The Kop Comes To Asia!

It was a fantastic Sunday night yesterday at the friendly match between Liverpool FC and the Singapore Lions. I was sitting in the East'Kop'Stand for all the die-hard Liverpool supporters. The atmosphere was full of excitement and when an occasional rival fan(including two of my church friends)turned up(they bought tickets too)turned up in a rival shirt(usually Manchester United), the whole contigent of fans booed him. They wanted them to change shirts and cheered when that happened.
The match started at around 7 pm and I watched these world-famous players do their stuff. However, in the first half, there was hardly any action except for the occasional chance created by Liverpool. There was also a scare for as fans when one of Singapore's players broke through the defence but his shot was straight at Cavalieri and on the stroke of half-time, when Voronin's strike rolled into the bottom corner of the goal, the stadium erupted in cheers.
The second half started with a some of the bigger players coming on such as Albert Riera, who later scored a goal after latching on to Mascherano's cross. The crowd then was chanting the name of Torres and Benitez did not let them down, with Torres coming on for Yossi Benayoun, causing the entire stadium to erupt in loud screaming and cheering. Dirk Kuyt was also introduced soon after. Nemeth then scored from Dirk Kuyt's cross to make it three in the 73rd minute. Pepe Reina and Xabi Alonso were then introduced five minutes later. I remember sitting in the stands and seeing Reina and Alonso waiting to be substituted in, the fans started calling for the ball to be kicked out so the two star Spaniards could be brought in. When the substitutions were announced, again the stadium erupted in loud cheers. Kuyt, who created a total of three goals, then provided Torres with a simple tap-in two minutes later. The rout was then completed by Nemeth, who scored a brace. Torres also had a header headed narrowly wide. At the end of the match, after the prize presentation, the Liverpool playes walked around the entire pitch, waving at the fans. Benitez and a few others followed suit a while later.
However, there were a few things not satisfactory though. Firstly, the stadium only had one screen, which showed the score but not the match time. Also, everything, from the players assembling on the pitch to the prize presentation, was conducted infront of the grandstand. We fans in the 'Kop' Stand could hardly even see the players faces, except during the warm-up, the match and when they walked around the pitch.
Overall, it was still a fantastic experience, being able to see these world-class players in real life and every single cent of the $88 i paid was totally worth it. Oh and every ticket-holder was entitled to a free scarf(designed properly).

Online assesment 4: The casino to be built in Singapore

In my opinion, the building of this casino is more harmful than it is helpful. Yes, economic recession has taken its toll and many people have been left with no job, no way to support their family. No doubt, this casino would provide many jobs, however one must also consider the cons, not only the pros. I discussed this with my father and he said that it would be "socially bad for the families in Singapore". The families he were referring to were the families of people who like to gamble. This brings me to the fact that a youtube video I watched also carried the same message,"Often, the people who really suffer from problem gambling aren't the gamblers." Gambling is highly addictive in my view, and the mindset of gamblers would probably be that the next time they gamble would be their "Big Break", hence they keep coming back for more gambing, squandering their money and neglecting their family. A good example would be Ah Boh in the story Lottery by Catherine Lim. In Lottery, Ah Boh is hooked on 4D and she throws much of her salary down the drain by spending it all on 4D numbers. She does not support her mother, saying that when she strikes the jackpot, she can give her mother much more. She takes everything she sees as a "sign", to the weighing of a cat to the car plates of a car in an accident. Even the death of her mother in an accident fails to wake her up, fails to remind her how she did not care for her mother enough. From this example, we can see that gambling destroys a family. People who are addicted would also run out of money and if unable to persuade their friends or relatives, may even turn to loan sharks.
I condemn the building of a casino in Singapore as it would turn the whole country around, people who are addicted becoming bankrupt and there are many other consequences for this. We must put an end to all this.