Categories
Sports

[867] Of Ajax 0 – 2 Copenhagen

Hahahahaha! Own goal baby!

Aggregate 2-3.

This must be some kind of harsh justice placed upon Ajax by some kind of soccer god :

FC København defied the odds to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit with a 2-0 win at AFC Ajax that earned them a place in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

An own goal from Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen proved to be the decider on the night as the Dutch side somehow conspired to lose a tie which always seemed poised in their favour.

There go millions of Euros.

Despite feeling obviously disappointed, Ajax doesn’t deserve to be in the Champions League. By last season’s standard, we should have been in the UEFA Cup, which we are currently now. AZ Alkmaar should have played this match instead of Ajax. But somehow, the KNVB screwed AZ last season.

Nonetheless, loss is a loss and we all should be sporting enough to admit to defeat. All the luck for FC Copenhagen.

Categories
Sports

[866] Of Ajax 5 – 0 RKC

After beating PSV 3-1 in the Johan Cruyff Shield match, Ajax is off to a flying start . In its first 2006/07 Eredivisie match, Ajax slaughtered RKC Waalwijk 5-0.

The scorers – in order – are Babel, Sneijder, Heitinga, Sneijder again and Rosales.

Perhaps, the other goodness going on is the fact that Feyenoord was humiliated by Groningen 3-0. AZ on the hand started this season with a bang – they razed NAC to the ground with eight goals for and a goal against.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

p/s – don’t make promises that you can’t keep. It hurts your reputation. But then, I suppose breaking promises in god’s name is okay, eh?

Categories
Liberty

[865] Of pushing for a democratic Petaling Jaya

I for some reason sees Petaling Jaya residents as the most progressive community in Malaysia – a Malaysian San Francisco perhaps. I don’t know why but Petaling Jaya somehow gives me the impression that it’s a city of literatis; city of intelligentsias; city of political consciousness . Sometimes, even the bastion of liberalism in the country. One way Petaling Jaya could seal these perceptions among Malaysians is to exercise the third vote – residents of Petaling Jaya should elect their major.

Malaysians – and in effect, residents of Petaling Jaya – currently don’t have the power to elect their mayors. We – Malaysians – used to have that right before it was suspended on March 1 1965, during the height of the Indonesian confrontation against Malaysia. While peace between Indonesia and Malaysia has been restored, Malaysians have yet to regain the power to elect their mayors.

Petaling Jaya currently has its mayor post vacant; its first mayor retired after only two months at the job. So, the search for the next major is on:

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo confirmed that a name has been forwarded for endorsement but said he could only “disclose this much information now.”

He also explained that District Officers did not include municipal council presidents. With this new development, speculation is rife that Petaling District Officer Mazalan Md Noor will be the one to fill the position left vacant by Ahmad Termizi Puteh who retired two months after becoming the Petaling Jaya’s first mayor.

Based on Dr Khir’s statement, two of the three other names earlier mentioned – Klang Municipal Council president Abdul Bakir Zin and Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MBPJ) secretary Zulkepli Ahmad – are out of contention.

However, the third person, Gombak district officer Abdul Ghani Salleh, is still in the running.

There have always been complaints against inefficient city councils. I believe such inefficiency is caused by lack of accountability – those that are appointed to the posts are not directly answerable to those being governed. With the lack of accountability, the mayors will not have proper incentives to improve their service.

Reintroduction of local government elections will reintroduce incentives for mayors to improve their services because elections act as an effective carrot and stick model. With an election, the mayors need to either perform or risk being voted out of office.

Petaling Jaya has a strong urban community compared to most other urban areas. The residents of Petaling Jaya should use their influence to exercise their right to elect their mayor. If Petaling Jaya manages to reintroduce local government election, the city would seal its status as the most progressive city in Malaysia.

Categories
Economics Environment

[864] Of Coase theorem and global warming

Global warming deniers have lost the debate. However, recognizing the problem and arresting it are two different things . An article by Sunstein at WaPo talks on one of the obstacles of combating global warming:

The obstacle stems from the unusual incentives of the United States and China. As the world’s leading contributors to climate change, these are the two countries that would have to bear the lion’s share of the cost of greenhouse gas reductions. At the same time, they are both expected to suffer less than many other nations from climate change — and thus are less motivated to do something about it. And while the international spotlight has rightly been on the behavior of the United States, China will soon present the more serious problem.

This is of course, like what Prof. Mankiw said, is relevant to the Coase Theorem. Coase Theorem is also related to the transboundary haze in Southeast Asia.

Categories
Conflict & disaster Politics & government

[863] Of protest against pushing a stroller with a baby in it on an escalator

It’s amazing how irresponsible and negligent some people – possibly parents – can be. It’s not too rare at Suria KLCC to find a person with a baby in a stroller to use the escalator to move from one floor to the next. Hear this: using the escalator while pushing a stroller with a baby in it is dangerous. It might not be dangerous to you but to the baby, it is absolutely.

I’ve observed so many times a person struggling to balance a stroller with a baby in it while they’re on an escalator. It doesn’t take much for the person handling the stroller on an escalator to accidentally let go of the stoller and hence, jepordizing the safety of the baby.

Parents sometimes prefer to save time by riding on the escalator at the expense of the baby’s safety. I do feel that this is an unacceptable trade-off between time and safety.

A safer alternative would be the elevator. I urge everybody to ulitize an elevator in place of the escalator whenever you need to move between floors with a baby in a stroller. At the very least, please carry the baby on your person if you insist on using the escalator. You may fold the stroller and hold it with one hand though it will better if you hold the baby with both hands.

So far thankfully, I haven’t witnessed any accident that involved a baby in a stroller falling off the escalator. I’ve no desire to watch one.

Please think of the baby people.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

p/s – leader of the opposition Lim Kit Siang, laments the exclusion of Universiti Malaya from Newsweek’s top 100 global universities. For me, I consider rankings as overrated and inaccurate – this includes the US News’ list. While rankings may differentiate the top tier from the other tiers, it does nothing to differentiate schools within that top tier. For instance, in the Newsweek’s list, is #1 Harvard really better than #10 Columbia? Is #11 Michigan (Go Blue!) better than #34 London School of Economics?

Is #34 National University of Singapore better than #66 Vanderbilt, #52 Universiteit Utrecht or #56 Brown? C’mon.

Trivia: could you find Ohio State University in the ranking?

I know. I’m a cruel person. Related, do read Time’s Who needs Harvard?