I Believe….

I think it is true… while most of us do believe IN God, not everyone of us BELIEVEs God. The difference is more than just semantics.

Believing in God would mean knowing for sure of the existence of a Divine Being but that doesn’t tell us much. I mean, we have all heard of gods that are full of rules, gods that play pranks on human, gods that are promiscuous, gods that are evil or gods that don’t really care… so which god are we believing?

But when we believe God, (I am referring to the Judeo-Christian God of course), we take Him at His words and that means believing in what is recorded in the Bible.

So if it is written that we are blessed with the blessings of the seed of Abraham, we are…. if it is written that we shall be the head and not the tail, then we are… if it is written that by His stripes we are healed, then we are…. I believe them!!

It is just as what Joel Osteen always said at the beginning of his sermon, “This is my Bible. I am whatever it says I am, I have whatever it says I have…” Amen!! 

PS: The above is inspired by Pastor Col Stringer who preached a sermon at my church last month.

The words says it all.

We Are the Champions!!

While I do not believe we can predict anything, I am still going to make a bold prediction here and I am going to shout it for 7 times. Here goes…

Man U will win the Premier League title 09/10!!

Man U will win the Premier League title 09/10!!

Man U will win the Premier League title 09/10!!

Man U will win the Premier League title 09/10!!

Man U will win the Premier League title 09/10!!

Man U will win the Premier League title 09/10!!

Man U will win the Premier League title 09/10!!

It has been my habit to do this for the past 3 seasons, and Manchester United did go on to win on all 3 occassions. Yes, I know logically there is no correlation between the 2, but my irrational brain somehow choose to believe otherwise…. haha…. I mean, what has I got to lose?

Anyway… after Chelsea’s 0-3 win at Emirates Stadium, it looked like the Blues are in pole position to win the title this season, but for anybody who has watched EPL for a certain length of years would know, a 5 point lead is really nothing much to crow about at this stage.

Manchester United has a history (yes, again I know history really counts for nothing in football) of overcoming bigger deficits than 5 points, so no worries here,  come next May, they will be up there, winning their 19th title (eat your heart out, Liverpool)!!

We’ll still be doing this again… sans Ronaldo and Tevez of course.

 

 

 

 

What If… If Only…

After watching the series, “Flashforward”, I am convinced that knowing the future isn’t such a wonderful thing after all.

Of course, most of us would like to know  the 4D or Toto numbers coming up in the next draw or the movement of the stock markets for the more savvy ones. But what if we get to know more than we bargained for….? Eg: Seeing the breakup of your marriage or the loss of a loved one or your own death?

Are we to carry on our lives, fully aware that each step will bring us closer to some undesirable ends? Or would we be actively trying to change the course of events, but yet unwittingly taking the very actions which are going to bring us, again, to those undesirable ends?

Perhaps, we  might try changing the past. But for anyone who have ever watched “Back to the Future” or “Butterfly Effect” (a grimer version of BTTF), I guess we know that it ain’t that a smart choice either.

The only movie I remember starring Michael J Fox.

American Nightmare

Barack Obama

I feel for this guy… really. Just when we thought George Bush had it bad, he is having it worse.

While Bush made quite a mess during his term, Obama is expected to clean all that up. For all his charisma and great rhetorics, I do not see how he is able save the US, save the world. 

As it stands now, US is about $13 trillion ( approx 99% of GDP) in national debt (only… without taking account into their Social Security and MediCare liabilities to their citizens, also in their trillions) and the counter is still ticking. Someone, somewhere, is going to have to pay all that back, and who will it be? US taxpayers? China? India? Middle East oil? All the years of global expansion, flawed monetary policies and pushing the buck have finally caught up with the once mighty Uncle Sam.

I dread to think the day when US finally imploded like what some of it’s biggest corporations did  and impact it would have on the rest of the world…. only this time there would be no bailout.

Somehow, the scenes described in Revelations on the 4 Horsemen doesn’t seem so far fetched anymore.

 

Darren Fletcher

I have never rated much Darren Fletcher as a player. 

He was never blessed with the skills of Wayne Rooney, didn’t possess the vision of Paul Scholes or the flair of Ryan Giggs, and the only reason (I thought) he is even in the team is that he is Scottish.

But he has indeed improve quite a lot over the years, blossoming nicely into a  midfield hardman, breaking up opponents’ play, controlling the midfield and popping up with the occasional crucial goals… like Roy Keane used to.

Tough to imagine that a player of his physical stature could end up in that position, but he has managed it quite well so far. Adding to the skills he has learned in his time as a winger, I dare say he has the potential to surpass the great Keano.

I would dedicate this entry to this underrated midfielder for his outstanding performance and wonderful goal in the 3-0 win against Everton last night.

We missed him in the Champions League final… he could be useful for breaking Xavi and Iniesta’s legs.

 

The Best?

Cristiano Ronaldo is the reigning European and World Footballer of the year based on his exploits for Man United in the 07/08 season. For a winger to score 42 goals in a season were nothing short of spectacular and he was truly a deserving winner.

But the real question is: Is there really such a thing as the best footballer?

It is not a problem in individual sports where the degree of your greatness is tied to the number of trophies you won. Win more titles than everybody else, and you are the best.

But when it comes to team sports like football where it requires the collective effort of a group of individuals, all playing different roles, the line is not that clear.

Look,  we all know that an wonderful player in a mediocre team might fail to win league titles, or score enough goals through no fault of his, but a lesser player (not too much lesser) could benefit from having an excellent midfield or defence to protect his rear while leaving him free to grab the glories up front.

To add to the injustice, defensive or unspectacular players, more often than not, are overlooked in the selection process. 

Let’s face it, whenever we think of a great footballer, we instinctively conjure up images of players like Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ronaldo or Messi… players who are flamboyant in their play, players who can dribble their way through a maze of defenders, players who excite us with their spectacular skills.

Seldom would we ever associate “best” with defenders or defensive midfielders. (Goalkeepers, on the other hand, are a different breed due to their unique role in a football game… they are easier to spot)

Of course, defenders like Fabio Cannavaro do get voted, but they are the exceptions rather than the norm. And if they ever get voted, it usually reflects the defensive philosophy of the football team or an inadequacy in their strikeforce (which is not a good thing ).  

It would be better to simply abolish a single Footballer of the Year award, and instead, install awards for all different positions.

In that way, we can make sure nobody goes unrecognised just because of the position he played. While not everybody can dribble like Maradona or bend it like Beckham, not everybody can tackle and win balls like a Roy Keane too.

As the VP of my sec school like to say: “No man is an island”… including footballers.

Awards

It is coming to the end of another year, and of course, it is also time to give out my annual awards…

Favorite Footballer (Man U)

Wayne Rooney

After Ronaldo, who else? Since the departure of  the Portugese Peacock, Rooney has been carrying the whole team on his own shoulders, running, tackling, creating, scoring goals… basically everything the former was doing and much more.

Favourite Footballer (Non-Man U)

Kaka (Real Madrid)

By pure footballing standard, it should have been Messi. But Kaka is my choice for being a more complete and versatile player, able to play in all attacking positions. It doesn’t hurt that he loves Jesus with a passion too (check out his T-shirt).  

Favorite Dude 

Roger Federer

After a relatively quiet ‘08 (winning ONLY the US Open), he had since bounced back strongly in ‘09, completing a career Grand Slam, smashing Sampras’ record and regaining his No 1 spot, proving once and for all, he is THE greatest tennis player there is. 

Favorite Babe

Ann Kwok

Like a bottle of good wine, she just get better with time. I mean, at age 30 plus, she is still a hot babe, in fact, hotter than she was in her early days. A fact, proven by a spike in viewership after she appeared in a scene wearing only a bikini (or should I say bikinis?).  Regrettably, I missed that… but there is always Youtube. 

Favorite Magician

Lu Chen (again…)

I was hard pressed to find a magician who really impressed me this year. I decided on Lu Chen again for the fact that many of my colleagues would request me to replicate the tricks he did on TV after every Sunday.

Favorite Book

The Black Swan (Nassim Taleb)

It was tough coming up with the winner. After all, I have come across quite a number of good books this year, especially from Taleb and Malcom Gladwell. But this book won for it’s satire and plenty of (un)common sense.

Favorite Author

Malcom Gladwell

Iit would only be fair to give this one to him. While Taleb’s stuff can get over my head at times, Gladwell’s books are easy on the mind, and with less of that egoistical tone so typical of the former. One of the best non-fiction writer IMO (no surprise, he is a journalist after all), I would recommend ALL of his books to anybody who cares to read them (yes, I have read them myself). 

 

  

Unpredictable

Jenson Button, beyond all expectations, clinched the 2009 F1 title. Yes, we have known for weeks that he is the favourite for the crown, but honestly, most of us had only start to believe that midway into the season.

Who would have given a serious thought at the start of the season that the Briton would actually be crowned as champion?  For most, Jenson’s good performances in the initial races were thought to be a flash-in-the-pan, and favourites like Hamiton, Massa, Raikkonen or even Alonso would eventually come good. But the end result just goes to show how we were never that good at predicting.

Button, a “handsome swine”, as what my colleague would call him… no disrepect to the swines.

Inspite of that, I am eternally amused how, over the years, many of my friends had tried to devise a “perfect” methology for football betting. They were totally convinced that there is a secret to beat the system and all they have to do is find it. I am always tempted to agree with them when I see them raking in the bucks, until the proverbial Black Swan hit and they lost everything they won, plus a few more.

In the aftermath, they would almost always tell me how they overlooked certain factors or how their emotions got the better of them or how Ronaldo’s injury did them in… but never would they admit that it was just impossible to predict the result of something as dynamic as a football game.

I mean, football is not something that we can crunch the numbers and derived a scientific analysis out of it. Look, what can we tell when Sunderland beat Liverpool 0-1? Does that mean Sunderland is a better team than Liverpool? (I am tempted to say yes to this)

It just meant Sunderland scored 1 goal and Liverpool did not. For all we know (I didn’t watched the game), Liverpool could be having 99 shots at goal, enjoying 99% of posession (not possible, I know) and failed to score but yet, conceded an unlucky (or lucky, depending on your perspective) on their end. 

If we really read into the stats instead of just the scoreline, we would be able to gain a clearer picture of the game itself, but again, even that would not be enough for us to predict whether Liverpool would win, lose or draw in their next match. But, strangely, for some punters, it would be a sure ”sign” that they should avoid Liverpool in their next away game.

But anyway, I am sure Liverpool will lose their next game, because they will be facing Manchester United, and Owen would score…. haha… Humans just won’t change, would we?     

My prediction of the expression of Liverpool’s players after the coming game against Man United.

A Story on Fortune…

Was approached by a fortune-teller in town yesterday, offering me a chance to have a glimpse into my own future for a princely sum of $10.

Unfortunately for him, that amount represented all that I had in my wallet at the time ( ATM machine was a distance away) and I certainly didn’t want to risk any form of gastronomical discomfort by sacrificing my lunch money on services of such speculative nature.

I tried to convey to him, politely (with no mention of my concern for lunch), that I was in no immediate need for his expertise and his time would be better spent on a more receptive audience,  but it apparently did not quite deterred him as he proceeded, without my consent, to give me a “free” reading as a proof of his ability.

In summary, these was what he told me.. about me:

1.  I am born to be a leader. (yeah… I always know I am supposed to be THE boss)

2. I have the potential to achieve great things, but I’m not realising that potential fully yet. (of course, my bank balance is still some zeroes away from Bill Gates)

3. I am a very smart guy (my, was it THAT obvious..?), but I usually do not show that off  for fear of offending people with my intelligence.

After hearing all these ego-boosting compliments about myself (which I have no doubt of their truth anyway..), it was natural and human to want to reciprocate by hearing out his $10 forecast, but  I knew what was to come next…

As expected, after the openers, he dropped the one big, nasty word that all people who have the misfortune of  having their fortune told loathe to hear: 

1. You are a born leader, BUT…..

2. You are full of potential, BUT…

3. You are smart, BUT…. (ouch, shut up!!) 

I am convinced that if there is ever a vote on the most terrible word in the history of mankind, “BUT” would come up on top. Whatever good future you might be enjoying are negated with just this one word after it and all the reasons of WHY you are not enjoying it now, would come after, which usually would be things that are beyond your control…. eg: the alignment of the stars on your birthday, the mood of the deities for that year, or how your nose happen to be at the spot that it is situated et cetra.   

Of course, whenever they presented you with a problem, they would have the solution ready too. The fortune-teller reminded me, in no uncertain terms,  of the many ill effects that the ”BUTs” would have on my destiny, but (the word again) fortunately for me, he was the expert in dealing with them. And since, according to him, our meeting was by some divine intervention (“yuan”) from the above, he would do whatever he could to salvage the rest of my life. 

Just as he was about to launch into his ”solution presentation”, my client came by and we had to move on for our lunch, leaving the disappointed fortune-teller quite possibly without the $10 he needed for his own lunch…

Ain’t much of an expert when it comes their own fortune. 

It’S Magic

Is magic only good for fooling small kids and young girls? Think again…

A former lesbian and sex-worker found a new lease of life 6 years ago when she discovered magic. She is now working towards her dream to become the next biggest female magician in Singapore, after a certain famous female “illusionist” in Singapore. I hope she succeed… God bless her.

 

Magic… more than just tricks.

PS: For those who are curious, I actually know all those details about her through her blog. No, I have not spoken to her yet (my friend did though)… but I might have a chance, since she is going to take part in the magic competition we are organising.