Of crows and butterflies

I have seen a crow's nest. And I am still seeing it. It's just outside my house. Maybe I look like a crook to the crows I don't know, but each time I go out to take a fag, they'll fly low to intimidate me. I have to agree, I do get intimidated at times, oh no, not of them, of their droppings. The strange thing is, none of my other housemates seem to experience this. But whatever it is, to me they seem like very clever creatures, nasty but intelligent.
And the butterflies are back too. Not those huge ones, little ones, pretty ones too. How long they'll stay, I don't know. I am already running a test. Slow and steady this time. Shall I emerge victorious? What you think? Hehehe.

Who wanted it more?

So here we are again. After the long and twisting road to the final there's only two teams left standing in the European Cup. Together they've lifted the cup 10 times, so their pedigree is certainly unquestionable.

Liverpool had definitely mastered defensive football in Europe; with Jamie Carragher at his best; they had even managed to beat the favourites, Chelsea and Juventus. And that shocked many. Rafa was instantly recognized a genius, a man who knows how to play in Europe. But he was the least troubled with all the media attention, victory seemed more important.

Milan, with an assembly of great young and old talents was definitely the bookies favourite. Nevermind, their league position and the match against PSV; we all know how irresistible they can be when they are hitting form. Some say, the Milan players are tired and will play badly on the day.

A dull match was predicted. Milan is playing to win, with Liverpool as underdogs.

Players (Milan): Crespo (doubtful initially) was paired with Sheva. Pirlo, Gattuso and Kaka in the middle. Maldini (captain) anchored the defence together with Stam, Nesta and Cafu. And Nelson Dida between the posts. Impressive side.
Substitutes: Tomasson for Crespo, Serginho for Seedorf, and Rui Costa for Gattuso (in ET).

Players (Liverpool): Baros with Kewell? (a shocker by Rafa, this guy hasn't been playing competitive football in ages). Stevie G (captain), Riise, Alonso, and Garcia in the centre. Traore, Finnan (both their weakest link), Carragher, and Hypia in front of Dudek. An offensive approach.
Substitutes: Smicer for a limping Kewell, Hamann for Finnan (Riise went down) and Cisse for Baros.

Goals/Shots on Goal (Milan): Maldini (hasn't scored in 11 yrs) netting in a free-kick taken by Pirlo from the right side of the Liverpool box. 1-0.
Kaka's header from a corner was saved by Garcia on the line.
Kaka after his rampaging run in the centre, played a superbly timed through ball to Sheva, which he slotted in. Unfortunately it was offside, by a foot or so.
Sheva positioning himself well found the long pass by Pirlo, but was soon muscled down by a chasing Traore. No penalty.
Starting from a blunder in AC's box, the ball somehow went to Kaka, who cleverly passed it to the right, where Sheva was running. But it was difficult for him, even for the European Player of the Yr to score from that tight angle. Instead of trying himself, he laid the ball down to Crespo, who eventually tapped it in into the opponent's net. 2-0.
Kaka twisting and breaking away from the Liverpool midfielders played yet another superb through pass, this time the ball found Crespo, who effortlessly lifted the ball pass Dudek. 3-0. And Ancelotti thought it was over.
2nd half. Sheva's shot found Traore, goal denied.
And in ET, a great double-save by Dudek first from Sheva's bullet header, then his hand pushing out Sheva's rebound kick. Dudek was looking very sharp. And that was bad news for Milan.

Goals/Shots on Goal (Liverpool): Their first half was rubbish. Milan's 6 minutes of madness. It started in the 54th min, when Gerrard headed a wonderful cross from Riise.
Soon after, Smicer the substitute drove the ball in from outside the Milan box. Dida, managed to touch the ball, but it wasnt enough. And the score became 2-3.
Then, a controversial penalty at least from my point of view. Gerrard dived. Alonso took the kick, saved by Dida, but Alonso redeemed himself with the rebound. 3-3. That's about it. Liverpool seemed to me was playing for a penalty shoot-out (conveniently they call it defensive football).

Penalty shoot-out: I don't believe in them. But Dudek was good. Liverpool's hero. 3-2 they won in the shoot-out.

Man of the match (to me): Kaka

Liverpool was crowned the 50th European champion in Attaturk Stadium. Their 5th victory, no style (from the winners, of course) but still a memorable final. The Merseysiders do not deserve it, and with addition of them finishing 5th in EPL I don't think they should be allowed to play in CL next season.

CL- best 11

Players chosen not based on post-match reports but based on observation during the CL matches (from 2nd round).

Goalkeeper - Gigi Buffon. Extremely brave and agile. Undoubtedly the best in the game, Cech comes in close.
Centreback - Jamie Carragher. Was mighty impressive against Juventus and Chelsea. Who needs Terry or Campbell?
Centreback - Jaap Stam. I am a fan. MU's greatest loss, extremely reliable. Good in air.
Left-back - YP Lee. Tenacious and creative, an Asian gem. JS Park is good but this guy's better.
Right-back - Gianluca Zambrotta. Killer pace, killer crosses. Actually can play both sides. Tho' u see him playing in the left more.
Centre - Ronaldinho. Exciting. An absolute genius. Capable of scoring unthinkable goals.
Centre - Kaka. Creative, and unpredictable. Young but not temperemental.
Left-midfield - Damien Duff. Superb player. First noticed his immense talent when he played against Germany in World Cup 2002.
Right-midfield - Van Bommel. Hard-working and consistent. An inspirational captain. Can become the fifth defender.
Striker - Andriy Shevchenko. A skillful and fast forward. Finishes well. Good in air.
Striker - Samuel Eto'o. Would partner well with Sheva. Is not a bad striker himself.

Tomm. early morning match: Milan - Liverpool (2-0). But Milan must not play cautious football.

Education

Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and physically balanced and harmonious, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards, and who are responsible and capable of achieving high levels of personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the family, the society and the nation at large. - Education in Malaysia

Unfortunately, we no longer produce these students. Our focus now is entirely different; we want to mass produce straight A's scoring students instead of creating a balanced individual. We all now, compete to be the best, to outperform our peers. We want rewards, or more accurately, we want to be rewarded. Our favourite chant in recent times must definitely be, I don't give a shit. We have become selfish, nothing's more important to us than us, and our personal achievements. And we are not creative anymore, we are rather narrow-minded though we may appear to be more liberal in our thinking. Most importantly, we failed to look at the bigger picture. Consequently, societies crumble. And families become disintegrated.

A competitive attitude will almost certainly create an analytical student, no doubt, but are they what we are looking for here? Do we want an analytical or a creative person? Do we want a critic or a problem solver? In my humble opinion, I feel a balanced mind is needed to be creative, to be able to judge and launch an efficient society.

Academic freedom allows our mental faculties to grow. Bureaucracy, grading system, grades - should never be allowed to hamper our thought process. Through education an educator seeks to transfer his/her knowledge to a student. A true educator doesn't advocate on grades. Yes, you may ask: without exams, how can a student be evaluated? My point is, we have become so obsessed with the whole exam system and format, we often forget what education is all about: regardless of primary, secondary or tertiary education. Learning is a life-long continous process. It doesn't end after we graduate or obtain our PhD.

Our industries are not helping either. They only want top-scorers, failing to look at other qualities of a graduate student. Very superficial thinking I must say! And this forces the students to question the education system,: has it failed to mould me to suit the industry? Why then did I waste a good 15 years to study, to gain this so called knowledge? Why was he chosen not me? What prompted the employer to select him? Simple, he has 17A's and I have none.

Adapting to a situation, giving and contributing to the society, solving problems, innovating, creating; not critizing the system/institution, not being self-centred, not being non-ethical - that's education. Not grades.