Show me the money!

After a long, hard fought season, Manchester United finally clinched the Premier League title. All across the world, I’m sure millions of United fans would have spent their Saturday night tuning in to watch the match against Arsenal. And the players duly achieved the target and won the fan’s delight. And so like all the other fans, I sat in front of my tele and waited 10 minutes for the trophy presentation.

But unfortunately, being Singaporean, I didn’t have the basic privilege of all the rest of the Manchester United fans around the world. No, I wasn’t grounded by my parents, nor did lightning strike the power station triggering a nation-wide blackout, nor did an asteroid hit the satellite in outer space. You see, here in Singapore, we soccer fans are forced to fork out money to watch some amateur network that looks like a bunch of teenagers trying to win their annual high school broadcasting awards.

Now, back to my melodrama, and so I invite you to picture this in your mind. Me, sitting on my couch, eagerly anticipating the couple of minutes that will remind me why I support this great club, and here’s what I see: Half of the television screen showing the magnificent ceremony of British soldiers carrying the grand-daddy of English football and behind them, some of the greatest players to don the club shirt. The other half of the screen shows the match at White Hart Lane between Spurs and some other team whose name I’ve forgotten. The audio continues to play from White Hart Lane, and the more I anticipate the audio to turn to Old Trafford to hear and feel the atmosphere you can hear no where else, the more I am disappointed. And as I see Ryan Giggs being handed the trophy, I am resigned to accepting that I will have to wait till Monday night to watch this wonderful moment with all its glory, and video and audio working perfectly mind you, on Sports Center instead.

Just imagine that. Imagine having to watch your favourite team lifting the trophy they’ve fought for the past year on half of your television screen with audio playing from some match you honestly don’t care at all.

And I’ll tell you why this network decided to show the Spurs match instead. Because they pay for every match to be broadcast here, including this one, and they simply did not want to waste that money, whatever it may cost. After all, they already did show the 90 minutes from Old Trafford. The fact that so many thousands of United fans would have watched those 90 minutes and possibly all of their matches this season simply to get to this special moment didn’t matter to the network. All that mattered was the money. And for those who think that I’m being selfish and not considering the Tottenham fans, I’m pretty sure they weren’t playing for any title. Even if that match meant anything to the fans, wouldn’t they mind not watching the first few minutes? Because, with all due respect, those few minutes mean almost nothing compared to what was going on at Old Trafford.

Which brings me to my point, that nowadays, football coverage, at least here in Singapore, is all about the money. It’s never about what the fans want. The big guys at the top of the economic food-chain here know that fans don’t really have a choice. If we want to watch some football, which to some by the way means the only form of recreation, we have to feed this monster which will chew up and spit out anything it deems profitable.

I’m done rambling here. And boy am I glad that the Champions League final will be broadcast on another network.

The guardian at memory lane can be an asshole

First of all, I’m really sorry for not updating the blog for almost 2 weeks now. Especially to a certain Nationalist from NJC who I’ve been promising to call but never really had the time to. Schedule’s been quite tight, and I’m hoping it’s just a matter of time before I adjust.

Returned to De La Salle Primary with Shawn, Keegan and Jonas yesterday, looks pretty much the same except that they’ve decided to change along with technology now. The security this year became really tight now, and it’s starting to piss me off. Now, you have to sign in, surrender your IC, and leave whenever the kids come out of class. Seriously, it’s more rigid than the Woodlands Checkpoint, believe me.

Anyways, I got to talk to many old faces, including Mr. Peter Lee, who appears livelier than ever. The great thing about old teachers is that they’ve got great advice for you. Keegan and I met Mrs. Raja, who told us this, “In this world you have to work hard.” Although it seems really obvious, it gets me thinking.

At least this trip was more positive than my previous one. Last year when we got there, most of the teachers left, and the first teacher that acknowledged me was the first and only teacher in primary school to ever fail me in an exam. But soon I would meet Mrs. Hoh, who taught me in my first year. I was extremely frightened by her even after 7 years, but she’s still a really nice teacher, and talking to her made my day. Sometimes the strangest things can make you smile…

Tomorrow is bragging day

Tomorrow, the day after the release of the O level results, is officially bragging day in SJI. The procedure is as follows. The respective subject tutor enters the class, and proclaims that the distinction rate for BLANK subject was BLANK %. He or she then goes on to illustrate the results on the white board, as if the students never heard it the first time round. He or she then informs the class of their expectations when they sit for the exams, and stops with for a pregnant pause, allowing the tension and stress to sink into the students, who then go, “Shit, we’re all screwed now.”

I can’t wait.

Stop asking me to join your stupid group

Have you gotten this invitation on facebook to join this group called ‘Can We Get All Facebook Users in one group ????’. I get about 2 invites ever week, and am I the only one who finds this group ridiculous?  To those who created that group, there already is a group with all the facebook users in it, it’s called FACEBOOK you moron.

Idiot

“A bank robber in the US is facing a life sentence after a blunder that led police straight to him.

The man walked into a Chicago bank and handed a teller a note that read: “Be Quick Be Quit (quiet). Give your cash or I’ll shoot.”

He was handed about $400 but mistakenly left half the note, written on his October pay slip, behind.

Detectives found the other half outside the bank – complete with his name and address.

Police said they had known some strange bank robberies but none quite like this one.

If convicted, he could be jailed for up to 20 years.”

-          Sky News

2 things not to do at the start of the new school term

I’m one of those teenagers that actually doesn’t hate the first day of school. Of course, the feeling of going back after months of vacation sucks, but introductions can be pretty amusing. And besides, now I don’t have to waste time rotting at home.

The new teachers seem pretty nice, but if it’s one thing I’ve learnt about first days, NEVER trust a teacher on the first day of school. They tend to be sociable and witty in class on the first day, which I presume is because they don’t want to ruin their first days either. Then when you meet them for the second time, that first impression goes flying out the window together with your homework that you thought she’d forget.

Another important lesson I’ve learnt is to never make promises to your parents. First of all, parents never let go of things you say. Besides, the fact that you’re even reading this probably means you’re the type who won’t keep those promises in the first place. When the new term starts parents tend to nag about how bad the previous one ensued, no matter how hard you tried, and how you should try harder this time round. So play it safe this time.

For now, those two are the only ones I can think of, I’m pretty sure you would have learnt more. Do share them by leaving a comment. But of course, you can opt to actually BE A GOOD STUDENT, instead of screwing around and reading posts like these.

10 things you should never have in your blog if you want me to read it

1.       Overwhelming colors

2.       A myriad of exclamation marks and upper casings

3.       Millions of pictures nobody gives a shit about

4.       Telling me how awesome your new fingernail colors are

5.       Porn and all the other obvious crap

6.       Those little annoying music players interrupting me reading

7.       Smiley faces at the end of every sentence

8.       “Haha” or “LOL” at the end of every sentence

9.       Ridiculous cursors

10.   Changing the font’s color and size every few sentence

Oh wait a minute, that’s a typical bimbo blog. But if YOU have any idiotic distresses when reading a blog, let me know.