Back at home

Just to inform that I have safely reached home on Friday, 27 May. Haha. More updates to follow.

On penalty shootouts to end soccer matches

It's always controversial when teams deliberately play for a penalty shootout (as Arsenal did against Man U) but then again, tactically they have got to accept the risk of the other side finding the net in regulation time.

In a case like the FA Cup final* I find it quite hard to accept the assertions "Man U were superior" or "Man U controlled the game" when they wasted the large number of chances that came their way. After all, it could equally well be said that Arsenal successfully prevented Man U from scoring during regulation time. If Man U really "controlled the game" surely we would be seeing a scoreline closer to that of Arsenal v Everton rather than 0-0 after 120 minutes.

So, who's the better team? Clearly it's pointless to continue playing beyond 120 minutes, since fatigue would impinge on the impact of skill to an intolerable degree. Having a replay (or replays) would probably be the most fair option but what about the fans' disappointment and the logistics difficulties of congregating the fans together again in, say, a week's time?

The motorway crawls outside Cardiff everytime there's a Cup final are pretty notorious already, and in something like the European Cup final surely the logistics difficulties would be almost insuperable. Not to mention the possibility of upsetting the sporting calendar and clashing with other big dates such as internationals, etc. and thereby complicating planning.

So we go back to the basics. To end the game on the stipulated day, there has to be a winner (more about the "double winner" option later). Since it's not much fun to grind both teams down to a sheer test of brute force by playing unlimited time, there has to be a different option. Personally I think penalties provides an acceptable solution. Each side produces 5 players it thinks can best hit its penalties and they face off against the other side's lineup. If they produce total howlers, well that's tough. Surely being able to strike penalties decently isn't too much to ask of a multimillion-dollar-grossing professional footballer.

It's also about teamwork, not individualism as the outcome doesn't depend on any one penalty taker in particular but on the overall performance of The Chosen Five. Sure it appears at times to hinge on the fourth or fifth taker but have we forgotten the ones who hit/missed the earlier penalties to produce that situation in the first place?

So on the overall I would conclude that if you want to end a game on the day itself, avoiding the massive problems associated with a replay or rescheduling, penalties is about the nearest you can get to a fair outcome.

Ben's "two winners" theory would certainly be revolutionary, since we are pretty much used to the concept of an ultimate winner and loser in a final. It's a kewl idea and could very well work, if there is an attitude shift in football amenable to the concept of two winners coming out of a final.

However, it might also eliminate the incentive of finalists to attack and try to win. After all, why take the risk of attacking when both teams can sit back, play passive football and both get crowned "winners"? Are there sufficient incentives to induce a team to even try to be "single winners" rather than "joint winners"?

Also, if we have this concept for finals, what about semi- and quarter-finals? Applying this concept at these stages could then necessitate an overhaul of the entire progression system itself. It could be done, I suppose, but in all likelihood with much complexity.

Besides dramatically increasing** the risk of heart attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), penalties is a rather cruel way of ending a team's competition hopes, I agree. But that is not the same as saying it is unfair or unnecessary. Teams entering a knockout-stage match must bear in mind the possibility of the match going to penalties. They should plan their tactics and prepare their players accordingly. It is perhaps time to control the very Mourinho-ish tendency of blaming the system when faced with defeat and disappointment***.





*Being an Aston Villa supporter, I am neutral and the following examples are for illustration purposes only. No offense is intended against anyone, any team or any American businessman.

** Source: Urban legend and conventional wisdom

*** A general statement intending no offence to anyone in particular except Jose Mourinho.

Leaving the UK

Hi everyone,

Greetings, hope you are fine and doing well wherever you are.

My first year at UCL is now drawing to an end. With that, I will be leaving the UK later today (Wednesday, 25 May 2005) on the 7pm flight from London Heathrow. I am really glad to be returning home after almost a year abroad. Most of you too, I am sure, will be experiencing the same feeling in the month or so to come, as the day of your own return flight draws near.

Looking back, it has been a very happy 9 months before this for me in the company of such great friends as yourselves. I will not forget your friendship, support and presence during both good and difficult times. I hope that if anything, our bond of friendship will be further strengthened over the years to come.

Thank you especially to those with whom I have shared such unforgettable moments over the past year ... whether kipping out together in Dublin, Edinburgh, Warwick or Cambridge; dinners together in London; riding the London Eye; picnic in Russell Square; Skyping at odd hours, whatever. I had a great time and I hope you did too!

I will be having a rather long summer vacation in Malaysia and am scheduled to come back to London on the 24th of September. It would be great if we could meet up in Malaysia sometime ... and if you happen to come by this part of the world known as Batu Pahat do drop me a line and I can go meet you! Plus possibly take you around the place a bit ;-) it's much easier to do that than to take ppl around London, to be sure.

To everyone having exams I wish you the very best of luck in them, and hope they go well for you! And all the best to everyone for when your results come out! =)

That will be all for now, I guess. Look forward to seeing you again sometime. Till then goodbye, take care and may God bless you all.


Regards and best wishes,
Wilson Tay
London, UK

Around London on the red double-deckers

Since my exam ended on the 12th, I decided go see the world (London, to be exact) a bit.

I really like to travel on the London city bus. More specifically, at the front seat of the upper deck of those red double-deckers that chug around the city. That's because from such a vantage point, you get to see all the scenery as you pass by. Beats travelling on the crowded, dusty Tube any day. So I got hold of a 7-day Bus Pass. It's 11 quid but I reckon it's worth it cos that's like 7 days of "Mana-Mana" tickets anywhere within London and even slightly beyond (see below).

It's brilliant, the things you get to see beyond Zone 1. On Monday I travelled to Brent Cross, which is a large complex in Hendon, north London. My route took me through Archway, a bustling hillside suburb with an old train station, dusty shops and ancient-looking buildings. It was drizzling that day and breath came out as thick puffs of vapour. The atmosphere reminded me of Tanah Rata in Cameron Highlands. Next on the route was Highgate Village, a sleepy suburb at the top of a hill. Then we passed the green fields and housing estates of Finchley and Barnet before reaching Brent Cross near the North Circular. The journey was spectacular, much more so than the mall itself, which turned out to be mainly designer clothes and shoe-shops, although there's also a large WH Smiths there. In Victorian times Barnet used to be a small town on the north approach to London but nowadays it's part of the metropolis. There are lots of fascinating small shops along the main road leading into central London, though there's also the rolling green fields and cricket pitches off the highway.

I returned via Kilburn and Oxford Circus, a different and shorter route. As you can probably gather, I found the journey so much more fascinating than the actual destination itself.

Then on Wednesday I decided to be a bit more adventurous and ride the double-decker out of London, which can happen if you go by bus to Bluewater Shopping Complex, reputedly the largest new shopping centre in Europe. A tag like that made the place sound very much worth a visit, so I had been thinking of going there for some time. Now Bluewater is outside the M25 ring road which marks the perimeter of London itself, "beyond the fringes" as Transport for London calls it. It would have been much more direct and faster if I went by train from King's Cross, but since I had a Bus Pass in hand I thought I would give it a try by bus.

The TfL Journey Planner website (www.tfl.gov.uk) suggested a few routes, all of which involved at least 3 changes and minimum 150 minutes' journey time one way. Oh well, since my exam was over, might as well give it a try, I thought.

And what a rewarding journey it turned out to be! Launching from Elephant and Castle, I took the No.53 heading southeast, passing the bustling suburbs of New Cross Gate and Lewisham. It was a rush hour, 4.45pm. People were knocking off from work and children were coming back from school, which meant the streets and the bus stops and the railway stations were full of people chatting, hurrying or otherwise hanging around. We passed the main streets of these suburban towns, past some very picturesque old shops and buildings, to the countryside at Blackheath. The urban setting gave way to wide green fields, sparkling ponds and old-style cottages, a most remarkable find within the M25.

I changed bus at Woolwich, the old military town in Zone 4 noted for its Woolwich Arsenal and barracks. Woolwich is a delightful old place, with a park and fountain at the town centre, a thriving street market in a cobbled square and an old railway station. It's also home to The Woolwich building society, which in Woolwich itself occupies an imposing fortress-like building near the town centre. From Woolwich I took the No.96 towards Bluewater, heading out to Zone 5 and beyond. We passed Plumstead, Bexleyheath, Crayford and Dartford, the setting becoming progressively more country-like with green hills, beautiful gardens and little cottages. It was absolutely marvelous to observe scenery such as this, to witness the beauty of God's creation in a foreign land and to think that at each moment of our lives, in each of these places and everywhere throughout the world people are living parallel lives to ours. Absolutely brilliant.

Crayford is in Zone 6. As we approached Dartford we passed beyond the M25 and into the county of Kent, where Bluewater is. The London Bus service, No.96 route, runs slightly out of the city to Bluewater. Of course, my Bus Pass continued to work there, otherwise I would have been stranded like, waaay far from home. =P

As for Bluewater itself, it was really big, occupying the site of a former stone quarry. It's quite a holistic experience, since there's an artificial lake, a fountain and gardens to walk in besides doing shopping in the main mall itself. And besides the main outlets like M&S, John Lewis etc. there's also lots of shops that sell all kinds of curios (though generally expensive). I quite liked their concept of concentrating most of the food outlets like McDs, KFC, Pizza Hut etc. around a food court so different members of the family could go for different things without having to quarrel and/or drag unwilling siblings to one particular outlet. Well, too bad my family's not actually here to do that, but it's something to think about from my observation of those local families who actually were there. Midvalley's larger on overall shop floor space, I'd maintain, but this is certainly the best mall I've seen since I came to this place.

I returned by a different route (again), changing at Bexleyheath, Lewisham and Elephant before getting home way past midnight. Journey time was about 3 hours in total one way. It was quite an experience indeed to be waiting at a cold windswept bus stop in Bexleyheath (Zone 5) after dark at 10.45pm, with groups of feral youths wandering around nearby shouting and screaming away. Anyway I got home safely to steaming cocoa and a bowl of hot noodles in the early hours of the morning.

Travelling around London by bus is great. It's certainly well worth the 11 pounds I paid and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone keen on a bit of sightseeing. =)

End of exams

After 8 months of study here in the city of London, my exam week finally passed. Between the 4th and 12th of May, there was the same old adrenalin rush of frantic thinking and writing within an impossible time limit ... glad that it's over and done with now.

Managed to finish Contract and Tort as well as Public Law on time, which means I wrote all I think I could usefully have written (which sometimes isn't very much at all). For World Legal Orders I actually wished there was more time, and Property wins the Worst exam of them all award since I not only ran out of things to say on the last question but proceeded to misquote the leading case for constructive trusts. Bollocks to that.

Kinda interesting how they conduct their exams far away from college, in those community halls ... had to commute to Royal Oak near Bayswater for the Property paper on the morning of the 10th. The Porchester Hall venue there was decked out like some banqueting venue, with lavish curtains, grand stairways and, well, correspondingly poor lighting (ugh). Bishopsgate near Liverpool Street was the best, I thought ... very well lit and airy, just like a third-class hospital ward with all the beds cleared out and replaced by individual desks for the exam.

So, now to wait (not exactly with bated breath, I must admit) for results day on the 20th of June, and then to nervously ring up the Faculty of Laws to find out my fate.

On a brighter note, getting the exams out of the way means the next big thing on the agenda is the flight home! Yeay! I'll be flying back on Wednesday, 25th of May at 7.05pm. Will be a long break at home since I'm only coming back on the 24th of September, unless I managed to fail my exams and doom myself to returning early for a re-sit.

Between now and then I hope to be touring London a little, looking up friends, hunting for second-year accommodation and so on. Have bought a 7-day Bus Pass in anticipation (11 quid ... what a ripoff). Been wanting to see places like the Imperial War Museum, Bluewater, St James' Park (not the one in Newcastle), Maritime Greenwich and Canary Wharf for some time. If you live within the M25 and feel bored at times during this week just give me a call and I'll be glad to pop round your place for a chat. Cheerios.

Blair returned with reduced majority

With all but two seats declared, Tony Blair's Labour Party was yesterday returned to power with 355 of the 646 seats at stake in the House of Commons. This represented a gain of 47 seats to the Opposition, reaped mainly by the Conservatives who gained 33 seats and the Lib Dems who boosted their overall total by 11 seats. The Government's previously massive working majority in the House has been considerably reduced from 160-odd seats to less than half that figure.

In Northern Ireland the much-talked-about marginalisation of middle ground parties has manifested itself, with the moderate Social Democratic Labour Party and the Ulster Unionist Party losing ground to the radical parties. These are, of course, Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists and Gerry Adams' Sinn Fein. The latter has seemed to escape the political toll of recent IRA-linked criminal activity in Ulster, including the infamous Northern Bank robbery not too long ago. This radicalisation may yet have ominious implications for the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland.

Nationwide voters gave Labour the much-awaited political backlash, mainly over the Prime Minister's perceived dishonesty regarding Iraq. Indeed the scale of the swing against Labour was considerably worse than expected, leaving them with an aggregate 37% of the vote, one of the smallest figures ever for a government in power.

Michael Howard has indeed done a good job moulding together the Tories into a coherent fighting force once again, after the devastation of 1997. In the wake of this outcome however, Mr. Howard has announced his intention to step down soon to make way for younger blood to lead the party. The Conservatives in fact managed to unseat several Labour ministers including Stephen Twigg, the Schools Minister who had no doubt attracted much negative publicity in the media over declining standards and discipline in British schools.

In Erewash the maverick Robert Kilroy Silk, founder of the Veritas party failed to make an impact, but I was highly disappointed to note that in Bethnal Green and Bow George Galloway managed to unseat the Labour incumbent Oona King after one of the most intense and violence-marred campaigns in this election. Campaigning largely on public antipathy towards the Iraq saga, Mr.Galloway's Respect was always very much a single-issue party. Indeed the Times noted that Mr.Galloway himself was not present to answer questions regarding Respect's own economic manifesto at its launch shortly after the start of campaigning.

In my local constituency of Holborn and St.Pancras, Frank Dobson of Labour was returned with a slightly reduced majority of 13.9%, fending off a strong challenge from the Liberal Democrats. As this is a safe Labour seat the result could never have been in serious doubt anyway. I was slightly intrigued by the constituency description, which noted (correctly) that this is "the academic centre of London, covering the University College and SOAS campuses, the British Museum and the British Library." Heh. Sounds a pretty scholarly/nerdy place indeed.

Tony Blair has said that this will be his last term in office, so it will be interesting to see whether his premiership turns into something of a lame-duck one. Waiting in the wings is Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer whom Mr.Blair has effectively anointed as his successor. One will remember that it was Mr.Brown's dramatic intervention in defence of the premier and his contribution to the Brown-Blair "united front" that turned the tide in favour of Labour and enabled them to hold off the Tory/LibDem challenge. Mr.Brown will not want to wait too long for his reward.

The challenge of Tony Blair's third term has only just begun. With economists forecasting an imminent burst of Britain's economic bubble, and difficult decisions to be made on constitutional reform, anti-terrorism legislation and sources of renewable energy, the incoming Cabinet will have its work cut out for it right from day one.

The "season of promises" has ended. It is our hope as always that the elected ones will now take it upon themselves to deliver the goods they have so enthusiastically pledged in return for our support.