England Triumphs, Then Slaughtered

Michael Owen scored a brace to guide the England soccer team to a clinical 3-0 victory over Gus Hiddink's Russia at Wembley Stadium in London last Wednesday. After beating Israel 3-0 earlier, Steve McLaren's squad got back on the right track towards automatic qualifation in Euro 2008 with a maximum of six points from two games played. England just need five more points against Estonia (home), Russia (away) and Croatia (home) to secure their normal place among Europe's elite soccer teams. I saw both matches and was quite excited and thrilled to witness Owen back to his best. Emile Heskey and Gareth Barry must be commended for their brilliant display and McLaren must have silenced his critics after announcing to recall these two players after many years in the wilderness for the two matches.

England slaughtered? Yes! By a rampant, organised and hard-tackling South Africa team in the ongoing 2007 Rugby Union World Cup. The Springboks triumphed 36-0, making the reigning World Champions eat humble pie. The English team made error after error and had only themselves to blame for this inept and woeful display. Yesterday, the Wallabies overcame a resilient Welsh team 32-20, while favourites the All-Blacks scored three figures in a 108-13 victory to annihilate and destroy Portugal. Ireland was given the shock of their lives before managing to succumb minnows Georgia 14-10.

Happy Ramadhan!

I would like to wish a Happy Ramadhan to all Muslims on planet earth. Here in Malaysia, we have already fasted two days in this sacred and holy month. May all your prayers be answered by God. Ameen!

Happy 50th Independence Day, MALAYSIA!

At the stroke of midnight, 31st August 2007, Malaysia celebrated her 50th Independence Day. Being a Malaysian based in Kuala Lumpur, my family and I could not resist the temptation of viewing the fireworks display at Dataran Merdeka which comes a few minutes after midnight. Dataran Merdeka was the scene where the Union Jack flag was lowered for the last time for the then Malaya. Well, the three of us boarded the LRT train before 11.00 pm and met up with my wife's sister and her boyfriend outside the Bandaraya LRT near SOGO. We were so eager to view the fireworks display so much so that my wife and my daughter got lost in the crowd. Not to panic, I had informed them to wait for me at the LRT station if we were to get separated.

The countdown came and went. "Negaraku" (Our Country), Malaysia's national anthem was sung followed by two long-winded speeches by Rais Yatim and Pak Lah. Children were crying everywhere and children, with a short span of attention, could not be blamed. I do not see the point of delaying the fireworks display for more than an hour. Before 1.00 am, I had already made my way to the LRT station to wait for my family. My wife's sister and boyfriend were already waiting for me. After giving up hope for some fireworks to show up, a few were fired upwards for about 5 minutes just to please the crowd. By then, many had left for home.

In my humble opinion, for a golden anniversary celebration, this is pathetic as the crowd is not interested in speeches. They want action. And they got crap!