Dollars and sense

I may have been a little late in my posting regarding this issue, but I simply couldn't hold my horses with my fingers itching to hit the keyboard. Of late, the media was abuzz with a plethora of response to recent changes to the CPF policy. One of the changes is that the CPF minimum sum will be raised gradually from SGD$80,000 to SGD$120,000 in 2013. The other ubiquitous change is the introduction of compulsory annuities. For those who cannot afford to purchase annuities, they may use their minimum sum for the annuity. In addition, the age for CPF withdrawal has been raised from 55 to 65. Of late, the government is finding ways and means to help our senior brethren to seek employment. One could be forgiven for having the impression that the government is making it more difficult for one to withdraw his CPF.

With the mechanics of the CPF changes in place, one also cannot ignore the costs of living. The passing years have seen rises in costs of necessities such as healthcare, transport and utilities. One would dare to make a safe bet that even beyond 2010, the inflation in costs of the aforementioned necessities will continue.

Of late, the government was alarmed by the fact that a number of Singaporeans are uprooting themselves and planting their roots else where. The thrust of this discussion is not so much the social basis and implication for migration, but rather the "dollars and sense" of migration. The rising costs of necessities is already a push factor for many a retiree. A welfare state that takes care of senior citizens or one with a lower cost of living would be more attractive to a retiree. It doesn't come as a surprise that Singaporeans have settled down in neighboring countries like Thailand, Malaysia and China, other than the popular destinations of US, UK and Canada.

Migration is also the key to the lock of the CPF safe. If one renounces his Singapore citizenship and has become the citizen of another country, he will be entitled to withdraw his CPF savings. The choice of withdrawing CPF monies and settling down in a destination with a lower cost of living would seem like an attractive option. I would surmise in the foreseeable future migration figures will sky-rocket despite the recent changes to the CPF policy. This could be a worrying sign for the investment arm of the Singapore government who use the CPF monies for investments.

What was Martin Jol thinking of?

Beleaguered Tottenham manager Martin Jol claims that only Arsenal come close to matching his record for introducing talented youngsters onto the first-team stage since he took over at White Hart Lane.

Of course Jol, who succeeded Jacques Santini as Spurs manager three years ago, has spent heavily in the transfer market i that time. But he says his biggest kick is watching Tottenham's youngsters into stars.

And he believes that the young players who have taken Arsenal to the top of the Premier League are no better than his own crop of young players, even though Spurs are currently in the bottom three.

Quoted in The Sun, Jol said: “I feel we have more talented players at Tottenham than any other club. Maybe only Arsenal have the same but their approach is different to mine.

“If you were fickle you would say it is the same for both clubs, but it isn’t. It’s totally different.

“Gael Clichy has been playing at Arsenal for years, getting used to his role behind Ashley Cole before he moved on. Then he comes into the team after a couple of years of preparation.

“Cesc Fabregas was there for three or four years. They were all on the bench and came on when things were going well.

“If your team is in a position where you are playing well and then you bring on, for example, Kevin-Prince Boateng or Adel Taarabt, it’s an easy decision to make.

“Sometimes you have to play them no matter what.

"I felt I had to play Gareth Bale because he is a good option. The same goes for Younes Kaboul. Against Middlesbrough I played Michael Dawson, 22, Kaboul, 20, Bale, 18. That is probably the difference with the big clubs.

“Kaboul, Boateng and Bale didn’t play in the Premier League until this season. Hopefully they will develop into very good players.”

Having been criticised for Tottenham's early-season results, which have pushed the tarhget of Champions League football some way into the distance, Jol said defensively: “It’s not always about the scoreboard. It’s about the development of players like Kaboul, Bale and Aaron Lennon.

“It’s been a bad start, but it’s not as bad as it seems. Nothing is as it seems in football.

“I have to combine the results with the development. Even at Arsenal that is not the case.

“I can mention five or six players who chose to come to Tottenham ahead of other clubs.

“When you buy players, especially young players, you’ve got to play them.

“Look at my team and you will see examples of young players getting the right opportunity here.

“If they see Tom Huddlestone, Lennon and Dawson playing, it is a good example for what someone new can achieve.

“How many years will it take them to develop? What are you on about — we finished fifth last year.

“My philosophy is to get players young, get them used to Spurs and the Premier League.”

No doubt Arsene Wenger would query Jol's assertion that Arsenal do not have to combine results with development.

Critics would also point out that while Tottenham do indeed have some talented young players - though many of them such as Bale, Kaboul, Lennon, Dawson and Huddlestone were bought expensively rather than scouted as unknown youngsters and nurtured through the academy - they do not yet play together as a successful team unit, as the league table confirms. That is a key difference between Tottenham and Arsenal at the moment.

Jermain Defoe might also be surprised by Jol's comment that, if you buy young players, you have got to play them - Source: Goal.com accessible at http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=428607

Perhaps, this is one of the more mundane posts, and it is about most guys' favorite topic - soccer. Apparently, I read during the wee hours of the morning that Monsieur Jol of Tottenham Hotspurs had seemingly claimed that Spurs' youngsters are as good as Arsenal's youngsters. I don't know how will Monsieur Wenger reply to Jol's remarks, but I figure Jol's words will be like a red cloth teasing the most bullish of supporters from both the white and red side of North London.

First and foremost, I would like to qualify myself as a neutral fan, who supports good attacking soccer. Maybe, I may sound biased towards Arsenal, but this is justified based on the free flowing football that Arsenal produces week in week out. If I was born earlier, I might have loved the generation of Spurs players spearheaded by the likes of Oswaldo Ardiles in the 1980s.

One of my initial impression of Jol's remarks is that he has to get a grip of things, and be able to segregate his vision from reality. Jol has done a whole world of good during the time he has been in charge, transforming Spurs from a mid-table team to one that finishes within the top 5 of the English Premier League. From the aforementioned excerpts, I believe Jol has a vision of watching his youngsters develop into future stars. However, realistically speaking, the youngsters at Arsenal are operating at a different plateau as compared to the ones at Spurs.

Firstly, Jol has erroneously pointed out that Arsenal bloods her youngsters when things are going well. That is not really true exactly. The Carling Cup has always been the platform used by Wenger to springboard the progress of his youngsters, and he has never shied away from fielding his fledglings against Premier League sides in the Carling Cup, even more during last season's amazing run to the Carling Cup final, when he stuck by his youngsters against the megastars of Chelsea. Even the neutrals were won over by the fact that the Wengerboys played the diamond-studded stars of Chelsea off the park during certain spells of the match. The Wengerboys had a measure of success of their own, claiming scalps against Premier League sides like Liverpool, Tottenham, and just this week, Newcastle.

Secondly, Jol has to realise the crucial factor of success building on success during the development of youngsters. The Arsenal team has successfully qualified for the UEFA Champions league every season. I would argue that participation in the UEFA Champions League will steepen the learning curve of many a youngster, a luxury that Wenger's youngsters enjoy. Indeed, for a youngster to test himself against Europe's elites, his exposure to the brand of soccer played by the other top sides in Europe and in facing world class players will surely broaden his horizon. I believe players like Gael Clichy, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, etc have been put through a steep learning curve on European nights. The burgeoning maturity of Wenger's youngsters culminated in their run to the UEFA Champions league final in 2005, with Cesc Fabregas stepping ably into Patrick Viera's shoes. This is why I believe that Arsenal's youngsters operate on a different plateau from Spur's youngsters.

Perhaps, Martin Jol needs a bit more time at Spurs in order to see his vision come into fruition. Wenger has been at Arsenal for more than 10 years and the entire club echoes his brand of footballing ethos from the boardroom to the football pitch. Arsenal's senior team, composed of a group of youngsters plays a triangular form of short passing game that is attractive to watch. The reserve team composed of another group of youngsters plays similarly. The youngsters could fit into the game that the senior team plays. The Arsenal forward, Nicklaus Bendtner, gave an apt epitomy of the Arsenal game - it's about passing and moving. This is not true in the case of Spurs whereby Bale, Kaboul, Dawson, Huddlestone and Lennon who have yet to show that they can click as a successful team unit. Wenger also had the support of the Arsenal boardroom, and his influence of "buying a player and moulding him the Arsenal way" is rather infectious. It is quite obvious that Wenger buys and selects players according to the system that he believes in, which is one of the reasons why his youngsters do not have much of a problem fitting into his team.

Another aspect of Wenger is his proven reputation in youth development. The work of Wenger's talent scouts such as Gilles Grimandi cannot be underestimated. George Weah, Thierry Henry, Patrick Viera and now Cesc Fabregas are among the products of Wenger's development. Young footballers cite Wenger as being the magnet behind their desire to move to Emirates.

It appears that Jol needs more time and other ingredients for his remarks to turn into reality.

Spoofed interview with Celine Dion by Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al Yankovic is an immensely talented musician, a one of a kind, whom in my honest opinion really owns the domain of song parody. Who would have forgotten his parody song of Michael Jackson's Bad - Fat, or his comical rapping to the tunes of Gangster's Paradise in Amish Paradise?

Notwithstanding his singing talents, he is also known for conducting spoofed interviews in his very own Al TV. Contemporary artistes alike are being projected in an awkward fashion, through their past recorded responses which were superimposed onto Al's hilarious jibes and queries. He claimed a "victim" in Celine Dion. Enjoy his "interview" with Celine Dion.

Changing the template of my blog

I have just received feedback from my students that my blog looked rather bland. Hence, I adjusted the background of my blog using a downloaded image of the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights), a beautiful and captivating natural phenomenon. Hopefully, it gives my blog a more colourful, albeit mystifying feel.

The eldest child is the smartest!

I found an interesting article in the International Herald Tribune, and it was found that the eldest child score on average three points higher than his/her other siblings in IQ tests. The reason is due to family dynamics rather than biological factors, e.g. changes in gestation processes. I guess the pressure is on the eldest to learn as much as possible about life in general, in order to guide his/her younger siblings. For those who are the eldest, do rejoice over the fact that you may be more intelligent. For those whom are not the eldest, you can always seek the counsel of your eldest sibling! Be comforted that you have your eldest sibling around to hold your hands and guide you through obstacles when you need him/her the most!


Citations

Benedict Carey. Family dynamics, not biology, behind higher IQ. International Herald Tribune accessible at http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/21/africa/siblings.php

Life Science queries

Students in my lessons, feel free to voice whatever queries, thoughts or views you may have during your course. I will try to respond ASAP. Remember no vulgarities, personal attacks, flaming or anything that is detrimental to the discussion.

Cancer, metastasis and the entire business of vesicle trafficking

Vesicle trafficking plays a part in cellular processes. Vesicles are formed, undergo expansion and completion, and finally participating in lysosomal degradation. Vesicles are involved in this process known as autophagy. Autophagosomes are double-membrane vesicles. In a paper published by Takahashi et al in Nature Cell Biology, it was found that Bif-1 interacts with Beclin-1, and together with ATG-5, is involved in the formation of autophagosomes. Loss of Bif-1 led to abrogation of autophagy, and the arising of spontaneous tumours in mice (Takahashi et al, 2007). It was also found that during the process of carcinogenesis in mice, there was reduced autophagic activity (Schwarze and Seglen, 1985). Indeed, it's interesting to note the part played by vesicle trafficking pathways in tumorigenesis. Vesicle trafficking pathways may play a part in metastasis. Jiang et al has found that the regulation of matrix metalloproteinase-1 activity was achieved by dynamin-mediated endocytosis (Jiang et al, 2001). The study of vesicle trafficking pathways in cancer and metastatic cells will gives us insights into how they actually assist in the latter's functions.


Citations

1) Yoshinori Takahashi, Domenico Coppola, Norimasa Matsushita, Hernani D. Cualing, Mei Sun, Yuya Sato, Chengyu Liang, Jae U. Jung, Jin Q. Cheng, James J. Mul, W. Jack Pledger & Hong-Gang Wang. Bif-1 interacts with Beclin 1 through UVRAG and regulates autophagy and tumorigenesis. Nature Cell Biology, 23 Septemter 2007

2) Schwarze, P. E. & Seglen, P. O. Reduced autophagic activity, improved protein balance and enhanced in vitro survival of hepatocytes isolated from carcinogen-treated rats. Exp. Cell Res. 157, 15–28 (1985)

3) Jiang A, Lehti K, Wang X, Weiss SJ, Keski-Oja J, Pei D. Regulation of membrane-type matrix metalloproteinase 1 activity by dynamin-mediated endocytosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Nov 20;98(24):13693-8.