STTA (Singapore Table Tennis Association) VS Coach Liu

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

As you may know, there was a hot topic recently in the newspaper and the media about the saga between the STTA and Singapore Table Tennis National Coach Liu Guo Dong. On 14th May 2009, the newspaper wrote "Table tennis saga continues with coach Liu getting more support". Now, you maybe curious of what is happening but I assure you that you will have a clearer view of the saga.


The saga started when there was a public debate on Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA)'s decision of not nominating the former Singapore National table tennis Coach Liu Guo Dong for the coach of the year. Despite winning a historical silver medal for Singapore in the Beijing Olympics 2008, Coach Liu Guo Dong is not nominated for the award. This caused the some members of public to feel unfair for Coach Liu Guo Dong as they think that Coach Liu deserves the award for his commitment to Singapore Table Tennis Association by clinging a silver medal for Singapore. He also helped Singapore to end the republic's 48 year Olympics Medal drought. However, STTA did not feel this way. Instead, the chairman of STTA, Ms Lee Bee Wah, said that Coach Liu's integrity and professionalism was in question and thus, she decided not to nominate him for the award. Her view of Coach Liu had become an insult to Coach Liu and caused him to feel unhappy and insulted.


Ms Lee said that Coach Liu was biased to the table tennis men's team and neglected Gao Lin who was one of the table tennis player. She claimed that Coach Liu focused more in the women's team than the men's team. This caused Coach Liu to feel unfair for himself as he feel that it is not true to say so. Hence, Coach Liu wanted to have an explanation from STTA as he felt that the claim by STTA might tanished his reputation.


The STTA could not be reached for comment, but Coach Liu also told the media he plans to meet the association's president over the next few days. And he said if he does not get a clarification, he would consider taking legal action. This caused things to go worse,


Mr Liu said: "She just needs to apologise. I will not ask for trouble. She just needs to clarify her remarks. I have feelings for Singapore."


STTA did not issue any public statements castigating Liu for lacking “professionalism and integrity.” Lee Bee Wah has to answer for her own words. Since she dared to hurl accusations at Liu in public, she must be prepared to substantiate them. Till now, Lee had refused to defend herself or comment further on the matter. Why do you think she is refusing to give any comments?


It is most unacceptable and unbecoming for a leader to walk away and leave her subordinates to clear up the mess she had created herself. This will even caused more problems. She can prevent all this fuss by explaining the whole thing to the media and Coach Liu instead of refusing to give any comments. In addition, she could have easily apologise to Coach Liu for the insult to him. She could have also retracted her statements and then, this whole saga would have been solved so easily.

STTA think they can bully a non-English speaking China coach into submission and let the matter rest. They cannot be more wrong.

It is also pointless for Liu to waste his time meeting STTA if all they want is to save the skin of Lee Bee Wah who continues to hide behind the association.

Coach Liu said: “The least you can do is to not attack me through the press, or to comment that I have moral issues. If it was said on a personal level, I would have dismissed it. But the comments were published in the papers, so you can imagine the harm done to me."


But now the coach has the support of Dr Tan Eng Liang, who had worked closely with him prior to the Beijing Games. Dr Tan does not doubt Liu's professionalism as he had delivered the silver medal for Singapore.


Do you think this whole saga could have been prevented easily if STTA have done what I have earlier mentioned? The moral of the saga is "Always think twice before you act".
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A story that greatly affected my parents' life......

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
Hey everyone, have you ever asked your parents before about their reading habits? Do you know what is their favourite book? Or do you know which book gives your father or mother the greatest impression that changes their reading habits or lifestyles? If you have not done so, try doing so as you will know more about your parents through their favourite books or reading habits.


As for me, I interviewed them about their reading habits and their favourite books and my eyes widened in disbelief as I could not believe their favourite books! My father had told me that when he was a teenager at about my age, he was so addicted to wuxia (martial) novels and comics that his eyes were glued to the books which he had borrowed from his friends. One of the novels which he impressed the most is The Legend of the Condor Heroes. My father said that he loved novels written by Jin Yong who is one of the most influential modern Chinese Language Novelists. His novels were all very exciting and most importantly, Jin Yong's novel are widely range, from wushu to romance. His novels are all so famous that quite a lot of movie companies used the story background for their movies. Artists also drawn out the wuxia novels Jin Yong had written.
The Legend of the Condor Heroes is a story set in the Song Dynasty and it is a novel about the friendship of two young men, Yang Tiexin and Guo Xiaotian who became heroes in their own right as they fought bravely the invading Jin soldiers in the war. They were very good swore brothers and they even swore to each other their unborn children would become either sworn brothers (if both were of the same gender) or be married (if they were of opposite genders). Then, the story focuses on the trials and tribulations of their sons following Guo Xiaotian's death and Yang Tiexin's disappearance. After that, the story tells about Guo Jing who was the son of Guo XiaoTian and Yang Kang. Later, Guo Jing was mentored by the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan in martial arts but he was a slow learner and only managed to master part of the skills he was taught. Yang was mentored by Qiu Chuji of the Quanzhen Sect. Then, the story tells the adventures of the two warriors and the story ended with Yang Guo, who was the son of Yang Kang and would become the protagonist of the sequel novel.
Jin Yong had also written many famous novels which captured a lot of readers' attention from all over the world. Jin Yong's novels includes The Book and the Sword, The Deer and the Cauldron, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain and more...... After interviewing my father, I am so amazed by his favourite novel and started to be interested of them.
If you are also attracted to Jin Yong's wuxia novels, you can visit this website as they have all Jin Yong's interesting, eye-glueing novels :http://www.ccler.com/jinyong/
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Village By The Sea - Character Analysis

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

While you all might be interested of my previous book review on "Village By The Sea", I think the characters in the novel might also capture your attention. In the novel, the characters played an essential, important and vital role as from their roles in the novel, they give readers a better view and understanding of the story background and tell us the themes in the novel. With their roles in the novel, they explain the problems and conflicts going through.



Here are some major characters:


  1. Hari (protagonist of the story)
  • Hari was the older and only son in his family in a fishing village, Thul. Being the only son in his family, he had to work at the fields for his family to earn money even if he was still a child. He had also stopped schooling to work and this caused him to lose his childhood. With his family was dysfunctional, his father was permanently drunk and he could not play his role to work for his family. Hari's mother was also severly ill and could not look after her family. This caused him to bear heavy responsibilites and prematurely saddled with this heavy pressure.



  • Hari is responsible, obedient and knowledgeable as he knows what his family is going through. He knew he had to look after his family when both his parents could not. He also worked in the field at a young age and yet, he did not have any complains about it. He also knew he must quickly find a solution to solve the poverty problems his family was facing. 'He must have a job if he was to find his sisters a way out of this dark, gloomy house and the illness and drunkenness and hopelessness'. This shows that he knew he had to do something to solve his family's problems. In addition, Hari is also obedient. The story mentioned that Hari had listened to his mother and brought his younger siblings, Bela and Kamal.



  • Hari is hardworking, determined and iron-willed to work for his family. To support and earn money for the family, Hari had worked hard in the field. The story mentioned 'He (Hari) was soon sweating in the sun as he bent and pulled and tugged and dug.' In addition, Hari also was determined as he wanted to go to Bombay in search of job to earn more money for his family. He went to Bombay alone with determination to learn to adapt to the changes. Hari also determined to help Bela and Kamal out of this dysfunctional family as the story mentioned "He must have a job if he was to find his sisters a way out of this dark, gloomy house and the illness and the drunkenness and hopelessness that surrounded them like the shadows of the night." Hari was also determined to seek help in Bombay as he said that 'He would have to go to Bombay.'



  • Hari is also worrisome, pessimistic and doubtful about his future. He was unsure whether what he was doing would help his family. The story mentioned 'How? When? That was still not clear to him.' This shows us that Hari did not know what his future would like as he worried about it.



  • Hari was also caring and loving towards his mother and his siblings. While he was away in Bombay, he still did not forget about his family and worried them. This shows that he still cared for his family as the story mentioned 'I will save all my watch money for that (gifts for his siblings in Thul). When he was in Bombay, he remembered his family members. He also wanted to return on Diwalii to reunite with his family which shows his care and concern of his family.



  • Hari is also independent in Bombay and knows how to take good care of himself. He dared to got to Bombay by himself without any familiar faces. This shows he could be independent and do things by himself. He was also capable and independent as he could able work in Jagu's Eating house and My Panwallah's watchmending shop although he did not really
Hari was a reponsible, obedient, knowlegeable, caring and independent village boy from Thul. He had to assume both his parents' roles and work very hard since they could not take care of the family. As a result, Hari was prematurely saddled with these heavy responsibilites.
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Headline Novel "Village By The Sea"

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

Recently, I had read an interesting novel entitled "Village By The Sea" written by Anita Desai. After reading for a few weeks, I felt that this novel had benefited and taught me a lot. In this novel, it teaches us some important themes such as:



  • Poverty and wealth

  • Family

  • Benefactors

  • Urban and Rural India

  • Change and Adaptation

This novel is about a poor family living in the rural part of India which is in a small fishing village, Thul and this novel tells us about the poverty situation the villages were facing. It tells us Hari who was the only son and the second-eldest child in the family and he had to give up schooling to work to support his family as a both of their parents could not take care of the family. Hari's father was the sole breadwinner in the family and was actually a fisherman in the village but he was addicted to toddy and he even sold his fishing boat. As a result, this caused his family to lose their income as they all depend on fishing like other villagers. Hari had to bear all the heavy responsibility for his father since his father was permanently drunk. In addition, Hari's mother was also severly sick and was bedridden for a long time but they were too poor to pay for the medicine. Hari's elder sister, Lila had to look after the family where Hari went to Bombay to search for job to support his family. This shows their state of desperation and poverty.


After reading this novel ,I had learnt some life values such as perseverance and determination which will benefit us in future a lot. In my opinion, I feel that this novel is very interesting and worth-reading as it really taught me a lot. I think that everyone should read it and you will never forget for your life! Believe me!

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Which one is more important? Health...... or money$......?

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

Now, let's flip the pages of the newspaper and recall your memories of the illegal organ trading issue of Tang Wee Sung, the "famous guy" . If you can recall, this is what the news is about......

In July 2008, Mr Tang Wee Sung, a Singapore retail magnate. In the news report, it is reported that Mr Tan was revealed to have attempted to buy a kidney for $300,000 from an Indonesian man, who is in need of money desperately. He was "trading" the kidney with money illegally without abide the law. Hence, he was already wrong by trading in the ......"black market" . The underground economy or black market is a market where all commerce is conducted without regard to taxation, law or regulations of trade. The term is also often known as the underdog, shadow economy, black economy or parallel economy.


Apparently, we can see that Mr Tang was in the wrong at this stage but some people defended him with some important points. As they said that Mr Tang has a severe kidney failure and bad health, this is an only solution, attempt and method to get a new kidney without going through a long, time-wasting process which should be carried instead as they said that Mr Tang did not have a lot of time to solve his kidney problem. In the news, it mentioned that Mr Tang's health has been deteriorating by each passing day. In addition, he also has diabetes which is complicated by his heart problems, hence, he was really very desperate at that moment as even the doctor said that he can only give him less than five years to live.


Alright, let us put ourselves into his shoes! Let's say if you got a kidney failure, diabetes and you are desperate in searching for help, will you still be calmed and look for other fast solutions that will not break the law? Some will say that their health are more important and they do not care whether they have broken the law as long as they are still healthy.


But many people lambasted Mr Tang, saying that he is a prominent local businessman and can use his personal wealth to break the law and secure an organ for himself which the people are not very happy of. But anyway, do you agree that Mr tang deserved to be punished as he thought that...... money can buy everything? Or you believe that he had broken the law was due to insufficient time and he was forced and left with no choice to break the law......?


He was later fined $17,000 and sentenced to one day’s jail. He even falsely declared that the would-to-be donor was a distant relative. The would-to-be donor, Sulaiman Damanik, was jailed for three weeks. Wang Chin Sing, the man who was the "middle-man" arranged the meeting between the two, received fourteen months jail.


However, organ transplants are necessary to save lives. Practically, all countries in the world including Singapore all suffer from severe shortages in organs needed for transplant to save people. Legalizing the trade in organs may just solve all the problems. Is it moral or right to do so? Should Singapore legalize the trade in organs? How do you feel about this......?


This is a speak regarding whether should Singapore legalize the organ trading by the Minister of Health, Mr Khaw Boon Wan in parliament in July 2008.

“Over the past three years, there were 228 kidney transplants involving Singaporeans, and 63% of these were from deceased donors. During the same period, there were 33 liver transplants, 64% from deceased donors. There were 271 cornea transplants, all of course from cadavers. Currently, the numbers of patients waiting for cadaveric organs are 563 for kidney, nine for liver and 25 for cornea.”


Anyway, illegal organs trading should not be carried out as it will break the law but I feel that it is better if both parties, the donor and the buyer, agreed to a price and both of them will be satisfied. The ill buyer will be healthy after transplanting a kidney and the donor will also have money from the transplant for some urgent purposes. If it is like this, why not carry out.......?

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_market, http://www.todayonline.com/articles/309537.asp, ILLEGAL ORGAN TRANSPLANT- Hwa Chong Institution- Current Affairs Discussion
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Literature Project

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

Ah...... Do you want to check out my latest literature project on an interesting novel entitled " Nothing But the Truth"......?


This is actually written as Philip's Final Blog in his point-of-view.

(The blog entry as shown below is actually wrtten in Philip's point of view and this is also his last blog entry before leaving for his new school. His ex-teachers from Harrison High such as Miss Narwin, Coach Jamison, superintendent Albert and other characters' comments are written below his blog entry.)


As it is written on a new webpage, I will provide you with the URL. Here it is: http://www2.hci.edu.sg/y09HCI0452/literatureproject.html


Your attention will definitely be captured by this interesting blog entry written on a protagonist's point-of-view in a novel. Have a great time!
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Birth of blogging (My Edition)

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

Well, time really flies. In a blink of eye, time had past and I had already written 5 blog entries at this point of stage. Yes, this eventually motivate me to write more...... and this is when my interest of writing a blog had begun......

Well, when I started writing blogs, I first thought that it was some kind of writing a diary and we have to spend a lot of time in it. I was somehow confused with blogging and writing a diary and I also thought that it was quite tedious to blog. However, after spending some time to read on others' blogs, I finally knew the defination for "BLOGGING"(A Big Word)......

In my opinion, I feel that blogging is to write down your feelings, thoughts and views on something such as an event or news taken place recently. In addition, it can also used to be a central communication and discussion between one another. We can share our different thoughts and discuss on a topic or a theme. With blogging, communication will be eventually enhanced and more sharing will be carried out. In blogging, we can "speak" to each other indirectly......

Nonetheless, I believe that everyone will have its likes and dislikes. Yes, I find that blogging has advantages but...... some disadvantages. I feel that it is quite disappointing when not a lot of people made their comments and share their views with me as this is not what blogging is about! they do not seem to appreciate with our works. Sometimes, I will feel that it is rather effort-wasting to write a blog entry when only a or two precious viewers made their comments no matter how hard I had tried to make my blog interesting and captivating. I then feel the futility of my efforts, it was...... like healing a gaping wound with only a tiny strap of plaster. Do you know what I mean? Such as problems can be prevented by setting a function for all blogs in the world to get notified of all the newest blog entries which had been posted recently for comments.
But on the other hand, there are also quite many advantages. We can know many news around the whole world and feel free to share our thoughts with others. At the same time, we can also enhance our friendship and bonding with our friends.

Do you know that reading can also be enhanced through blogging? How this works? With blogging, we will get to know more good novels and put them on our electricity bookshelves. In my opinion, reading is one of the greatest and the most important factors to score well and succeed in our lifes. Hence, everyone should be reading for your own benefits. Don't be afraid to read...... you may want to try reading a great novel through blogging.


Anyway, blogging is very interesting and I will like to encourage people from all walks of life to blog and do not be too anxious about writing one. Just feel free to state your views and thoughts. Try it. You will never regret. A1
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