Monday 5 March 2012

Weeknights Wonder

Few of us spend weeknights like I do, as I get the chance to sit down, grab a cuppa, point the finger and laugh as I discuss the puzzling, the mind-blogging and the downright outrageous. This time around, Rudd-Gillard, Liverpool (again), Arsenal, Chelsea, Lynas and the new section called 'Can you believe it?' gets the limelight.

Rudd and Gillard 
Recently, the battered image of the Labor goverment took another blow after the protracted Kevin Rudd-Julia Gillard saga. Rudd, the ex-PM, attempted to axe Gillard after being axed back in 2010 but ended up as the ex-Foreign Minister and demoted to the backbench after Gillard won the leadership ballot. Ah well, at least nobody said you didn't try Kevin. Ever since Rudd has been elected as PM, public opinion on the nation's top leaders has been as volatile as my horrible Malaysian internet connection . At one point, Rudd had a pretty high approval rating, but plummeted soon after. Even last year, the public was divided on who should lead the country during the federal elections, with approval ratings changing virtually everyday. In the few days leading up to the leadership ballot, a lot of people (normal people,mind you) actually backed Rudd to be the PM again. Talk about being fickle-minded.

Classic

Liverpool van Persie-ed, Villas-Boas get the 'boas-oot', and Torres (sorry can't resist)
So, congratulations Liverpool for securing your first silverware in quite a well (although the same can't be said for Arsenal). Even though it was only the Mickey Mouse Cup aka Carling Cup, a trophy is a trophy. Don't worry, Man Utd can win a record 20th English title in meantime. I must say, Liverpool, being the underdogs against Cardiff, fought valiantly and held off the mighty Cardifff to scrap through after Gerrard's cousin Gerrard (hurhur) gave Liverpool a helping hand (more like a helping boot) after missing his crucial penalty. Or did I get the underdogs part mixed up? 


'Sorry mate, maybe I bring the Cup around for dinner next week?'


Speaking of Arsenal, Liverpool followed up a positive result in typical Liverpool fashion, that is by losing the very next match to Arsenal at home (Arsenal?!). Despite having Suarez dived (doing his reputation no harm at all) and having heaps of chances, Liverpool somehow let Robin van Persie FC Arsenal post a smash-and-grab win, thanks to talisman Robin van Persie. It's okay Liverpool fans, at this rate a Roy Hodgson-led West Brom can finish above Liverpool. Talk about rubbing salt into the wounds eh?


Who needs Batman when you got Robin




           



Let us all observe a minute of silence for Andre Villas-Boas as he will not grace us with his sidelines antics for the foreseeable future


Let's move on to the poisoned chalice that is the Chelsea managerial post. Roman 'trigger-happy' Abramovich reinforced his reputation as the best football club owner to work for after firing a hapless Andre Villas-Boas less than a year into the job. At least Villas-Boas can take solace from the fact that he joins the illustrious list of former Chelsea managers under Abramovich's reign such as Ranieri, Mourinho, Grant, Scolari, Hiddink and Ancelloti. Sure, Villas-Boas didn't do himself any favours in his puzzling media conferences, terrible tactics and inability to get the best out of an ageing Chelsea squad, but the Chelsea old guard of Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Cech, Cole and co. must be blamed as well for failing to adjust to Villas-Boas's methods and whining about it (that's you Lamps). Let's put it into perspective: a team of consultants is performing poorly at a prestigious consulting firm.The consultants have been given plenty of opportunities to perform but continue to flop and even make excuses for it. Who is more likely to get the sack? The manager or the consultants? I think the answer is pretty obvious. And that is something that probably won't be adjusted at Chelsea anytime soon. 


And what football discussion is complete without poking fun at the hapless 'Flop-nando' Torres? What happen to the once-deadly El Nino who seemingly bagged goals for fun? Heck, even Yakubu from Blackburn and Long from West Brom has scored more goals than him this season (never heard of Yakubu and Shane Long before? Exactly). Torres is playing so badly, he might actually make me look like a world-class striker. Hey by the way, did you hear? Torres just broke David Blaine's record of standing in a box doing nothing for 40 days. 


It might happen y'know


(Since I am on a roll, here's another one)
Worried about her son, Torres' mum send him to a career advisor. All is well until Torres was asked: 'What are your goals?'. 


Oh is it still 'Arry for England' after 2 back-to-back losses to quality opponents for Spurs? The English national team is still in deep merde


Lynas
One word: Ridiculous. If the government expects the people to quietly accept a plant that processes radioactive substances to be built on Malaysian shores after the highly publicized nuclear disaster in Japan, then the government is delusional (yes I like that word). Poor Lynas, an Australian rare earths mining company, can't seem to catch a break. Website attacked by protesters, protests by thousands of Malaysians and shares dropping, you name it. Personally, I find it hard to believe that Lynas can dispose of its radioactive waste safely and without harming the environment. After all, Lynas can't even get approval from the Australian government to built the plant in Australia. 




Furthermore, if the plant is built, can it be maintained and taken care of properly? I highly doubt it. If the Japanese can't do it (it's an unfair comparison to be honest: the Fukushima nuclear disaster was caused by natural disasters), I don't think Malaysians and Lynas can do it. You don't want the plant to explode just because one worker took more cigarette breaks than he is suppose to. 


General interpretation of Lynas by anti-Lynas supporters


It doesn't help either when many are convinced the government received 'bonuses' to approve the Lynas plant in Kuantan, Malaysia.  Like I said before, the government only got themselves to blame for having such a stellar reputationLikewise, I am not comfortable with the notion of Lynas of opening a plant here because of lax regulations here (compared to Australia). To further exacerbate the issue, reports of UMNO and Perkasa members behaving aggressively and chanting racist remarks at anti-Lynas Himpunan Hijau 2.0 rallies certainly didn't help. However, what really disappointed me was how the pro-BN media reported the issue. The bottom line is, it doesn't matter what is your political alignment, your race, religion, beliefs, Malaysia is just not ready for a rare earths plant. 


Can you believe it?
1. The Thai community in Malaysia has been assured of their bumiputra rights by PM Najib
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/26/nation/10809464&sec=nation


Wow. Thais are entitled to bumiputra rights, while Malaysians of Chinese and Indian descent are still treated like second-class citizens. Aren't we all Malaysians? Well, good luck stopping the brain drain TalentCorp.


2. Rosmah bestowed yet another award
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/3/4/nation/10852476&sec=nation

Stevens Institute of Technology, a US-based university, has awarded Rosmah Mansor its highest honour: Distinguished Service Medal for her public service. And this is just right after the Curtin outroar (read it on my previous post entittled 'Delusional', or just Google it).

3. Hilarous: Despicable Me 2 Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuzyODgWRp4

Ba ba ba ba ba nana... Ba ba ba ba ba nana... Oh!

4. Hilarous part 2: Rudd getting rude (hohoho)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkZsif8md_Q

5. The Robin van Persie 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFaTCA3TCXw


Excuse the excitable commentator. 


6. Fiesta Malaysia Melbourne 2012 is happening *gasps*
http://www.fiestamalaysia.com.au/

With me in charge of finances, it's a wonder it's still happening.


2 comments:

Diane said...

haha love this read! im very glad that you are still very much into msia's politics and keep up to the news! afterall, we are malaysians no matter where we are, right? :) take care big boy!

Gary said...

Good perspective and funny.