"We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same."

-- Carlos Castaneda, author

Wishes all a blessed Christmas!

"I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that's as unique as a fingerprint--and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing "

-- Oprah Winfrey, Talk Show Host

KL

Now at the KL Subang International Airport waiting for my flight back to Singapore. The B division training tour just came to an end today. On the whole, I believe we have achieved most of the objectives of this trip. Both on and off the field. Given that opportunity to referee our boys' games gave me a rare opportunity be in the field with them and observing their actions. More importantly, listening to how they communicate and aspects coming from the law side.

It was also encouraging to be able to meet up with some of my friends staying in Malaysia. For those I didn't had to meet, I apologise. Just that our team schedule was jam packed. On a more positive note, I most probably will be in KL next early Jan again.

The festive season mood is here!

Time for reflections.

Day out with the Japs...

Today I had the opportunity to referee the Regional Japanese 10s Tournament at AR-JAS. Japanese Association teams from all over Asia come down to Singapore to win the trophy. The tournament kicked off with a congregation of players and officials. Team officials were introduced and briefing to players was made. Weather was really unpredictable. It started off really cloudy with light drizzle at around 8am. At around 1pm, the sun came out torching. I was the lucky chap to have my game at the hottest time. Just as I was refereeing my 4th game at 2.30pm, torrential rain, thunders and lightnings paid us a visit for about an hour or so. I had to stop my game in the middle of the first half. And it was to resume immediately after the rain. The already muddy field became a swimming pool. With both players and referees going for mud bath. I became extra cautious on the contact, tackle and ruck situations especially when it occurs in the puddle of water. I'm afraid players going to ground head down first and having other players on top of him. He may choke and "drown" with that deep puddle. Therefore, I informed both captains that I will stop play as soon as such situation occurs. Unfortunately, that game has lots of stoppages. At the end of the day, players' safety is my utmost priority. Not surprisingly too, the injury rate during the tournament in high. I believe the contributing factors would be the soft (muddy) pitch and also players' fitness. Overall, I did enjoy myself refereeing today. I liked the way the players respected the tournament officials, definitely something which players here need to learn. The communication in the game amongst players were excellent. You can literally hear all the players talking to each other during the game. Again, a good game quality to follow.

"Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."

-- George Washington Carver, botanist

Injury

reach higher

Some dreams live on in time, forever
Those dreams, you want with all your heart
And I'll do whatever it takes
Follow through with the promise I made
Put it all on the line
What I hoped for at last would be mine

"People will not bear it when advice is violently given, even if it is well founded. Hearts are flowers; they remain open to the softly falling dew, but shut up in the violent downpour of rain."

-- John Paul Richter

ups and downs

Today was the longest time I ever barbecued. 5 hours in total. The teachers and I cooked 300 sausages, 139 chicken wings and 8 kilograms of beef steak. We started barbecuing as early as 2.30pm for the under 14 boys. As we were cooking, we too felt being slow cooked under the hot sun! Thank heavens it started drizzling around 4pm resulting in less warm weather. Finished cooking at 7.30pm. Just when you think it's over, you still need to clean up the place. Definitely drained my energy. I was actually quite hungry while cooking, but after having the smoke right in my face, I just couldn't eat the cooked bbq food. I doubt I will eat it in the near future either. All for the boys! I do hope they appreciate our efforts.

Unfortunately, as much as I want it to be a good day, an unpleasant event occurred.
Some people never learn their lesson!

At the end of the day, if you dare to do break the rules, be ready to face the music. It will never be nice. You know. I know. We all know.