Socratest remembered - 4 Dec 2011 BBC

Former Brazil captain Socrates has died at the age of 57.He had been in a critical condition with an intestinal infection since being admitted to intensive care on Friday at a hospital in Sao Paulo.Socrates, who was widely regarded as one of the greatest ever midfielders, was moved onto a life support machine on Saturday.He played in two World Cups, won 60 caps for his country between 1979 and 1986 and scored 22 goals.

The former Corinthians player, whose full name was Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Sousa Vieira de Oliveira, was taken to the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo with food poisoning on Friday, according to his wife.A hospital statement said on Saturday that the former footballer was "in a critical condition due to a septic shock of intestinal origin".It added he was breathing with a ventilator and using a dialysis machine.

On Sunday Corinthians won their first Brazilian league title for six years after their 0-0 draw against Palmeiras was enough to edge out Vasco da Gama by two points.Fans held up several signs honouring Socrates and players held their closed right hand up in the air during the moment of silence before the match, imitating his trademark celebration after scoring."The Corinthians nation woke up very sad today because of the loss of this incredible person," striker Liedson said. "The title comes as a small way to honour him."Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said Brazil had lost "one of its most cherished sons"."

On the field, with his talent and sophisticated touches, he was a genius," she said. "Off the field... he was active politically, concerned with his people and his country."

Socrates scored 172 goals in 297 games for Brazilian club side Corinthians, having begun his career at Botafogo.More than a decade after retiring, he joined non-League Garforth Town at the age of 50 on a one-month deal as player-coach, but managed just 12 minutes as a substitute.Zico, a team-mate of Socrates in the iconic Brazil side of the 1970s, told website globoesporte.com: "He was a spectacular guy.

"As a player, there is not much to say; he was one of the best that I ever played with. His intelligence was unique."Paolo Rossi, who scored a hat-trick in Italy's memorable 3-2 quarter-final win over Socrates's Brazil in 1982 - widely regarded as one of the greatest games in World Cup history - paid tribute to his former opponent."It's a piece of our history that's broken off and gone away," he said."Socrates seemed like a player from another era. You couldn't place him in any category - on the pitch and even more so off it."Everyone knew about his degree in medicine and he had a lot of cultural and social interests as well. He was unique from every point of view."Socrates scored Brazil's first goal in that match, beating Dino Zoff at the near post after running on to Zico's wonderful through ball.

I remember the goal he scored against Zoff; he was one on one and it didn't seem like he could get to the ball. He looked slow but in reality he wasn't."He was a very dynamic player with a sublime foot but, most of all, great intelligence."Fiorentina, where Socrates spent one season, held a minute's silence before the Serie A match against Roma, when the players wore black armbands.A club statement read: "To the unforgettable 'Doctor' who played with the purple shirt in 1984/85, playing 25 matches and scoring six goals and who will always be remembered for his footballing intelligence, he will be affectionately remembered by the club, the team and the Fiorentina fans."Giancarlo Antognoni, a team-mate of Socrates at Fiorentina and an opponent in that famous 1982 World Cup clash, said: "I'm really hurt."He was a true personality, above the rules with his own methodology, his way of life and his idea

"He struggled to adapt to our football but he was an authentic champion, full of refined class, great charisma and character."Giancarlo De Sista, Fiorentina's coach at the time, also spoke of his admiration for Socrates as a player and a person."Socrates was a very intelligent man; he had great class," he said."I remember that he was an objector. He wanted to know everything - why he couldn't smoke on the team bus, why we had to be in retreat on the Saturday nights before games."He was an intelligent person who was interested in politics, although he smoked and drank a bit too much."Continue reading the main storySad start to the day. Rest in peace Dr. SocratesFormer Brazil striker Ronaldo on TwitterFormer Brazil striker Ronaldo wrote on Twitter: "Sad start to the day. Rest in peace Dr. Socrates."Socrates was taken to hospital in August and September this year with bleeding in his digestive tract.After these incidents he admitted he had problems with alcohol, especially so during his playing career. He is also well known for his smoking habit.In a recent television interview, Socrates said he had considered alcohol his "companion" but believed its regular use did not affect his performance on the field."Alcohol did not affect my career, in part because I never had the physical build to play this game," he said."Soccer became my profession only when I was already 24. I was too thin and when I was young I did not have the opportunity to prepare myself physically for the sport."

SOCRATES FACTFILEContinue reading the main story Born on 19 February 1954 in Belem do Para, Brazil Rated as one of the greatest midfielders of all-time At 6ft 4in tall he was known for his physical strength, as well as two-footed vision and skill Played for Botafogo and Corinthians in Brazil before a one-season spell at Fiorentina Saw out his career with Flamengo and Santos before retiring in 1989 aged 35 In 2004 aged 50, Socrates made an appearance as sub for Garforth Town in the Northern Counties League after a one-off deal to become player-coach

They don't get harder than Smokin' Joe Frazier

They don’t get any harder than Joe Frazier. The son of a sharecropper, he grew up in the blackest part of black America, Beaufort County, South Carolina. He spent his childhood makin bootleg corn liquor and beating on a stuffed burlap sack. As a child on the farm his left arm was mauled by a 300 lb hog. Unable to pay for medical attention, the arm healed crooked, leaving it permanently cocked for the perfect left hook.

In the 70s, Joe Frazier’s gym on Broad and Indiana was the best place to train in the United States. He had the greatest trainer who ever lived, Eddie Futch. Following a training accident in 1964, Joe Frazier was partially blind in his left eye for his entire career, still going on to be one of the greatest fighters ever to live. That legacy was cemented in the annals of boxing history in 1971, after he became the first man ever to defeat Muhammad Ali. In doing so he captured the greatest title in all of sports: Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World.

Boxing is the hardest sport, by far. There aint no teams. It’s just you getting punched in the face for three minutes at a time. It aint the UFC. You can’t tap out. You can’t quit. You can’t rest. You gotta hit the other guy harder than he hits you. It’s the only sport where the players are willing to pay the ultimate price to win. Fighters die in the ring every year. Joe Frazier said that he would have been prepared to die to fight the last round of the Thrilla in Manilla, his third and final fight with Ali. As a blind Frazier begged Eddie Futch to go on, he through in the towel before the start of the fifteenth round. Little did they know that Ali was begging his corner to cut his gloves off, and probably would not have stood had that bell rung.

Human beings are the last step in an evolution of animals that crawled out of the ocean. The only thing we have in common with those beasts is the will to fight to the death in order to triumph.

Boxing is the only thing in the world that brings out that desire in humans today.For his last thirty years, Joe Frazier lived in a room on top of his gym on Broad and Indiana.

He was broke from various failed business ventures, most notably, after buying 140 acres in Bucks County for $800,000. He eventually lost the land, and today it is worth over $100 million.

He didn’t have it all bad though. Still a revered figure in boxing history, he toured the country frequently, being paid to appear at various functions.

He was also a regular at Philly’s own B&W Sports Bar on 22nd and Spring Garden, where he enjoyed a New York Strip or Blackened Tilapia, along with his favorite drink — Courvoisier and ginger ale.

There is a disgraceful statue of of Sly Stallone, who stole many of Frazier’s real life training exploits (including pounding beef carcasses and running up the art museum steps) standing in front of the Art Museum. Where is Joe Frazier’s statue?

Joe Frazier, Ex-Heavyweight Champ, Dies at 67

Joe Frazier, the former heavyweight champion whose furious and intensely personal fights with a taunting Muhammad Ali endure as an epic rivalry in boxing history, died Monday night at his home in Philadelphia. He was 67.

His business representative, Leslie Wolff, said the cause was liver cancer. An announcement over the weekend that Frazier had received the diagnosis in late September and had been moved to hospice care early this month prompted an outpouring of tributes and messages of support. Known as Smokin’ Joe, Frazier stalked his opponents around the ring with a crouching, relentless attack — his head low and bobbing, his broad, powerful shoulders hunched — as he bore down on them with an onslaught of withering jabs and crushing body blows, setting them up for his devastating left hook. It was an overpowering modus operandi that led to versions of the heavyweight crown from 1968 to 1973. Frazier won 32 fights in all, 27 by knockouts, losing four times — twice to Ali in furious bouts and twice to George Foreman. He also recorded one draw. A slugger who weathered repeated blows to the head while he delivered punishment, Frazier proved a formidable figure. But his career was defined by his rivalry with Ali, who ridiculed him as a black man in the guise of a Great White Hope. Frazier detested him.

Ali vs. Frazier was a study in contrasts. Ali: tall and handsome, a wit given to spouting poetry, a magnetic figure who drew adulation and denigration alike, the one for his prowess and outsize personality, the other for his antiwar views and Black Power embrace of Islam. Frazier: a bull-like man of few words with a blue-collar image and a glowering visage who in so many ways could be on an equal footing with his rival only in the ring. Ali proclaimed, “I am the greatest” and he preened how he could “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Frazier had no inclination for oratorical bravado. “Work is the only meanin’ I’ve ever known,” he told Playboy in 1973. “Like the man in the song says, I just gotta keep on keepin’ on.” Frazier won the undisputed heavyweight title with a 15-round decision over Ali at Madison Square Garden in March 1971, in an extravaganza known as the Fight of the Century. Ali scored a 12-round decision over Frazier at the Garden in a nontitle bout in January 1974. Then came the Thrilla in Manila championship bout, in October 1975, regarded as one of the greatest fights in boxing history. It ended when a battered Frazier, one eye swollen shut, did not come out to face Ali for the 15th round. The Ali-Frazier battles played out at a time when the heavyweight boxing champion was far more celebrated than he is today, a figure who could stand alone in the spotlight a decade before an alphabet soup of boxing sanctioning bodies arose, making it difficult for the average fan to figure out just who held what title. The rivalry was also given a political and social cast. Many viewed the Ali-Frazier matches as a snapshot of the struggles of the 1960s. Ali, an adherent of the Nation of Islam who had changed his name from Cassius Clay, came to represent rising black anger in America and opposition to the Vietnam War. Frazier voiced no political views, but he was nonetheless depicted, to his consternation, as the favorite of the establishment. Ali called him ignorant, likened him to a gorilla and said his black supporters were Uncle Toms. “Frazier had become the white man’s fighter, Mr. Charley was rooting for Frazier, and that meant blacks were boycotting him in their heart,” Norman Mailer wrote in Life magazine after the first Ali-Frazier bout. Frazier, wrote Mailer, was “twice as black as Clay and half as handsome,” with “the rugged decent life-worked face of a man who had labored in the pits all his life.” Frazier could never match Ali’s charisma or his gift for the provocative quote. He was essentially a man devoted to a brutal craft, willing to give countless hours to his spartan training-camp routine and unsparing of his body inside the ring. “The way I fight, it’s not me beatin’ the man: I make the man whip himself,” Frazier told Playboy. “Because I stay close to him. He can’t get out the way.” He added: “Before he knows it — whew! — he’s tired. And he can’t pick up his second wind because I’m right back on him again.” In his autobiography, “Smokin’ Joe,” written with Phil Berger, Frazier said his first trainer, Yank Durham, had given him his nickname. It was, he said, “a name that had come from what Yank used to say in the dressing room before sending me out to fight: ‘Go out there, goddammit, and make smoke come from those gloves.’ “ Foreman knocked out Frazier twice but said he had never lost his respect for him. “Joe Frazier would come out smoking,” Foreman told ESPN. “If you hit him, he liked it. If you knocked him down, you only made him mad.” Durham said he saw a fire always smoldering in Frazier. “I’ve had plenty of other boxers with more raw talent,” he told The New York Times Magazine in 1970, “but none with more dedication and strength.” Ali himself was conciliatory when Frazier’s battle with cancer became publicly known. “My family and I are keeping Joe and his family in our daily prayers,” Ali said in his statement over the weekend. “Joe has a lot of friends pulling for him, and I’m one of them.” And when word reached him that Frazier had died, Ali, in another statement, said: “The world has lost a great champion. I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration.” Billy Joe Frazier was born on Jan. 12, 1944, in Laurel Bay, S.C., the youngest of 12 children. His father, Rubin, and his mother, Dolly, worked in the fields, and the youngster known as Billy Boy dropped out of school at 13. He dreamed of becoming a boxing champion, throwing his first punches at burlap sacks he stuffed with moss and leaves, pretending to be Joe Louis or Ezzard Charles or Archie Moore. At 15, Frazier went to New York to live with a brother. A year later he moved to Philadelphia, taking a job in a slaughterhouse. At times he battered sides of beef, using them as a punching bag to work out, the kind of scene used by Slyvester Stallone in the film “Rocky,” though Stallone said that he drew on the life of the heavyweight contender Chuck Wepner in developing the Rocky character. Durham discovered Frazier boxing to lose weight at a Police Athletic League gym in Philadelphia. Under Durham’s guidance, Frazier captured a Golden Gloves championship and won the heavyweight gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He turned pro in August 1965, with financial backing from businessmen calling themselves the Cloverlay Group (from cloverleaf, for good luck, and overlay, a betting term signifying good odds). He won his first 11 bouts by knockouts. By winter 1968, his record was 21-0. A year before Frazier’s pro debut, Cassius Clay won the heavyweight championship in a huge upset of Sonny Liston. Soon afterward, affirming his rumored membership in the Nation of Islam, he became Muhammad Ali. In April 1967, having proclaimed, “I ain’t got nothing against them Vietcong,” Ali refused to be drafted, claiming conscientious objector status. Boxing commissions stripped him of his title, and he was convicted of evading the draft. An eight-man elimination tournament was held to determine a World Boxing Association champion to replace Ali. Frazier refused to participate when his financial backers objected to the contract terms for the tournament, and Jimmy Ellis took the crown. But in March 1968, Frazier won the version of the heavyweight title recognized by New York and a few other states, defeating Buster Mathis with an 11th-round technical knockout. He took the W.B.A. title in February 1970, stopping Ellis, who did not come out for the fifth round. In the summer of 1970, Ali won a court battle to regain his boxing license, then knocked out the contenders Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena. The stage was set for an Ali-Frazier showdown, a matchup of unbeaten fighters, on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden. Each man was guaranteed $2.5 million, the biggest boxing payday ever. Frank Sinatra was at ringside taking photos for Life magazine. The former heavyweight champion Joe Louis received a huge ovation. Hubert H. Humphrey, back in the Senate after serving as vice president, sat two rows in front of the Irish political activist Bernadette Devlin, who shouted, “Ali, Ali,” her left fist held high. An estimated 300 million watched on television worldwide, and the gate of $1.35 million set a record for an indoor bout. Frazier, at 5 feet 11 1/2 inches and 205 pounds, gave up three inches in height and nearly seven inches in reach to Ali, but he was a 6-to-5 betting favorite. Just before the fighters received their instructions from the referee, Ali, displaying his arrogance of old, twice touched Frazier’s shoulders as he whirled around the ring. Frazier just glared at him. Frazier wore Ali down with blows to the body while moving underneath Ali’s jabs. In the 15th round, Frazier unleashed his famed left hook, catching Ali on the jaw and flooring him for a count of 4, only the third time Ali had been knocked down. Ali held on, but Frazier won a unanimous decision. Frazier declared, “I always knew who the champ was.” Frazier continued to bristle over Ali’s taunting. “I’ve seen pictures of him in cars with white guys, huggin’ ‘em and havin’ fun,” Frazier told Sport magazine two months after the fight. “Then he go call me an Uncle Tom. Don’t say, ‘I hate the white man,’ then go to the white man for help.” For Frazier, 1971 was truly triumphant. He bought a 368-acre estate called Brewton Plantation near his boyhood home and became the first black man since Reconstruction to address the South Carolina Legislature. Ali gained vindication in June 1971 when the United States Supreme Court overturned his conviction for draft evasion. Frazier defended his title against two journeymen, Terry Daniels and Ron Stander, but Foreman took his championship away on Jan. 22, 1973, knocking him down six times in their bout in Kingston, Jamaica, before the referee stopped the fight in the second round. Frazier met Ali again in a nontitle bout at the Garden on Jan. 28, 1974. Frazier kept boring in and complained that Ali was holding in the clinches, but Ali scored with flurries of punches and won a unanimous 12-round decision. Ali won back the heavyweight title in October 1974, knocking out Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire — the celebrated Rumble in the Jungle. Frazier went on to knock out Quarry and Ellis, setting up his third match, and second title fight, with Ali: the Thrilla in Manila, on Oct. 1, 1975. In what became the most brutal Ali-Frazier battle, the fight was held at the Philippine Coliseum at Quezon City, outside the country’s capital, Manila. The conditions were sweltering, with hot lights overpowering the air-conditioning. Ali, almost a 2-to-1 betting favorite in the United States, won the early rounds, largely remaining flat-footed in place of his familiar dancing style. Before Round 3 he blew kisses to President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, in the crowd of about 25,000. But in the fourth round, Ali’s pace slowed while Frazier began to gain momentum. Chants of “Frazier, Frazier” filled the arena by the fifth round, and the crowd seemed to favor him as the fight moved along, a contrast to Ali’s usually enjoying the fans’ plaudits. Frazier took command in the middle rounds. Then Ali came back on weary legs, unleashing a flurry of punches to Frazier’s face in the 12th round. He knocked out Frazier’s mouthpiece in the 13th round, then sent him stumbling backward with a straight right hand. Ali jolted Frazier with left-right combinations late in the 14th round. Frazier had already lost most of the vision in his left eye from a cataract, and his right eye was puffed and shut from Ali’s blows. Eddie Futch, a renowned trainer working Frazier’s corner, asked the referee to end the bout. When it was stopped, Ali was ahead on the scorecards of the referee and two judges. “It’s the closest I’ve come to death,” Ali said. Frazier returned to the ring nine months later, in June 1976, to face Foreman at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. Foreman stopped him on a technical knockout in the fifth round. Frazier then announced his retirement. He was 32. He later managed his eldest son, Marvis, a heavyweight. In December 1981 he returned to the ring to fight a journeyman named Jumbo Cummings, fought to a draw, then retired for good, tending to investments from his home in Philadelphia. Both Frazier and Ali had daughters who took up boxing, and in June 2001 it was Ali-Frazier IV when Frazier’s daughter Jacqui Frazier-Lyde fought Ali’s daughter Laila Ali at a casino in Vernon, N.Y. Like their fathers in their first fight, both were unbeaten. Laila Ali won on a decision. Joe Frazier was in the crowd of 6,500, but Muhammad Ali, impaired by Parkinson’s syndrome, was not. In addition to his son Marvis and his daughter Jacqui, Frazier is survived by his sons Hector, Joseph Rubin, Joseph Jordan, Brandon Marcus and Derek Dennis; his daughters Weatta, Jo-Netta, Renae and Natasha, and a sister. His marriage to his wife, Florence, ended in divorce. Long after his fighting days were over, Frazier retained his enmity for Ali. But in March 2001, the 30th anniversary of the first Ali-Frazier bout, Ali told The New York Times: “I said a lot of things in the heat of the moment that I shouldn’t have said. Called him names I shouldn’t have called him. I apologize for that. I’m sorry. It was all meant to promote the fight.” Asked for a response, Frazier said: “We have to embrace each other. It’s time to talk and get together. Life’s too short.” Fascination with the Ali-Frazier saga has endured. After a 2008 presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, the Republican media consultant Stuart Stevens said that McCain should concentrate on selling himself to America rather than criticizing Obama. Stevens’s prescription: “More Ali and less Joe Frazier.” Frazier’s true feelings toward Ali in his final years seemed murky. The 2009 British documentary “Thrilla in Manila,” shown in the United States on HBO, depicted Frazier watching a film of the fight from his apartment above the gym he ran in Philadelphia. “He’s a good-time guy,” John Dower, the director of “Thrilla in Manila,” told The Times. “But he’s angry about Ali.” In March 2011, however, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the first Ali-Frazier fight, Frazier said he was willing to put the enmity behind him. “I forgave him for all the accusations he made over the years,” The Daily News quoted Frazier as saying. “I hope he’s doing fine. I’d love to see him.” But as Frazier once told The Times: “Ali always said I would be nothing without him. But who would he have been without me?”

By RICHARD GOLDSTEINPublished: November 7, 2011. NY Times

Top PSLE Student 2011

A female student from Rulang Primary School emerged as this year’s primary school leaving examination (PSLE) top scorer.Yasmin Ziqin binte Mohamad Yousoof achieved an aggregate score of 283, the highest amongst the 45,251 primary 6 students that sat for the examination this year, according to results announced on Thursday.Out of 17 top students listed by the MOE, three came from Raffles Girls Primary School and St Hilda’s Primary School each. The others came from schools such as Tao Nan Primary School and Greenridge Primary School.The MOE said that out of the total number of examinees, 97.4 per cent or 44,106 students may proceed to secondary school. Out of that number, 62.9 per cent are eligible for the Express course while 23.1 per cent and 11.4 per cent qualify for the Normal Academic and Technical courses, respectively.Six schools also made it into the list of those who have made good progress in the PSLE results. They are: Ai Tong School, Anderson Primary School, Bukit View Primary School, Kheng Cheng School, Park View Primary School and White Sands Primary School.This was based on criteria such as achieving at least 5 per cent improvement in percentage of students who qualify for the Express course as well as positive improvement in pupils able to enter Normal Academic and Technical courses as compared to 2010 results.Parents whose children qualify to progress can submit their choices of secondary schools through the Secondary One Internet System (S1-IS) which is accessible 24 hours a day from 12 noon today till 3pm on 30 November.They can also submit the option form through their child’s primary school which started from 12 pm to 3pm on Thursday and will continue from 9am to 3pm between 25 and 30 November.Results of the postings will be released on Wednesday, 21 December and pupils are expected to report to the secondary schools they are posted to on the day after at 8.30am.Last year, out of 45,049 students who took the examination, Alex Tan from Rosyth School emerged as the PSLE top student with an aggregate score of 282 and straight As in all his subjects.More about the story

Does S’pore need tools to hammer home filial piety?

Deborah Choo
"Love cannot be a legal obligation, and genuine concern cannot be commanded by a court order."
- Alice Chen Yan, Sydney Globalist writer
A devoted mother, drenched from running miles under the rain to the nearest hospital, cradled her child in her arms and sang the old classic "天黑黑" ("Dark skies"). Years passed. Her son soon set up his own family.

Day by day she grew older. Her husband passed away. She developed problems walking. Her health deteriorated, and she was soon admitted into hospital, her life relying on machines for support.
That day, it was raining too.

"Dad, grandma always treated mum and you so badly. How can you still be sad for her?" the grandson asked his father at the hospital.

His father looked out into the rain. Pitter-patter, pitter-patter…
It was Singapore in the 60s. A mother cradled her feverish son in her arms, desperately flagging a vehicle. None stopped. Rushing to the hospital on foot, she frantically grabbed a nurse to seek help. Wait, she was told.

Settling in a chair, she sung that classic song.

This fictional story is the plot for a 2010 TV advertisement 'Father and Son'. Spearheaded by the National Family Council and supported by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), the ad aimed to promote the value of filial piety.
Setting aside the controversy that followed, an MCYS spokesperson told The New Paper last year that the reason for the ad was because "Singapore's population is rapidly ageing and the traditional value of filial piety may be lost in an increasingly globalised society."
But is it true that filial piety is making way for modernity?
An alarming story broke this week of an elderly couple who was forced out of their eldest son's home after a heated discussion that eventually culminated in the police's involvement.
Foo Tin Tak, 62 and his wife, Tham, 55, claimed their son owes them money. He in return claimed his father had threatened to kill him with a knife during the quarrel.
Foo and his wife, both of whom have difficulties walking, resorted to spending two sleepless nights at a fast-food outlet before approaching the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh for help. They are now settled into a congested three-room flat with another family. Their youngest son, 27, is also living together with them now.

To be fair, a single story is not suggestive of an emerging trend.

Law used to underscore tradition

Respect and filial piety has long been the cornerstone in Asian societies. Almost like an unspoken defining social contract that has been carried on through generations, the government is now taking on a proactive -- and some might argue, an invasive -- role to preserve this tradition.

In this Asian country, singles face limitations such as the purchase of HDB flats since most children are expected to live with their parents until marriage. Also, a special type of CPF housing grant is made available for married child living near his or her parents -- specifically either in the same town/estate or within 2 km of the married child's HDB flat.
Monthly monetary contributions too are seen as an act of reciprocity. In the event filial piety fails though, there is the Maintenance of Parents Act of 1995 where parents can use to sue their scions for monthly allowances.

As of 2009, there has been about 1,400 applications filed for maintenance at the Tribunal, out of which about more than 1,000 maintenance orders were made. It is recorded that in 2008, over 170 applications were received.

Interestingly enough, most parents who resorted to this measure are Chinese fathers, usually single -- either widowed or divorced.

The burgeoning need, it seems, to take recalcitrant children to task may serve as a safeguard for the cultural value of filial piety.

However, as Vivian Balakrishnan, former Minister of MCYS and current Minister for the Environment and Water Resources rightfully pointed out, the law should be used as a "last resort".
A blunt instrument as that might be a tad too harsh; sometimes almost tantamount to inflicting damage on a family relationship that might already be teetering precariously on the edge of resolution.

Moreover, blatant propaganda does not go over well with the public. In a recent NUS survey, one in two out of 200 Singaporeans revealed that the campaigns are excessive.
The staggering amount of finances poured into campaigns might go a lot longer — and in a more subtly supportive way — when it's given out as financial support to the elderly who need it.
I do not speak for all Singaporeans when I say this: Yes, we are modern and may prefer our freedom and independence, but we remain willing to provide for our parents.
The metaphorical saying goes that "If you tell a child he can fly, he will believe he can fly".
To draw a parallel, positive reinforcements such as awards (which are comparatively given less prominence in our society) encourages not only the polite and filial citizens in our midst, it also acts as an invisible check on the people by the people.
If the next generation is continually being raised under a highly reprehensive society where constant reminders via campaigns or even legal conditioning that elicits only fear, over time they will believe that they are ungracious and unfilial. This only serves to propagate the opposite intention more pervasively through generations.

So instead of legislative imposition from higher authorities down the societal pyramid, let's work collectively as a society — to lead by example, and be generous where credit is due.
Deborah Choo used to write for an array of websites such as Youth.SG and The Online Citizen. She now blogs in her free time.

Under our "Inspiring People" monthly column, we highlight the incredible journey of one person who has overcome tremendous odds to achieve personal success. This column celebrates the triumph of the human spirit and we hope it will inspire you to reach for your dreams, too. This month, we bring you Jeremy Lim, whose fragile condition has not stopped him from actively pursuing his dreams.
Each time one of his bones breaks, it's like a sword has pierced his body.
“The pain is as excruciating as it is traumatic,” describes 21-year-old Jeremy Lim, who was born with brittle-bone disease.
Yet when he was only 12-years-old, Lim held back his tears and told his mother that he was not in pain after breaking his arm and leg from a fall.

His mother, Wong Liang Ming, recalled, “In the car, he was the one comforting me, saying, ‘Don’t cry, I’m okay’."

“And as I carried him into the house, with the help of my husband, there he was holding back tears just so I won’t feel bad. And he told dad that it’s not mummy’s fault. There he is in pain and protecting me. … At that point, I have the highest respect for my son,” she said.
Lim’s reaction perhaps stems from a philosophy he holds close to his heart, that “nothing can change what happens to you but you can change how you react to an incident”.
“From an early age, my parents taught me to look at the bright side of life because if you look on the bright side, there will not be a dark shadow in sight,” Lim told Yahoo! Singapore in an hour-long interview.

Lim was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as brittle-bone disease which affects one in some 20,000 births. As a child, his bones would break with a “pop” sound every other week as he rolled over in his sleep or tried to open a box of toys on his own.

His bones are sturdier now thanks to an experimental drug he has been taking the last 13 years to increase bone density. The last time he broke a bone – his collarbone – was a few years ago.
Still, Lim’s delicate condition has not stopped him from reaching out to help the less fortunate or from steadfastly pursuing his dreams.

‘Only natural to help other people’
If he looks familiar to some, Lim was a young ambassador for the National Kidney Foundation’s children’s medical fund from 2001 – 2005. His stint ended after malpractices by former NKF chief executive T T Durai were uncovered.

As ambassador, Lim would collect cheques, give speeches, visit beneficiaries’ homes to cheer them up and check on their health.

When he was in Temasek Junior College, Lim participated in school initiatives to help the needy. He went with other students to collect newspapers and recyclable material from households to raise money for charity. If there was no lift at a particular flat, Lim, wheel-chair bound, would stay behind to look after the collected material, he recalled.

He would also visit old folks’ homes and talk to residents to cheer them up.

His mother recalls that his charitable nature was apparent from his younger days. In primary three, Lim would take the school-issued pledge card and enthusiastically ask his father’s friends to donate to charity.

“With my condition, I want to focus on what I can do, focus on making a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate... I think God has been kind to me, he’s given me a lot of blessings. It’s only natural for me to help other people,” said Lim.
He listed several people who have helped shaped his life.
There was his then-principal of Pei Chun Public School Chen Keng Juan who offered him a place to study when many other schools rejected him because of his health condition. “Some even thought I was mentally ill,” said Lim.

Then in Temasek Junior College, principal Loke-Yeo Teck Yong had ramps retrofitted and a lift built in the school in preparation for Lim’s attendance there. During the orientation games, organisers made him a station master when he could not participate in the games.
“It’s not about the hardware, it’s about the heartware,” said Lim. “It made me feel very included.”
“I don’t think I could be where I am today without these people. There’s so many people in my life whom I’ve had the honour of meeting. They’ve touched my life, they’ve wanted me to succeed and helped me to achieve my goals,” he stated.

Pursing his passions

This year, Lim fulfilled one of his dreams to be a published author. He wrote and published his autobiography titled “Beyond Bone Breaking”, where he shared life experiences that he hopes will inspire readers.

The book contains a foreword by former President S R Nathan, whom Lim first met when he was 12. The pair have kept in touch through the years.

Other than writing, Lim counts Japanese animation as among his passions. He has shelves of Japanese anime figures at home.

The second year student at the National University of Singapore is now deciding between majoring in Japanese studies or new media communications.

He once had dreams of becoming a genetic engineer but realised chemistry was “too abstract” for him. He is considering writing, animation or even opening a toy shop selling Japanese toys as career options.

No matter what choice he makes, he has already shown many people the path to touching people’s hearts.

“Jeremy has made a difference in our lives,” said Lim’s mother, Wong. “People say society is less gracious (now). Maybe they are put here to remind us we must be humble and count our blessings.”

The 5 Regrets

5 regrets people have on their deathbeds

Ms. Bronnie Ware has worked with the dying for many years. She recently detailed the top 5 regrets that people have on their deathbed on her blog
(http://www.inspirationandchai.com/Regrets-of-the-Dying.html).

While we are all bound to have some regrets in life, here are the top 5.

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

Ware said that this was the most common regret of all. It’s easy to let our dreams slip by due to circumstances or decisions that we’ve made. These choices mark the divide between living a fulfilled life or one that is full of regrets.

It’s important that we aim to achieve at least some of our dreams along the way. We often put off trying for our dreams due to a myriad of reasons. Before we know it, we would have lost our health and therefore, our chance to attain them.

If your dream is to start a business, get to it. If it’s to learn how to dance or try skydiving, book a class. If you want to make music, pick up a guitar.

Don’t put it off any longer.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

In between having ends meet and aiming for a luxurious lifestyle, it’s easy to see why we get caught up with our work.

Ware said that this was a common regret of male patients who didn’t manage to spend enough time with their family.

It’s easy to get caught up in the rat race, but remember to set aside some time for the important things in life. Most importantly, you will have to understand why you do what you do. Is it for your own personal achievement, for family, or for a higher calling?

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Hands up anyone who has suppressed their feelings in order to avoid potential embarrassment or argument.

Avoiding arguments is good for a harmonious life, but the problem comes when we take it too far. When we blindly follow the opinions of someone more assertive just to avoid arguments, we’re shortchanging ourselves.

While it’s understandable that we use Twitter and blogging to rant about things we are unhappy with, do remember that talking about it face-to-face is always a more sincere option.

So if an issue is major enough, try approaching the person for an honest and frank chat. We’re not saying that the talk will be smooth sailing, but your relationships will emerge stronger and healthier.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

It’s easy to lose touch with good friends. A busy lifestyle can take away time from the ones you love. This is where technology comes in.

With services like Facebook, WhatsApp and Yahoo! Messenger, it’s easy to keep tabs on old friends. Talking to friends is so effortless today that we have no reason to let staying in touch with friends take a backseat.

At the end of the day though, nothing beats chatting over a cup of coffee. So always remember to occasionally take things offline and catch up with your friends the old fashioned way.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Many don't realize until the end that happiness is a choice’, said Ware in her blog post.

This is very true. Happiness is something that we choose for ourselves. Many get upset over the circumstances in their lives. What they do not realize is that they can choose to face difficulties with a smile.

Take a moment and enjoy life. If difficulties come your way, remember that pain is inevitable but wallowing in misery is always optional.

Choose to be happy.