Skip to main content

Man U crisis

Doesn’t he look cosy, warm and comfortable?

P1010252

In reality, his face is black and he is very, very worried. The atmosphere in our living room is one of doom and gloom.

What he’s watching on television is a match between Manchester United and Fulham. Soccer teams.

KK’s lifelong love, Manchester United, is going down the drain, facing a crisis unlike any other since KK became a fan nearly 40 years ago.

In a nutshell, their maverick gum-chewing veteran manager Alex Ferguson finally retires after 37 years, and taking his place is the honest down-to-earth somewhat stodgy David Moyes who has no idea how to drive a Ferrari after a lifetime of Hondas.

Champions last year, losers this year. Same bunch of players, by the way.

I, after years of ignorance (who wants to watch the same team of spoilt overpaid millionaires win a ball game year after year?) am suddenly very interested.

Finally! There’s some drama!

Why are the same bunch of star players suddenly losing to losers? What in the world did Ferguson do before to control them? Was he really that incredible? What does this say about leadership? Is David Moyes too nice? (I like him but KK hates him) What’s he going to do? Was there rot before? Will he take a long time to get rid of the rot? Will they then bounce back from current failure (who doesn’t like a comeback story?)?

When I venture forth and ask a lot of questions, KK is too despondent to answer. “Stop asking me,” he swats at me like a mosquito. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

These days, it is I who wants to watch the Man U matches. Not KK.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Celebrating KK's life

This blog is dedicated to Loh Kar Kheng, known to his friends as KK or Kheng. He died unexpectedly on Thursday, 21st October 2021, in an accident.  He was a Professional Engineer who loved his job, an inspiring coach and mentor, a passionate and gifted sportsman, a leader, a biker, a dedicated father. In the years from 2004 to 2017, I maintained a family blog.  These extracts celebrate his life. They capture his resilience and drive, overcoming the odds, to become a top-notch engineer (he just won a BCA award 3 weeks before he died, for his work on the new State courts - stories   here  and   here ), his sporting passions and his love for his children. The blog goes hand-in-hand with a memorial page here . If you have a story about what he said, what he did, if he inspired you or what you remember of him, do leave it there. It would mean a lot to us. Thank you so much. Love, KK's family
2 comments
Read more

The conclusion?

Finally, today, 16 months after his death, I receive the police investigation report and Coroner's Certificate for KK's death in my inbox. Apart from a few small things, this would be the last chapter in the book of things I have to settle. The findings do not tell me anything. I have bolded the main conclusion. Extracts from it: Further investigations revealed that around 11.00 a.m. on 21 October 2021, Mr Loh had texted his friend inviting him to go for a kite surfing session together.  Later that afternoon, at about 1.30 p.m., they met up at the west side of Bedok jetty beach front and prepared their equipment. They had set off separately, with Mr Loh's friend starting his kite surf first, followed shortly after by Mr Loh on his hydrofoil board. That was the last time the friend saw Mr Loh.  As they were surfing separately, the friend had assumed that Mr Loh decided to surf far down west and did not take further notice of him. At the material time, there were also other f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Year 4

It's been four years. The children and I are all blessedly OK. We are living in the same family home and they are following very normal, unremarkable life trajectories. May that be the case for many more years. #1 will be finishing his NS stint in the Naval Diving Unit at the end of this year. It's nice that he went into NDU, since KK was a commando. #2 has gotten a NUS scholarship and is studying Industrial Systems Engineering. She is staying in the hostel and is very much a grown-up now. Her favourite subject is Physics like her Papa. #3 has informed me that she managed to clear JC Year 1 by the skin of her teeth and will get promoted to Year 2. They are all good, sensible kids who try very hard not to waste my money. KK would have been so proud of them all. I am soldiering along, freelance writing.
Post a Comment
Read more