it as a judge due to his protests, was the chief of staff to the late Roh Muhyun during his reign as president. He is widely viewed as the choice of younger voters due to his centre-left ideology.

Opinion polls for both candidates over the past few months have seen Park Geunhye having the upper hand. However, the thing is, both candidates hardly differ from one another. Both have similar health and economic proposals and naturally take a hard stance on the North.

This "lack of sparks" situation have made the presidential election look more like Park Chunghee vs Roh Muhyun where both sides have used the ex-presidents to attack each other. As voting is not mandatory in South Korea, the number of voters also plays a crucial part in the outcome.

If more young voters were to turn up at the polling stations, chances are Moon Jae-in will end up as the new president. On the other hand, Park Geunhye, who is more popular among those above 50, will be able to triumph if she can persuade more uncles and aunties to vote.

The decisive group of voters would be those in those in their forties. They are generally breadwinners who matter the most to the country's economy and played a part in transforming South Korea from an authoritarian state into a democracy.

Whoever that gets elected this week won't have an easy time ahead. Tensions with North Korea continue while relations with Japan have been strained due to the territorial dispute of the Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima), credit to current president Lee Myungbak.

I would like to see Moon Jae-in as the victor. His chances have been boosted after far-left candidate Lee Junghee, who constantly attacked Park Geunhye in debates, withdrew her candidacy. But Park Geunhye, who boasts the "Park Chunghee brand", should be able to claim an ultra-narrow win and become the first female president of South Korea.

Japan General Election

As the Japanese people prepare to head to the polls for their country's latest election, politicians are making final attempts to capture the votes of the undecided. However, the result of tomorrow's general election should see the ruling DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan) lose power since governing Japan for the first time in 2009.

The 2009 polls saw LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) losing control of the government after for more than fifty years of rule and Yukio Hatoyama as the new prime minister. Three years on, Hatoyama has already become a forgotten man. Japan has since had two other prime ministers, Naoto Kan and Yoshihiko Noda.

Current prime minister Noda hardly wields the same kind of influence and lacks the charisma of Hatoyama and opinion polls have not been positive for the DPJ leader. LDP's leader, Shinzo Abe is on course to become the country's prime minister for the second time. He first held the job in 2006.

There has been much dissatisfaction of both the LDP and DPJ governments which has led to the emergence of several "third parties". Yeah, they are literally the third party here to cause trouble, wreak havoc and add entertainment value to the election.

This bunch of supporting actors include the conservative New Komeito Party which looks strong but won't make much of an impact, the newly formed Japan Restoration Party-Sunrise Party coalition that has heavyweights like former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara and Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto and the Tomorrow Party of Japan takes an anti-nuclear stance.

Shinzo Abe is expected to lead Japan well in the short-term future although his proposals for the economy like forcing the central bank to buy bonds might endanger it as a whole. Abe also possesses the experience to run a government having held office for a year in 2006-2007.

The spotlight will no doubt be on Abe's foreign policy if he and his party gain power. He is known to have a tough stance against China regarding the disputed Senkaku Islands. Beijing has seen anti-Japanese sentiments at an all-time high after numerous protests took place.

Hopefully, Abe will continue to persevere and not leave in a hurry like what he did in 2007.

Christmas Shopping Flowchart

In case, just in case, you need some help and enlightenment for your Christmas shopping.

Dog driving a car?

Seriously, I think I should start to take driving lessons. The world has indeed changed. Humans are not the only ones who get to drive a car anymore. In Auckland, New Zealand, three dogs have been taught to drive by SPCA in an attempt to promote dog adoptions.

The three dogs, Ginny, Monty and Porter, underwent training that includes changing gear, steering, accelerating and braking before they were given the green light to operate in a real car - plus a human to assist them of course.

The objective of Auckland's SPCA through this project was to show potential dog owners that dogs are smart enough for them to adopt one. All three canines did not have a very fortunate background before arriving at SPCA.

Ginny was rescued from owners who abused it, Monty's owner was unable to control it and Porter was a stray dog that got abandoned. The dogs have been driving indoors in a mock car but come tomorrow, 10 December, Monty will attempt to be the first animal to drive a real car. This ambitious effort will be broadcasted live on national television.

Imagine one day, your dog driving you to work or school. Or better still, driving handicapped people who are not able to move around conveniently. That doesn't sound too unrealistic at all; no one really knows what the future holds.

But in the meantime, I should start to decide on between manual or auto.

SMRT plays the Chinese card

I only heard the new Mandarin announcements for the first time when I was riding the MRT yesterday. Realizing that it is currently one of the hot topics in newspaper forums, I believe that the announcement has been present for some time.

SMRT looks really determined to end a year with controversy. It had two major breakdowns in December last year and for this year, there's the bus drivers' strike plus this Mandarin announcement saga. So, why the need for the extra language?

Did SMRT and Desmond Kuek, the company's CEO and former chief of defence force, take into consideration the reactions of the non-Chinese population when implementing this change? Is it due to the fact that it is catering for senior citizens? Then how did they manage to survive train rides for the past 25 years?

Nobody would have an opinion if English remained as the only king or Malay and Tamil joined in the party. With the inclusion of Mandarin, SMRT is clearly stating that it prioritizes the Chinese (and possibly the PRCs) more than commuters of other race.

But making announcements in all four languages might not be practical as some stations are barely two minutes away from each other. Plus, there's still the "suspicious article" reminder which fortunately is in four languages. With so much talking going on, can commuters enjoy a peaceful journey engrossed in their smartphones and tablet computers?

Anyway, I decided to google the mrt map and see how many stations could I (not) name in Mandarin. Fortunately, I was able to translate most of them including the crucial ones like Tanjong Pagar and City Hall. However, stations like Lavendar, Khatib and Promenade (seriously, does anyone knows this one?) got me killing lots of brain cells.

Oh yeah, and it was only today that I realized how blunt Bouna Vista's Chinese name is. Bō nà wéi sī dá. I remember that Bouna Vista is an Italian phrase and after a little research, discovered that it means "good view". So, shouldn't it be named as hǎo jǐng sè (好景色) instead?

Now that the damage is done, all eyes will be on SMRT to see how it handles this issue. It can either stick to two, make it four and revert to one, but all three options will still cause some unhappiness among certain groups of people. But there's one thing for sure, smartphone users will continue to revel in the world of their devices once they board a train.

Curry Vegetables

The Chinese call it Kar Li Cai, it is known as Sayur Lodeh in Malay. Whatever the language, we all agree that the dish's universal name is curry vegetables. Definitely not an original Singapore food (it hails from Malaysia/Indonesia) but its commonness in this country makes it look like one.

Different variations of curry vegetables exist. The ingredients which you use determine what kind of curry vegetables you make. Dried shrimps and shrimp paste are typical components but eliminating them would easily transform it to an option for vegetarian meals.

By including rice cakes, the dish would evolve into Lontong. Of course, the versatility of curry vegetables is also due to what vegetables you use for cooking. Basically, in my opinion, the must-haves are tau pok, cabbage, long beans, turnips, carrots and eggplants.

You may have encountered some that consist of potatoes, snow peas or even cauliflowers. However, I strongly believe that the best and most authentic curry vegetables should not include these ingredients. Potatoes go with curry chicken, Cauliflowers. Maybe Japanese curry? And snow peas should never appear with curry.

Tau pok plays a vital role in this dish. No, I'm not referring to the retarded act where a group of retarded people throw themselves on top of one another. The biggest victim, the one at the bottom, should be called tau kee if you get what I mean.

Anyway, back to topic, just like in kway chap, the tau pok acts as a sponge by absorbing the gravy. Sinking your teeth into one that was floating in curry will create an explosion of the tantalization in your mouth. Chewing a couple of veggies with curry-soaked tau pok at the same time just makes eating this dish so unique.

Sadly, despite its bright appearance, curry vegetables play the supporting role in all meals that has it. Whether it is a vegetarian buffet or at a nasi padang stall, curry vegetables is certainly not the main character.

All other types of curry, be it chicken or fish head, will continue to be the star of the meals that they are in but never curry vegetables. But we have to admit that it is one of the best supporting roles in our cuisine.