A new visitor

This blog now has a new visitor new visitors! Thanks girl girls, for finding my blog accidentally/unexpectedly/without me giving you the addy.

And I apologize for not sharing the address with close friends like you.

I don't know why too, but I just didn't feel comfortable letting people know a lot about me although this is the very purpose blogs are supposed to serve! Sigh. Such contradiction!

No worries, I am not upset about letting you know about my blog. In fact, I feel relieved. Great! Because frankly speaking, I had wanted to reveal this "sacred information" many times but I don't know why, silly me just held back all this while.

Great! Since I have been a "fervent supporter" of your own site, I think it is only fair for me to turn you into a fervent supporter as well. Muhahaha! Good! At least it is a two-way street now!

And with regards to the part you mentioned about us drifting apart, you are right. We have been drifiting apart. And I dare say the first signs of the "drift" started when we entered different universities. And true, like you say, such happenings are "nan mian" - inevitable. It just gets harder to maintain the close ties when we don't even see each other as often as before.

Heck! Then let's just start the "rebuilding" process here, right at this blog (and yours too). Go ahead and read my one-year worth of past entries to fill up the voids during the periods when we hardly met up. And don't be surprised to find shocking surprising revelations! Hahaha!

Take care, enjoy your reading, and do continue to dish out your comments! I will too; I even created a new Xanga account for that purpose! See how noble I am! Blur me should have just left the comments on your tag board! ;p

I hate to wait

Things at StanChart are proceeding at such a snail's pace that I am getting increasingly irritated. After I found out I was accepted eons ago, HR only called me up last Thursday (which is one week and two days after my final interview) to meet up yesterday to look through my contract and all the nitty gritty details.

Yesterday didn't start off well. I left the house at 9am for a 10am appointment with StanChart at Plaza By The Park. And the stupid bus two double-decked buses had to come a good old 35 minutes later. This is really the ultimate. The time isn't exactly off peak is it? 9am is still relatively early in the morning right? And the strangest thing was, I kept seeing many buses of the same service number stopping at the bus stop opposite. (This service goes on a loop journey. So buses that stop at the bus stop I was waiting at would eventually stop at the bus stop opposite.)

If there were so many buses stopping opposite at such regular intervals, why didn't anyone of them stop at the stop I was stupidly and impatiently waiting at??!!

Of course, I had to call the person in charge and tell her I was going to be late. So paiseh! And she told me to arrive as early as possible because she had another appointment at 11am. Damn SBS! This isn't the first time!

Anyway, back to the job. The contract terms seem pretty good. Annual salary was within my expectations and the thing that really got my attention was the amount of leave I am entitled to.

I get 25 days of leave per year! Besides the condition where I can't take leave for the first 6 months, I am entitled to this obscene amount after the period, regardless of my length of service.

I don't really know the norm in Singapore, but my guess is 21 days? And that is only if one has worked a certain duration before one is entitled to that amount.

I am so lucky!

Of course, there has to be a downside to a seemingly good offer. I have to start studying again. I need to take 4 modules of the CMFAS exams and pass them within two months.

I have already registered for two modules where exams are scheduled for the 11th and 18th of next month. There goes my goal of aiming to start work by 15th August. :-(

And the course material is horrendous! The guide for Module 5 on the rules and regulations is over 200 pages and filled with lines and lines of words. Goodness.. How the hell am I going to finish memorizing looking through every single page? *Faint*

I am targeting a end August/early September start date because I don't want to lose out on the year-end bonus that is not available to staff working less than 3 months with the bank!

Praying hard.

Update: My manager just called me and she's putting me in the training class that starts 15th Aug! Yay! I would need to inform the person in charge of the training on the day I have a paper. Sigh.. This also means I will have lesser time to study... *Keeping my fingers crossed*

Terrible, just terrible

I know this is really late news... but Xiaxue's blog and Gmail account got hacked by some idiotic fucker!

This is just terrible! Anyone, both diehard fans and haters of the girl alike, must admit that this is really a very very unethical thing to do, criminal even, as Mr Brown quoted, this is a criminal act under the Computer Misuse Act.

All her hard work is gone just like that! And the new site is in a very plain white background like this:



I miss her pinkish blog background and her what-I-thought-was-heow-and-ego pic!

Not that I am a "star blogger" like Xiaxue, but I have decided to backup all my posts as well. I did everything through the traditional copy and paste method and not by the site sucker way mentioned by Mr Brown because it seems that only works for Macintosh! In addition, I think it is high time for me to change my passwords for all my accounts.

Sigh! I hope the police catches the culprit soon!

Another Cheesy Quiz

The True You

You want your girlfriend or boyfriend to be more relaxed, calm, and composed.

With respect to money, you spend whatever you have.

You think good luck doesn't exist - reality is built on practicalities.

The hidden side of your personality tends to be satisfied to care for things with a minimal amount of effort.

You are tend to think about others' feelings a lot, perhaps because you are so eager to be liked.

When it comes to finding a romantic partner, you base your search on information from your friends.

Who's the True You?

Interview tips and tricks

Now that my "brief job journey" has ended for the moment, I feel as if a huge load has been taken off my back.

It has been a long journey; coupled with increasing self-inflicted pressure, and guilt that my parents and relatives are telling me to take it easy. But I know I am lucky, because I know quite a few people who haven’t found their dream job yet.

I am no expert, but my experiences have certainly taught me a few things.

1. Know what you want and know it well.

This means knowing the job specs very, very well and market yourself according to the job requirements. My failure to do so initially cost me dearly.

I have sent out so many resumes, that I have lost count. But I do know my very first resume sent out for a permanent job was for JP Morgan. The first one sent out by snail mail was Morgan Stanley. Notice the “big names” here. I sent them out as early as late March, weeks before my exams. That was how kiasu I was. At this juncture, I admit, I was attracted by the “big name” companies here, which isn’t a good thing. Because big-name companies have much more stringent criteria. And your lack of preparation would only be even more obvious if their HR personnel manage to “grill” you inside out.

Then as desperation started to creep in, I started applying for many different companies, as long as the job requirements were for fresh graduates, with a degree in business or any specialization.

This isn’t a good thing to do. Because I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. And it really pays to do research on the company when you get called up for an interview, or at the very least, be very clear of the job specs. Once, I had an interview with AIA as a management intern in backroom operations. I still can’t recall the exact title. When I got called up, I no longer could remember what the job was about because I sent the resume out eons ago. This is total disaster because it seems the standard practice among HR professionals is to ask the interviewee what they know about the requirements of the job. And of course, I was totally clueless about that AIA position. Not surprisingly, I flunked that interview. I knew it when they didn’t call within the 2 weeks they promised. And ever typical of the inefficiency of the HR dept, they sent the rejection letter to me nearly a month after the interview! Ouch!

2. Think out good answers to standard interview questions.

It really makes a lot of sense for your first interview to be a job that you aren’t very interested in. Because there are high chances that you might not do as well, due to lack of actual practice. The first interview would serve as a very good training ground for you to pick out the standard interview questions.

I am no guru in interview techniques but my brief brush with interviews has enabled me to pick out the following standard questions that should fit most interview contexts and come with boring acceptable answers.

a) Tell me more about yourself.

This is the time to market yourself as an outstanding individual who can contribute to the organization. Recalling the 1st point on knowing the job requirements very well, market yourself according to them. For example, if the job requires you to have good communication skills, provide evidence on areas where you have shown good communication skills. Such evidence should be from all areas possible, from work experiences, hall activities to school. This will reflect how all rounded you are.

The most important thing is to choose selective information that will show the interviewer your capabilities. Don’t go rattling off that your hobbies include shopping, eating and sleeping if they add zero value to you as a unique individual. Worse, it might just degrade you in the eyes of the interviewer! Sometimes, it helps to ‘keng’ a little. If your life is really so plain; you are only a passive member in CCAs, your grades are average etc, try to boost up seemingly minute interests. For example, if you enjoy playing soccer, say that sports helps to train your sense of endurance and determination and enhance your team dynamics. As a result, you like working in teams. This is not wrong at all; only exaggerated.

b) What made you apply for this position?

Mention that the job specs interest you, no matter how mundane they may be. Anyway, there must be some area of the job that interested you to apply for it, so mention it! It would be good to say that this job provides you with ample opportunity to learn. I got this advice from my aunt; we got to be really, really humble here and if possible, “suck up” to the organization.

And, NEVER EVER say this job is a very good stepping stone for my personal career path. This may sound obvious but I was silly enough to have committed this stupid mistake. Because this only means to the interviewers that this job is only a temporary thing, something for you to “test the waters”, and you will switch jobs once you find something better.

c) Where do you see yourself in five (some other time frame) years time?

Show your ambition here. Something like being able to achieve a significant degree of career advancement. This indicates your capabilities. You can talk about possibility of further studies, but it would be wise to mention that it would be on a part time basis and related to the position you are applying for, so that “you can contribute much more to the well being of the organization.” Shudder! I’ve got goose bumps already! Again, this is pretty obvious. Interviewers like to see commitment from their candidates.

d) You are a fresh graduate, with not much experience to speak of. How do you think you are able to contribute to our company?

Reiterate your answers in the “Tell me more about yourself” section. Things like good communication skills, team dynamics, ability to work well under pressure… and of course, willingness and capability to learn! After all, that’s what students are best at – learning!

e) Your major is in Finance (or your own major). Why didn’t you apply to work in the banks?

This applies especially if the job scope of the position you applied for is not exactly what you studied in school. Talk about the skills that can be transferable regardless of your major. I mentioned taking up finance has trained me to be meticulous and adopt a systematic approach to my work. It has also honed my patience too. You can crap a little about the university education system as well… like how NUS provides a very “broad based education and it has cultivated my interest in areas outside of finance.”

f) What do you think are your weaknesses?

I figured that instead of listing your weaknesses in a negative manner like “I am not very firm and tend to be too soft”, it might be better to say something like “I think I can still show greater firmness when dealing with unreasonable demands from people.” Lastly, mention how you intend to curb this weakness by providing solutions. At least it shows your interviewer that you recognize your own weaknesses and are willing to change it.

The list of questions is not exhaustive, by the way, but these questions are more or less “universal”, especially the first two questions. As the interview draws to an end and the interviewer asks if you have any questions for him/her, don’t ask about the salary/perks of the job/other benefits!! That should be avoided at the very first meeting. I usually ask these questions at the final interview. Typical questions I would ask include:

- What is a possible career path for me in this company?
- How is the organization structured? This is relevant, especially if the company has very diverse business units. But ask this question only if the information is not found in the website.
- How many rounds of interviews would there be?
- (How long I would need to wait before I know I am shortlisted for the next round)

3. Rehearse your interview script the night before.

Now that you have thought out answers to interview questions, it would be good to rehearse the interview. You rehearse your presentations a dozen times the night before; some even memorize their “speech”, so why not your interview?

This step really helped me a lot. In the beginning, the most I did to prepare for an interview was to read up on the company through its website, that was all. I didn’t believe in this step because I thought all interviews were unique; there was no way I could predict the questions asked. And true enough, when the interview started, I got stumped on some questions. They weren’t difficult questions. In fact, they were standard questions. So it really does help if you “play out” the interview in your mind beforehand.

4. Show your confidence. Stay calm.

This is easier said than done. It is so hard to keep calm especially if the interviewer looks very stern and starts bombarding you with cheem questions and frowns if you don’t provide the standard answers.

But as a kind friend advised me, one should go for an interview with an attitude that the company is interested in his capabilities and it would be the company’s loss, not his, if he doesn’t get selected. Does that sound better? Besides, being called up for an interview indicates that you have been successful in the first round of the job application.

There are other pointers like “look straight into the eyes of the interviewer”, “look sincere”, “prepare your attire, right down to the underwear the night before” but they are obvious right??

By the way, I am still waiting for StanChart to give me a call. Hurry up can!! I don’t have a lot of patience you know…

Never been so lucky

Finally.

I no longer have to peer through the Straits Times Recruit pages every day or spend hours many minutes scrutinizing each and every executive job ad every Saturday.

I no longer have to browse through JobsDB, Monster or the Career Opportunities pages of random companies (read: only MNCs/government bodies/established local companies may apply.)

I no longer have to send out standardized, mass-produced type cover letters at random.

I no longer have to slog my brains out over my "speech" for interviews the night before.

Because I have got a job! At long last!

It is with StanChart as a personal financial consultant. There is nothing to be so glam about. Besides, I know I was once wary about such financial consulting/advisory kind of positions. But this position gives me much more security than if I were to become a independent financial adviser because of the basic pay + commission pay structure.

Anyway, I will probably get a call from HR next week asking me to sign the conditional offer. Conditional because I would have to pass the exams before being sent for a six-week training! So looking forward to that! Paid studying!

The details are pretty hazy because I was only supposed to know I got recruited next week.

But I got a call from another company, Coface Infoasia asking me to start work on Monday. So rushed can! No meeting up with HR, no discussion of pay package or benefits, and no signing of offer contract. Made me feel as if I was a temp employee.

I already decided I didn't want the job so I had to quickly call StanChart whether I got recruited, coz if I didn't, I would bo bian and take up the Coface offer lor. And of course, StanChart wanted me as well!

Back to Coface. The career advancement path in the company is rather limited. My first interviewer told me frankly that the job scope would get pretty monotonous. After a few years, I would probably be promoted to Senior Business Analyst, repeating whatever I have been doing, albeit, with a far greater work load.

More importantly, I must admit the company brand name/reputation really influenced my ultimate decision.

Coface vs StanChart. The majority would take up StanChart. Being a much larger company, there would be more chances I might be able to take up other roles in the organization. The training, the exams I would take (fully reimbursed by StanChart) and the fact that I have worked in the company before would be such a big plus on my resume should I intend to quit look for greener pastures in future.

Most importantly, being ever so pragmatic, the higher salary at StanChart was a big magnet that attracted me to the company. I would just say StanChart offered an amount that was much closer to my expectations.

So there goes. While waiting for the call next week, I shall attempt to read up on my finance textbooks in the meantime!

It ended sooner than I expected

The court battle between NKF and SPH ended just when I was gathering an interest for it. Frankly, I wanted to see it stretch over say, a 10-day period because I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the exchanges between the CEO of NKF, CEO TT Durai and SPH's counsel, Davinder Singh in court.

I wondered what Durai was thinking whenever Davinder Singh revealed one shocking he-probably-knew-it revelation about his company one after and another and how he responded with his not-to-the-point replies.

Like how NKF/Durai

• installed a gold-plated tap that cost $990, an amount that would be deemed expensive by a donor earning $1,000 a month, "even after a 10% discount". The tap was later replaced with a less expensive version that cost less than $300.
• received a 12-month bonus for the year of 2004. 12 month??!! There are people who only receive a half-month bonus!!
• claimed his travel entitlements for SIA business class to be "transferrable for first class on other airlines. And Durai still claimed he was traveling Business class. Yes, Business Class amount of money for First Class...
• overestimated the number of patients NKF was treating
• underestimated the number of years its reserves would be sufficient for its "current costs".

But most absurdly, Davinder revealed that NKF paid for Durai's upkeep of his personal Mercedes Benz that his wife also drove. This is on top of the eight cars, complete with drivers that he, together with five other NKF officers were entitled to.

Can you imagine that the money you parted with at the charity shows was used to pay for the road tax of that Mercedes?!

I wonder whether all that grotesque sum of money goes to these areas:

• the treatment of their 3,000 2,000 kidney patients
• contribution to the NKF Cancer Fund
• maintaining the exaggerated salaries of the VIPs like Durai
• maintaining the upkeep of cars of VIPs like Durai
• paying for "first class air travel on SIA business fares" for VIPS like Durai
• maintaining the decor of their Dialysis Centres like I mentioned in this entry

And now, paying for costs that would be claimed by SPH and its lawyers that have been incurred.

NKF is slapping their own mouths (a Chinese saying). Who asked them to file a suit against SPH, especially when there were no accusations in the report at all?

Durai defended his reason for the suit because "... the offending paragraphs made it look like he was being 'shamed' into replacing the fittings." Duh.

Now that the case is closed, it is high time we returned our focus to the most important people of NKF: the patients. I pity the kidney/cancer patients. Would Singaporeans stop donating because of this scandal? True, NKF's reserves can last 30 to 40 years, but as Faith mentioned, what about inflation and more importantly, new patients? They still need our help.

I pity Mediacorp artistes who have slogged their guts out to perform year in year out for the patients. Oh, I pity Cao Qi Bye Tai (as coined by Potatomus Maximus) for distorting his face to show his agony zealously appealing for more donors by interrupting big-name stars like Adam Cheng. I wonder if he thinks all his efforts may have come to nought...

Shit! I don't think so! In fact, I think he would distort his face even more appeal even more zealously and interrupt big-name stars even more to get the donations reaching sky-high levels. Oh no, oh no!

In any case, I applaud the Mediacorp artistes for their efforts. Star appeal really does wonders to donation efforts. The point is, instead of us donors cutting off donations to NKF, NKF should instead adopt a more transparent approach to the financials of the company. NKF is after all, not a private listed company. It relies a lot from the funds of their donors. That makes us, donors, "shareholders" of the company. So, shouldn't NKF be accountable to their shareholders?

In fact, as I am writing this, I hear news reports on radio about 120 people already withdrawn from this monthly donation scheme of NKF (their donations are deducted from their bank accounts automatically).

A typical response to such a situation.

I am so pissed off with NKF.

A resounding end to my educational career... for now

Yesterday was the "BIG" day.



Convocation! What else! And I am part of the centennial class of 2005! Finally, after seeing the banners for commencement for the past three years, it is my turn now! Hahahaha!

So cliched but time really passes so quickly that I am still trying to come to terms with my graduation. Honestly speaking, I have avoided thinking about this day right after the last day of my exams. On that day, Siew Hup congratulated me for having gone through my last exam at NUS. Yeah, I was happy! But I shrugged when I knew this meant the "dreaded event" was coming.

And as the days passed, whenever I thought of the impending Big C (read: CONVOCATION), I still tell myself "Nah! It is still months --> weeks --> (and finally) days (only!!) away." Full blown panic! Hahaha! Now I am wondering why I was so paranoid! All my fears turned out to be unfounded! :D

Anyway, everything only started to sink in when I went back to NUS last Friday to collect my graduation gown. I was travelling on that familiar long and mostly annoying 151 journey. And dare I say it? Despite my incessant complaints, I missed the journey! Sigh! How nostalgic can I get? My blog has been occupied by random posts of nostalgia about NUS. From my last finance quiz to my "depression" at the last IA class of the semester to being a total glutton by even recollecting about the Bizad canteen.

Anyway, back to gown collection day. My countdown to Convo Day started when I landed my hands on the gown. By the way, I think the colour of our Bizad hood is still the nicest.. White, a little silverish even. It has such a classic look and the contrast with the dark blue gown looks really nice!

So, I agreed to meet Siew Hup beforehand at Bizad to take photos to feed my nostalgic appetitie.


The Bizad canteen, what else! And my special request for this photo was that the focus of the picture should not be me. The highlight should be the canteen! I am supposed to be only the "prop" here!



The long stretch of road leading to the conference rooms. I would sometimes be performing my 50 metre (an exaggeration lah!) dash here, specifically for 9 am lessons. Nice right? I mean the view. Newly renovated.. everything is so new and makes it such a stark contrast from the rest of lok kok Bizad!



The lecture theatre. Haven't been there much since Year 3. I do miss big lectures where you can fall asleep more easily without being caught by the lecturer than in a sectional! Too bad the theatre was locked. I would have taken a photo in there!



Nothing would be complete without "showing off" the NUS Business School sign. This photo is a must! Again we are the "props" here.

Then we were off to the UCC. It was bustling with activity! Spotted familiar faces and of course, took more photos! Everyone looked so different!



With Siew Hup and Darrell at the robing room before the ceremony.



With Gregory at the robing room.



Honghui. Also at the robing room.



With Heather and Siew Hup. It was quite hard to spot more familiar faces at the robing room, given that the room was rather dark, and made more so by our dark-coloured gowns. And of course, everyone was in such a gan jiong mood (at least for me) it was better not to disturb them!

And why is my hood positioned so differently from everybody?!! Luckily there were people who helped to arrange our attire just before we went on stage! Phew!

The ceremony started sharply at 3pm. Yay! No delays! The ceremony took shorter than I expected. Everything was simple but grand. There was only a short video showcasing NUS before 3pm. Even the speeches were short and sweet. The Dean did not make a speech either. Before the presentation, the camera was zooming in at the audience at all angles and it did capture some funny scenes. There was a girl who was all slouched in her seat, sleeping really soundly only minutes after the ceremony started. Was she really that tired?

The presentation of degree scrolls started relatively quickly, although it soon became a bore having to sit through the awarding of Doctorates of Business and the different MBAs before it was the BBA - our turn.

Frankly speaking, it was only after the ceremony that I could finally put names to the faces I have seen around Bizad and vice versa, faces to the names I have heard. And to speak the truth, I don't recall seeing most of the faces that went on stage yesterday. This is how cooped up I am within my own circle of friends!

As the rows behind me started to file out for their turn on stage, I got even more nervous. I constantly rubbed my sweaty sticky palm against my gown. All sorts of embarrassing scenarios started playing out in my mind. What if I slipped or tripped? Worse, what if my mortar board fell off? What if I forgot to look into the camera (as instructed by the helpers earlier) before collecting the scroll? Bah! Thankfully, all my worries were unfounded!

Before I was due on stage, as I was beginning to wait for my turn off stage, I reminded myself to listen carefully to how the presenter would call out my name. And of course, my mind went totally blank when I was pushed led on stage. I only knew I had to walk straight --> smile a little --> shake hands --> turn to face the camera --> collect my scroll --> walk down the stage.

Sounds simple enough? Wait till it's your turn! Even such seemingly simple instructions can turn out to be inexplicably complicated ones. It is scary how anxiety can grip anyone!

The valedictory speech followed right after the presentation. The speech was also short and sweet and although the message was rather meaningful, I could only remember the valedictorian saying things like "It was at Bizad that I learnt that project meetings could stretch to 3 am in the morning" and "Open book exams meant that all the answers would not be found in the textbook!" Hahaha.. such words really tug at any student's heartstrings. That it is NUS's 100th birthday or Bizad's 40th birthday this year doesn't really impact me. What I think I remember for a long time would be like what Augustin (the valeditorian) mentioned, the long project meetings, the crazy times spent during orientation, the boredom when faced with long sectionals and lectures, the hours spent slogging over that IT project (Brrr!!) and of course, the friends made.

After the ceremony which ended around 4.10pm, I met up with my parents who were sitting right at the top because they arrived on the dot. Since we were still waiting for my Grandma and sisters to arrive, I went on a photo-taking frenzy session. It is not a frenzy because my digicam memory died on me for a while! So some photos are still with my friends. Arrggh!!



Siwei and Yayu. It was such a surprise to see them. This was after the ceremony. They were even more excited than me!



Xinjie, another surprise visitor. She was my Macro Econs project group mate. Graduated last year.



Siew Kee.



Zhihao.



Meimei. Haven't seen this girl in ages!



Anson.



Eugene.

Lots more photos, but I think I better stop. This post is getting to be an excessively long one!

Lastly, to all the people who came for the graduation ceremony, and whom I have had the opportunity to take a photo with,

THANKS FOR COMING!!

I would definitely make the effort to attend your ceremony next year!

And to those who didn't turn up despite my constant hints pleas requests, I will make an even greater effort to turn up for your ceremony next year to make you feel even more guilty! Hiak hiak!

More photos at this site. Type zhiwei05@gmail.com. to view.

I enjoy badminton as a player, not as a spectator

I was off to the Singapore Indoor Stadium to watch this:







And because it was free seating, we reached the venue at around 12pm to "chope" the good seats.

I am not exactly a badminton enthusiast although I do participate as a player. But since there were free tickets, why not?

Big mistake. The event turned out to be nearly six hours of boredom plus little glimpses of excitement here and there.

To make things worse, I do not know the rules as well as I know about soccer and I had to turn to my sister (who plays for her school team) every now and then to ask silly questions like "Is that shot in or out?", "What did the linesman say?", "What is wrong with that shot? I thought it was ok?"

And when there is a doubles match, I need to keep intense concentration and listen real hard for the umpire's cue on whose server is it now or whether it is the first or second server.

This intense concentration soon waned down whenever a "less popular" match was staged. Btw, the highlight for most people was the men's singles final between Taufik Hidayat and Chen Hong, which the former won. I never had any idea how popular Taufik was to Singaporeans until now. In any case, I have seen Taufik play before and although he is a good player, but I can't stand him because he has such a hao lian look!

No matter how close the game is, badminton can never beat soccer in terms of excitement or intensity. True, some soccer games can be such a bore and detractors often wonder where on earth is the excitement with seeing 22 men chasing 1 pathetic soccer ball.

BUT, can a player who won 9 straight points to win his opponent after being 8 points down count as "one of the greatest combacks"? I heard this from a guy who was sitting behind me when that happened. He probably is not a soccer fan. I admit I am no soccer expert myself, but come on, surely the Liverpool vs AC Milan or Man Utd vs Bayern Munich Champions League finals should be considered as "great comebacks"? Badminton is much further down the excitement scale.

Each big final consists of 5 games - men's singles, women's singles, mixed doubles, women's doubles and men's doubles. 2 sets have to be played per game. If a winner can't be decided from the 2 games (i.e. the players draw), a third (and last) game would be played. My boredom got to this extent that I would be supporting the team/player that won the first set because I could not bear having to endure a third set. The "experts" call it a double. For a third set? Doesn't make much sense.

Hence I did not display any sense of allegiance or support for any particular team except in the men's singles. What for? To make matters worse, there were two games where the opponents were all from China. No kick at all. Boring.

We even left before the last game - the men's doubles between Indonesia and Denmark. It was already past 6 and the game was still undecided.

Give me soccer anytime. I have had enough of badminton. As a spectator.