Man U

Saturday, April 28, 2007 T: 23 13

I love Manchester United. And as I watched them play day in and day out, I found myself liking them even more. I enjoy their style of play, watching the likes of players like Ronaldo and Rooney outwitting defenders and goalkeepers, watching the excited old man jumping up and down at his golden age, watching the unwavering confidence of the entire team itself.

Certainly, their attacking style of soccer has added much more liveliness to the world of football. They go all out to search for goals, whether they are losing or winning. The latest Champions League victories against Roma and AC Milan will testify to that. I don’t think I want to watch a match that has perpetually no goals, just defensive barriers that deny every single chance. Goals seem to be a result of just a reliance of mistakes and holes in the defense, rather than because of strikers’ superb control of the ball.

I find myself a fan of the players of the club rather than the club itself. I find myself a fan of old man Fergie, his constant zeal and enthusiasm for the game, his confidence in his players, and as well as his inspiration of all of his men under him. Look at the team when they seem to come back so often this season in the second half after the 10 minutes in the locker-room. Is it by sheer confidence, or did the old bird say something to his team, give his powerful hairdryer session to his players? After all, his 20 years of reign has seen him managing probably some of the greatest players on Earth. And it’s in this season you see that bunch of young players each with their own individual different abilities doing their best to repay their manager’s confidence in them. You see Ronaldo coming back astoundingly after being hated by almost the entire England due to the World Cup, diving less and less frequent, playing more unselfishly although he love scoring. You see Rooney gradually maturing and learning to control his temper, recently rising to the occasion to give the club the attacking edge in order to compensate for its defensive gaps. You see Fletcher and Carrick, players who got ignored initially, gradually bettering their game. While the former tackle endlessly to get back possession of the ball, the other run tirelessly to relieve others of the ball and distribute it. Finally, you see a team not just good because of individual talents of the young players. Instead they are supported and taught by veterans like Neville, Giggs and Scholes. It is a team of the old and young, a team that suddenly seems able to win the treble this season.

I never bet on soccer. I just love watching the game however. To others, it may be just 20 people running around the damn field for a ball. To me however, it is a game that demands team spirit, sportsmanship and finally confidence, both in the player own self and in his team-mates. May Manchester United win their next treble this season.

Ray Quinn

Sunday, April 15, 2007 T: 15 53

I have expected this. I have known this would happen. All around me, people all around me begin talking about boyfriends and girlfriends. There are the people slightly older than me who have started to contemplate marriage and the prospect of having a family life. A few have already gotten to it. I see people gradually growing up around me. Boys gradually mature physically and mentally to become men able to discern for themselves right from wrong. Girls may become more outspoken and less shy, gradually transforming into confident, fine ladies. What will they be like 20 years down the road? What will I be like at that time? Have my mother, my aunties and uncles, my grandparents been like that in the past? And as they move from one stage to another, will they lose their liveliness, having an image and reputation they have to keep, especially in front of their kids? From what I can observe, I give it 10 years before the majority of my friends currently have families of their own.

I never stop being curious. What is it like to be a husband or a father? What does it feel like to take on responsibilities that would affect greatly the lives of others? We all watch movies, read books that recount of those happy families and loving couples. Chinese serial dramas never fail to end off with a ‘quan jia fu’ photograph. The ones that don’t always leave viewers disappointed. Maybe we all want to know that having a perfect family is possible, and we become inspired to have that kind of life. What is like to be like Ray Quinn – a character in the Quinn quartet by Nora Roberts? In the story, he is a respectable father to 3 fellows he picked up from the street, guiding the three lost boys back to the main road again. Roberts make it sound so possible, so believable. In reality, is it true? I don’t think I will ever stop being a source of frustration for my mother, even though I can be apologetic for it. I know very well I would not be where I am today if not for her. I suppose the fact that my brother and I have that bit of intelligence helps, that we are able to get into better schools and not mix with bad company. How about those who don’t? How are parents supposed to deal with that? I know of people who have begun smoking due to peer pressure, and after that it seems to be a downward spiral. Ray Quinn will always know when to let go, and when to step in, and words that will not enter his sons’ ear to exit through the other. I have never doubted when Pastor Chris suggested that you can see how a person is like by looking at his or her children.

I remember back in college, I often spend one hour a week swimming in the pool in my school. It’s always very comfortable to reflect about almost everything then. Every hand and leg movements can seem so natural and instinctive at that gentle and slow pace, as if they move on their own. It’s at one of those times when I begin thinking how I should improve my life, how I can be a better friend, a better brother in Christ, about what I would do if I’m some leader, about what I would do if I’m a father. I could think a lot. Trying is another. After all, Ray is Quinn is fiction. Reality will be never as simple and smooth as swimming in that pool.

changes

Monday, April 02, 2007 T: 22 30

Changes. They are so inevitable. I suppose we need them in order to progress, in order to evolve, in order to lead what we call better lives. Technology rapidly advances. I have come from a time when people once use coins only to take buses, hesitant to put money in a piece of plastic called the fare-card. I have come from a time where only tape recorders existed. Things have changed now, due to the demand for higher efficiency and effectiveness. I know I must be thankful for them.

In some sense, I hate changes, hate moving from comfort zone, moving from a routine I’m used to and delight myself in, hate the changing of environment – landing into yet another unfamiliar zone where I must re-establish my comfort zone. Maybe that’s why I would consider myself boring and would rather be alone enjoying being alone doing things on my own. Maybe that’s why I would rather do backstage work than be under the spotlight, doing work which some would refer as ‘sai gang’, work that probably receive no acknowledgement when done well, work that however get me criticized even when problems are not a result of my blunders. In some ways, I have tell myself to not mind all that insults, and just enjoy doing what I’m supposed to do alone. Maybe that’s why I choose accountancy as my subject in university. I don’t think I’ll mind staying back late to finish all the accounts. It’ll get frustrating and boring after a while, after months of long hours and little breaks, but it seem to promise me little need for too much social interaction. It’s a matter of getting used to.

I’ve always taught myself to taking things as it comes. There will be a way no matter what. There had to be. In my opinion, that has always been the key to leading a contented life, though I do have some vision of what my life in future will be like. Boring no doubt, but comfortable and relaxing. In that dream, that vision, I’ll be stuck in the same old house up to age 35, gradually furnishing my room into my own paradise. That’s when I’ll be eligible to apply for my own flat, when I’ll get a dog, a cat and a bird. I’ll begin simply, building it up from scratch, to finally a place where I can call home. I’ll be drawing a salary of 3 to 5 thousand, eating at the same stalls everyday, doing almost the same thing every weekday. I’ll take long walks with my dog every night, armed with a mp3 player while traveling the distances. I’ll go back from church every Sunday to the same old desert stall, savoring a bowl of BoBoChaCha as I’ve always done. I’ll spend my free time on novels by brilliant authors like Lescorat, Roberts, and Archer, writing my journals as I’ve always done for the past eight to nine years. I’ll consider going back to serve at church, doing the sound and lcd again, helping out with the logistics dept if my help is ever needed. I think I’ll still be relying on public transport. With the circle line and so many other lines under development, I don’t see why private transportation will be a necessity in the long run. This will be my life. There shall not be going to be much disruptions. Something bugs at me though… should the dogs, cats and birds come in pairs?

I wish I’m still a kid. There seem to be so many changes at the moment. I’ve to keep thinking about my tertiary education, worry about school fees, contemplate how to make ends meet as a student, how I can be independent of at the very least my family. My social environment seems to keep changing. Just when I thought I finally made better friends after 3 months of BMT, I’m sent to OETI with a class of probably 30 new faces, 40 new people to work with. And after that, I’ll be going for On Job Experience at some other unit, where I’m supposed to put my new knowledge and skills to practical use under the watchful eyes of more experienced and new people. And after 2 months, I’ll be again flew to another unit for the actual thing. Even in church, I seem to be not spared. People seem to come and go. The number of regulars seem to be drop. Even leaders change. The entire church changes. PUNJ, a place where I think I know 90% of the people some time ago, seems to be changing into a place full of strangers whose names I do not know. There seems to be millions of names to recall now, as I struggle to put names to faces so frequently. I wish everyone will wear their names somewhere on their clothes. Things would have gotten much simpler. I guess I always try to take the easier way out. A time might even come when I will totally desert my comfort zone for a year, if I do receive a overseas posting for my army vocation, when I’ll be plunged into a different culture, a different land. I’ll embrace them – changes – positively though, at least as much as possible. After all, all roads lead to Rome.

Thankfully, God never change. His personality stays the same. His laws stay the same. His love stays the same. His grace stays the same. His perfection will eternal. At the very least, I could always fall back on this foundation and know that it’ll never collapse, even if my world may one day do so.