BoLASEPaKO•COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Almost every day when I woke up, I always asked myself what can BoLASEPaKO.com do to help Singapore football? Honestly speaking, I didn't see myself asking that question when I set up my first version of the platform using a free website provider back in December 1996.  The special "Juli Perak" logo will complete its mission soon After all, the nucleus of this platform is to allow me to share my views on local football after I was, all of a sudden, repeatedly denied from posting my views on an online forum. Furthermore, the updating of the site was done from a public terminal, which was subjected to availability, and maintaining its consistency was a challenge, as compared to these days when it can be done easily on the move. I would say the breakthrough came in October 2005 when I decided to switch to the present format by using the online blogging tool for archival purposes instead of continuing of utilizing the now-defunct online website provider. Thus, it is most unfo...

INTRODUCTION We have come to the end of the "Spot-The-Grammar-Mistake" contest based on this entry titled "Noticed the "M" or "W" effect in recent matches??" . As the rules stipulated in the second round of the contest (which was made known to those involved) that since none of the "short-listed" respond to the request to indicate whether they intend to follow-up in the second round of the contest, it was therefore decreed that the winner of the BOCAP will be decided by a "LUCKY DRAW" format. THE CONDUCTING OF THE LUCKY DRAW TO DECIDE THE WINNER OF "BOCAP" Footage recorded with ONE take... THE ANSWER.... "Tampines Rovers suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Young Lions last mid-week, before came back strongly to whack Beijing last night, and while completed their "last-of third-in-seven" when they squared off against Etoile in the mouth-watering match in JBS." The mentioned ...

NOTICE : I would like to state it clearly before-handed that it is never my intention to make use of the gentlemen depicted below as any form of advertisement or whatsoever for the BOCAP. As the caps were given to them as a memento and keepsake out of my own will... Thank You. "Hope you find this cap (BOCAP) handy" I told Robbie Fowler (above) as handing over the cap to him while he was about to make his way of the football clinic last Saturday. Which it was very handy indeed when he cheekily use it to cover a kid's jersey's logo of the club sponsored by ailing insurance giants AIG (get what I mean?) which having his photo taken with him :) Many thanks to Fandi Ahmad for allowing me to snap this picture (above) after a short chit-chat with this boyhood hero of my. "I like this material and it's light, not like those cotton-type" he said (at least, I found an ally on this as many lambasted the material that make it looked "cheapo" )

Well.. I agree that some felt this cap is selling a bit expensive and I do admit that this a rather bland design cap (being someone not that artistic) BUT this cap here is just a small step and effort for me to move towards the direction to make this little blog of my to be self-sufficiency. Whilst I don't see this cap is a hot seller (anyway it never meant to be) but neither would I or can I lower the price, as I must be fair to those who already bought the cap. All I can say is given its limited quantity of 50 caps, the profit margin of each cap is not even a cost of curry puff you bought from "OCK". So your kindness of helping out by making purchase to buy this cap will be great appreciated in helping to sustain the operation of this blog - "BoLASEPaKO - a simple view on Singapore Soccer". Thank You very much

After much deliberation, I finally decided to put "BOCAP" (pronounced as "BOH-CHUP") for sale (it was meant to be that way but the only question was selling at what price?). Since having this micro-fibre cap, I been wearing it as a sort of "walking advertisement" (like what AirAsia boss Tony Fernandez always do) at work and at matches in attempt to create some awareness for this blog. The main idea behind "BOCAP", as mentioned before, is to market this blog and generate some funds for the maintaining of it to ensure its long-term sustainability. However, the fund was limited when I decided to push ahead for this project (having to dip into my savings for it) that frankly I will not earn much for this venture, as it'll be just enough to cover the cost of production since only 50 caps will be available for sale . Having said all these... HERE's the PRICE OF EACH "BOCAP" -  S$12  ($11+$1-being "handling charge"...

I bought this white plastic frame meant for cap washing in Perth years ago, but seldom use it despite my enormous cap collection which Ma isn't too pleased about it ("collect dust only" as she laments many times.) Since I been wearing BOCAP quite often nowadays as a sort of self promoting this blog, it's inevitable that it's now for its first shower..... So here you go... BOCAP had its first shower and also it proved that the plastic frame can withstand the grills and spins of that of a washing machine... AFTERMATH I actually paid the price for washing it, as I later realized that the "Velcro" strap is a bit worn after the wash . Now I would have to use "spring press stub" (as above) to enhance the fastening of the strap.. I got to be honest here... Lesson learnt: Ensure your "velcro" is fasten when doing your laundry

Was at Jalan Besar yesterday afternoon to take a look how the ticket sales, when the organizers decided at the eleventh hour to put the tickets on sale on Saturday, which was slated as a non-sale day. Although there was no long queue for the tickets, the fans slowly turned up at the ground to buy their tickets. When asked how they came to know the tickets were on sale, many of them replied that they got to know "last minute" sale via the papers and from the internet. Next stop to the National Stadium and saw the staff busy prepare the deco for the match. The thing is everybody can just walk into the National Stadium to catch the team in training, although one must be discreet in snapping pictures while the training session is on, as coach Raddy is rather particular about this. Coach Raddy was given a "BOCAP" as a souvenir after the end of the training session...

Many Thanks to Mr Paul Green (back in Australia "for the time being" hehehe...), who has been a wonderful and loyal supporter of "BoLASEPaKO" I have not decided what to do with my "BOCAP", on how to market and peddle them. After all, its small quantity meant that the cost of making them were slightly higher and selling them cheaply is impossible (nobody likes to venture into a loss-making business eh?). However, I don't expect this cap to be a fast-seller too, any marketing genius out there to share your thoughts? At the meantime, I managed to convince Mr Paul Green in Australia to endorse "BOCAP" (Thanks, Paul... Hope to see you back in Singapore soon..)

If you guys recalled early this year that I toyed the idea of coming up with some items meant for marketing this blog, and the outcome is a T-shirt "print-on" transfer . Apparently, the idea didn't turn out too well (as the colours tend to fade after a few washes) and the whole project was shelved until recent weeks. I'm not sure how did I come to the idea of using cap, but I thought having cap as a marketing tool is probably the best option available. Just take a look whenever an American sports team won a championship, a cap, with the word "CHAMPIONS" embroided, will be presented to each player of the winning team. Michael Schumacher was paid handsome for the display of the logo on the front of his cap Everytime when a F1 driver make his presence at a press conference, the cap seems to be a mandatory apparel as the name of his team or his sponsor will be featured prominently (remember the legendary Michael Schumacher ? was paid handsomely just to display h...