From The Touchlines

So, Iraq takes home the coveted Asian Cup trophy after a narrow but well deserved 1-0 victory over Middle East neighbours Saudi Arabia. It offers whatever brief respite there is for Iraqis who have known nothing but death and sadness (hey, even four people died while celebrating Iraq’s victory).

It was, perhaps, the only “up” I can think of in what has been a topsy-turvy tournament even before it started. And it was not helped by the fact that Malaysia was whacked not once, but three times by – fortunately – more heralded teams (otherwise, many more heads would have rolled, trust me).

Nevertheless, Malaysia’s poor performance saw the departure of one of FAM’s second-in-command, who felt that enough was enough. But, his father is staying on to try and lead Malaysia to greener pastures.

However, as I’ve said, problems have already been brewing prior to the Asian Cup proper. The apparent “undisputed” importance of the tournament saw the cancellation of Manchester United’s Asia Tour to Malaysia.

You guessed it. Not even the fact that they have been invited by the Malaysian Government to celebrate the nation’s 50 years of independence was enough reason for the Malaysia leg to go on. No thanks to you, Mr Hammam.

Yes, not even the Prime Minister’s plea for the tour to go on could persuade Mr Hammam to change his mind – solely because FAM has signed an agreement with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that the former is not allowed to promote any other football events other than the Asian Cup (read my lips: the ASIAN CUP), as Malaysia was co-hosting the football tournament.

Mr Hammam was very adamant and he got his way, much to the disappointment of Malaysian Red Devil fans (including yours truly) who have been waiting to see their beloved team in action.

So, when other ASIAN countries such as South Korea, Japan and China saw United unleash their best team in the friendlies, we the Malaysians had to be content with watching the “anak-anak Malaysia” get their butts whipped really badly by China, Iran and Uzbekistan.

Apart from the United tour, another tournament dealt nearly the same fate was the Malaysian Squash Open.

The annual tournament, which was supposed to be held at the Bukit Jalil Indoor Stadium, had to be moved to The Curve – a mall located in Petaling Jaya.

The reason? No other tournament is supposed to go on when the Asian Cup is being held there.

It was really this time I felt the AFC had gone too far in ensuring its tournament takes top priority and nothing whatsoever should come in its way. Sheesh.

On the field, AFC had their problems too. Oh no, the players were not misbehaving. There was no pitch invasion to speak of, and the management of each team was not causing any problems. At all.

Note “there was no pitch invasion to speak of”. It was because somehow, the AFC had failed to draw the desired number of fans (which is how many, exactly?) to the stadiums. Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway), the stadiums were 75 per cent empty.

Even the trickle of fans (well, all credit as there were fans) who actually made their way could not hide what was a major flaw in AFC’s book. Or was it perhaps, that most of the fans who did not make the trip were more content in watching some other team (* hint hint *) in action?

So, I’ll finish the way I started. All credit to Iraq – a country torn apart by war – who rose above all adversity to triumph on the Asian stage. Perhaps, our Malaysian players could take a leaf out of the Iraqis, play for the pride of the country and bring Malaysia back to the pinnacle of football.

Ying Ying murder case: Mother, boyfriend charged

By : Aaron Ngui and Melissa Darlyne Chow

Ong Chee Leong, who was charged with the murder of Shearwel Ooi Ying Ying, being escorted to court yesterday.

GEORGE TOWN: The angry crowd surged forward, shouting invectives and curses. Shouts of “animal” and other unprintable words, in Hokkien, filled the air as they jostled and pushed outside the Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah magistrate’s court.

Teh Hooi Wen, the mother of Shearwel Ooi Ying Ying, who was charged with lodging a false report, being taken to court.

Their rage was directed at Teh Hooi Wen, the mother of Shearwel Ooi Ying Ying, 3, and her friend Ong Chee Leong.

Ong, 29, was charged with murdering Ying Ying at Block 11-03-3A Seri Impian, Lengkok Angsana in Bandar Baru Air Itam, between 7.30am and 6.30pm on July 5. No plea was taken.

The charge carries the death sentence.

The nation had been riveted for more than two weeks by the reported disappearance of Ying Ying and the subsequent news that she had been murdered.
Ong and Teh were also jointly charged with possessing 1.5gm of cannabis at No M3-04-19, Solok Angsana, Farlim on July 17 at 6.30pm.

The charge, under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act, carries a maximum five years’ jail and a RM20,000 fine.

Later, at the Balik Pulau magistrate’s court, Teh, 28, claimed trial to lodging a report stating that her daughter had gone missing despite knowing all along that the child had been murdered.

She is said to have done this at the Bayan Lepas police station about 10.30am on July 6.

Teh appeared calm when the charge was read out.

The charge, under Section 182 of the Penal Code, carries a maximum six months jail, RM2,000 fine or both upon conviction.

She also claimed trial to another charge of consuming methamphetamine at the Bayan Lepas police station about 1.30am on July 9.

Prosecuting officer Chief Inspector Yusmar Yadee Salim requested bail of RM10,000 and for Teh’s passport to be impounded.

However, her counsel R. Thinakaran Raman pleaded for a lower amount, saying Teh’s family was poor and her younger brother’s pay as a factory worker was only enough to support the parents.

Magistrate Noorhisham Mohd Jaafar then granted bail of RM2,000 on the false report charge and RM3,000 on the drugs charge. He fixed Sept 24 for trial of both cases.

Meanwhile, immediately after Ong was charged with murder, his lawyer Shaun Tan Kee Shan said reports in the media about the case were tantamount to trial by media.

He cited an example where Teh’s parents had disowned her because of newspaper reports.

He said it was disappointing and heartbreaking that such a thing had happened and urged the media to be objective in their reporting.

Magistrate Ooi Sheow Yean told the press not to report anything that was not mentioned in court.

Ooi assured counsel there would be a fair trial and fixed Sept 14 for mention of the murder and drug possession cases.

Deputy public prosecutor Razali Che Ani prosecuted while Jagdeep Singh Deo held a watching brief for Ying Ying’s paternal relatives.

Also present was Ying Ying’s father, Ooi Eng Chew, 29, who sat with a stoic expression throughout the proceedings.

People started gathering at the Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah and Balik Pulau magistrate’s courts from as early as 8am after word got round that Ong and Teh would be charged.

But police only escorted Ong and Teh to the Jalan Sultan Ahmad court complex at 2.40pm.

Despite waiting for six hours, excitement was high when a white police van arrived with a dishevelled-looking Teh who was dressed in a pink shirt and denim pants.

Another van followed closely behind with Ong, who was dressed in a black shirt and jeans.

People immediately started hurling abuse at them as they exited the vans.

While Sally, Yat Por, Azelia, Adriel and Woon Hong are still holidaying in Redang, I’m back here to work. No major hangover, but I had a really great time. So here’s what happened in the serene and pristine Redang. Check it out.

Day 1
Had a little mini sacrifice to make by waking up at 4.45am so that I could be at the airport by 6.10am. A sacrifice worth making nonetheless, so that I could catch my 7.10am Firefly flight to Kuala Terengganu with Woon Hong, who had earlier helped me pay for the ticket. My mum had to be the “Ah Mat” and send me to the airport, while the entire household slept like pigs.

The plane took off and arrived at the Sultan Mahmud Airport well ahead of schedule. A call to Sally told us that they’ll only reach Kuala Terengganu at 10am, coz they left late from KL. But they arrived on time and we boarded the ferry soon after.

Ferry ride was pretty uneventful, apart from the funny movie we watched on the way to Redang.

Upon reaching Berjaya Redang Beach Resort, we ate lunch first before eventually checking into the chalets, which were small yet comfortable.

The day passed at a nice pace from then on, with everyone of us taking a nice nap before we hit the beach for some beach soccer and feet-soaking adventure in the sea.

After dinner at the Ocean Terrace where we feast on burritos, donuts and prawns, the resident live band d’island quartet entertained us with their renditions of old but evergreen hits, Marcus, Adriel, Woon Hong and Yat Por busied themselves with a game of pool, while Sally, myself and Azelia went back to our rooms.

When the guys came back, we had a really intense game of Taboo. The guys were a little blur. They found it hard to guess noodles, reporter (yes, I was surprised) and a few others.

Halfway through they could not find some of their cards and then got distracted with a Jon Stewart talk show. That was the end of the day.

Day 2
Snorkelling day! We spent six hours hopping from Pulau Lima to Long Beach (where everybody treated themselves to coconut juice, ais kacang, chicken wings and ‘keropok lekur’) to Turtle Bay and then finally to the Marine Park where the famed shipwreck was.

Pulau Lima: Spent awhile getting used to the snorkelling equipment, but once I got the hang of it and looked underwater, I just loved it. Fishes of different colours, corals of different formations – everything just makes you marvel at God’s creations.

Long Beach: Ya, everyone (except me) forgot to bring their wallets – so I paid. After the meals, we went in search of baby sharks but sadly, could not find any.

Turtle Bay: We were supposed to find turtles here. While Azelia and Woon Hong saw their fair share of turtles, I was content enough to see ‘Nemo’ swimming in and out of deep sea corals.

Marine Park: It was here that a fish nibbled at my foot. I felt a sharp pain, but nothing more. The one thing that really got me mesmerised was the little coral formation next to the shipwreck. It looked like a little city all its own. As for the shipwreck, you could see it from far, as 10 per cent of it was on the surface of the water. A sight to behold.

We came back to the resort shortly after, and after taking long baths, headed for dinner at the Palms Restaurant. d’island quartet (below) was there to entertain us again.

While Yat Por, Woon Hong, Adriel and Azelia scooted off to study for their diving courses, Sally, myself and Marcus went to the beach to talk. Soon after, Marcus went back to his room and Sally and I remained at the beach. We talked about a whole lot of things until I saw a shooting star right across the sky.

It was a wonderful sight, coupled with the uncountable number of stars that night.

Anyway, we went back to our chalets after that and played a little game of Taboo on our own before turning in.

Day 3
Hehe. Yat Por, Azelia and Adriel went to sit for their written test. In the meantime, Sally myself and Marcus went to the beach to just hang out and enjoy the not-too-humid sun. Marcus listened to his MP4, Sally listened to a sermon on her PDA while I took out my camera and snapped some random shots.

During lunch (which consisted of pizza and chicken pie), we found out that Yat Por did the worst of the lot – he had two wrong answers compared to Adriel’s one and Azelia’s none. Everyone thought Yat Por thought too much.

After lunch it was back to class for the threesome, while the other threesome lazed around the poolside some more. By the way, Marcus was gonna leave that day at 4.10pm. But before that, he and I went to get some ice-cream. As we ate by the poolside, Sally took photos of us eating ice-cream.

After he packed, it was time to go. All of us bade goodbye to Marcus, who had a little bit of trouble with his credit card at the Berjaya Airport but was resolved quickly enough by his mum.

We then went back to our rooms to relax, took a shower and got ready for dinner.

For dinner, Sally and I had teppanyaki while the rest had buffet. Somehow or rather the topic of my CCTV incident popped up in our conversation, albeit briefly. Tonight there was no live band (:(), so we went back to the chalet after dinner.

Sally and I had our game of Taboo again, but it was a little shorter this time. Also we got to see the photographs (underwater) taken by Woon Hong.

Before turning in for the night (it was my last), we watched CSI: Miami and CSI: Vegas, but could not catch the final part of the latter due to some reception problem.

Day 4
Last day in Redang. Well, I needed a reality check anyway (otherwise I’ll have a hangover the next day. Breakfast was at the restaurant. Only five of us were there as Woon Hong had already set out much earlier for his diving adventure.

I didn’t have much packing to do as I had nothing much to pack and had done most of my packing the night before. So Sally and I went to the beach, picked a chair, and sat down. She also helped me snap some photos for remembrance – at the beach and near the chalets.

At 12.30pm it was time to say goodbye (aiyo sounds so sad. what a doofus I am!). I boarded the bus that took me to the ferry, and after a slight delay (because I did not have a boarding pass), I was allowed on the ferry and off I went for a 90 minute ride to Kuala Terengganu to meet my friend, Sean.

When I arrived at the Shahbandar Jetty, I had to wait about 20 minutes before he arrived as he had some work to do. But soon, he got to the jetty to pick me up about 3.20pm.

Earlier he had wanted to take me to the NST bureau and subsequently for a drink, but time was clearly not on our side as I had to board the 4.20pm flight bound for Penang.

But on the way to the airport, we managed to catch up a bit from the last time we met two years’ ago. He lamented on slow Terengganu drivers and a whole bunch of other things (which is for me to know. hehe).

He dropped me off at the airport and we said goodbye then. Thirty minutes later, it was goodbye to the land of the turtles.

What a holiday it was. Truly a holiday in all sense of the word as I got to put everything aside and really take a well deserved break.