He's dreaming of WEMBLEY

PEPE REINA is unlikely to be involved when Liverpool embark on their FA Cup trail at Preston North End tonight, but he is keen to be there at the end.

In keeping with Rafael Benitez's policy of giving his second-choice goalkeeper playing time in the early rounds of the domestic cup competitions, Brazilian Diego Cavalieri is expected to line-up at Deepdale in the third-round tie.

But Reina is hoping his team-mates can see off Alan Irvine's Championship side and keep his dream of playing at the new Wembley alive.

The Spanish shot-stopper, who is closing in on a century of clean sheets during his time at Anfield, was the hero the last time Benitez's side lifted the FA Cup three years ago.

Reina's heroics in extra-time and in the penalty shoot-out enabled Liverpool to beat West Ham at the Millennium Stadium in 2006.

The 26-year-old is hoping Liverpool can go all the way again this time and give him the chance to recreate that day on 30 May at the new Wembley.

'I can't wait to play at the new Wembley,' he said. 'It is a great stadium and I want to play a final there as soon as possible. Let's hope we can do it in this season's FA Cup.

Passion and honour

'It's always difficult to go and face a lower division side on its own ground.

'We know it is difficult to play against Preston because they will be fighting with passion and honour.

'They want to beat us and produce a shock but we must match that and have the same mentality to win.

'Our target at the start of the season was to try and win any competition we are in and the FA Cup is one of them. I have good memories from it and it would be nice to win it again.'

While Reina would love to play at Preston tonight, he understands Benitez's rotation policy.

'I never want a rest,' said the Spain international. 'Obviously I want to be involved in every minute of every game, but I understand Diego deserves a chance as well.

'He has played in the League Cup and it is a good opportunity for him to show what he can do.

'He's a great signing. He's a young, good goalkeeper and works hard.

'He is a good team-mate and good back-up and, in time, he will fight for the No.1 spot.'

Right now, that coveted spot belongs to Reina, a player Benitez hails as the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.

Reina is only seven shy of recording a century of clean sheets, having already taken less time to reach 50 shut-outs than any goalkeeper in the club's illustrious history.

The 26-year-old has won the Premier League Golden Gloves award for the most clean sheets in all three previous seasons since his £6 million ($12.2m) arrival from Villarreal in 2005.

Reina and Chelsea's Petr Cech have both kept 11 clean sheets this season, the highest figure in the top flight.

And Liverpool manager Benitez believes Reina has now surpassed Cech as the No.1 in English football.

'In the first year we signed him we had 82 points, with a lot of clean sheets, and that made a difference and gave the defenders massive confidence,' said Benitez.

'He's getting better each season.

'He has a very, very good mentality and is very positive.

'Diego Cavalieri is a good goalkeeper, but Reina has a lot of confidence because he's been here a long time.

'His style of football is very good for any league, but especially the Premier League because you need to be physical.

'The ball's in the air a lot. He's good in his six-yard box but also outside it.

'I'd say he is the best goalkeeper in the Premier League and also in Spain.

'He's very, very important for us, not just because he's a good goalkeeper but also because of his mentality.'

- Wire Services.

ZOMBIE OSCARS

Infographics journalist SIMON ANG pitched zombies from two recently released Xbox 360 game titles against each other to see who deserves to win.
ON THE left, Zombies from 'Left 4 Dead' a third-person shooter with four survivors trying to escape from a zombie-infested city. On the right, a surprise contender, the Nazi Zombies, from the unlockable chapter of the first-person shooter Call of Duty: World At War.

Best Zombie Plot Award

Winner: Left 4 Dead


Both are no-brainer arcade shooters for fans of the undead.

However, Left 4 dead packs more bite, with five survival chapters featuring different scenarios. A blockbuster-style movie poster will introduce each chapter with your name (or whatever gung-ho zombie killer moniker you choose) on it.

The fact that your character can respawn after the zombie tears you apart also makes the game less morbid.

For Nazi Zombies, it's 'hora incerta, mors certa' (hour uncertain, death certain) as you try to survive as many levels as possible. If you die, you have to start the game all over again.

A metaphor about the imminent nature of death, perhaps?

Best Zombie Variety Award

Winner: Left 4 Dead

The Left 4 Dead zombies come from all walks of life.

Their tattered uniforms serve as a grim reminder that these soulless fiends were once policemen, nurses, flight attendants, white-collar workers and regular folks. Likewise, death comes in many forms.

An encounter with a corpulent Boomer Zombie will drench you in green vomit, turning you into a lighting rod for more zombie attacks.

A Smoker Zombie will ensnare you with his frog-like tongue.

Tank, a burly zombie with gargantuan biceps, will charge or hurl concrete slabs at you.

The agile Hunter Zombie will spring on you while a Witch Zombie will hunt you down if you should disturb her wailing sessions.

Nazi zombies are boring dead people wearing the same Wehrmacht uniform.

Enough said.

Best Zombie Behaviour Award

Winner: Call of Duty: World At War

In movies 28 Days Later and I Am Legend, zombies were sprinting like Olympic athletes.

Good if you're a zombie. Bad if you're trying to kill them.

The running zombies from Left 4 Dead are a stark contrast to the feet-shuffling Nazi Zombies from Call of Duty.

The Nazi Zombies resemble the original shambling corpses from George Romero's 1968 cult classic Night of the Living Dead.

We prefer old-fashioned zombies.

Best Zombie Fight Award

Winner: Call of Duty: World At War

A good zombie is a dead zombie.

But a zombie-slayer does it in style. Call of Duty offers more weapons of mass destruction, ranging from MK2 fragmentation grenade to M9 bazooka.

Talk about overkill.

Best Looking Zombie Award

Left 4 Dead

Fast and furious, these bunch of zombies are quite a sight to behold. Especially when they are seen up close.

Zombies never looked so ugly.

All-Rounder Performance Zombie Award

Winner: Left 4 Dead

You get what you pay for.

Please let me STAY

WHERE else can you find a player like Carlos Tevez?


Consider this: He scores goals. And very important ones at that.

He never complains. Even when he is often left on the bench.

He gives his all. Whenever he is called upon to get Manchester United out of trouble, he usually delievers.

And he is loyal. So loyal that he is willing to stay at Old Trafford, despite not being promised a permanent deal.

So loyal that when other big European clubs come calling, he rejected their advances.

The Argentina international is currently in the second year of a complicated loan move, with that agreement set to expire in June.

United are yet to offer the combative striker a full-time contract, with the issue having hung over both player and club for some considerable time.

Tevez has been utilised mainly as a squad player by Sir Alex Ferguson this season and has seen his number of outings limited as a result.

However, having scored 19 goals to help the club to domestic and European glory last season, the 24-year-old is adamant that he sees his long-term future at Old Trafford.

'I am not preoccupied about my future,' Tevez told the Daily Mail.

'My instincts are to stay with the club and in the next week or so I think there will be more contact with regards to sorting out my contract.

'That is what we've been told.

'My agent is in touch with United all the time and he tells me that everything is very positive now. So it is up to the club.

'Other clubs have asked about me but I see my future at United.'

Of the clubs said to be interested, Spanish giants Real Madrid are thought to he heading the queue.

Price tag

The reigning Spanish champions have a reputation for landing high-profile summer signings, but Tevez remains hopeful that United will find the funds to match his considerable price tag.

'Some people say that £pounds;32 million ($67.2m) is high but I cannot comment on that.

'Those are the figures that were agreed at the start. I am not responsible,' he added.

'It has been a complicated season for me, there is no point denying that.

'I have not been able to get as many minutes on the field as I would like because the quality of the forwards at the club is incredible.

'It is not easy for forwards to get into this team and I have suffered.

'But that does not make me want to leave. I have no urge to run away.' - Wire Services.

ig boys can be taken downv

IT'S STILL early stages in this year's FA Cup. And around the pubs, where punters' opinions can vary depending on the number of beers downed, I've been hearing the usual 'Cup Talk'.

The common one goes like this. 'What's so difficult? Preston against Liverpool? Just take Liverpool. And, out of curiosity, just where is Preston?'

Or this which was volunteered by an inebriated fan. 'Chelsea versus Southend. What Southend? Whose Southend? Southend of what? If the south end is like someone's rear end, then expect Chelsea to give it a hefty kick.'

Yes, the early rounds of the FA Cup brings out the hero in many punters.

They see familiar names, like Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Portsmouth, taking on strange teams like Petersbrough, Preston, Bristol and, of course, Southend, and they see flashes of lightning spelling out 'AOS' in bright neon.

Then, they throw caution to the wind and blow hard cash on bets they eventually live to regret.

Let's take Portsmouth. Now, we're all familiar with them. Fratton Park. Peter Crouch. Jermain Defoe.

They take on Bristol City. So, is this going to be all one-way traffic, with all roads leading to the port city at the south of England?

I say don't be too sure.

Fine, they're the Cup holders. But that was then. This is now. And Bristol City have been showing some muscle in the Championship, winning all their matches over Christmas.

One more thing, they seem to relish playing away from their home base so Fratton Park shouldn't hold any fear.

As for Portsmouth, they're hardly in rattling form. No, make that 'any form whatsoever', having lost their last three matches. So, yes, this is not a Premiership shoo-in. The Robins can upset. Be warned.

Then there's Liverpool against Preston in a match to be played at Deepdale, where the Championship side can be ferocious.

Sure, Liverpool are tops in the Premiership. But they have Chelsea, Man United and Aston Villa hot on their tails.

So, do you think they will field their best players and risk injury which could scuttle their league chances? Or will they fill their side with competent reserves and hope for the best?

I say they will live on hope - which makes the Northenders an exciting option on the 1/2 Goal where they're worth $1.55 at +1.5 Goals.

Extra leg

What about that other Premiership outfit, Fulham? They're in the 'safe' half of the table and they take on Sheffield Wednesday who, honestly, have seen better days.

But the thing is this.

Although they're 13th in the 24-team Championship, Sheffield seem to grow an extra leg when playing at Hillsbrough where they have lost just two of their 13 home games.

Fulham, on the other hand, have yet to score a win away from Craven Cottage. What makes you think they can do it now? If your answer is: Premiership must be better than Championship. Well, go bet at your own risk.

I won't bet on them winning. You see, Premiership is not always better than the Championship a level below - especially in a competition like the FA Cup.

Indeed, and as The Owls will say: 'Bring them on. We don't give a hoot.'

Why are you not doing anything about Gaza, Bush?

Two prominent people have written open letters over the Gaza crisis - one to President Bush, the other to Mr Obama

Mr Ralph Nader is a political activist who has run for the US presidency as an independent candidate in 2004 and 2008, and as a Green Party candidate in 1996 and 2000.
January 04, 2009





Here are excerpts of Mr Nader's letter to US president George W Bush published in CommonDreams.org


DEAR George W Bush,

Where are you on the Gaza crisis where the civilian population of Gaza, its civil servants and public facilities are being massacred and destroyed respectively by US-built F-16s and US-built helicopter gunships?

The deliberate suspension of your power to stop this terrorising of 1.5 million people, mostly refugees blockaded for months by air, sea and land in their tiny slice of land, is in cowardly contrast to the position taken by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

That year, he single-handedly stopped the combined British, French and Israeli aircraft attack against Egypt during the Suez Canal dispute.

Fatalities in Gaza are already over 400 and injuries close to 2,000 so far as is known.

Total Palestinian civilian casualties are 400 times greater then the casualties incurred by the Israelis.

Confirmed visual reports show that Israeli warplanes and warships have destroyed or severely damaged police stations, homes, hospitals, pharmacies, mosques, fishing boats, and a range of public facilities providing electricity and other necessities.

It violates international law, including the Geneva Conventions and the UN Charter.

Then there is the matter of the Israeli government blocking imports of critical medicines, equipment such as dialysis machines, fuel, food, water, spare parts and electricity to Gaza at varying intensities for almost two years.

The depleted UN aid mission there has called this illegal blockade a humanitarian crisis especially devastating to children, the aged and the infirm.

Chronic malnutrition among children is rising rapidly.

UN rations support 80 per cent of this impoverished population.

How do these incontrovertible facts affect you?

Do you have any empathy or what you have called Christian charity?...

Mr Gideon Levy, the veteran Israeli columnist for Ha'aretz, called the Israeli attack a 'brutal and violent operation' far beyond what was needed for protecting the people in its south.

Apparently, thousands of Israelis, including some army reservists, who have demonstrated against this destruction of Gaza, agree with Mr Levy...

Peace was possible

Your spokespeople are making much ado about the breaking of the six-month truce. Who is the occupier? Who is the most powerful military force? Who controls and blocks the necessities of life?...

Peace was possible, but you provided no leadership, preferring instead to comply with all wishes and demands by the Israeli government - even resupplying it with the still-active cluster bombs in south Lebanon during the invasion of that country in 2006.

The arguments about who started the latest hostilities go on and on with Israel always blaming the Palestinians to justify all kinds of violence and harsh treatment against innocent civilians.

From the Palestinian standpoint, you would do well to remember the origins of this conflict which was the dispossession of their lands.

To afford you some empathy, recall the oft-quoted comment by the founder of Israel, MrDavid Ben-Gurion, who told Zionist leader Nahum Goldmann:

'There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz but was that their fault? They only see one thing: We have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?'

MrAlfred North Whitehead once said: 'Duty arises out of the power to alter the course of events.'

By that standard, you have shirked mightily your duty over the past eight years to bring peace to both Palestinians and Israelis and more security to a good part of the world.

The least you can do in your remaining days at the White House is adopt a modest profile in courage, and vigorously demand and secure a ceasefire and a solidly based truce.

Sincerely,

Ralph Nader

We stole $14,000 sculpture to teach you lesson

After money manager Bernie Madoff is arrested, thieves steal statue and return it with a warning
January 04, 2009





CALL it a criminally audacious way of telling someone he owes investors US$50 billion ($73b) - steal his US$10,000 copper sculpture from his garden and return a few days later with a warning.



That's the crime a group of thieves known as 'The Educators' committed in Palm Beach, Florida, against disgraced investment guru Bernie Madoff.

And they hope the Wall Street money manager has learnt his lesson.

CBS Affiliate WPEC reports that the US$10,000 copper sculpture of two lifeguards turned up Wednesday along a bicycle path.

A worker found the statue near the country club Madoff belonged to, just a few blocks from Madoff's Palm Beach home.

A note attached read: 'Bernie the Swindler, Lesson: Return stolen property to rightful owners. Signed by - The Educators.'

When told of the scolding missive, one woman told WPEC: 'New Year's is about messages, right?'

The statue was reported missing on 22 Dec about a week after he was arrested on charges he dodged investors out of more than US$50b. His clients included major banks, charities and retirees.

The statue, which did not appear to be damaged, now sits in the evidence room of the Palm Beach Police Department.
--PICTURES: AP


Meanwhile, AP reported the disgraced money manager gave the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a list of his personal assets on Wednesday, but investors may have to wait to learn whether the filing contained any clues as to the whereabouts of their missing billions.

Madoff, now under house arrest, had faced a court-ordered deadline of 31 Dec to turn over a detailed accounting of his homes, stock holdings, bank accounts and other business interests.

The list was also supposed to include the names and locations of any bank or brokerage accounts holding whatever remains of his clients' money.

The SEC confirmed Wednesday evening that it had received the filing, but it declined to reveal details or make the documents available to journalists.

The list was not filed publicly in any of the courts handling the Madoff case, and SEC spokesmen said no decision had been made as to whether part or all of the asset disclosure would ultimately be made public.

Madoff's attorney, Ira Sorkin, said his client was abiding by the court order, but the attorney would not comment further.

Any Madoff assets disclosed in the filing or unearthed by investigators could eventually be tapped to make restitution to victims.

Madoff's personal wealth is said to be substantial. He had mansions in the Hamptons and Palm Beach, a penthouse in Manhattan and a handful of luxury yachts. His firm operated proprietary stock trading desks in New York and London that were supposedly investing the family's vast fortune.

Still, those assets would likely cover only a fraction of the billions of dollars investors entrusted to Madoff.

Law firms representing Madoff's clients said they were nonetheless still eager to see what might be available to repay victims.

'Like everyone else, we expect it to be made public,' said attorney Matthew Gluck.

Several disgruntled investors have already filed lawsuits against either Madoff or the hedge funds that fed his business.

Madoff, 70, a former Nasdaq stock market chairman, is accused of running a scheme that paid fictitious returns to certain investors out of the principal received from others. Madoff remains under house arrest in his apartment in New York as part of an earlier bail agreement.

TOP VILLAINS

Last week, we featured the heroes from our pages who made '08 great. But while there were many heroes, there were also those who behaved badly - from a terrorist escape artist to cheats to ungracious Singaporeans.
Today, The New Paper brings you the people you'd love to hate in '08.
MAS SELAMAT KASTARI

The terrorist broke out of the Internal Security Department's (ISD) Whitley Road Detention Centre on 27 Feb.

The audacious jailbreak led to an islandwide manhunt, put the whole country on security alert, and dealt a severe blow to Singapore's reputation.


The former Jemaah Islamiah chief had plotted to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport in 2002.

The most wanted man in Singapore is still on the run, but Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng has vowed in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao that he will eventually be caught.



ROGUE EMPLOYERS

They treat their foreign workers shabbily - not paying them wages, not giving them work, housing them in appalling conditions, and even laying hands on them.

By far the worst case of abuse involved a group of foreign workers who were crammed into a bedbug-infested dormitory in MacPherson.



SELLERS OF TROUBLED STRUCTURED PRODUCTS

When the Lehman Brothers bank collapsed in September, investors worldwide who had bought Lehman-linked products lost money.

In Singapore, nearly 10,000 retail customers in Singapore sunk $500 million into the products. Many are retirees who may lose their life savings.

Fairly or unfairly, the episode cast bank relationship managers in controversial light.



GARANG MRT AUNTY

A woman was filmed fighting with a middle-aged man on the train. It was not clear what provoked the quarrel.

She yelled at him: 'You threaten to beat us up, you threaten to snatch away the handphone.'

She claimed to be a victim.

The video was later posted on YouTube.

Instead of sympathy, her aggression - where she scolded and taunted the man incessantly in the video - turned most netizens against her.



INSENSITIVE FUNERAL MOURNERS

Some friends who attended the funeral of American pianist Michael Stanton whipped out their camera phones and took photos of the body in the casket.

Some mourners who were there were outraged.

Mr Stanton's daughter was also upset that those who snapped pictures had not sought the family's permission.



ROGUE LANDLORDS

They agree to rent their flats or rooms, but disappear after collecting deposits or advance rent, leaving their victims poorer and without a roof over their heads.

In most cases, the cheating landlords got away scot-free.



SEAT-HOGGING UNCLE

On an SBS Transit bus, an old lady asked a male passenger to remove his plastic bags of food from a vacant seat so she could sit.

But the old man refused and launched into an angry tirade, at one point even asking her to 'go and die'.

His rant created such a ruckus that the bus that the bus driver had to stop for 10 minutes to intervene.

Undeterred, the angry old man challenged the bus driver to make a police report.



SUNTEC CITY 'SHEIKH'

Mr Kadim Kherbeet Abdullatif, 42, claimed to be a wealthy sheikh from the UAE with business dealings worth billions.

He ran his 'business' out of a Suntec City office, but never paid his landlord the $50,000 in rent he owed. Several of his employees lodged a report with the Manpower Ministry over salary arrears.

It turned out Mr Kadim was not even a UAE citizen. Born in Basra, Iraq, he was arrested in Abu Dhabi in 2004 for various fraud-related crimes and was jailed for three months.



SELFISH GAWKERS

Singaporean Dominic Chan, 44, lay dying on the North-South Highway in Malaysia after he had crashed his motorcycle into an overturned lorry.

Instead of helping him, more than 10 onlookers stood watching from the sidelines.

Some even whipped out their handphones to take pictures of the accident scene.

Big spenders on stolen credit

ON THE surface, they seemed like big-spending tourists that Singapore retailers would welcome with open arms.


In their one-month stay, Filipinos Dante Baya Cervantes and Jannette Lorenzo Dayo splurged more than $50,000 on retail therapy.

The problem was they were not shopping with their own credit cards.

As part of an international syndicate, they had come to Singapore to steal credit cards which they then used to buy watches and jewellery for resale.

In August, Cervantes was jailed seven years while Dayo was jailed four years and four months for their crimes.

Cervantes' fraudulent purchases totalled more than $46,000 while Dayo bought more than $11,000 of goods from various shops.

They had stolen unattended handbags in the Orchard Road and Harbourfront areas, and made purchases with the credit cards in the bags.

The credit cards, which belonged to six people, were used to buy gold chains, rings, bracelets, necklaces and Rolex watches from shops like Taka Jewellery and Peng Kwee Watches and Jewellery.

The items were later sold by other members of the syndicate with the proceeds shared among them.



To avoid arousing suspicion, Cervantes practised signing the cardholders' signatures before using the cards, while Dayo watched him.

Cervantes went on a shopping spree on 28 occasions while Dayo did so eight times.

Caught in the act

Police arrested them on 27 Aug, while they were seen acting suspiciously while walking from Paragon Shopping Centre to Park Hotel Orchard.

Cervantes had just stolen a Kate Spade handbag left unattended in the Starbucks Cafe in Paragon.

Other items that were stolen or procured dishonestly by the duo were recovered from their room in Tekka Boarding Hotel.

Court papers said Cervantes entered Singapore on several occasions between last June and August.

They had a Malaysian accomplice, Abdul Mohamed Ali, who is still at large.

The duo, who were unrepresented in court, asked for leniency after pleading guilty, claiming their circumstances had forced them into crime.

Cervantes said he had financial difficulties and had to support four young children while Dayo claimed she has leukaemia and was her family's sole breadwinner.

In his written judgment, District Judge Liew Thiam Leng said there were 'aggravating factors' as Cervantes and Dayo were members of a syndicate and had made purchases within a short span of time.

He wrote: 'The speed and anonymity of such transactions make detection difficult and substantial losses can be incurred by the victims.

'The banks are the victims because they had to pay the retailers for the fraudulent purchases. Substantial resources would be expended to combat such frauds.'

Since March 2007, Singapore's courts have given jail terms of two to three years to credit card cheats for each charge that is proceeded on.

Judge Liew added that Singapore's economy relies on the financial sector and if credit card fraud became prevalent, financial institutions would not want to invest here.

Little weight could be given to Cervantes' and Dayo's guilty pleas, as they were nabbed while reaping the benefits of their crimes.

Judge Liew wrote: 'If they had not been arrested by the police, they would have continued with more offences as they were apprehended while they were in the process of getting away with a stolen bag.'

From CBD to JB mall in 90min by train

COME Monday, you can get from Tanjong Pagar Railway station to Johor Baru (JB) for less than it costs you to get from Bukit Panjang to Punggol by train.


The standard train fare from Bukit Panjang to Punggol costs $3.20.

But, for just $3, you can hop onto the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) train from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station to Danga City Mall in JB. The journey takes about 90 minutes, including time spent clearing immigration.

In a bid to provide alternative modes of public transport between JB and Singapore, trains which can carry up to 200 passengers will ply the route before continuing to Kempas Baru.

You can buy tickets at KTM stations. You can also book tickets online or through SMS.

But is the train the best way to get to your favourite shopping centres in JB?

Some, like undergraduate Hansel Chen, felt that the shuttle service was a good idea and would use it to beat the jam at the Causeway.

Others, like student Pang Meiqin, 20, who travels to JB twice a week to visit her family members, are less enthusiastic.

She said: 'I prefer to take bus service 950 because I can take the bus from the stop near my home in Woodlands, and the fare is less than $1 using my ez-link card. Furthermore, Danga City Mall is quite out of the way, and there are no other malls nearby.'

The New Paper checks out the various routes:

KTM train

Time taken: 90 minutes to Danga City Mall

Cost: $3

Advantages: The Tanjong Pagar railway station is just off the central business district. You also get to beat the frequent traffic jams at the Causeway and avoid the 200,000 commuters and motorists who use the Causeway daily.

Only an average of 300 people take the KTM train from Tanjong Pagar to JB daily.

There is only one stop at Woodlands for customs and immigration clearance.

Disadvantages: Miss your train and you are in for a long wait. There are only four trains departing from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station daily - at 5.35am, 7.40am, 2pm and 7.10pm.

When you reach Danga City Mall, you will have to take a five-minute taxi ride to malls like City Plaza and Plaza Pelangi.

Bus 950 from Woodlands regional interchange to Johor Baru checkpoint

Cost: $1.20

Time taken: 20 minutes (excluding time taken to clear immigration).

Advantages: It is the cheapest way to JB, with only seven bus stops along the way. The service runs from 5.30am to 11.30pm daily.

Disadvantages: If you do not live in the north, you would have to travel there to take the bus, which only passes by Woodlands and Marsiling.

Bus 170 from Queen Street to Larkin terminal

Cost: $1.60

Advantages: The service runs from 5.20am to 12.10am every day from Queen Street terminal to Larkin terminal.

Disadvantages: This is not the way to go if you have bulky luggage. The bus will not wait for you to clear immigration at the Singapore and Malaysian checkpoints, so you will have to keep taking all your belongings with you.

It is also a long journey as there are several stops along the way.

After clearing immigration, you can either walk straight into JB or hop on the next Service No 170.

You have to keep your bus ticket so that you don't have to pay again if you intend to catch the next bus 170.

Car

Time taken: Depends on the Causeway jam. It can take more than an hour if it is bad.

Advantages: Takes you straight from your doorstep to anywhere you want without the hassle of having to wait for public transport.

Disadvantages: Long waiting time to clear immigration with cars stuck bumper to bumper in heavy traffic at the Causeway.

Big boys can be taken down

IT'S STILL early stages in this year's FA Cup. And around the pubs, where punters' opinions can vary depending on the number of beers downed, I've been hearing the usual 'Cup Talk'.
GOLIATHS: Even with top stars Peter Crouch and Kanu available, Portsmouth may still be felled by the Davids from Bristol City. --TNP PICTURE: AFP


The common one goes like this. 'What's so difficult? Preston against Liverpool? Just take Liverpool. And, out of curiosity, just where is Preston?'

Or this which was volunteered by an inebriated fan. 'Chelsea versus Southend. What Southend? Whose Southend? Southend of what? If the south end is like someone's rear end, then expect Chelsea to give it a hefty kick.'

Yes, the early rounds of the FA Cup brings out the hero in many punters.

They see familiar names, like Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Portsmouth, taking on strange teams like Petersbrough, Preston, Bristol and, of course, Southend, and they see flashes of lightning spelling out 'AOS' in bright neon.

Then, they throw caution to the wind and blow hard cash on bets they eventually live to regret.

Let's take Portsmouth. Now, we're all familiar with them. Fratton Park. Peter Crouch. Jermain Defoe.

They take on Bristol City. So, is this going to be all one-way traffic, with all roads leading to the port city at the south of England?

I say don't be too sure.

Fine, they're the Cup holders. But that was then. This is now. And Bristol City have been showing some muscle in the Championship, winning all their matches over Christmas.

One more thing, they seem to relish playing away from their home base so Fratton Park shouldn't hold any fear.

As for Portsmouth, they're hardly in rattling form. No, make that 'any form whatsoever', having lost their last three matches. So, yes, this is not a Premiership shoo-in. The Robins can upset. Be warned.

Then there's Liverpool against Preston in a match to be played at Deepdale, where the Championship side can be ferocious.

Sure, Liverpool are tops in the Premiership. But they have Chelsea, Man United and Aston Villa hot on their tails.

So, do you think they will field their best players and risk injury which could scuttle their league chances? Or will they fill their side with competent reserves and hope for the best?

I say they will live on hope - which makes the Northenders an exciting option on the 1/2 Goal where they're worth $1.55 at +1.5 Goals.

Extra leg

What about that other Premiership outfit, Fulham? They're in the 'safe' half of the table and they take on Sheffield Wednesday who, honestly, have seen better days.

But the thing is this.

Although they're 13th in the 24-team Championship, Sheffield seem to grow an extra leg when playing at Hillsbrough where they have lost just two of their 13 home games.

Fulham, on the other hand, have yet to score a win away from Craven Cottage. What makes you think they can do it now? If your answer is: Premiership must be better than Championship. Well, go bet at your own risk.

I won't bet on them winning. You see, Premiership is not always better than the Championship a level below - especially in a competition like the FA Cup.

Indeed, and as The Owls will say: 'Bring them on. We don't give a hoot.'

Mother and son killed in New Year's Day crash

HE WAS driving on the right lane when a lorry on his left suddenly swerved and hit his car.
SCENE OF THE TRAGEDY: (Above) The wreckage of the Toyota MPV the Ngs were in. An


The next thing he knew, Mr Ng Cheong Boon heard his daughters crying.

'Then, when I looked at my wife and my second son, I saw that they were not moving any more,' said Mr Ng, 45, his voice breaking as he choked back a sob.

'It was dark and everything happened very

quickly.'

The family was travelling back to Singapore in their Toyota MPV when the tragedy struck on the North-South highway near Muar on New Year's day.

The crash killed Madam Chuah Vee Yang, 45, and her 14-year-old son Ng Gan Sheng, a student of Pei Hwa Secondary School.

The couple's youngest daughter, 7, suffered a broken leg and was admitted to hospital. Mr Ng and his eldest son, 16, and another daughter, 10, sustained some scratches and bruises.

The accident happened at 9.00pm.


All six members of the family are Malaysians who are Singapore permanent residents.

Mr Ng, who works in a bank, said his wife was in the front passenger seat, and Gan Sheng was directly behind her when the accident happened.

His wife also worked at a bank.

Mr Ng said drivers and passengers from other cars stopped to help.

'But my wife and son were already dead. They died on the spot,' he told The New Paper in a telephone interview from Malaysia.

Mr Ng said he was in shock when the accident happened.

'I immediately tried to get my children out of the car and carried my youngest daughter out.'

Mr Ng said he could not recall who was in the lorry at that time as it was dark.

His car was badly damaged and is in a workshop.

Mr Ng, who lives in Sengkang, had left for Malaysia with his family on Christmas Day.

They stopped at Petaling Jaya to visit Mr Ng's parents before continuing their journey to Penang, where they attended a wedding and visited other relatives.

On the way back, they had spent two days in Kuala Lumpur before leaving at 7.30pm on Thursday evening.

They wanted to make it back to Singapore in time for the beginning of the new school term the next morning.

Mr Ng said they will not be returning to Singapore for the moment as he plans to take his wife's body back to her hometown in Taiping, Perak for the funeral.

- Additional reporting by Lediati Tan.

Ronaldo: Stop those lies, I'm staying

CRISTIANO Ronaldo has declared that he wants to stay at Manchester United.



And he has dismissed as 'lies' comments made by Real Madrid director, Pedro Trapote, that there has been an agreement struck for him to join the Spanish club at the end of the season..

Trapote's alleged statement last month was quickly dismissed by United and Real Madrid, but Ronaldo's poor form - he scored his last Premier League goal against Stoke City on 11 Nov - and noticeably increasing petulance at his treatment from both opposing defenders and supporters, have done little to dispel speculation that he will once again court a move to Spain by the end of the season.

Since giving up his attempts to leave United last summer, Ronaldo has been careful with words, expressing his happiness at being at Manchester United without being absolutely clear about his commitment to the club.

However, his latest assertion that he 'wants to stay' in an interview with MUTV suggests that the Portuguese player may finally have accepted that his future will be better served by remaining at United, who are planning to offer him a new contract in the summer.

'What people are saying now (about a deal with Madrid) is not true. Whoever says that is a liar because I am happy at the club and I want to stay here,' said Ronaldo.

'I feel at home here and I feel very happy here.

'There's always speculation, not just about me, but also about the future of players all around the world. People were speaking about me last summer but that was normal because of what I did during the season.'

Divided

Opinion about the 23-year-old winger seems divided among United supporters. Many regard his recent displays of petulance as evidence of his frustration at being denied his wish of a move to Real.

And Ronaldo's name is no longer sung in the terraces by the United fans.

Ronaldo insists, however, that he has overcome the negativity since returning from ankle surgery in September.

He said: 'I think the people don't forget quickly what you do for the club.

'When I arrived to play (my first game of this season for United) against Villarreal, I felt a little bit of pressure, but the fans were very good and this is why I feel the United supporters are amazing. I feel at home in Manchester.

'Alex Ferguson is always important for me, not just last season, but every season. I am at this club because of him. He has always helped me and I said to him, 'I want to be part of this club with you. I want to win trophies with you.'

'He is very important in my career.'

Despite last year's achievements and the fact that he has managed a relatively paltry nine goals this season, Ronaldo maintains that his appetite for success remains undiminished even though he has already grown used to regular trophies.

He said: 'Age is not important in football, in my opinion. Experience yes, but you gain experience if you play and I have played many games at Manchester United with great players and I've won many things.

'This is why I think age is not important. The most difficult challenge now is to keep the same level as last year's.

'This is what I'm trying to do. I feel prepared for that. My ambition is still the same, my character is still the same and I know what I can do.' - Wire Services.

Blindness DVDScreener (2008)(RS)

The movie begins when a few people gain sudden blindness.

When the world is afraid it is contagious the government quarantines the group. Others follow in the government prison who are also blind and the movie follows the prison gang activities between three rooms of prisoners in their quest for survival. The outside is shut off and the characters are not shown what has become of the world during the movie.

One of the rooms in the prison, Ward 3, is made up of all men prisoners who take over the food rations. The King of Ward 3 has a gun. As people begin to starve the room of all men offer food in exchange for valuables. After no more valuables are to be had an orgy with the women and wives is wanted.

Women volunteer to save the rest of the prisoners from starvation. Half with bravery, half in tears they walk into the room of blind men reaching out in the air for them.

The movie fades to black as you listen to grunts of the men and a flicker of a spotlight show a fist in air cracking down on the skull of a woman who has gone into shock and called by the blind men a "dead fish". The fist moves and the sound of the skull being hit as she is being raped with his loud voice "Move for me!" unsettles the other women who in the end of the scene bring out her dead body in their arms like pallbearers.

This encourages one woman who had entered with her husband who has her sight try to launch a gang war fare in the government makeshift prison. She walks into Ward 3, kills the King, the group of men dissolve into disarray. One blind woman sets fire to Ward 3 and it begins to burn down, the heroine leads the blind outside into the main yard only to find the guards are gone and they are free. Only to discover that the world outside is also fallen to the illness, they make their way through littered streets to find everyone is blind.

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Shanghai Kiss (2007)

Shanghai Kiss is a 2007 direct-to-DVD romantic drama comedy. The film was released on DVD on October 9, 2007.[1] Hayden Panettiere won the Feature Film Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival for her role as Adelaide

Liam Liu (Ken Leung), a Chinese American actor living in Los Angeles unwittingly gets involved with a high school girl. He suddenly has to go to China after learning from his father that he has inherited his grandmother's home in Shanghai. He's not being appreciative of his Chinese roots and at first only wants to sell the house and get back to the U.S. as fast as possible. He gets a taste of the Chinese culture after meeting a girl there and ends up having some big decisions to make.


Language: English
SUbtitles: Chinese

MU:

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           ±ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ                                                              
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      °ÛÛÛÛ²±±°°°°                                                                
     °ÛÛÛ²                              Presents                                  
    °ÛÛÛ²                                                                        
    ÛÛ²                     Punisher.War.Zone.2008.TS.XviD-LTRG
   ±ÛÛ²                                                                          
   ÛÛÛ²      Genre........: Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller                          
  ²ÛÛ°²      Video........: XviD @ 894kbps
  ²ÛÛ°       Run Time.....: 95min
  ÛÛÛ        Audio........: MP3 128 kbps CBR (2)ch 48khz
 ²ÛÛÛ        Release Size.: 703 MB
 ²ÛÛÛ        Resolution...: 624x288
  ÛÛÛ        FPS..........: 25.000 frame/s                                            
  ²ÛÛ°      
  ²ÛÛ°²      LANGUAGE.....: ENGLISH
   ÛÛÛ²    
    ÛÛ²      IMDB.........: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450314/  
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     ÛÛÛ²            
      ÛÛÛÛ²                         Enjoy!                                                                
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The Earth is caught in the middle of an intergalactic war between two races of robots, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, which are able to change into a variety of objects, including cars, trucks, planes and other technological creations.

Also Known As: Transformers: Prime Directive
Production Status: Released
Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
Running Time: 2 hrs. 20 min.
Release Date: July 3rd, 2007 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor and language.
Distributors: Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc., Paramount Pictures International (PPI), DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures
Production Co.: Angry Bulls Films, Hasbro, Inc.
Studios: DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures
U.S. Box Office: $319,014,499
Filming Locations: Los Angeles, California USA
Produced in: United States

Download Dlink:
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Deception 2008

THE STRANGERS

Bryan Bentino
Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward
Universal Pictures Distribution

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The Accidental Husband (2008) DVDRiP

The Accidental Husband (2008) DVDRiP

When talk radio host Emma Lloyd advises one of her listeners to break up with her boyfriend, the jilted ex sets about getting his revenge.

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Bangkok Dangerous [2008]
TiTLE......[ Bangkok Dangerous
AKA........[ Time to Kill
YEAR.......[ 2008
GENRE......[ Action Crime Thriller
RUNTiME....[ 013821
STORE DATE.[ 2009
iMDB RATE..[ 5.410 6,673 votes
iMDB URL...[ httpwww.imdb.comtitlett0814022
AUDiO......[ MP3 48000Hz 112 kbs CBR (2 chnls)
LANGUAGE...[ English
ViDEO......[ 878 kbps XviD 23.976 FPS
Q. FRAME...[ 0.177 bitspixel
RESOLUTiON.[ 616 x 336
DAR........[ 1.833 (116)
SUBS.......[ None
FiLES......[ 1
SiZE.......[ 701 MB
SOURCE.....[ DVD

A hitman who's in Bangkok to pull off a series of jobs falls for a local woman and bonds with his errand boy.

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