To Sue or Not to Sue

My body is still shivering from the shock. I just got home from work. At about 6.20pm, I was almost knocked down by a pick-up truck, on purpose. I was travelling in the middle lane and switched to the right lane so that I could turn right at the next junction. I checked my blind spot, I switched on my signal light and I made the switch. After a few seconds of going into the right lane, I heard some horning behind me. I looked into my rear view mirror and glanced back. I saw the truck travelling fast but experience convinced me that the driver still had time to slow down. I was turning right after all and it wouldn’t make sense for me to switch back into the middle lane.

The driver continued hornin incessantly. By then, he had became irritating. I continued on with my journey. Then, something jangled my nerves. I felt something nudging against my back and my neck and the bike started to skid. At that moment I knew that it was the pick-up. A quick look behind confirmed it. I managed to keep my cool and more importantly, my bike under control. The driver backed off, he must have felt that he had scared me enough and he did scare me. At the junction, I composed myself and then I turned behind to gesture to the driver what in the world was he doing. The driver, a man in his late 30s or early 40s, just flashed me the most disgusting, sadistic smile in the world and gestured back as if nothing happened.

By then I was seething and many thoughts flashed through my mind. I thought of the people that mattered to me. My parents, family, darling, best friend. In that short moment, I contemplated leaving them prematurely. After that I saw myself bashing the driver’s face into a bloody pulp. I breathed in deeply and soon reasoned that such an act would definitely be unwise, regardless of how much he deserved it. I remembered advising my pupils that it doesn’t matter who started the fight or who retaliated. A wrong act once committed, is punishable. Won’t do me any favour if I got a criminal record. In the end, I decided to let it pass and continue on with my journey home.

As I walked home, I asked myself, “Should I let that man get away with what he did?” When I got home and I saw my parents, it dawned upon me what could have happened. Maybe I’m being a little melodramatic, but I know that had I fell, it would have been a disaster. A slippery road, cars all around, not to mention the offending truck who was just behind me. Anything could have happened. Thus, I decided to go to the nearby police post to make a report.

What did the officer make of it? “I think you should report this to the Traffic Police. There is nothing much I can do. However, do take note if your complaint is taken up to court, you have to prove your case that the driver intended to knock you down intentionally.” Yeah. I kinda expected him to say that. I was on the phone with my brother, whom is an Investigating Officer with the SPF, asking him on what would be my best course of action. The officer just gave me the email to lodge my complaint and I headed home.

Now, I don’t really know what I should do. I have calmed down a little. Writing has always been therapeutic for me. Maybe I’ll just let it be. Be thankful to Allah because I am still blessed to survive such an ordeal. Trust Allah will be the one who will pass His judgment upon those who deserves it in His eyes. Either way, this incident has given me much to think about.

What’s wrong you Devils?!

This has been a pretty bad 2 weeks for Manchester United fans. Following the 4-1 drubbing my Liverpool, Fulham inflicted more damage by beating the Red Devils 2-0. I caught both games and the thought running through my head was, “What’s going on?” The team is barely recognizable and the previously impregnable defence has looked as shaky as Newcastle’s! At this rate, anyone can score against United. Damn it, even Bobby “it’s easier to score than to miss” Zamora looked as threatening as Thierry Henry that day. WTF?

Are the players crumbling to the pressure of the possibility of winning the Quintuplet? Heck man, don’t they remember that Chelsea themselves were on the verge of a quadruple last season before letting everything slip through their fingers? Are the Devils getting too complacent? Looking at the recent line-ups, I suppose people can say that. But with the talent in the squad, any team United put out should be good enough to win any game. Then, there are also some conspiracy theorists who insist that the EPL, like any other major league in the world, is rigged. What do I say to that? If it were true, it would be one major con job, involving thousands of players and officials. But who are we to say that it is not possible? Football is a multi-billion, perhaps trillion dollar industry. With so much money at stake, anything is possible. Personally, I just hope the Red Devils wake up from this setback. With Liverpool firing on all cylinders, Manchester United cannot afford another slip-up. Heck, let Chelsea win it, but not Liverpool. To all my friends who are Liverpool fans who might be reading this, no offence ok. Like Rooney said, “I was brought up to hate Liverpool”. I respect the team, but I definitely don’t like them.

For the first time ever, a Redbacks game ended in a mass brawl. As things were getting really hot and spicy on the pitch, I was just sitting at the sidelines, stunned at the events unfolding. I contemplated running onto the pitch to get involved but I was still respecting the laws of the game too much, knowing that any invasion would just make matters worse. What is it about football that reduces men to neanderthals? We can be so cultured, educated and civilised but when we’re doing battle on the pitch, our deepest most animal instincts take control. It really soured the evening.

We were playing pretty well, despite trailing. I guess some people would say that the Spiders are just a bunch of sore losers. I don’t really care about what others have to say. The fact remains: we did not overreact, we did not last out at our opponents, we tried to diffuse the matter. What we are guilty of is that we failed to keep someone’s mouth shut. Regrettable, but that happens.

Taking a page out of Aki’s book, at least I scored. No, this doesn’t mean that I put my personal achievement above my team. I’m just really happy that I managed to break my goalless streak. Before the game, Azam asked me if I was comfortable playing upfront. I just answered, “Wherever you put me, I’m ready.” Steady ah Kai. Before kick-off, I told Ayyub that I dreamt I scored in a football game. And true enough I did. Thank you Yusman for providing a peach of a cross. I always feel that we don’t put in enough of such crosses into the box for me to exploit. I enjoyed the goal. This is possibly my best headed goal ever, apart from the one I scored for Flamboyant back in my teenage years. I hope there will be many more to come. 4 down, 11 more to go to hit my target. With 8 months left, insyaAllah I’ll achieve it.

The King strikes again!

To all football lovers, never lose the passion!

The Return of The Li-beruk…

I admit it: I love playing in defense. My recent outings in the backline for Stamford and the Redbacks have rekindled my interest in the position. Having lived the life of a journeyman on the pitch, moving from one position to another, I think it is safe to say that playing at centre back has been my best position. It is this position that I manage to impress some people in the professional and amateur football set-up.

There was a point of time that I marvelled at the world’s best central defenders. From Stam, Nesta, Ferdinand, Cannavaro, Samuel, Terry and now Vidic. There is just something powerful and authoritative about a centre back munching into an opposing attacker. Locally one can look at the late Borhan Abu Samah, Terry Pathmanathan and S. Subramani. I studied their methods and tried to mimic their formulas with dealing with some of the fearsome strikers the world has to offer. I called myself the Libero once, likening myself to the great Franz Beckenbauer, a defender who is able to calmly bring the ball out of defense and influence the play from the back.

I always enjoyed making a good interception and a meaty challenge, breaking up the attacking play of my opponents. It made me feel invincible. I remember the first memory of being a defender. I played as left-back in my secondary school team and I frustrated an opposing striker so much that he punched me in the back. I enjoyed personal duels on the pitch with those who dare to invade my team’s territory.

Now, many years later, I feel myself getting drawn to the backline once again for the Spiders. It is where I played when I first joined the team, alongside Abang Sani (a man-mountain who I admire). Call me an opportunist, but I feel it might be the best place for me to get a new lease of life on playing. It’s been fun playing upfront but it’s always more fun putting the pain into others than getting it yourself! Furthermore I think I can contribute to the team in the backline. With Abang Sani and Bob in his 40s and Irwan and Taufiq not being able to come regularly, I could probably make the position my own. Sometimes I think the goals we conceded is down to the lack of familiarity and stability in the backline. The constant chopping and changing is affecting the team’s cohesiveness and perhaps the time is now for me to stand up and be counted.

Yesterday’s game showed that I still can do a job at the back. True, the striker I’m supposed to mark scored three goals. We made 3 mistakes but I don’t think I am solely to blame for all three goals. I probably could have done better by marking the man tighter but I think I performed decently enough. Made a few interceptions, clearances and I rarely misplaced a pass out to my teammates.

It feels I have never left the backline. When I played, I felt at home. The key factor here is I am enjoying my last few matches. And when you enjoy what you’re doing, you can perform.

May it continue for a long long time, insyaAllah.

it’s that time of the year again…

exams.. always a period of anxiety, excitement and frustration.. the weird thing is i’m not even taking them.. my school is having our continual assessment now.. we must be one of the few schools in the country that still have 4 exams in a year. many have already did away with the ca. so it’s obviously a stressful time for parents and teachers alike.. but the best thing of all, the pupils seem to be unaffected by it.. you can hear it during our marking sessions. teachers would go, “hey! don’t these kids take their exams seriously?” that is usually said after marking a particularly “excellent” paper. i would say it at times too, but usually i do it to deflect the personal pain i feel inside.. it hurts at times.. it seems as if whatever you are teaching is not going into the pupils’ craniums…

but let’s not dwell on work.. i already think too much about it at times..

last last saturday, we celebrated Yun’s birthday.. what did we do? we took a trip on the singapore flyer.. it may be the world’s largest and tallest observation wheel but it really didn’t feel that way as i ascended to the peak of the wheel.. i suffer from vertigo at times and thankfully that episode did not repeat itself.. Yun, on the other hand, was contented to staying in the centre of the cabin.. i egged her to come closer to the edge.. thankfully, she eventually plucked up enough courage to venture to the windows.. it was a great ride, and i cannot imagine sharing it with anyone else at present.. i hope she enjoyed it… as for what i got her for her present… hmm… let’s just keep it between me and Yun… i just told Jaz that i did not get her anything.. haha.. as if that dude would believe me anyway..

speaking of which, jaz and liz are parents now! yahoo! i got an mms last friday with a picture of a cute little baby boy.. Muhammad Fikri bin Mohamed Hijazi is his name.. apologies if i get his spelling wrong bro.. congratulations to the baby.. by the way, according to jaz, his name means “thinker”. his father is already a great thinker, to think that his son would probably live up to his name is quite scary.. if fikri has a life half as exciting as his dad’s, the world would probably start rotating on a different axis.. haha.. i’m so proud of my bro… imagine… from being classmates in sec 1.. now he’s a father.. i’m sure he’s enjoying fatherhood and fikri must be keeping him very occupied.. after all, he hasn’t had time to blog lately…

the rainy season has been disrupting my weekend soccer activities.. i expect it to continue for quite some time… my legs have been itching… the uncertainty of my playing position is making weekend soccer unpredicatbly fun.. would it be up-front, in the middle of the park or in the heart of the backline? either way, i want to make sure i do my best and prove that real football players can play in any position that they are given… steady ah! jaz just told me that the new jerseys are in.. expect it to be unveiled on the redbacks’ website soon…

that’s all from me for now… back to marking papers!! this is my life…..