BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Few hours ago, I posted a message on "twitter" , my FACEBOOK wall and the blog's FB wall that read "Major announcement to be made pertaining some restructuring of "BoLASEPaKO.com" setup, stay tuned" It's not this blog is searching for a new writer as suggested by a friend, nor it was closing down or being bought over by someone (wish it was the case though). Rather, it is more of some changes that are going to be implemented which I think are deemed necessary to ensure this blog to be more accessible to more visitors. THE ANNOUNCEMENT... As on this day-4th May 2011 (Singapore time), the blog FACEBOOK GROUP (hereby call the "GROUP") will cease and migrate its entire operating to a FACEBOOK PAGE ("PAGE") format (pictured below). The main reason for such migration to be taken place is after exhausted its mean to remedy the problem that denied some users (included yours truly) to access the GROUP via their mobile gadget (ie: iPhone)

Over the last weekend, I posted two youtube clips (below) of those visiting Malaysians who travelled across to the Causeway to catch the "Harimau" in action against defending S.League champions Etoile FC in a friendly match with proceed being channelled to the Japan quake relief effort. Visiting Malaysian fans singing (part 1) Visiting Malaysian fans singing (part 2) These visiting fans announced their unexpected arrival at the stadium amid the match between Courts Young Lions and Albirex Niigata (S) with their chanting, singing and drumming that took everyone inside the ground by surprise. "I thought it was some stadiums in Malaysia. I tell you, they never stopped singing. Really hard core. Only stopped when the teams heads for a break." said Neo Chee Seong , who was one of those surprised at the stadium for the double-header, feedback on the thread where I posted the footage . One of the members of the blog Facebook Group , Ahmad Ridhuan, detailed some backgrou

I ran out of ideas when I wrote this annual review. A recap of some significant events in local football that occurred during these past months. We retained the Asean title (formerly the Tiger Cup) The 2007 S.League title race was a keenly-fought affair, with SAFFC emerging as the victors ahead of Home United and Tampines Rovers. Our clubs failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals of AFC Cup (again...) SEA Games - yes, we did achieve what AP HO asked for - medal of any colour, don't we? Just a pity we faced the Thais in the semis… You may want to ask what am I gonna touch on in this year's review? Read on... YOUTH DEVELOPMENT (FOLLOW UP TO THAVA'S PLEAD) Prelude: Balestier Khalsa's vice-chairman Mr S Thavaneson, prior to this season, lamented the dearth of attention on the clubs' youth development program. Just wondering if one day we might want to have a complete overhaul of the existing youth development program we have? The reason(s)? Free the clubs from strai

In my private email to a group of friends not long ago, regarding the setting up of the trial Singapore football forum at the mass-appealing HWZ . I told them we cannot depend entirely on the mainstream media to publicize the S.League. It is certainly hard to face the fact that mainstream media are not doing much to raise the awareness of the local game, as much we would like them to like in the old days. A picture (below) here should more or less tell the story. A small obscured space on the papers Given such a small slot on the back pages and featured under the appropriately named as "Soccer Shorts", it hardly raised the eyebrows of any readers. Although, we can gather some S.League info from the likes of "TODAY" , "Shin Ming Daily News" 's Tuesday edition (one of the two SPH Chinese evening papers) and etc., still, I felt a large part of the folks out there are still ignorant of the league because of the lack of participation from the rest. Prepare

A random chit-chat in a taxi "So why are you heading there (to the stadium)?" asked the friendly taxi driver, as he began this conversation to kick start the journey after I boarded a cab on my way to Choa Chu Kang Stadium the other day (as I was rushing for time).  "I'm there for a game" I replied "Ah... I see, the last time, l was there for one of the election rallies, hahaha" joked the cabbie. "So, is there a match going on?" asked this cabbie. "Yes, there is, it's between SAF and Balestier." l said. "Oh OK.. you see, I used to watch a few games at the beginning, with my son, who was young at that time " as we drove along BKE after exiting from PIE (if I didn't mix up the names of the expressways) "Back then, the crowd was passionate as there was no gambling (the legalized betting) involved but nowadays it seems that there are more punters than real fans at the stadium" commented the taxi driver.  Agre

The idea was not to see or anticipate an exciting match but to mingle among the crowds at the opposite end of the park.  Some of these fans are probably the "real" ones of the crowd, they tend to be pretty abusive during the match since the stakes are pretty high.  So much so they took upon the role of that as the coach, the referee, and the linesmen. View from the opposite of the main stand of Bishan stadium    Shouting and making their presence felt through the "colourful language" used. When things were not going their way, they threw their arms in the air, stomped their feet on the ground to vent their frustration.  The only thing that pleases these folks is when things went their way (i.e: a goal is scored).  Those are probably the only time we see these folks cheering and brimming with smiles on their faces.  It's just the common sight at the grounds all around the world.  They can be someone just like you and me or someone we know, filling up the stands