1. The major news of late has got to be the passing of Michael Jackson. Rumours are still in overdrive with regards to the reason behind his death. One thing is for sure, the King of Pop has left behind a legacy, and it remains to be seen if anyone else will step in to fill the shoes. For those of you who haven’t really heard or seen his performances, simply step into any DVD or record store and you’ll find them playing his songs or showing his concerts.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid has long been in the writing, and it has finally been concluded. With a world record transfer fee of £80million, I seriously wonder how Madrid can still afford Kaka and Karim Benzema. Like most Manchester United fans, i guess it’s only right to thank Ronaldo for his service and wish him all the best.

3. After pocketing £80million from the sale of Ronaldo, getting Michael Owen on a free transfer is like an anti climax. Despite what the media say about Owen being a lost cause, i think many people out there are still hoping (or fearing) that he may regain his form under Ferguson. Looking at historical data though, Owen has always moved without winning anything. When he went to Madrid, they didn’t win anything for years. When he went to Newcastle, they got relegated. Most amazingly, ever since he left Liverpool, they’ve been consistently performing well in England and Europe. Whatever it is, let’s hope that Ferguson consulted some Fengshui master before making the signing.

4. Roger Federer is now the most decorated player in tennis history (in terms of Grand Slams). His victory over Andy Roddick in Wimbledon brings his number of Grand Slams to 15, one more than Pete Sampras, who incidentally happens to be his good friend. Looking at Federer’s age, don’t bet on him stopping at just 15. Oh, and there’s also the small matter of qualifying for 20 consecutive Grand Slam semi finals, another record that may never be broken.

5. Formula One is finally starting to get that little bit exciting. Other than the fact that Ferrari is still behaving like rubbish (yeah.. i support teams in bright red. Man Utd, Ferrari, you get the idea), at least Red Bull is starting to put some pressure on Brawn GP. And let’s hope they sort out the internal conflict and move on to more sensible rules and running of the sport soon.

6. Okie, some of you are probably starting to wonder why everything seems to be sports related (other than MJ). That’s because i always read the sports section first. Besides, it’s my blog! Not CNN news =P
Anyway, slightly more serious stuff in the news:

- Singapore government raises GDP forecast to 6% after reporting a growth of 20.4% in the second quarter.
- MOE closes Brookes Business School for peddling fake degrees and it’s owner has since gone missing. Students are now being assisted to look for transfers to other schools. For Singaporeans who are not insured, slim chance they’ll get their money back.
- Suicide bombers have attacked J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton in Jakarta. Last count was 8 casualties and 50 injured. Manchester United has since cancelled a match against an Indonesian all star side scheduled for Monday. The team members were also due to stay at Ritz Carlton during their visit.

First up, Roger Federer has finally done it! Yes, the man whom many has debated to be the greatest player of all time has finally completed the grand slam with a win in the French Open. Of course, many people will argue that he won because Rafael Nadal was knocked out. Well hey, give him some credit.. 19 consecutive Grand Slam Semi Finals is an awesome record, and no one else has come close to that.

In Soccer, Real Madrid has done it again! There’s definitely something in their system that many corporations or even countries can take a leaf from, because they seem to have endless amount of cash for players. After a £59 million record breaking deal for Kaka, they now have an £80 million bid for Cristiano Ronaldo accepted.

Personally, i’m kinda glad to see Ronaldo leave. As much as he guarantees at least 20 goals a season, i think he’s slowly becoming a nuisance at the club. Anyway, latest news today is that Manchester United is attempting to hijack Real’s bid for David Villa by launching a £45 million bid of their own. Don’t think they’ll succeed though.. Villa has stated that he prefers to stay in Spain.

For the record, Susan Boyle finished 2nd, and Saxophone performer Julian Smith finished 3rd. The rest of the finalists (in no particular order) are:

Stavros Flatley (Greek dance/ entertainers)
Two Grand (Grandfather and granddaughter singers)
Flawless (Dance group)
Shaheen Jafargholi (Singer)
Hollie Steel (Singer)
Shaun Smith (Singer)
Aidan Davis (Dancer)

Here’s the video of their performance.

Technorati Profile

Mas Selamat Kastari, Singapore’s Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader who escaped from Whitley Road Detention Centre on February 27 last year, has been arrested in Malaysia.

Yahoo reports that Mas Selamat was actually arrested over a month ago but had been under interrogation in Malaysia. It is likely that he will be brought back to Singapore soon.

As much as I don’t really like Chelsea, you have to feel sorry for them. Over the two legs, they played a superb controlling game (Aka boring game), and made Barcelona look ordinary. In fact, I took a nap for 30mins of the second half, simply because I was so confident Barcelona will not be able to score.

Those of you who watched the game will know what I mean. Barcelona had plenty of possession, but their passes were all going sideways and backwards instead of forward. Chelsea packed their whole defence till there was almost no gap for all those creative Barcelona players to pick a pass. So much for the pretty football (Maybe the Wimbledon style football could have been more effective)

Anyway, for the record. Chelsea went ahead as early as the 9th minute through a stunning 20 yard volley from Essien. As mentioned, Barcelona had plenty of possession, but it was Chelsea who always looked likelier to score. In fact, they had a couple of penalty appeals turned down (that’s gonna lead to a different discussion altogether).

Barcelona had Abidal sent off for bringing down Anelka as the last defender. Just when we all thought that Chelsea had done enough to secure a win, they momentarily allowed Iniesta room to shoot from outside the penalty box and he made it count with their only shot on target.

That wasn’t the end of the drama though. Chelsea then sent everyone forward (probably regretting all those time wasting they did) and Ballack had a shot right at the death which hit the arm of a Barca player. Again, no penalty was given and it’s understandable that the Chelsea players were furious. After the game, many of them confronted the referee (who had to be escorted), including Drogba, who is probably gonna be in trouble for ranting at the TV camera in front of world TV.

So it’ll be Barcelona against Manchester United in the final in Rome on 27th May. For the purists, I think this is a much better fixture than an all English match which can be seen all the time on BPL.

In fact, I think Man Utd had a tougher time against Porto in the quarter finals, though that could also be due to their dip in form during that period. Anyway, for the record, Arsenal started very strongly and managed to put Man Utd under some pressure initially, but a slip by young defender Kieran Gibbs in the 8th minute let Park through and he clipped the ball over the keeper. Man Utd lead 1-0 (2-0 on aggregate)

Just when Arsenal thought their night is gonna be a lot harder, Ronaldo practically ended it for them 3 minutes later when he smashed home a free kick from almost 40 yards. 2-0 on the night (3-0 on aggregate).

By then, it was practically game over. After the restart, Arsenal throwed everyone forward and Man Utd scored with a typical counter attack involving Park, Rooney and Ronaldo and it was 3-0 on the night. Arsenal did eventually manage to score, through Van Persie from the penalty spot after Fletcher was sent off for bringing down Fabregas as the last man (kinda harsh cos replays showed he got the ball as well, but referees got no replays to help them).

So the final score on the night was 3-1, though the contest was really over after the first 11minutes. Man Utd now await the winner of tonight’s over semi finals, but it’s back to the Premier League with Manchester City this sunday.

So the police have sealed off the hotel, and ordered approximately 200 guests and 100 staff to stay in the hotel for the next seven days. Guests who were out of the hotel when the lockdown began were told that if they re-entered the hotel, they would not be allowed to leave. So many of them are kinda stranded outside the hotel since their luggages and passports are inside the hotel.

Kinda interesting that the Hong Kong authorities are taking such actions. What’s gonna happen to those who were in the same flight or public transport as the Mexican tourist? Considering that Influenza A is most infectious at the beginning, will they hunt down all those who could have been in contact and quarantine them too? *ponder*

Here’s another interesting sidenote: You might remember the Sars outbreak in 2003? According to the papers, the scene of the Sars outbreak took place at another Metropark hotel. That time,  a doctor from Guangzhou who treated Sars patient in China had travelled to Hong Kong and stayed at the Metropole in Kowloon. Needless to say, he infected a number of people there, including three woman from Singapore. That hotel has since been renamed as Metropark Hotel Kowloon.

According to the papers, one in three victims does not even show any flu symptoms like sneezing or high temperature. And because this virus is at its most contagious 24 hours before any signs surface, it is likely we could be passing it on before we even realise we’ve got it.

We’re better prepared for this as compared to Sars though. So expect temperature checks at places like polyclinics, hospitals, airports, schools, army camps. Which means if you have any appointments, be sure to allow extra time for queuing up.

Anyway, here are some additional stuff about the Swine flu from the papers:

• Don’t take Tamiflu unless you have the flu. Tamiflu is said to be effective against Swine flu, however, it is not a vaccine. Some studies have shown that you may end up lowering your resistance instead of protecting yourself against the virus.
• Even if you are infected, you should recover within 48 hours if treated with antiviral drugs. That is of course, if you can detect that you’re infected.
• Practice good hygiene and visit the doctor when you have any symptoms of flu. Even if it may seem like a normal flu, it’s not worth taking the risk.
• Like all flu epidemics, the Swine flu could come in waves. So even if this first wave dies, there is no clue when the second will hit. Bottom line is, maintain personal hygiene and take every flu symptom seriously.