Chelsea 3 Manchester United 0
Ho-hum.
Pity about United, but at least they beat Chelsea earlier on.
SCREW YOU CHELSEA- at least the rest of us didn't BUY the Premiership.
I've every bit of respect for some of the Stamford Bridge players- Terry, Lampard, Cech, Robben, Joe Cole, maybe Crespo- but not the others especially idiots like Drogba and Fierrera and Carvalho and Maniche.
Speaking of idiots from Portugal, there's their manager who is as arrogant as he is childlish and incompetant.
What a motherfucker. It's my dream to staple his mouth shut, literally. Perverse, I know, but I loathe the guy.
He's the kind of guy that will only shake hands with an opposing manager only after Chelsea beats them 3-0, and makes all sorts of magnanimous comments about the opposing team's "good fight". Once Chelsea loses, however, he refuses to shake hands and brands the opposition as cheats and unworthy of the victory. Reminds one of an 8 year old kid actually.
He's just incompetant. Anybody could win the title with Chelsea. Even my uncle's dog. Just look at the money that they've got.
Speaking of money, I hope that asshole Roman Abramovich gets arrested for corruption by the Russian secret police. They should drown him in petrol and give his money to some charity. He's a spoilt brat who just happened to have money. A lot of it.
Yet another immature fuck. No wonder he's together with Mourinho in this farcical game of buying football titles and trophies.
Ok do pardon the expletives. I really can't think of more suitable words or titles to describe those currently in charge of Chelsea.
No question about it, the biggest loser tonight was not Fergie's team but the spirit of sport and quality football and England's World Cup hopes.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Soccer is Stranger than Fiction
Arsenal 1 Tottenham 1
Villareal 0 Arsenal 0.
In the space of 4 days there were 2 matches.
In the space of 2 matches there were 2 draws.
The latter favoured us, the former did not.
But hey! We're going to Paris! Woo-hoo!
I am ecstatic that the Gunners have gotten to the finals while stretching their incredible run of clean sheets to an incredible 10 games. 10 games against the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus, and Riquelme's Villareal! Lehman should get every bit of the credit as Henry.
At the same time I am sorely disappointed at yet another lacklustre domestic performance.
I think Wenger has paid the price for having too little Englishmen in his team. Only English players are used to the English game of heavy running and high balls and headed goals. All the Frenchmen and Spanish youngsters at Highbury are obviously not comfortable enough with the pace of the English game. Arsenal's fluid style of play should be maintained but without sacrificing English players who are used to aerial contests and close man-marking and tough full- blooded tackles. Perhaps Alan Pardew was right after all.
Villareal 0 Arsenal 0.
In the space of 4 days there were 2 matches.
In the space of 2 matches there were 2 draws.
The latter favoured us, the former did not.
But hey! We're going to Paris! Woo-hoo!
I am ecstatic that the Gunners have gotten to the finals while stretching their incredible run of clean sheets to an incredible 10 games. 10 games against the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus, and Riquelme's Villareal! Lehman should get every bit of the credit as Henry.
At the same time I am sorely disappointed at yet another lacklustre domestic performance.
I think Wenger has paid the price for having too little Englishmen in his team. Only English players are used to the English game of heavy running and high balls and headed goals. All the Frenchmen and Spanish youngsters at Highbury are obviously not comfortable enough with the pace of the English game. Arsenal's fluid style of play should be maintained but without sacrificing English players who are used to aerial contests and close man-marking and tough full- blooded tackles. Perhaps Alan Pardew was right after all.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
The Age of Ambition
I have an overwhelming compulsion to succeed against all odds.
I intend to excel and overcome all these obstacles that lie in my way- this dystopian nation and its policy of conscription, this callous society, and the deplorable situation that I am in.
I have had enough of being sidelined and overlooked by those who would not or could not see what I truly am- they who would dismiss me as inconsequential and even insignificant- without the opportunity of a fair trial.
I will rise and I will be vindicated.
Victorious Aut Mortis
- Victory or Death
Yet may God be glorified in all I do- If I were to earn honour, may the Greater honour be ascribed to Him Who has delivered me from the pits of defeat.
I intend to excel and overcome all these obstacles that lie in my way- this dystopian nation and its policy of conscription, this callous society, and the deplorable situation that I am in.
I have had enough of being sidelined and overlooked by those who would not or could not see what I truly am- they who would dismiss me as inconsequential and even insignificant- without the opportunity of a fair trial.
I will rise and I will be vindicated.
Victorious Aut Mortis
- Victory or Death
Yet may God be glorified in all I do- If I were to earn honour, may the Greater honour be ascribed to Him Who has delivered me from the pits of defeat.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
For King, Not Country
My allegiance as far as I am concerned is not to this nation but to my King and Creator in Heaven, the Holy Trinity as preached in the Holy Bible.
I still find it hard to put my faith in human reasoning. Everytime I try it turns out to be too illogical, too whimsical, too irrational, and yet I have this compulsion to cling to the Faith I profess.
Perhaps this post has to do with the fact that the Holy Week has passed.
Well it was anything but Holy for me... all that sin and guilt still plagues me after all these years.
But it was a week to remember the events of the Cross and the Empty Tomb- the Death and the Resurrection of Christ the King.
It was a week to reflect on why I am called to believe.
Some say that only the weak would have a need for a religion- for only the weak need a crutch to live life by and an imaginary friend whom they can pour out their whining to.
But I know what I know- what I have seen and experienced- and its just that I lack the means to express it in a more lucid and cogent form that makes more sense to the Logic-worshipping Atheists out there.
And as to the charge that the weak need crutches- it can also be argued that only fools would depend entirely on the efforts of their own flawed hands- and all human hands are flawed. Indeed, everything about humanity is tainted with imperfection, and thus complete reliance on human possesions- on human brain, on human strength, on human feeling- would seem not only a greater weakness than those who cling to Faith, but also a pure foolishness and abject stupidity that is symptomatic of ego and pride- human ego and human pride that has so often decieved men into thinking themselves as gods.
You want proof that humanity is flawed and failed?
Look at the newspapers. Look at the greed and carnage and hunger. Look at history. The starvation and wars and oppression and injustice. The brutality and avarice and poverty. What more proof does one need? Or does one insist on glorifying the quantum leaps in technology and science and knowledge? I think that despite of all our achievements, the fact that we have failed to eradicate JF Kennedy's "Enemies of Mankind" (ie hunger and disease etc) shows even more flaw and failure.
Example:
For what purpose do we have so much wondrous medical technology when it is used to save only, say, the 20% of humanity who live in the First World?
Weak people would lack the strength to accept the reality that humanity is flawed and cannot be relied upon to build a better future. Weak people would be unable to face up to the failures of humanity and find delusional excuses to convince themselves that they do not need a higher moral guidance. Weak people would be unable to resist the beastial aspects of their human nature and turn to the worship of pleasure- weakness harmlessly laughed off as "it's only human" or "mere hedonism".
So who then is the weaker? He who needs God or he who laughs at God?
Not to mention the more foolish...
Only a fool would rely purely on human abilities. Sure there'll be success- but for how long?
What comes after that? What comes after you've done everything you've set out to do?
What would you be living for?
I dont know why I compose this. I guess its a reply to the release of the Gospel of Judas and the coming release of the Da Vinci Code movie next month.
I'd thought that the Da Vinci Code was a mere spot of fiction- just a harmless controversy born of an attempt to make a quick buck (or a few million bucks). I even mocked the Church elders who ranted on and on about it.
I figured that if they were responding so vehemently to fiction, would'nt it mean that they were taking such fiction seriously, and thus giving it even more credibility?
But what galvanised me into supporting those looney elders was the fact that on reading the book again, I found in it a disturbing attempt to make everything in it seem real. Ok, so the Priory of Scion and Opus Dei did exist as what was claimed, but the plot of fiction was made out to be real- as real as the historic facts! Dan Brown has indirectly put the idea that Sophie Neveu is the great great great great grand-daughter of Jesus Christ on the same pedestal as the fact that Leonardo DaVinci painted the Mona Lisa. That to me is quite a dangerous thing to do.
And so I can no longer apologise for what I say when I defend what I believe in.
I still find it hard to put my faith in human reasoning. Everytime I try it turns out to be too illogical, too whimsical, too irrational, and yet I have this compulsion to cling to the Faith I profess.
Perhaps this post has to do with the fact that the Holy Week has passed.
Well it was anything but Holy for me... all that sin and guilt still plagues me after all these years.
But it was a week to remember the events of the Cross and the Empty Tomb- the Death and the Resurrection of Christ the King.
It was a week to reflect on why I am called to believe.
Some say that only the weak would have a need for a religion- for only the weak need a crutch to live life by and an imaginary friend whom they can pour out their whining to.
But I know what I know- what I have seen and experienced- and its just that I lack the means to express it in a more lucid and cogent form that makes more sense to the Logic-worshipping Atheists out there.
And as to the charge that the weak need crutches- it can also be argued that only fools would depend entirely on the efforts of their own flawed hands- and all human hands are flawed. Indeed, everything about humanity is tainted with imperfection, and thus complete reliance on human possesions- on human brain, on human strength, on human feeling- would seem not only a greater weakness than those who cling to Faith, but also a pure foolishness and abject stupidity that is symptomatic of ego and pride- human ego and human pride that has so often decieved men into thinking themselves as gods.
You want proof that humanity is flawed and failed?
Look at the newspapers. Look at the greed and carnage and hunger. Look at history. The starvation and wars and oppression and injustice. The brutality and avarice and poverty. What more proof does one need? Or does one insist on glorifying the quantum leaps in technology and science and knowledge? I think that despite of all our achievements, the fact that we have failed to eradicate JF Kennedy's "Enemies of Mankind" (ie hunger and disease etc) shows even more flaw and failure.
Example:
For what purpose do we have so much wondrous medical technology when it is used to save only, say, the 20% of humanity who live in the First World?
Weak people would lack the strength to accept the reality that humanity is flawed and cannot be relied upon to build a better future. Weak people would be unable to face up to the failures of humanity and find delusional excuses to convince themselves that they do not need a higher moral guidance. Weak people would be unable to resist the beastial aspects of their human nature and turn to the worship of pleasure- weakness harmlessly laughed off as "it's only human" or "mere hedonism".
So who then is the weaker? He who needs God or he who laughs at God?
Not to mention the more foolish...
Only a fool would rely purely on human abilities. Sure there'll be success- but for how long?
What comes after that? What comes after you've done everything you've set out to do?
What would you be living for?
I dont know why I compose this. I guess its a reply to the release of the Gospel of Judas and the coming release of the Da Vinci Code movie next month.
I'd thought that the Da Vinci Code was a mere spot of fiction- just a harmless controversy born of an attempt to make a quick buck (or a few million bucks). I even mocked the Church elders who ranted on and on about it.
I figured that if they were responding so vehemently to fiction, would'nt it mean that they were taking such fiction seriously, and thus giving it even more credibility?
But what galvanised me into supporting those looney elders was the fact that on reading the book again, I found in it a disturbing attempt to make everything in it seem real. Ok, so the Priory of Scion and Opus Dei did exist as what was claimed, but the plot of fiction was made out to be real- as real as the historic facts! Dan Brown has indirectly put the idea that Sophie Neveu is the great great great great grand-daughter of Jesus Christ on the same pedestal as the fact that Leonardo DaVinci painted the Mona Lisa. That to me is quite a dangerous thing to do.
And so I can no longer apologise for what I say when I defend what I believe in.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Musings
Why do the Chinese people glorify elders and authorities?
All throughout history the people of China have always worshipped those held in high authority over them.
Look at Qin ShiHuangDi the so-called First Emperor for instance.
He was a monster and a megalomaniac whose bloodthirsty reign took the lives of hundreds of thousands, including many of the scholar class who had alternative ideas and philosophies about government.
And yet the modern Chinese celebrate him as a God-like figure who rescued China from a chaotic past and gave them a unified empire, a big ass wall, and a common language.
I do not dispute those events of his epic legacy. But I also find it very odd that so many would be so enamoured of these deeds without remembering the monstrous price in human lives that was paid.
The same goes for many of China's leaders through the ages.
Aside from the many Emperors, there are too the examples of Mao Ze Dong and Deng Xiao Ping who have accomplished a great deal of great things at a great cost to humanity.
Remember the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and Tianamen Square.
And these people are still worshipped as gods by the Chinese people!
Not to mention the Sino-philic neo-Confucian leader of a certain island in South-East Asia just north of the Equator- beholden and revered as a Messianic ruler by his minions.
Are we Chinese fundamentally an authority-worshipping culture, a race of insects and ants and hive-minds, all bent and focused on achieving wealth and prosperity at the expense of moral values, stability at the expense of dynamism, cohesion at the expense of uniqueness, unity at the expense of individual expression, and authority at the cost of human rights?
Sadly the answer seems to be yes.
I think it has to do with the fact that we are the most populous people on the planet.
You can't rule 2 billion of us effectively without resorting to Stalinist methods.
To be cynical but realistic, the larger a people is, the more unruly it would become, hence the need for draconian methods, especially if the vast majority of the ruled are uneducated peasant simpletons (which is the case in real life).
But necessary evils are still evils, as evil as they are necessary.
And beware us Chinese, O the Rest of the World, for we the Yellow Horde are coming to infest every corner of the planet with our Hives and Colonies! BWAHAHAHAHA
All throughout history the people of China have always worshipped those held in high authority over them.
Look at Qin ShiHuangDi the so-called First Emperor for instance.
He was a monster and a megalomaniac whose bloodthirsty reign took the lives of hundreds of thousands, including many of the scholar class who had alternative ideas and philosophies about government.
And yet the modern Chinese celebrate him as a God-like figure who rescued China from a chaotic past and gave them a unified empire, a big ass wall, and a common language.
I do not dispute those events of his epic legacy. But I also find it very odd that so many would be so enamoured of these deeds without remembering the monstrous price in human lives that was paid.
The same goes for many of China's leaders through the ages.
Aside from the many Emperors, there are too the examples of Mao Ze Dong and Deng Xiao Ping who have accomplished a great deal of great things at a great cost to humanity.
Remember the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and Tianamen Square.
And these people are still worshipped as gods by the Chinese people!
Not to mention the Sino-philic neo-Confucian leader of a certain island in South-East Asia just north of the Equator- beholden and revered as a Messianic ruler by his minions.
Are we Chinese fundamentally an authority-worshipping culture, a race of insects and ants and hive-minds, all bent and focused on achieving wealth and prosperity at the expense of moral values, stability at the expense of dynamism, cohesion at the expense of uniqueness, unity at the expense of individual expression, and authority at the cost of human rights?
Sadly the answer seems to be yes.
I think it has to do with the fact that we are the most populous people on the planet.
You can't rule 2 billion of us effectively without resorting to Stalinist methods.
To be cynical but realistic, the larger a people is, the more unruly it would become, hence the need for draconian methods, especially if the vast majority of the ruled are uneducated peasant simpletons (which is the case in real life).
But necessary evils are still evils, as evil as they are necessary.
And beware us Chinese, O the Rest of the World, for we the Yellow Horde are coming to infest every corner of the planet with our Hives and Colonies! BWAHAHAHAHA
Monday, April 10, 2006
Voice of Vendetta
The Emperor says he wants the citizens to speak up and debate issues during the elections.
Then his cronies inform us that any blog expressing "persistant political views" must be registered with the authorities.
This reminds me of a period in not-so-ancient Chinese history.
In the wake of the disastrous Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, Mao Ze Dong's critics were waiting to capitalize on his massive policy blunders. They had all the political ammunition they needed from the monstrous production failings and death tolls, and had planned to topple him at the nearest opportunity.
Mr Mao, however, had other ideas.
He launched this campaign called "Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom" and inivited all his critics in the country to come and let their voices be heard, even if it meant attacking his person and his policies. He put it forward as a new era in communist history where a myriad of diverse and different views could be heard and openly debated without fear of government reprisal.
And so his critics believed him and revealed themselves. Wholeheartedly.
The rest, as they say, is history.
They all died.
Either from over-exertion in the labour camps, or in front of a firing squad.
And now, in this present age and in this island in the tropics, as the elections draw near, and as these paradoxes emerge from the charming gilded lips of those claiming to be our benefactors, I cannot help but see the sinister parallels emerging from this time and a time from the past.
From many pasts in fact. Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Saddam's Iraq, Kim's Korea, etc etc.
One local blogger has noted that it is a sure sign of our country's political perfection that we live in such material prosperity and security, so that we can whine and grumble and complain about politics, unlike other nations where people are too hungry, or homeless, or trying to feed their families, to care about politics.
My reply to those who think like that: "Go back to your HDB apartment, you politically immature baby. Go back to your perfect undisturbed life. Go back and dont bother your peanut sized brain about the dangers of a one party state and a one family government. Your fate is now your own".
I mean he has a point but it is using a greater evil to justify a lesser one. All evils are wrong no matter their magnitude.
And I care not for what Our Benefactors say about blogs and politics. This is my right and they can not take it from me.
Then his cronies inform us that any blog expressing "persistant political views" must be registered with the authorities.
This reminds me of a period in not-so-ancient Chinese history.
In the wake of the disastrous Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, Mao Ze Dong's critics were waiting to capitalize on his massive policy blunders. They had all the political ammunition they needed from the monstrous production failings and death tolls, and had planned to topple him at the nearest opportunity.
Mr Mao, however, had other ideas.
He launched this campaign called "Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom" and inivited all his critics in the country to come and let their voices be heard, even if it meant attacking his person and his policies. He put it forward as a new era in communist history where a myriad of diverse and different views could be heard and openly debated without fear of government reprisal.
And so his critics believed him and revealed themselves. Wholeheartedly.
The rest, as they say, is history.
They all died.
Either from over-exertion in the labour camps, or in front of a firing squad.
And now, in this present age and in this island in the tropics, as the elections draw near, and as these paradoxes emerge from the charming gilded lips of those claiming to be our benefactors, I cannot help but see the sinister parallels emerging from this time and a time from the past.
From many pasts in fact. Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Saddam's Iraq, Kim's Korea, etc etc.
One local blogger has noted that it is a sure sign of our country's political perfection that we live in such material prosperity and security, so that we can whine and grumble and complain about politics, unlike other nations where people are too hungry, or homeless, or trying to feed their families, to care about politics.
My reply to those who think like that: "Go back to your HDB apartment, you politically immature baby. Go back to your perfect undisturbed life. Go back and dont bother your peanut sized brain about the dangers of a one party state and a one family government. Your fate is now your own".
I mean he has a point but it is using a greater evil to justify a lesser one. All evils are wrong no matter their magnitude.
And I care not for what Our Benefactors say about blogs and politics. This is my right and they can not take it from me.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
SEVEN MORE MONTHS
Serving National Service is alot like getting raped. It's done against your free will, it's bloody painful, and worst of all you are being screwed by people on top of you.
The fact that Arsenal lost to Man U doesnt help much either. Nuts!
The fact that Arsenal lost to Man U doesnt help much either. Nuts!
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