Malaysia players played their heart out in the return leg of second round World Cup 2014 qualifiers while Singapore continued acting skills to earn sympathy and free kicks from referees.

Malaysia drew 1-1 with Singapore in the match at National Stadium, Bukit Jalil on Thursday night. However, this is not enough to stop Singapore Lions from qualifying to third round.

We can still stand tall with our local boys compared to Singapore who has to use mixed imported players to fill first XI (5 out of 11 players).

And Malaysians are upset with no sportsmanship shown by Singa-pura players who keep on acting (goalkeeper headache, injury and etc.) But Malaysian fans need to control their actions when Singapore goalkeeper Mohd Izwan complained of a laser being beamed at his face. An announcement was made through the PA system that the game would be called off if the fans continued with such acts.

As we can see, Safee Sali is man of the match (prolific striker, successor to Super Mokh) and best goalkeeper goes to Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, while the rest is quite balance in their strengths and weaknesses. For Singa-pura, only the 5 naturalised players who plays well, the original Singaporeans play like "kampung football".

Among very positive comments from Harimau Malaya fans (via Facebook):
> If we are not up to the grades...just admit it...and try to improve for the next match...not need to make any issues...out of our shortcomings... cheers!!!
> jgn salahkan sapa2 dalam team...baik player mahupun coach..wht we need to do terus sokong dorang..
> Ha ha ha ha ha...played their heart out, gave everything, still lost and still had integrity to say sorry? Safee and all malaysian football player last night...
> Singapurapura.. Mmg hebat b'lakon.. Lainkali jgn main bola ats padang.. Main bola ats pentas teater.. Hahaha..
> Im proud of our Tigers !! 100% MALAYSIAN !!! NO IMPORTS !!!
> cuz singaporean player so pro at acting can win grammy award ouhhhh
> Win or lose, does't matter, it's not a malaysian team, it's harimau malaya.
> well done Malaysia, so singapore is the true rojak afterall , GIGGLE*
> at least malaysia consist of really local boys unlike singapore wit dunno where cum mat salleh...

However, there are some Malaysians who are not proud with Harimau Malaya after all, maybe they should have change their nationalities. We need positive comments that can motivate our Harimau Malaya to roar in greater level of playing field.

While the team spirit is lauded, the skills of these bunch of players are questionable. They can't pass the ball properly, they can't control the ball, they can't stop the ball properly and they can't shoot! To top it off, the pitch is horrible. Is that even a playable field? Apart from Salee, I doubt there will be much progress in this team. We can basked in the glory of winning an ASEAN Cup, but in reality our standard is way way below par. Where are the Kang Hung Meng, Lim Teong Kim? Don't tell me there isn't one good enough to make the grade or have these people gave up the sport because of bias selection? Source: Syabas Malaysia! (Malay Mail)

Other news: Victory in defeat (Malay Mail)

Malaysia: Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, Mahalli Jasuli, Mohd Asraruddin Putra, Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak (Mohd Muslim Ahmad), Mohd Fadhli Shas, Amar Rohidan, Ismail Faruqi (K. Gurusamy), S. Kunalan, Mohd Amirulhadi Zainal, Mohd Safee Sali, Abdul Hadi Yahaya (Ahmad Fakri Saarani).

Singapore: Mohd Izwan Mahbud, Daniel Bennett, Mohd Safuwan Baharudin, Shaiful Esah (Mohd Isa Abdul Halim), Harris Harun, Shi Jiayi, Qiu Li, Mustafic Fahrudin, Aleksander Duric, Shahril Ishak (Fazrul Nawaz), Juma'at Jantan.

Singapore saw off the challenge of a resilient Malaysia as the Lions defeated their arch-rivals 5-3 in a thrilling first-leg of their 2014 FIFA World Cup second round qualifier on Saturday. The aggregate after first leg is 5-3. The return match will be held on July 28, 2011 at Bukit Jalil Stadium Malaysia.

Comment after the match:
Harimau Malaya got a good start from Safee Sali's goal in the 1st minute, but Aleksandar Duric quickly put an equaliser from a free-kick in 8th minute. While Harimau Malaya still finding rhythm on slick artificial turf that looks more like a hockey pitch, Singapore put themselves one goal in front via Qiu Li (another imported player). Singapore continued to take advantage on Harimau Malaya poor defence and scored 2 more goals before half time to put Singapore 3 goals in front.

And again it was a set-piece that was Malaysia’s undoing with the 30-year-old Home United attacker curling in a sweetly-struck free-kick that left Malaysian keeper Sharbinee Ramli rooted to the spot.

Fahrudin Mustafic made it 3-1 a minute from the break before Shi Jia Yi extended Singapore’s advantage when the unmarked midfielder connected with Duric’s cross from the right.

First half ended Singapore 4 Malaysia 1.

In the second half, K. Rajagopal made more changes and tactical switch to put in more pressure and score goals. Malaysia’s hopes of getting back into the match were dealt a massive blow when frustration got the better of skipper Safiq Rahim was shown a straight red for a studs-up challenge on Hariss Harunfive minutes into the second-half.

Singapore receive same fate as Ismail Yunos was sent off for a second bookable offence just five minutes later. S. Kunanlan displayed his best action by assisting 2 goals for Malaysia, which was scored by Abdul Hadi Yahya 70' and second from Safee Sali. While fans of Harimau Malaya looking for an equaliser, the Lions pull one goal back through their imported old player, Aleksandar Duric. Match finished at Singapore 5 Malaysia 3.

To all Harimau Malaya fans, make sure we fill up whole Bukit Jalil Stadium next Thursday for the return leg. Malaysia need to score two goals to qualify on away goal rule. And the Lions, you will be wash out by us in return leg.

Singapore can win the match because their team is United Nations team, where buy foreign players to score goals. Malaysia have all their player originally from Malaysia, not even one imported. Shame on Singapore!!

What K. Rajagopal said:
National coach Datuk K. Rajagopal was disappoined by the team’s sloppy defending, which he said was the cause of their defeat.

“We had the best ever start when Safee scored after just 26 seconds of the game but after that, the whole defence collapsed and we gave away the goals just like that,” said Rajagopal.

It certainly was a goal feast for the Lions but the game could have gone Malaysia’s way if only they were not so porous at the back. Safee gave Malaysia a dream start when he scored after 26 seconds into the match.



Singapore's players celebrate Aleksandar Duric's goal against Malaysia during their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification soccer match in Singapore July 23, 2011. PHOTO: REUTERS



Singapore vs Malaysia at Jalan Besar Stadium (Singapore)


Singapore lineups:
Mohd Izwan Mahbud, Muhd Safuwan Baharudin, Shi Jiayi, Aleksandar Duric, Qiu Li (Shahdan Sulaiman), Hariss Harun, Mustafic Fahrudin, Daniel Bennett, Shahril Ishak, Juma’at Jantan, Ismail Yunos

Malaysia lineups:

Mohd Sharbinee Allawee, Mohd Muslim Ahmad, Mohd Fadhli Shas, Mahalli Jasuli, Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar, Amar Rohidan, Safiq Rahim, S. Kunalan, Ismail Faruqi (Mohd Amirulhadi Zainal), Mohd Safee Sali (Izzaq Faris Ramlan), Ahmad Fakri Saarani (Abdul Hadi Yahaya)

'Hospital hit by water cannon spray, tear gas'

Police shot tear gas and sprayed water from water cannons into the compound of the Tung Shin Hospital along Jalan Pudu, according to two of its staff, in order to disperse the crowd from the Bersih 2.0 rally yesterday.

One of the staff who is in charge of ambulance management, said that the police fired tear gas three times. He added the spray from the water cannons was unable to reach the main hospital, but hit a building in the compound.


The middle-aged man who wanted to remain anonymous, said that the police started firing tear gas towards a group of people who gathered in front of the Chinese medicine hospital and the male staff hostel which are located beside the main building.

The police then broke into the compound and start arresting people, while some of the protesters successfully fled to the small hill beside Tung Shin Hospital to avoid arrest, he said when interviewed by Malaysiakini.

Police denial

The inspector-general of police Ismail Omar and Kuala Lumpur acting police chief Amar Singh, have denied that the riot police fired tear gas into the premises of Tung Shin hospital.


However, Malaysiakini has received many photos from the public showing the police spraying water and shooting tear gas shells into the compound, to rebut the claims of the police.

The Tung Shin staff member said that the protesters were cornered by the Federal Reserve Unit who sealed off both ends of the road.

He said they were forced to flee into Tung Shin hospital because they were unable to get into the Plaza Rakyat abandoned project site which is right opposite the hospital.

He thought that the police could have done better to avoid the hospital getting involved.


"If the police could drive out the crowd from Masjid Jamek to the hospital, they could also drive out them further away. There's no need to for the hospital to be involved in a siege. But they left the crowd no choice, but to head for the hospital," he added.

He stressed that although there were more than 500 people at the scene, they behaved well without being noisy or destroying anything.

"They know this is a hospital, hence their actions were very respectful in order to let the hospital can operate as usual.

"There was some chaos when the police start firing tear gas. They hid inside the hospital, and waited quietly until the gas was gone," he added.

One of the ambulance drivers of the hospital also said that the crowd behaved peacefully in front of the hospital, but many of them rushed into the toilet to wash their faces in order to ease the pain of the tear gas.

He said that the hospital didn't suffer any losses and the incident didn't cause any impact to the patients.

Other news:
Bar Council: Details for Report by the BC
Police doing their job at Tung Shin, says Soi Lek (Malaysian Insider)
Bar Council: Tung Shin Hospital was hit (MalaysiaKini)

Yesterday, Malaysians created history in realising the dreams of a more democratic country and electoral reform.

The BERSIH 2.0 rally took place at various point of KL city centre before merging into larger group en route marching towards Merdeka Stadium.

Malaysians started their historic day by getting to ground few hours before the rally started at about 2pm. Despite roadblocks at key junctions and roads in Kuala Lumpur, traffic is smooth from the low number of vehicles, but traffic is gridlocked at the outskirts as police weed out possible protestors.

The majority of the police are stationed at the favourite haunts for protestors - Dataran Merdeka, the Masjid Jamek area and the Sogo shopping centre.



By 9:50 am, the number of Bersih 2.0 supporters at the KTM Kuala Lumpur old railway station is growing.

> In 9.55am (MalaysiaKini): Petaling Street - A diminutive retiree, who only wants to be known as Anne, says freedom is precious.

"I am old, but I am walking (with Bersih) because they are taking away my freedom, I can't even wear a yellow shirt now," she said when met.

"When I was young I didn't do anything. I was in the education service and I had to stomach (misgovernance) like sheep because it was my bread and butter," she said.

The feisty woman, who had her details taken down by police this morning for wearing a bright yellow shirt, was part of the Bersih rally in 2007.

She is walking alone today, "because it's easier to work alone".

Asked of her children's reaction to her decision, Anne, who chided a reporter for asking her age, said her children told her to "have a nice walk".

Meanwhile, the situation of major/hotspot LRT stations police are keeping close watch. Arrests was done earlier at Masjid Jamek.

Two women in red and pink respectively have been nabbed by the police and found several strips of red cloth on them. One of them read a newspaper as she was lead away by a female cop.

The first rally broke out when bout 1,000 people are moving from the old KTM station towards Dataran Merdeka.

At Jalan Landak, Pudu, some 200 people have started to gather, preparing for the rally.

The day started out as one of many routine Saturdays and by evening, had turned into one that will be marked in history as a day the people of Malaysia are proud to have stood up for.



Other news:

Status update —sivarasa-rasiah 

The Bersih 2.0 rally has a huge impact on city life even before it kicks off at 2pm tomorrow.

From midnight tonight to 10pm tomorrow, KL centre will turn into a castle of sorts with police making a big presence to ensure public order.

When the clock strikes midnight tonight, the city centre will be transformed into a "fortress" to steel itself against the expected onslaught of the public rally by Bersih 2.0.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Amar Singh also warned the public to stay away from the city centre “if they did not have any business to attend to”.

Even though the public are not barred from entering restricted areas, they are likely to be subjected to police checks and road blocks.



An electronic signboard flashing a police warning on Bersih gatherings along the Sungai Besi highway. - Kamarul Ariffin/The Star

Meanwhile, Puduraya, Hentian Putra and Hentian Pekeliling bus terminals will be temporarily closed from 12.01am to 10pm on Saturday as police close off major roads into the city centre.

For info about relocation for tomorrow, please view it here MY Rapid Transit.

The Tanjong Pagar railway station ceases its operation on June 30, 2011 with much celebrated and flashlights welcoming all passengers arriving/departing at the station.

For further information, I link this to my second blog; Klang Valley MRT with more to discover on Tanjong Pagar station.

I felt sad to see its closure after being used since 1932, and I definitely will miss my only visit to the station on December last year. However, next visit to the Lion City, I will not miss the chance to visit the station with a different identity, that is a national heritage building or museum.