world cup 2006... my 2 cents thus far.

i think it's about time i added a new football rant. haven't had the time to write up other stuff with work and the world cup on. but what a world cup this has been thus far.

then again, looking at the final 8, there seem to be few surprises thus far. even when france and spain slug it out at 3am, neither team can be said to have been shock packages.

germany will duel argentina while the english take on the portugese. italy duke it out with ukraine and brazil will find out soon enough if they face the french or europe's great underachievers in the form of spain.

bar the ukraine, all 8 teams possess a fine reputation on the global stage of the world's game. even then, the ukranians were expected to at least make it into the last 16, with saudi arabia and tunisia forming the remaining opposition in their group. was there ever a doubt that a team that boasts the likes of, arguably, the world's best striker in the form of andriy shevchenko would falter against a young swiss team? perhaps when sheva lashed weakly the opening penalty of the round's one and only penalty shootout, the doubts started creeping in. but eventually, ukraine could afford to miss. any surprises there?

for me though, i guess i could say i have been surprised by the germans. i have no hard and fast team, though i am an england supporter, for i choose to support individual players rather than a particular nation as a whole. the germans have surprised, mainly because i thought they'll die out with an erratic and young defense with an impotent of late lukas podolski leading the front line with miroslav klose, who had a previously rather indifferent world cup in south korea. how wrong i was. the germans have not only booked themselves an appointment with the rampant argentinians, but done so with such flair and attacking prowess that would've made their fiercest critics wondering what happened to the flops of euro 2002. podolski has found form and the young players in the squad have peaked at such a time that even those who witnessed the argies demolish the serbs at 6-0 will wonder if they will get it easy against a very resurgent german team. with home advantage.

as i have stated above, officially, i fly the st george's cross this world cup. unfortunately, i have little faith in the team's ability to advance past a tactically sound portugal. the problem does not lie with the players. nay, the problem lies with sven goran eriksson. on paper, the england team can take on anyone. when you look at the england team on the pitch however, you'll be left wondering who let the sheep out of their paddock. they're directionless, and tactically unsound. obviously peter crouch cannot head a ball for nuts. yet they continually pump longballs up to the lanky frontman hoping he will somehow magically get better at heading and score. and, there's one fatal flaw that lies in the middle of the park. steven gerrard and frank lampard. two central midfielders of the highest quality. both the hearts of their respective midfield engines in liverpool and chelsea. unfortunately, both EXACTLY the same kind of player. whilst steven gerrard has demonstrated that he is a complete player who can play anywhere he is instructed to, he flourishes in an attacking midfield role. in the england team, he carries the bulk of the defensive midfield duties and is shackled from marauding forward the way he has done for liverpool all season. with his tenacious tackling and great passing, it should not be an issue. the problem is, lampard is terribly off form. yet, sven sticks with his much maligned chelsea man, even with michael carrick willing and more than capable of coming in and taking over stevie g's holding role to let him prowl further up the pitch. people have been quick to condemn david beckham. however, i see no cause for his exclusion with becks back doing what he does best with his crosses and free kicks. no one's lobbying to drop lampard, even with the ominous form he is in. sven just won't have it. up against a clinical big phil scolari who won't hesitate to drop figo or cristiano ronaldo in a heartbeat to achieve success, sven's sentimentality towards his players will derail england's chances. the only way is for lamps and gerrard to step forward and own the game, which is a prospect most difficult. sven says he will drop his stars if neccessary. will he have the mettle to drop a disappointing frank lampard? time will tell if his loyalty pays off.

updates...

my apologies if i have kept you waiting by leaving to be continued on the blog entry about tanjung balai for a while... it's not exactly very writing-inspiring when one is busy coughing his lungs out and worrying about his future with work in the midst of the whole sorry mess of things. not to mention the great chaffing of one's nose when faced with a leaky leaky nose.

anyway, enough with the excuses. hopefully things will flow more freely... and that i will have just cause to write about soon... it's been a rough rough week, but nonetheless, life goes on. hope you've had a great weekend people... =)

an incredible week...

well, it's not exactly been a great past few weeks... but somehow, everything eventually just falls into place... God's unseen hand is always at work, in the most unexpected ways. the past few days have been testament to that.

i didn't know what to expect from this mission trip to tanjung balai. doing something i've never done before, with people i've only gotten to know briefly through 3 2-hour sessions to prepare for the trip. would the work be tough? would i stalk of on my own as i usually do when faced with new crowds? would i have trouble adapting to life over there? i was itching to have these questions answered.

God's plans for us are diverse. so i feel. they range from the ridiculously huge and intricate designs to the simplest and most singular events in our daily lives. but they make an indelible impression on this journey called life. and while i wish i was there for much, much longer, i came away from there really feeling something. something intangible, yet very, very real indeed.

tanjung balai is a simple place. it's not a very rich island, and not very disimiliar from certain parts of batam. however, you get a feel of the place the minute you touch down from the ferry terminal, and you feel it hard. children and people begging in the streets. old style shop houses. chickens and other animals running around the alleys and corridors. and this is, in an analogy that's still too contrasting, orchard road. this is the town. even the buses that brought us to the dormitory where we stayed in are indicative of the way things are: they're made of wood and built by the people.

travelling to the st emmanuel school dormitory from the town was telling of how life is like there. large expanses of greenery. houses an odd sight that litter the landscape. crop plantations with patches of bare sand in between. life in tajung balai just seems unbearable by typical singaporean standards, where the only place for greenery is where we deem fit to leave nature to take her course. where the roads are flooded with expensive cars. where water is freely available at the twist of a tap. where the overwhelming heat of day is fended off by simply reaching for on switch of the air conditioner.

within this simplicity of life, however, lies an incredible power to change and move. even despite lacking so many of the creature comforts of life that us singaporeans have deemed neccessary to go by, the people just give whatever they have to make their visitors feel welcome, even if it might not be much. it's an extremely touching and extraordinary gesture that just opens one's eyes and warms the heart. all we essentially did was visit their community, celebrated Mass and gave out stuff that we brought from home to them. yet, the adults eagerly chopped coconuts for each and everyone of us to drink while the kids came running up to us asking for autographs as if we were celebrities. it makes a person wonder just how much we take the former things for granted when they're so readily available to us every day and fail to make full use of and be thankful for them.

what struck me even more was while we were visiting the community of st francis. there, i started giving out some of the sweets and oreos i had in my bag to the kids. their faces just lit up like christmas trees. indeed, i'd give anything in the world just to have a kid smile the way those kids did. and all it took was something so small and simple that i don't really give much of a thought to each and every day. it really made my heart melt.

the actual work that we did was also pretty short. yet, at st joseph's school where we carried out the bulk of our mission work, we were greeted with tremendous fanfare in the form of dance and band performances. in reality, we worked for less than an hour or so on the first day, yet we were given a hero's welcome before we even began. honestly, i felt like i was receiving more from the people than i was giving to them. the sweat, energy, work and even time spent just to come to tanjung balai just seemed miniscule in comparison to the way we were hosted.

it is impossible not to see or even feel God's presence in these people. we were strangers who visited on a yearly basis, yet we were treated like royalty. the way the kids mobbed us on the last day after mass at st emmanuel's school and asked us for autographs, you could be forgiven for thinking you were a rockstar or a famous actor or actress. it goes to show how far the simple things in life we take for granted like a simple hello or a friendly smile can go to brighten up someone's day. unfortunately, i feel that growing up here in comfortable singapore, that a lot of us have forgotten how to enjoy these simple things and have become spoilt and pampered. how wonderful life would be if we could appreciate the simple things! what more that could be considering we have so much more to be happy with.

and whilst we received hospitality from without our little band, the few of us who had not belonged to the parish of the immaculate heart of mary were really made comfortable within by the wonderful people we travelled with. i cannot express how grateful i am for the wonderful way we were received into a family of strangers and made to feel right at home even though we were tagging along. despite the age gaps here and there, i was never once uncomfortable with the people i was with. a really big thanks to the IHM people for that. =)

without a doubt, this trip has left a mark on me. it makes me appreciate the things and creature comforts that i have no doubt, but while we remain prayerful we must also back up our prayers with action, to go out into the world to spread God's love. most importantly, it has reminded me that as long as God's in the equation, there's always hope. and where there's hope, there's love in abundance. because God is love. and with His love, all things are possible.

they depended on each other. and the world depended on them.

from this day to the ending of the world we in it shall be remembered. we lucky few, we band of brothers. for he who today sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.