Thursday, March 31, 2005

Charlene Chai ASEAN 9-Ball Champion

SINGAPORE'S Charlene Chai won the first Asean Women's 9-Ball Championship at the Pool Haven (Riverside Point) yesterday.

She beat Malaysia's Suhana Sabtu 9-4 in the final.

Singapore's Amy Hoe won the 8-Ball title on Sunday.

from The Straits Times Interactive, March 31, 2005

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Uniquely Singapore. Oh, why is life in Singapore like that?

WHY is jaywalking a crime when cyclists can ride with impunity on footpaths and endanger pedestrians? Why are dog owners not fined for littering when they allow their dogs to defecate everywhere, without cleaning up the mess?

Why am I not allowed to keep a cat in my HDB flat when I can't walk 20m in my HDB estate without stepping around dog poo, left on the footpath or grass or void deck by an ungracious dog owner?

Why are smokers given such a hard time when motor vehicles and jet airliners spew more voluminous quantities of carcinogens and chemicals into the air around us, every day?

Why is it one can be fined or given a Corrective Works Order for discarding a cigarette butt when others who burn mounds of paper on the road or footpath get away without censure?

Why am I required to wear a seat belt in my own car when our public buses do not even have one fitted for the driver?

Why do passengers in my car have to belt-up when passengers on public buses and those seated on planks in the back of pick-ups or lorries are not required to do so?

Why am I still required to pay for a TV licence when MediaCorp's stations are fully commercial and they should be able to fund any Public Broadcast Service programmes with government support?

Why are employers still rejecting and retrenching people over 40 years of age when the birth rate is so low that the number of young people joining the workforce is insufficient to replace the older employees?

Why is it that this letter will probably not be printed when there is now a greater call for open and free dialogue?

Why do I care? Because I am uniquely Singaporean!

Alice Francis (Ms) from The Straits Times Interactive, March 22, 2005

Silat - SINGAPORE is BEST

SINGAPORE won the best team trophy at the Malaysian National Silat Championships in Kuala Lumpur yesterday with 13 golds, five silvers and six bronzes.

from The Straits Times Interactive, March 2005

SINGAPORE CLINCH GOLD AND BRONZE

SINGAPORE won a gold and a bronze at the Championship Showjumping International competition in Pune, India, last weekend.

Led by captain Monique Heah, Singapore won the team gold ahead of Australia and Britain, who were second and third respectively.

Catherine Chew won bronze in the individual showjumping event. The gold went to India's Major Sandhu while Sweden's Tina Blanchette got the silver.

from The Straits Tims Interactive, March 23, 2005

A worthy import from Singapore

The critics of American public schools love to compare us to other countries and then wonder why America can't do as well as say (pick one) Russia, Japan, Germany or even little Singapore. They like to point out how much more money America spends on education and then decry our poor international standings. The latest, greatest comparisons have been with Singapore, which annually kicks our tail in international comparisons on math and science.

Now I must admit I haven't lost a lot of sleep over that. Singapore is, you see, a city state of several million people who are largely middle-class. Their service economy workforce comes across the border from Malaysia in the morning and goes home at night. Singapore doesn't have to worry about leaving those poor children behind.

The country is democratic but very authoritarian in its culture. The fact that it is not as large as one of our major cities and is lacking our cultural diversity makes it a poor choice for making me feel guilty. Go find a country with our complexity and diversity that does better than we do and then I'll sit up and take notice.

However, that does not mean we can't learn from others--even those different from us. So I was excited last fall to get to visit Singapore and see firsthand the educational miracle others had described. And what I saw was impressive.

Depth of Understanding

Undoubtedly their math and science instruction outshines ours. They put much more time and energy into it. In fact, there are other weaknesses in their system that might well stem from an overemphasis on those two areas. When you spend more time doing one thing, it means there is less time for something else.

Within the math and science area they do not try to cover the wide range of territory found in the American curriculum. They believe learning to do a few problems well and really understanding why you got the answers you did is much more important than doing a lot of problems without that understanding. I liked that emphasis on depth. They also spend a lot of time trying to think about the thinking they are doing--meta cognition the psychologists call it. That was impressive.

But it was what I discovered about Singapore that our critics never share that impressed me most of all. First there was a recognition that the family is critical to having a good student and the schools depend on family support--psychic and monetary. Students are well-behaved and motivated because home and school work as a team.

Singapore itself is a very successful country. It is an economic power in a region of poverty. It is a center of enlightenment in a region of darkness. As one of our guides said, "We are a good boy in a neighborhood of bad boys."

Because it is rich and small, Singapore must guard against invasion by its neighbors who might envy its success. So it has a strong military. Yet the only thing in the Singaporean budget that had never been cut is not the military--it is education. Regardless of the strength or weakness of its economy, Singapore has increased its spending for schools every year of its history. Education is the No. 1 priority of the country in deed, not just in word.

Deep Respect

The other thing that sets Singapore apart is its treatment of teachers. In Singapore if you want to be a teacher first you must get a regular college degree with a major in something. Can't you just feel the fluttering in the hearts of all those who believe that American teachers are bumbling numbskulls? Finally, someone gets it. Just get good people who know their subject and throw them in the classroom!

Not so fast there, Skippy. For after four years of college, if someone wants to teach, they spend a year at the National Institute of Education getting their pedagogical skills honed. For in Singapore they have figured out that you need both core knowledge and teaching knowledge to be effective.

But that is not the end of it. That fifth year is paid for by the government. You see, the government in Singapore has the weird idea that it must invest in developing good teachers. It doesn't mandate highly qualified teachers--it creates them. But wait, it gets better. These folks are paid as first-year teachers during their year of training. The government recognizes that people going to school have to eat, have a place to sleep and maintain some self-respect so it begins treating them like teachers during that year.

But this is the best part: First-year teachers in Singapore get paid more than lawyers, engineers or doctors. We asked about that and the answer was, "why, without teachers, you would not have lawyers or engineers or doctors. Everything starts with a teacher." Indeed it does. Now that is one lesson from Singapore worth stealing.

by Paul D. Houston
AASA executive director. May, 2003

It's unlikely a homegrown Singaporean will ever win an Olympic medal. Time to import more Li Jiaweis

I love the Olympics.

Every four years, the finest specimens of the human race emerge from all corners of the earth to converge in one city. They are the strongest, the fastest and the most agile people on the planet.

Lesser mortals like us watch in awe as they run, jump, swim, dive, shoot and play all manner of team sports. What an inspiration they are.

NOT surprisingly, Singapore made a zero showing at the Athens Games. I think it's pretty much accepted by now that when it comes to sports, locally born and bred Singaporeans just ain't got it.

Yes, the country scores splendidly when it comes to its airport, sea port, the number of As students get in exams, and the speed at which we type SMSes. But sports? It just doesn't seem to be our thing.

Other than Tan Howe Liang's weightlifting silver 44 years ago at the Rome olympics, it's been a drought.

The closest Singapore has got to an Olympic medal since was in 2000, when China-born table tennis player Jing Junhong reached the semi-finals, and in Athens, when Li Jiawei, another China-born, got to the final four in the same game, and Indonesia-born badminton player Ronald pSusilo made it to the final eight.

My bet is that this scenario is unlikely to change. Singaporeans are born without hunger for sporting success.

In fact, some might even wonder if Singapore should just forget about sports altogether.

Millions of dollars from both the Government and the private sector have been poured into promoting football here.

Singapore now has a Sports School. Its aim is to help teenagers juggle sports and studies, with equal emphasis on both. How's that for an out-and-out commitment to sports?

So should the country forget about nurturing its sportsmen? Why bother?

I suppose the answer is this: We should bother because there really is no other force that unifies a community as effectively as sports - not music, not movies, not religion, not politics. The beauty of sports is that it is blind to race, language, religion, age, gender and income.

Just witness the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Singaporeans who watched the Li Jiawei matches, all on tenterhooks and willing her to win. How's that for building national spirit?

So what is Singapore to do?

The way I see it, there really is no point in banking so much on Singapore-born athletes anymore. It's just not in our DNA to be Olympic champs. Instead, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports should crank up its Foreign Talent Scheme.

Import more Li Jiaweis and Ronald Susilos for all the sports that the country wants to excel in. If Singapore is so aggressive about attracting foreign talent to the business world, why be coy about luring world-class athletes here?

Give them money, housing, citizenship. Many countries already do this, and what do we have to lose? National pride? I don't think so. Singaporeans have reached the stage where the likes of Susilo are embraced as their own. Besides, this has always been a migrant society.

This, of course, isn't an ideal situation.

As a Singaporean, I would so love to be able to boast of an Olympic champ who grew up in Bedok instead of Beijing, MacPherson instead of Moscow. But let's be realistic.

Will Singapore fare better in Beijing 2008? We'll see. Who knows, maybe I'm completely wrong about homegrown athletes. Maybe from Jurong or Katong can prove to be a winner. If so, you can bet I'll be cheering like mad.

Sumiko Tan condensed from The Straits Times Interactive, Aug 29, 2004

All-England - Thai pair end Jiang and Li's surprising run

AN UPSET was on the cards, but there was no fairy tale finish. The Singapore surprise ended at the All-England Badminton Championships in Birmingham late on Friday when Jiang Yanmei and Li Yujia bowed out in the last eight of the women's doubles.

They lost 15-6, 8-15, 9-15 to Thais Sathinee Chankrachangwong and Saralee Thungthongkam, the fourth seeds, in an hour.

The unseeded duo had made headlines earlier in the day when they pipped the top Indonesian pairing of Jo Novita and Lita Nurlita 15-7, 9-15, 15-10 before stunning sixth-seeded Danes Rikke Olsen and Mette Schjoldager 15-4, 15-7.

Their loss ended Singapore's challenge at the 106-year-old tournament as Ronald Susilo, Kendrick Lee, Li Li, Xing Aiying, Li and Hendri Kurniawan Saputra all bowed out on opening day in their respective events.

Buoyed by their early success on Friday, Jiang and Li stuck to a defensive, counter-attacking strategy in the first game and shocked their more experienced opponents 15-6.

That was when the crowd sensed an upset. But it was not to be.

The Singapore pair tried to match the Thais for speed in the second to no avail - they committed a host of unforced errors and lost 8-15 despite leading early on.

They surrendered the third 9-15.

Said Jiang: 'What a waste. We did not stick to our plan after the first game, and were caught by their fast drives in the second and third games.'

The team are expected to return next week before going to the three-star Thailand Open in a fortnight.By Alvin FooThe Straits Times Interactive, March 13, 2005

TABLE TENNIS - Li settles for third after falling in semi-finals

In the 17th Women's Asian Cup in Japan yesterday morning, Singapore's Li Jiawei, the World No 6, lost 3-4 in a thrilling seven-game semi-final to Hong Kong's Tie Yana despite leading 6-4 in the final game.

Li's voice was full of dejection as she said: 'I didn't take the chances that would have killed off the game when I was leading. Instead I lost a few 50-50 balls. I know this is my weakness and I know I'll have to work on it.'

In last year's Athens Olympics, Li had also led 3-1 against North Korean Kim Hyang Mi in the semi-finals before losing 3-4.Later, she lost to South Korean Kim Kyung Ah 1-4 in the bronze-medal play-off.

But yesterday, the 23-year-old recovered from her semi-final defeat to beat Tie's compatriot and world No 11 Lau Sui Fei 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6 to clinch third place and US$850 (S$1,380).

In the process, she had equalled Singapore's previous best showing at the Women's Asian Cup.

In 1994, Jing Junhong had finished third while Zhang Xueling repeated the feat in 2000.

But the pain of missing the final was especially agonising as Li had battled from 1-3 down to draw level at 3-3.

Earlier, all seemed lost after four games of intense battle - with Li trailing 9-11, 13-11, 8-11, 8-11.

But she clawed back in the fifth and sixth games to win 11-9 and 11-7 to level at 3-3 and set the stage for a thrilling decider.

But, after leading 6-4, she fell 7-11 at the end.

She added: 'I had done well in the group, which was the toughest of all. But it's just the game against Tie that I didn't do well.'

Earlier, she had topped her group ahead of Fukuhara, China's Liu Shiwen and Thailand's Rattanaprayoon Suttilux.

She beat Fukuhara 4-0, Liu 4-3 and Rattanaprayoon 4-0.

In the quarter-finals, she beat Japan's Hirano Sayaka 4-1.

Singapore's other participant Xu Yan beat South Korea's Moon Hyun Jung 6-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8 to finish seventh.

Li's next assignment will be the World Championships in Shanghai next month when she hopes to clear that bungling final hurdle at last. -- TAN KIM HANfrom The Straits Times Interactive, March 14, 2005

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Singapore Shooters win Silver in Melbourne

Singapore shooters Zhang Jingna and Vanessa Yong shot their way to a silver medal in the 10m air-rifle pairs on opening day of the Commonwealth Shooting Federation Championships in Melbourne yesterday.

They posted a combined score of 778 to pip British pair Rebecca Spicer and Leah Brough by a single point in the battle of nerves.

India's Anjali Bhagwat and Zanane Chinmoypormin were not threatened as they clinched the gold with a convincing 785 score.

Jingna's impressive score of 395 - five short of the perfect score of 400 - also won her the gold badge, which is awarded to the top individual shooter at the event. It was also the 16-year-old's personal best at an international tournament. Her previous best of 394 was set at the 2003 South-east Asia Shooting Championships in Taipei. The SEA Games record is 398.

Said the former Raffles Girls' School student: 'I could have done better, but my second and fourth series were not very good.' She scored perfect 100s in her first and third series.

She added: 'My goal is to reach 397 or 398 before the SEA Games in November.'

Vanessa, who scored 383, was quick to heap praise on her partner. 'Honestly, I didn't expect to win a medal,' she said. 'Jingna did very well to pull up our score.'

Kenneth Tan and Ong Jun Hong added another silver in the men's 10m air-rifle pairs with a combined score of 1,167. The gold went to Indian pair Gagan Narang and Manoj Kumar, who scored 1,183.

The championships, which feature 22 countries, will run till next Saturday.

from The Straits Times Interactive, March 12, 2005

Raffles Junior College's Jason Ho, 16, will compete in the 2005 World Table Tennis Championships



When national paddler Jason first joined a Singapore Table Tennis Association camp, he was a scrawny 10-year-old who stood a mere 1.3m. Now, at 16, he is 1.68m tall - and the proud owner of a South-east Asia Games men's team gold.

Yesterday, he was again picked to represent Singapore at the World Championships in Shanghai from April 30. He will be joined by five others - Cai Xiaoli and women players Li Jiawei, Zhang Xueling, Xu Yan and Tan Paey Fern.

Said table tennis coach Chen Yong: 'It's quite amazing. Last year, Jason stopped training from June to November to focus on his O levels. But his solid foundation enabled him to make a quick comeback. He beat five others to earn the nod.'

All six will compete in the singles, with Jason partnering Cai in the men's doubles. They will partner Tan and Li respectively in the mixed doubles.

The right-hander first burst into prominence in 2002 when he won the SEA Junior Under-14 singles and doubles crowns. He came under the spotlight again in Vietnam the following year,earning praise for his gritty displays despite losing narrowly to older Thai and Vietnamese opponents.

Said Chen of his charge: 'Jason's intelligence is his main asset. He is quick to adapt, learns fast and has a solid foundation. But he is too defensive, and needs to work on more killer shots.'

Jason is ranked 702 in the world. Said Chen: 'If he studies and trains, he will only make steady progress. But if he turns professional, he will improve by leaps.'

For now, Jason plans to stick to both his books and bat, saying: 'I want to complete my A levels first, and then we shall see.' His achievements also extend to the classroom where he scored 4 A1s, 2 A2s and 3 B3s in his O levels last week.



Summarised from The Straits Times Interactive, March 12, 2005

Unseeded Singapore pair advance after two upsets at the All-England Badminton Championships

Singapore's unseeded, unfancied and unheralded women doubles pair of Jiang Yanmei and Li Yujia are doing better than expected at the All-England Badminton Championships 2005 in Birmingham.

Yesterday, they posted two victories to advance to the quarter-finals. After defeating top Indonesian duo Jo Novita and Lita Nurlita 15-7, 9-15, 15-10 yesterday, they stunned sixth-seeded Danes Rikke Olsen and Mette Schjoldager 15-4, 15-7 five hours later.

Said Singapore Badminton Association technical director Zheng Qingjin: 'The Danes probably thought Jiang and Li were going to be easy meat after their long opening match.'

How wrong they were, as the Republic's duo set a blistering pace in the first game and stunned them 15-4 in less than 10 minutes. Before the Danes could recover, the Singapore pair raced past them to clinch the second game 15-7, winning the tie in just 26 minutes.

Said Zheng: 'It will be an uphill task against the Thais, but we are quietly confident.'

Should they beat the Thais, Our Girls are likely to meet second seeds Wei Yili and Zhao Ting- ting of China.


Summarized from The Straits Times Interactive, March 12, 2005

Friday, March 11, 2005

Singapore's Mardan finishes joint 65th

SINGAPORE golfer Mardan Mamat shot a one-over 73 yesterday, finishing joint 65th at the US$500,000 (S$815,000) Thailand Open in Phuket with a 10-over 298.

New Zealand's Richard Lee won the title with a nine-under total of 279, beating Australian Scott Barr in a play-off.

from The Straits Times Interactive 7 March 2005

Singapore's Rower Lim wins Bronze in HongKong

SINGAPORE rower Elsie Lim won a bronze at the 5th Asian Machine Rowing Championships in Hong Kong on Sunday. She finished in 7min 25.9sec.

The field included rowers from seven Asian nations, including China and Japan.
from The Straits Times Interactive

Singaporeans to use Biometric Passports by end October

SINGAPORE will introduce biometric passports to its citizens in October, the Government said on Thursday, ensuring that they will continue to enjoy visa-free entry into the United States.

Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng told Parliament the new passport, which will contain the holder's unique facial and fingerprint information, is part of the country's efforts to tighten security against terrorist threats.

It also follows a US government requirement that 27 nations, whose citizens are granted visa-free entry into the US, should have the biometric passports in use by Oct 26.

If the citizens of those nations, including Singapore, do not have the biometric passports, they will have to apply for a visa. The current visa-free entry allows for a stay of 90 days.

The United States imposed the tougher passport orders as part of increased national security measures following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Mr Wong said the biometric passport will have a unique 'inventory control number' that will serve as the passport number and make it easier to share information if the document is lost or stolen.

This will help in the global drive to prevent passports from being misused, he said.

The biometric passport's validity will also be reduced to five years from the current 10 years to allow the Government to update it with new technological features.

from The Straits Times Interactive 3 March 2005

Helping The Lower-Income Group

What Govt shouldn't do - dole out more. More direct welfare would be a slippery slide to entitlement mentality, warns PM.

THE pressure to dole out ever more help to needy Singaporeans is very real and constant. But the Government must never yield unthinkingly, even a small step, lest it slides down the slippery slope to breed an 'entitlement mentality' among Singaporeans, warned Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

He held firm to this stance in an exchange with opposition MP Low Thia Khiang (Hougang), who was lobbying for basic health care for all Singaporeans, and financial guarantee to those who cannot get jobs.

Earlier, in his 80-minute response to the debate on Budget 2005 in three days, Mr Lee took pains to spell out the Government's strategy in helping the poor and jobless.

He acknowledged that since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, life has been getting tougher for the bottom 20 per cent of households here. Many have either lost their jobs or suffered sharp cuts to their wages, and among them are a number of families which are chronically unable to look after themselves. This has prompted MPs to voice their worry that an underclass may be forming.

Recognising their concern, Mr Lee said the best way to help these people was to create viable job opportunities for them, through job-matching, upgrading their skills and redesigning jobs to enhance the pay and attractiveness.

And to prevent an underclass from perpetuating into the next generation, children from such families must be helped to do well in school.

What the Government must never do, he said, was to adopt what Mr Low had suggested: give out bigger sums of direct welfare as an entitlement, as it is done in Europe and the United States.

That would erode Singaporeans' desire to be self-reliant, he warned.

Mr Low rose to clarify that he was 'fully aware of the pitfalls of a welfare state'. 'But looking at the situation of our economic volatility over the years, I do not think that there is a way out for people who really cannot get jobs.' It is, therefore, the fundamental duty of the Government to provide basic support for this group, he argued.

But PM Lee doused his call with a dose of fiscal reality.

'You have to raise taxes. You cannot do it with smoke and mirrors and you cannot just wave your hands and say somehow we can afford this.

'To say that it's our job to look after everybody who doesn't work... I think that is not something which any government responsibly can deliver. Those who have tried to do that have regretted and pulled back very painfully.'

'You can take a series of very well-intended small steps and end up in the wrong place with a result which is worse than you are today, and regret it, and take many years and maybe never come back.'
By Laurel Teo

from The Straits Times Interactive 3 March 2005

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Singapore leads in global IT rankings: study

Singapore has taken the lead in exploiting information and communication technology, said a study released on Wednesday. The United States, first last year, dropped to fifth place.

Singapore's rating at the top of the so-called 'networked readiness index' was based on several factors, including quality of math and science education and low telephone and Internet pricing, said the report released by the World Economic Forum.

'Singapore's remarkable performance is a consequence of the government's consistent and continuous efforts' to foster the technology, the report said. Mr Augusto Lopez-Claros of the Geneva-based forum, who
co-edited the report, said, 'Singapore is an excellent example of a country that has been able to make - in a relatively short period of time - enormous progress in putting (the technology) at the service of improved living standards.'

The United States' drop 'is less due to actual erosion in performance' than to the improvement of other ountries, the report said.

Iceland, in 10th place last year, moved up to second place.

Finland held onto third, and Denmark rose to fourth from fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Sweden, Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland and Canada.

Also co-editing the report, which covered 104 economies, was Soumitra Dutta of the French-based international business school INSEAD.

From The Straits Times Interactive 9 March 2005

Friday, March 04, 2005

Singapore's Mardan earns berth in Asia's Dynasty Cup Team for Ryder Cup-style shootout between Asia and Japan

SITTING at the clubhouse and sipping his drink, Mardan Mamat was oblivious to the proceedings on the greens at the Myanmar Open last week. It was only after Thammanoon Srirot, his rival for the eighth and last automatic berth in Asia's Dynasty Cup team, completed his round in 75 that Mardan knew what was happening.

For it suddenly dawned on him that he had qualified for the Cup - the first Singaporean golfer to earn the honour in the Ryder Cup-style shoot-out between Asia and Japan. Said Mardan: 'I was really surprised. I never expected Thammanoon to miss the cut.'

As for Thammanoon, his two-round total of 152 meant he had missed the weekend cut by four shots.

This was another first for Mardan.

In 1997, the 37-year-old was the first Singaporean to play in the British Open.

Last March, he was the Republic's first golfer to win an Asian Tour event when he captured the Indian Open.

Last May, he became local golf's first millionaire.

Mardan, who shot a two-over 74 in the first round of the Thailand Open in Bangkok yesterday, will join 11 other golfers in the Asian Team at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China, next month.

He added: 'This is a challenge I'm looking forward to. I do not have much experience in match play, but the World Cups and the qualifiers I have competed in will help, because they are also all about teamwork.'

His desire to qualify for the Dynasty Cup was kindled by last year's Ryder Cup. Said Mardan: 'Although Europe were the underdogs and the Americans seemed to have the stronger players, their captain Bernhard Langer's pairings were excellent.

'He always seemed to have one experienced player with one less-experienced player, which meant one person was in control of the pairing. 'That worked well for Europe. It could be the plan that works very well for us too.'

His joy was shared by Singapore pros and officials alike.

Said Lam Chih Bing: 'Mardan fully deserves his place. He's one of the top golfers in Asia, and it's good for Singapore golf.'

Added Lim Kian Kee, the Singapore Professional Golfers' Association president: 'It's fantastic. Mardan's example will inspire our juniors and show that it's possible for a Singaporean to be a successful pro.'

The Asian Team will take on the 12 top golfers from Japan in a matchplay format, which will see six foursomes matches played on the first day, with another six fourball matches the day after and 12 singles on the last day.

The Asian Team won the inaugural Cup in Shenzhen in 2003, beating Japan 16.5 to 7.5.

Said Asia's captain, Taiwanese Hsieh Min-nan: 'Japan have a very strong team this year with the likes of three-time US PGA Tour winner Shigeki Maruyama and Toshimitsu Izawa but many of them don't play as well outside their country.

'Our players have travelled all over Asia for various tournaments, so I feel we have a good chance of retaining the cup.'
By Alvin Foo

from the Straits Times Interactive 4 March 2005