They wrote him off. He went away to fulfill the prophecy that a prophet has no place in his home town. He became a foreign talent away from home where he was appreciated. They did not give him much of a chance either. He is from a city without talent. And many still appreciate and think that foreign talents from Europe and the Americas are better.
Fortunately someone was stricken by guilt or felt that Fandi is the best we have and deserved a second chance. There were lots of critics and disbelievers in Fandi. Should have another foreign coach if we are going to do well. Should have more foreign players if we are going to do well. And you can imagine the moral of this Singapore Boy and his charge..
He soldiers on quietly in his Fandi style. He let his legs do the talking. Fandi is back in the headlines. He has brought back the Malaysian FA Cup with his charge, the LionsXII. We are champions again and Fandi has done it again. Who says we need to do a global search for another foreign talent?
If we don’t believe in our own talents, if we keep throwing away good money to foreigners, when will our locals be given a chance to grow and make a name for themselves? We will be forever looking up to foreigners, for foreigners, even to be conned by fakes.
It is so pathetic. First World daft that don’t believe in themselves but in trash? Would this mindset be changed and we start to grow our own timber? Well done Fandi. You have proven yourself and proven them wrong.
Chua Chin Leng aka Redbean
Source: http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.sg
He played in the 2013 South-east Asia (SEA) Games, making four appearances for the Singapore Under-23 team that bagged bronze in Myanmar.
He has been a mainstay of the Courts Young Lions in the S.League for the past two years.
When striker Iqbal Hussain heard that he was not included in the final squad of 20 for the SEA Games football tournament which kicks off here tomorrow, he was devastated.
Coach Aide Iskandar delivered the heartbreaking news to nine of the 29 players in the Young Lions’ preliminary squad yesterday afternoon.
Speaking to The New Paper yesterday, the usually shy and soft-spoken Iqbal was clearly upset.
When asked if he was surprised at the decision, the 22-year-old said: “I was surprised, everyone was surprised. I can’t say I’m taking the news very well.”
The others who didn’t make the cut were goalkeeper Fashah Iskandar, defenders Taufiq Muqminin, Zakir Samsudin and Nurullah Hussein, midfielders Shameer Aziq, Muhaimin Suhaimi, Christopher van Huizen and Afiq Noor.
The biggest name is undoubtedly Iqbal, who took to Facebook yesterday to vent his frustrations.
In a lengthy post, the 1.86-metre tall striker said the decision “broke his heart” and that the reasons given to him were “unacceptable and didn’t make sense”.
He also lamented his decision to defer his National Service three times to be able to take part in the Games.
He ended his post by wishing his teammates good luck and urged them to “win the gold”.
Iqbal, who notched his sole international cap when he came on as a substitute for the Lions against Papua New Guinea last September, played only 15 minutes for the U-23s in the 2-0 friendly win over Timor Leste at Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday.
He did not feature in the 5-1 drubbing of the Laos U-23s last Saturday because of a groin injury.
But Iqbal said: “I’m 100 per cent recovered now; that was just a minor strain. The coaches’ decision to leave me out was down to performances but, for the past few weeks, I have been shifted to a few different positions.
“I’ve been playing quite often in central midfield, where I hadn’t played for quite some time. So I didn’t do that well.
“I prefer a more attacking position, whether left, right or centre. Centre midfield takes a while for me to get used to.”
Singapore have been drawn in Group A with Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines.
They kick off their campaign against the Philippines at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Monday.
DIFFICULT
Speaking to TNP, Aide said yesterday was one of his most difficult days as a coach.
“It was very hard to cut those nine players, especially Iqbal, Afiq and Nurullah – because they are quality players who have played for me a long time,” said the former international defender and Singapore captain.
“Iqbal was not the only one asked to play in different positions. Going into a tournament with just 20 players, it’s important to have players who can play in several positions.
“The coaches felt that there were others who were playing better than him. It was a close call.
“We have always said to the squad that they will be picked on current form, not how they played in the past.
“I’ve told the nine boys not to stop here. They should use this as motivation to work harder and try and get into the national team.
“I want to thank all the players involved in the SEA Games preparation. They are still part of our family and, if we do well, their names will still be next to ours.”
S’PORE’S SEA GAMES FOOTBALL SQUAD
Syazwan Buhari, Rudy Khairullah
Al-Qaasimy Rahman, Amirul Adli, M Anumanthan, Shakir Hamzah, Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Fadli Kamis, Ho Wai Loon
Adam Swandi, Safirul Sulaiman, Shahfiq Ghani, Faris Ramli, Stanely Ng, Pravin Guanasagaran, Shamil Shariff, S Suria Prakash
Sahil Suhaimi, Irfan Fandi, Amy Recha
Source: www.tnp.sg
Yayasan Rahmatan Lil Alamin (RLAF) berjaya mengumpul $241,468 untuk mangsa gempa bumi di Nepal.
Wang sumbangan masyarakat Melayu/Islam itu dikumpul hasil satu usaha mengumpul dana khas, dengan tabung derma diletakkan di 68 masjid di sini pada 1 Mei hingga 6 Mei lalu.
Jumlah yang terkumpul itu disampaikan kepada badan bantuan kemanusiaan, Mercy Relief.
Pengerusi Jawatankuasa RLAF, Haji Paiman Supangat, menyampaikan cek kepada Pengurusi Mercy Relief, Encik Michael Tay, di ibu pejabat badan tersebut di Lorong 1 Toa Payoh semalam.
Turut hadir dalam upacara penyampaian cek itu ialah ketua eksekutif Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (Muis), Haji Abdul Razak Hassan Maricar; konsul kehormatan Nepal di Singapura, Encik Madhusudan Patel; dan anggota lembaga Mercy Relief, Dr Mukhlis Abu Bakar.
RLAF bekerjasama dengan badan bantuan kemanusiaan Mercy Relief bagi menyalurkan bantuan itu kepada rakyat Nepal yang terjejas dengan gempa yang mengorbankan 8,000 jiwa dan mencederakan 19,000 yang lain.
Dengan sumbangan derma daripada RLAF itu, kutipan dana Mercy Relief bagi kerja bantuan kemanusiaan ke Nepal mencapai lebih daripada $1 juta.
Ditemui media dalam acara semalam, Encik Tay berkata beliau amat berterima kasih dengan inisiatif badan korporat dan institusi seperti RLAF bagi membantu mangsa gempa bumi di Nepal.
“Mercy Relief berbesar hati dan rasa terharu kerana begitu banyak pertubuhan tampil memberikan bantuan dalam masa yang sukar ini.
“RLAF dan Persatuan Soka Singapura adalah antara pertubuhan utama yang menyumbang kepada mangsa gempa di Nepal,” kata Encik Tay sambil menambah bahawa Mercy Relief akan meneruskan usaha mengumpul dana hingga akhir Jun ini.
Sementara itu, anggota lembaga pengamanah RLAF, Encik Zainul Abidin Ibrahim, berkata sambutan terhadap usaha mengumpul dana itu menunjukkan masyarakat Melayu/Islam Singapura bersedia membantu masyarakat lain yang menghadapi krisis.
“Alhamdulillah kita dapat mengumpulkan jumlah yang agak besar bagi projek ini. Ini juga menunjukkan masyarakat Melayu/Islam Singapura bersedia membantu masyarakat lain dan ini satu sifat yang kita inginkan dalam masyarakat kita,” ujarnya.
Dalam pada itu, Mercy Relief telah membantu lebih 27,000 mangsa yang terjejas di Nepal, termasuk di kawasan pergunungan yang sukar menerima bekalan asas seperti makanan dan perubatan.
Dengan dana yang dikumpulkan, Mercy Relief juga akan membantu membina rumah peralihan sebelum musim monsun di Nepal.
Dr Mukhlis menjelaskan rumah sementara itu boleh dimanfaatkan mangsa buat jangka masa pendek.
“Yang penting sekarang ini adalah membina perumahan bukan buat jangka masa panjang, tetapi membolehkan mereka mempunyai tempat berteduh sebelum perumahan yang lebih kekal dibina,” katanya.
Source: http://beritaharian.sg
GEORGE TOWN, May 28 ― Malaysia is more tolerable of dissent compared to Singapore although Putrajaya barred entry to Hong Kong Umbrella Revolution activist Joshua Wong, Singaporean activist Han Hui Hui has said.
The 23-year-old, who is in Malaysia to give a series of talks on youth activism in remembrance of the bloody Tiananmen Square 1989 crackdown in China, said Singapore would not allow foreign speakers in for such talks.
“So speaking as a Singaporean, I feel Malaysia is still much better than Singapore because in Singapore, we are not allowed to invite foreigners to speak in the country unless they are going to praise the PAP government,” Han toldMalay Mail Online in an interview.
The youth activist pointed out that despite the deportation of Wong, who had planned to give the talks along with her in Malaysia, she was allowed to come here even though her event was not pro-government.
“In Singapore, even if you want to invite a Singaporean to speak, they want to know who it is before allowing the event,” Han said.
She said it was wrong and against human rights for Malaysia to expel Wong, but acknowledged the geopolitical ramifications surrounding the pro-democracy student leader’s presence here.
“It simply means China is a big power here and we can’t deny that,” she said.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has described Wong as an “undesirable” person and said the activist was expelled Tuesday over concerns that the 18-year-old could risk Malaysia-China ties.
Wong is widely regarded as the impetus behind the 2014 mass protests in Hong Kong to demand the right to directly elect the head of the semi-autonomous administrative region. He was named amongTIME Magazine’s “Most Influential Teens of 2014”.
Han shared her experiences in organising “events”, albeit protests, in Singapore during her talk at the “Uprising of Youth and New Social Activism in Singapore and Hong Kong Forum” here Tuesday night.
“I wouldn’t call what I held in Singapore ‘protests’ but ‘events’ because we have not had any protests in the past 50 years and it is illegal,” she said.
Several street demonstrations have been organised in Malaysia, however, although the police have cracked down on mass rallies like the Bersih protests for free and fair elections. But some other rallies have been allowed to go on peacefully.
Han has been organising protests since 2013 over issues like the Singapore government’s alleged mishandling of the Central Provident Fund (CPF), which is the country’s retirement scheme, the education system and rising unemployment.
She, along with five others, was arrested in September last year for organising an illegal protest over the CPF issue and charged with causing a public nuisance.
Han told Malay Mail Online that her talks in Penang, Ipoh, Johor and Kuala Lumpur this week aimed to encourage millennials, or those born in the 1990s, to get involved in activism.
“We can’t be allowing those born in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s to continue to plan policies. They can’t plan out an education system that will fit the times. Ultimately, it is the people who had went (sic) through the system now and will know whether it is good or bad,” she said.
Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com