TR EMERITUS

Yet another EPL season has passed and yet another season of disappointment for long suffering Liverpool FC supporters. The pain this season is harder to stomach for the Liverpudians as they were touted as title challengers at the start of the season but ended the season seventh without a single piece of silverware. How the mighty has fallen! The future now appears bleak as well with rumours of Rafael Benitez leaving the club, the club mired in huge debt and being put up for sale by its owners. Given the current financial predicament, it seems unlikely that Liverpool is able to invest heavily in players next season, unlike Man City or even Tottenham, and might have to look at picking up cheap bargains to shore up their squad instead. TR Sports Column this week is dedicated to Liverpool FC and looks at the top 8 players who are out of contract this summer which Liverpool can look at signing on a Bosman. Players who have confirmed the signing to another club at time of press have been omitted from this list for obvious reasons. 8 ) Jermaine Beckford (Leeds United) Jermaine Beckford has been widely recognized as one of the top strikers outside of the top flight. His impressive scoring record of 71 goals in 125 appearances for Leeds United over the last 4 seasons helped Leeds promote back to the Coca Cola Championship at the end of this season. His refusal to sign a contract extension in 2009 prompted many Premier League clubs to declare their intentions to sign him. Although never proven at the top level, he has scored against many Premier League opponents in Cup competitions, most notably the only goal in the 1-0 FA Cup third round win against Manchester United. Beckford will do well to help shore up a Liverpool attack that has been devoid of firepower without Fernando Torres. 7) Joe Ledley (Cardiff City) Yet another one of the hottest property outside the top divisions, the versatile Welsh footballer can play across central midfield, left midfield as well as left back. Since joining his hometown team Cardiff City in 2004, Joe has made over 200 appearances for the Bluebirds. He has been linked with a move to a Premier League club as early as 2008 when Everton wanted to sign him for £3.5m. However, Ledley chose to stay with Cardiff and his impressive performances in the 2008-09 season saw his inclusion in the Championship Team of the Year. With Fabio Aurelio struggling with injuries and young Emiliano Insua yet to win over his critics, Liverpool can do with some cover in that position and on the left wing. 6) Marko Pantelic (Ajax Amsterdam) Not exactly a household name but Serb Marko Pantelic is somewhat of a journeyman – having had playing stints all over Europe with Paris Saint-Germain, Celta Vigo, Red Star Belgrade, Hertha BSC and Ajax. Prior to joining Ajax, Marko spent four seasons with German side Hertha Berlin and established himself as one of the proven strikers in the Bundesliga netting a total of 45 goals in 114 appearances. However, it is in the current season with Ajax where he has really been on fiery form, forming a formidable partnership with Chilean Luiz Suarez and finding the net 16 times in 25 appearances in the Eredivisie. At international level, Pantelic has scored five goals for the Serbia and is a member of the squad for the 2010 World Cup. Like Beckford, Marko should be able to provide other attacking options for Liverpool. 5) Kim Kallstrom (Olympique Lyonnais) Swede Kim Kallstrom has spent the last four seasons with Lyon and Liverpool fans will probably remember him not so fondly from the numerous Champions League encounters, especially the 2-1 loss this season at home to Lyon. Kim can be employed as a box-to-box type of midfielder or as a left winger and is renowned for his passing and long-range strikes. Liverpool will do well to have him to fill the gap left by Xabi Alonso. 4) Hamit Altintop (Bayern Munich) Turkish midfielder Hamit Altintop is one of the most highly sought after free transfers this year from the Bundesliga. Altintop was perhaps best remembered for his performances in Euro 2008 where he was named as part of the 23-men Team of the tournament. At club level, Hamit has also done well enough to help steer Bayern this season to their Bundesliga title as well as to their first Champions League Final since 2001. A versatile midfielder who can play on both flanks in midfield in either a defending or attacking role, Altintop can add much depth to the Liverpool midfield, which have been devoid of ideas and relying too heavily on Steven Gerrard. 3) William Gallas (Arsenal) Currently still embroiled in a contract role with the Gunners (Gallas is reported to be asking for £80,000 a week to be willing to sign a new deal), French William Gallas is no stranger to most.  The versatile and tenacious defender has enjoyed a distinguished playing career for Marseille, Chelsea as well as Arsenal. Gallas is primarily a centre back, but has been deployed by his past managers as a left and right back. He can provide much competition for both Glen Johnson and Emiliano Insua on the flanks and cover for Jamie Carragher in defence. 2) Thierry Henry (Barcelona) Thierry Henry’s move to Barcelona did not give him the playing time that he desired and he has found himself frozen out by coach Pep Guardiola this season. Youngsters Pedro or Sergio Busquets had often been preferred on the flanks. Henry is likely to move on this summer to secure more playing time. Henry’s pedigree as a clinical finisher will be a huge boost to Liverpool. His goal scoring record of 174 goals in 254 appearances for Arsenal makes him the third all-time English Premier League goal-scorers after Alan Shearer and Andy Cole. Even when deployed as a winger by Guardiola, Henry has still managed to score an impressive 35 goals in 78 appearances for Barcelona. A Liverpool attack spearheaded by Torres in attack and Henry on the wings is bound to have Liverpool fans salivating! 1) Joe Cole (Chelsea) Since his contract talks reportedly broke down with Chelsea, Joe Cole has been linked very strongly to Liverpool. Cole, who has only recently returned from a long layoff, has been named in Fabio Capello’s World Cup’s squad, once again reiterating the manager’s faith in his abilities. Usually deployed on the flanks for both club and country, Joe Cole was undoubtedly one of the best players for England during the 2006 World Cup. He has the knack of unlocking the tightest defence with his trickery and will come in extremely handy for Liverpool who has been dominating games but have been bereft of creativity and unable to create clear cut chances. Signing Joe Cole will also be very in line with Liverpool’s policy of signing more domestic players with the introduction of the 6+5 rule (in European club competitions).   About the Author - Ray Ang is a Liverpool fan. Do you agree with Ray? Leave us your thoughts…  Read More →

In a Channel NewsAsia report, four government agencies, the Media Development Authority (MDA), Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Ministry of Education (MOE) and Mindef have been singled out for errors in the way their finances are managed. According to the latest Public Accounts Committee report issued, there were three main reasons behind these lapses. The errors were found to be a result of laxity in procurement and contract management, lack of rigour in scrutiny by approving authorities and too light a touch in ministry-statutory board dealings. In particular, the MDA was found to have the most number of lapses which the committee felt “reflected poorly on the overall internal controls of the MDA”. These delays include slow refunding of over S$6 million in Radio and TV license fees. At the time of the 2008 audit, MDA was still processing funds from three years back in 2005. To rectify the problems, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts said that since October 2009, two automated processes have been put in place to increase efficiency of refunds, which the MDA has since completed. Other lapses include problems in the management of Public Service Broadcast programmes and also not having a good system for monitoring and enforcing compliance with broadcasting license conditions. In addition, the Education Ministry was found to have paid more than necessary on school cleaning contracts while the Defence Ministry was rapped for carrying out wrongful certification in a consultancy project. This error resulting in an advance payment of S$289,499 to the Defence Science and Technology Agency. In view of these audit book errors, the committee recommends that the Auditor-General’s Office consider a 2-3 year interval between reviews instead of the usual once in seven years.   Angela Lim  Read More →

The recent demise of Goh Keng Swee, widely regarded as the brains behind the success of Singapore’s economic success has left the propaganda mouthpiece of PAP, The Straits Times working overtime in sprouting numerous publications of his glorified contributions to Singapore. Nevertheless, two fundamental questions are left untouched. Firstly, is it true that Goh Keng Swee is responsible for Singapore’s economic success up to the late 1980s? More importantly, has his policies been beneficial for Singaporeans in the long term? The Brain behind Singapore’s Economic Success? We do not question the academic brilliance of Dr Goh Keng Swee. He is after all a PhD graduate from the London Schools of Economics, so it is understandable that when we look for someone to attribute Singapore’s economic success, he is the most logical figure. However, despite his spectacular paper qualifications, it should be noted when Goh Keng Swee was tasked to manage Singapore’s economy he had little or no real experience in such affairs. To put it bluntly, no matter how brilliant one is, a fresh greenhorn out of school is unlikely to be solely responsible for masterminding Singapore’s economic success. Instead, this honor should go to Dr Albert Winseminus, a Dutch economist from the UN who was assigned to provide economic advice to Singapore’s leaders at the time. Dr Winseminus was qualified in terms of both paper qualifications and real life experience, and this led to his appointment as the Chief Economic Advisor to Singapore from 1964 to 1984. Therefore, it is more accurate if we give Goh Keng Swee the credit of executing Dr Winseminus plan, and it should be accurately stated that it was Winseminus plan that was responsible for Singapore’s economic success up to the late 1980s. It is interesting to note that as soon as Dr Winseminus retired from his advisory position in 1984, Goh Keng Swee stepped down from politics a year later. This coincidence of timing is curious, as it brings to question - if Goh Keng Swee did not have the advisory services of Dr Winseminus could he have single handedly propel Singapore to its current economic success today? Probably not. Perhaps a more interesting point to note is that less than a decade after Winseminus retired, Singaporeans began to experience a stagnation in the standard of living in starting from the mid-1990s, which has persistent up till today (although some may argue that our standard of living has decreased since the 1990s). If Goh Keng Swee was really the brains behind Singapore’s economy, why then did he not foresee these problems before retiring from politics or perhaps even rejoin politics to rescue Singapore from its downwards spiral during this period? National Service incepted by Goh Keng Swee While we advocate that key economic policies were proposed by Dr Winseminus and executed by Goh Keng Swee, it would be unfair to claim that he did not come up with his own initiatives. Goh Keng Swee is probably most recognized for his role as the chief architect of National Service. National Service was perhaps necessary in the turbulent times of the post-independence 1965 period, but its relevance in today’s world is fast becoming obsolete. Without digressing into the issue of whether Singapore needs a full conscript army, National Service especially in recent years have placed male Singaporeans at the losing end of the stick. Unlike foreigners, first-generation PRs and New Citizens who have no NS liability, Singaporeans’ prospects of finding employment is hindered by their NS liabilities, because employers will have to let these employees take a leave of absence for reservist call-up, IPPT and RT trainings. From an employers’ point of view, having an employee who will be absent 30 days in a year (which is almost 10% of the time) is detrimental to the company’s performance. Thus, it is no big secret that the private sector discriminates local males and prefers foreigners who are not only cheaper in terms of salary remuneration but less disruptive to the company’s workplan as well. Goh Keng Swee’s National Service brainchild is now a double whammy for male Singaporeans today. Is this something that we should be thankful for? Sovereign Wealth Funds advocated by Goh Keng Swee In the early 1980s, due to the high saving rates of today’s seniors, the Singapore government had accumulated a hefty sum of monetary reserves. It was Goh Keng Swee who advocated for the creation of a Sovereign Wealth Fund. Shortly thereafter GIC and Temasek Holdings were incorporated, and these entities invested our money in risky ventures. Not only did these sovereign wealth funds failed to produce satisfactory returns, falling short of key investment indexes like the S&P 500 index, they have yet to return a single cent to their rightful owners – Singaporeans! It is interesting to know that if those monetary reserves had been channeled back to Singaporeans (as it should be since it is our money), it would have been more than sufficient to fund a social security system to take care of our seniors that are falling short of their retirement monetary needs and provide better healthcare. Instead, thanks to Goh Keng Swee, Singapore is a country in which “it is better to dead than to be sick”, and less than half of our seniors have 50% of the CPF minimum sum! Was Goh Keng Swee really the architect of Singapore’s economic success up to the late 1980s? At best, we can credit him and Dr Alfred Winseminus both equally. At worst, Goh Keng Swee as a mere executor of Dr Winseminus economic plans for Singapore. Were all of Goh Keng Swee’s initiatives beneficial for Singaporeans? Perhaps the seniors should look at their bleak retirement prospects and healthcare monetary woes to answer this question. The younger Singaporeans should ask themselves if it was worth losing two years of the prime of their lives to NS, when other foreigners, PRs and New Citizens are able to spend those two years productively by enhancing their educational qualifications or working experience, giving them another competitive edge against the locals. Garrett Goh  Read More →