Tag Archives: Friendly

In news that does not surprise anyone anymore who is a fan of football, especially local football, the Singapore Under 18's loss again in a friendly last night. This time, they were beaten by New Caledonia 2-1 at Bishan Stadium. So, anyone knows were New Caledonia is? It is actually a French territory comprising dozens of islands in the South Pacific with an estimated population of 278,000.

Seems like the Singapore referee who took charge of the friendly match between Chelsea and Inter Milan at the Singapore Sports Hub was abused online for his questionable performance, and the abuse is now being investigated by Britain's anti-discrimination group Kick It Out. Some netizens took the friendly match way too seriously, and criticised on the referee's performance and commented on his ethnicity. The matter is still under investigations by the relevant authorities.

Have Singapore's football fans been cheated? All these while, the fans have been sold in on the idea that the Singapore Argentina friendly at the National Stadium on June 13 will feature arguably the world's best player right now, Lionel Messi. Reports even showed that he traveled with the Argentinian side to Australia for an international friendly with Brazil. So it makes sense that he will come here for the even "bigger" friendly with Singapore, right? But it seems like the Argentinian media are reporting that Messi will be leaving the Argentina squad immediately after the Brazil match. According to the report, Messi will leave to prepare for hos wedding with the mother of his two children. The wedding is supposed to take place on 30 June, and Messi, naturally, wants time to prepare for his wedding, as well as be by his family, than facing Singapore in a friendly no one outside Singapore will care or remember.

Singapore has been named the friendliest destination for Muslim travellers among non-Muslim countries for the third successive year. The Global Muslim Travel Index, released on Wednesday, gave Singapore high scores for its safe travel environment, ease of access to prayer spaces and number of halal dining options. The index ranked 100 destinations based on nine criteria, such as family friendliness and accommodation options.

So dear Singapore, I think I owe you an apology – for underestimating you, for judging you before I knew you, for typecasting you, for thinking of you as one-dimensional and not believing in you and all you have to offer. You have shown me that if only we open ourselves to new beginnings and new adventures, life has some unexpected and wonderful surprises in store for us. I didn’t want to move here initially and now I don’t feel like leaving. One thing I know for sure: I will never leave you Singapore; instead I will take a piece of you with me in my heart, no matter where I go in the world.

Singapore kept its top spot in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) latest ranking of the world’s most investor-friendly locations, staying ahead of second-placed Switzerland and third-placed Hong Kong. The EIU survey measures the quality of the business environment in 82 locations across the world. The survey is designed to reflect the main criteria that companies use to formulate their global business strategies, and is based on historical conditions as well as expectations of prevailing conditions over the next five years.