Tuesday, July 31, 2018

All Time Fav Albums












































Since I have nothing bullish or non-depressing to post, I shall post about my all time fav albums. When we were younger, the list would change every few months, but the list kinda stop when you turn 35. See if you

have similar taste in music, or else you can post your fav in the comments section and reasons why. A better headline would be the top albums that I would take with me if I was LOST on an island with a CD player.
While redoing the list, I found that I could not keep it to ten, it had to be twelve, hence Countdown from number twelve:

12)
Tanto Tempo by Bebel Gilberto - Daughter of the brilliant Joao Gilberto. This is Brazilian music jazzed up and highly seductive and hypnotic. Best album from Latin America for the last 10 years, if not longer.

11) Tapestry by Carole King - If I did not have balls, this would have easily rated higher. So many songs from this album became timeless classics, such as You've Got A Friend and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow. Its a great snapshot of a singer-songwriter right at the very peak of musical genius.

10)
The Grand Illusion by The Styx - Loud, commercial but melodic band with loud hairstyles. Their best album by far. Every song has its own merits and weaved into a proper album. Derided by many but this album can stand the test of time. Check out The 70s Show parody of The Styx.

9)
December by George Winston - Takes a lot to listen to one fella playing one piano with no additional instrumentation. Feeling wistful, philosophical, or just a quiet night to reflect. His notes lift you up and touches your soul literally. The title track, though instrumental may make your tears well up. Really.

8)
Winelight by Grover Washington Jr & Bill Withers - Best romantic jazz ever. Enough said.

7)
Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs - This man has a weakish voice but his songs were brilliant. Again, this album captures him at his musical genius peak. Songs like We Are All Alone, Harbour Lights and my favourite Love Look What You've Done To Me. Highly under-rated.

6)
Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf - Another album that needed to be heard in its entirety. May be too melodic and commercial to rock fans but its the anthem 70s album for good reasons. Songs like Heaven Can Wait, Two out of Three Ain't Bad and the title track - how not to be a top favourite.

5)
Night At The Opera by Queen - Considered by many to be Queen's best album, but not to me, its the second best.

4)
Rumours by Fleetwood Mac - Too much grass and alcohol can turn out really good music. This dysfunctional group at its best. Every song is a gem. This album is one of the reasons why the 60s and 70s were considered to be the best periods for popular music.

3)
How Dare You by 10cc - Not many would select this album but its pure genius. You have to listen more than a few times to love it and then you are hooked for life. Its whimsical, very melodic and adventurous.

2)
Year of The Cat by Al Stewart - Absolutely fantastic folk rock album by an Englishman, very under-rated.

1)
Sheer Heart Attack by Queen - This will always be my top album. Its their raw talent at their finest. If you have a relative 35 and above buy him this for Christmas, if its an over 35 lady, cannot go wrong with Winelight or December.



Missing Out 

That's the trouble with compilation lists. You feel bad that you left out a few which maybe deserve a place as your favourites. Here is a list of those albums that just missed out:



16 Lovers Lane by The Go-Betweens 
A New World Record by ELO
 
Soul Deep by Jimmy Barnes
 
The Nightfly by Donald Fagen
 
Hotel California by The Eagles


Surfing With The Alien by Joe Satriani
Very Best Roll Over by Chage & Aska

A Decade of Steely Dan by Steely Dan

Btw, aren't those album covers wonderful art pieces, certainly stood the test of time.

Sunday, July 29, 2018

Destination Guide - Ipoh by The Edge team






This weekend’s The Edge has a special destination guide to almost all n sundry in Ipoh. The lavish and ambitious 112 pager was read with much skepticism by yours truly. 

But as an out and out Ipoh person, the publication is the best I have seen as a travel guide. There are plenty of nuanced references n insights that only the locals would know. The art works were spectacular n nostalgic. Photos the same. 

Too important not to buy and keep.



This piece of artwork was so good in the details.



The watercolour depictions of Blue Mosque, HoYanHor bldg and Concubine Lane were exceptional.

Unfortunately, there was one mistake, a pretty big mistake ... they put Cowan Street ayam tauge shop under "kaiseehorfun". 

Once and for all, kshf is made using prawn head stock as soup, has prawn slices, chicken, horfun/meen and kauchoy. 

Ngachoykai has ngachoy and chicken with soy mix. You can have ngachoykai with any kind of noodles of rice even.

Below, a delectable snap of most of the popular Ipoh Chinese pastry snacks. Heartwarming and authetic.



Friday, July 27, 2018

Wanted: A One-Armed Economist




One of the funnier stories I heard was a politician who was asked what was the first thing he would do if elected. The politician replied, "I will hire a one-armed economist."

I have always taken the piss out of economists. I did study the subject for two miserable years and if you take away the charts from economists, they would not have anything to talk about. Think about it!!! They always need to draw a chart.

A normal economist prediction would go something like this: " I think the US equity markets may have more upside in store as the prospects of lower rates by the Federal Reserve is still intact, though it looks more like 4Q rather than 3Q. On the other hand, the whole lowering rates scenario will be blown out of the water if future housing starts figures continue to surprise on the upside". Doesn't that piss you off, that's why we need only "one-armed economists" so that they cannot say "on the other hand..."

I mean, if you are going to be an analyst, fund manager, private banker, sales trader of calibre .. take a stand. Make value-add comments and stand by them. There are too many humdrum, me-too, l"et's all amble along so that nobody knows how average I am" mentality.

Again, going back to my favorite definition of an economist: Someone who tells you why their previous prediction went awry.

Monday, July 23, 2018

Top Glove's Troubled Acquisition

This has been well documented. The RM1.37bn purchase by Top Glove was completed only on April 4th this year. Secondly, the purchase was completed within 4 months.


PETALING JAYA: Top Glove Corp Bhd, whose shares tumbled as much as RM3.63 or 30% on Monday, said an investigation by an independent accounting firm showed that it overpaid RM640.5 million for the acquisition of Aspion Sdn Bhd.
Irregularities were discovered in certain balance sheet items of Aspion after it was taken over by Top Glove on April 4. Top Glove paid a whopping RM1.37 billion for Aspion.
"From the interim report given by the independent accounting firm, there is currently an overstatement of inventory, plant and machinery in Aspion's accounts amounting to RM74.4 million. Further, the interim report also states that the acquisition price of Aspion was overstated by RM640.5 million. Therefore, the claim amount of RM714.9 million in the legal proceedings consists of the overstatement of assets and the overvaluation," it told Bursa Malaysia on Monday.
Top Glove said, however, the litigation will not impact Aspion's business operations, which will continue as usual. It also stressed that the group's business operations remain resilient and scalable, with a healthy cashflow.
"Top Glove remains upbeat in terms of outlook. With the combined capabilities of Aspion, the group is confident of continued growth going forward. It recognises there will always be challenges in business and is focused on taking immediate steps to address the issues."


There were glaring questions still not covered by the journalists.

Who were the advisors for Top Glove? 
What actually did they advised? 
Who did the due diligence? 
Was it a limited due diligence, if so, there should be clawback, e.g. staggered payments till full due diligence is done.
Why was full sum paid prior to a full due diligence?
Was it too rushed? 
If so, why the rush? 
Where was the board's view in the scheme of things?
Were the advisors well versed with billion ringgit acquisitions? 
Where was the due diligence? 
Who were the accountants for the private company beforehand? 
How did they not qualify the financials before?

Thursday, July 19, 2018

That's Not The Way Share Market Works



Encik Shahril of Sapura Energy had to defend his total take-home package of around RM70m a year for the past few years. Specifically since FY 2014.

His defense was that there was a covenant. If he won't sell his shares, the company would get better interest rates on loans. Seemingly to imply that some major lenders will only lend to Sapura Energy only if he stayed.

Errr, that's not the way a share market works. The remuneration committee cannot and should not take into account whatever "covenant" with lenders intimated with the CEO. It is like saying I am the CEO and I had to sell my mother's house so that I don't have to sell my shares in the company, so that share price doesn't collapse and the lenders only wanted to deal with me as CEO. That's not the way a share market works... I think.

Are you telling me that all 1,000 banks in Asia would not lend to you unless you stay as CEO and do not sell your shares? Even if that was the case, was the RM50-80m a year from FY2014 to compensate you for "opportunity cost" and "losses"? Who compensates the minority shareholders' losses???? That's not the way sharemarket works.

The remuneration committee can choose to reward the CEO if there had been reasonable stretch targets met, or even positioning the company to meet future challenges. The bottom line is that whatever you reward the CEO must have been to the benefit of ALL SHAREHOLDERS, either in new earnings achieved or price appreciation. There has been none of that.

You can try to argue that the CEO has positioned the company to face the new market conditions and restrategize the company's direction over the last few years. Hence all shareholders will benefit from that. Again, while that is all good, IT MUST BE REFLECTED IN EARNINGS and PRICE APPRECIATION. If the positioning is so good for long term, then give la bonus WHEN these long-term strategies pan out. NOT BEFORE THAT.





The market cap of Sapura Energy has been between RM3.3bn to RM4.5bn over the last 12 months. At RM80m a year, that means the CEO gets approximately 1% to 2% of total market cap of the company a year. If the company continues to lose money, or even break even for 10 years... it means the CEO would have gotten between 10% to 20% of the market cap of the company for not doing terribly well.

Mind you Encik Shahril owns just 16%, which translates to a value of RM520m to RM720m. Now put that in perspective, RM70m-RM80m in compensation a year is a bit much.

That's certainly not how the share market works. I think.


(above is a copy of the remuneration framework of a good listed company ... in this case, it was Apple Inc.)

It is not just at Sapura Energy. Just go and examine the total board compensation, in particular to the CEO, of the following companies. The board remuneration is totally out of whack with whatever business metrics you want to use to measure good or great performance:

Genting
KNM
Salcon
Maybank
IHH Healthcare
IOI
Maxis
TA Enterprise
YTL

There are those who are owner controlled, which makes it difficult when they pay themselves an over the top amount. You already owned a controlling stake, if you perform well, your equity will rise. Be like Li Ka Shing, he pays himself HK5,000 dollar a year as compensation.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Asset Class Returns In The USA


The brilliant snapshot of asset class returns compiled by Blackrock makes for interesting analysis. See if you can deduce any pointers from the table. 100 persons could be looking at the same table and arrive at differing conclusions. 








To develop a keen interest in investing is the continue to develop your ability to link and see cause-and-effects from seemingly disparate factors. 

a) Look at 2008 when the financial crisis impacted. When all hell breaks loose, does it matter what kind of stocks you were in? Well, long and short answer, NO. Large caps core -37%, Large caps growth -38.4%, Large caps value -36.9%, Small caps -33.8%. There's no place to hide apparently. But when big boss sneezes, the rest of the world catches a worse cold, EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T BLOODY OUR FAULT!!! International stocks were down -43.4%. Where is the justification?

b) The following years till 2017 were all UP years, thanks to the relentless printing of money by the Federal Reserve and EU. The exception was 2011 where equities had a terrible year. When the US had a terrible year you can bet that international equities would have an even worse year. Large cap growth 2.6%, Large cap core 2.1%, Large cap value 0.4%, Small caps -4.2%... and international equities ta-dah -12.1%.

c) For those risk-averse players selecting dividend stocks, well, they performed as expected in a normal market. But when crisis hits like in 2008, it was also down -22.8%. In the difficult 2011 dividend stocks only eked out a 1.8% return.

d) Two down years out of 11 is not that bad, but it also points to the conclusion that we are ripe for another DOWN/CRISIS year soon. It comes around like clockwork because markets never forget and investors always forget, and you can quote me on this.

e) Just look at the last 5 years, these equity asset classes are just taking their sweet rotational play year in year out thanks to low-interest rates and excess liquidity due to the flagrant printing of money. There's nothing academic about it, just kids playing with an increasing number of toys.

... we are ripe for another DOWN/CRISIS year soon. It comes around like clockwork because markets never forget and investors always forget ...





Saturday, July 14, 2018

Catch These Movies: THE LEAKERS & BROTHER OF THE YEAR


The Leakers - Helmed by the often brilliant Herman Yau Nai Hoi (whom I believe was from Malaysia who became a great success in HK films). 70% of the movie was shot in Georgetown. 












Good story, good plot twists galore, non-stop action, even the two car chases in Penang were pretty well done. Good acting from the top 4 cast members: Julian Cheung, Charmaine Sheh, Francis Ng and Kent Cheng. 





Two sons of a Malaysian pharmaceutical owner went against their father's business practices. Reliving SARs all over again somewhat. Part Mission Impossible, put in two cops - one straight as an arrow, the other to solve crimes at all cost. Non stop action. 90/100






Brother of The Year - The Thais continue to win more Asian viewers with their non-horror genre such as Bad Genius and this comedy feature. Kind of simple story but good storyline and acting, in particular towards the last 1/3 of the movie, managed to dissect many dysfunctional brother-sister relationships. 88/100



Thursday, July 12, 2018

The Tide Has Turned?



The local bourse has been drifting down for weeks now with no respite in sight. As written a few weeks back, Malaysia's problems were not largely associated with the USA-China trade wars:

The ProblemsWe are in the midst of "house-cleaning", while we are quite prepared to be patient, a few things are noteworthy. 

a) Removing of GLC CEOs and other BN appointees from important government positions - While I wholeheartedly support this, it also hampers all these affected GLCs to "move" or carry out projects. Nobody dares to negotiate contracts as the situation at the top is still fluid. This has to be managed FAST and QUICK. The longer we carry out this bloodletting, the longer the downtrend of the market will be. There is a very low-velocity number in the current velocity of money.

b) Tainted Companies - Those not in the GLCs bracket but 'tainted' listed companies are affected as well. Quite a number of these company owners are currently hiding in overseas waiting for the dust to settle. When the owners are not around and their fate so uncertain, these companies will do as little as possible.

c) Clean Listed Companies - They may not need to hide but since nothing is moving at the government level, it also meant the wheels of economic activity also grinds to a halt. 



Our PM and the Council of Elders must put in their strategy and action plan to work fast. More so when it comes to Malaysia because our country is highly dependent on the stock market as a major catalyst for domestic economic activity. Malaysia has one of the highest percentages of GDP that is listed on the stock market (over 75% by guesstimate) - that translates to a high correlation for market activity with the real economy.

However, today saw some silver lining appearing when the Minister of Finance approves the go-ahead for LRT3 project.



http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/george-kent-mrcb-after-lrt3-set-proceed

This was very significant as instead of removing people from GLCs, we are starting to green light projects. Things needed to move. This move, in particular, was more meaningful in other ways. This project basically helmed by two "friendly counters to Najib's administration" (one more so than the other). It may be a signal that the bloodletting is over, now let's move on. As long as you stay the course of proper business management with no impropriety, you can be part of New Malaysia. If that's the message, its a huge relief for plenty of listed company owners.




TIMING

The timing couldn't have come at a better time. Let's look at the China trips coming up for Malaysia's top guns:

a) Finance Minister will be going to China end of the month of July

b) Tun Daim will be going a few days before Lim Guan Eng

c) PM will be going to China mid August.

Last month, it was reported that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said Guan Eng and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers will travel to China soon to discuss with relevant officials about the two gas pipeline projects under SSER. Before that, Dr Mahathir had also noted the need to renegotiate unequal terms of the controversial ECRL project.

So why do we need 3 separate trips? One can only argue about it logically since I am not inside those meeting rooms.

My theory is that Tun Daim has to go earlier than LGE to meet with "the real big guns" behind the scenes with appointments set up by Robert Kuok. Why? Because the whole shebang with China needs to be concluded positively with no hiccups.

I expect Daim and Robert to meet with people who can work the overall strategic picture. I expect the two to voice the case for Malaysia, how we have turned a corner, how we now have to grapple with a significant level of government debt and liabilities, how China can use the situation to further clamp down on "corruption" by China state firms overseas, how both countries can come up smelling like roses ...

China needs Malaysia in a way to consolidate ties in Southeast Asia, not just for the One Belt One Road thing but strategically China wants a partner to have indirect oversight over the Straits of Melaka, militarily and economically.

Only with the "heads up OK" from the real bigwigs can LGE go and renegotiate better terms for the existing China-linked contracts in Malaysia.

Hence when PM goes over, it will be a rapturous ceremony to seal the beginning of a new partnership. I see palm oil buying to be a major issue which can jump start Malaysia's major industry. Closer ties and agreements with respect to foreign exchange and mutual "support" of each others' currencies and its usage in trade could be forthcoming.

These potential developments are important as there are still plenty of genuine projects related to One Belt One Road for Malaysia and China. It will also mean that its not a "sin" to have a China company as partner in future projects.

The tide has finally turned?

Cautiously optimistic.

Monday, July 09, 2018

Read Romelu Lukaku's Story



Besides supporting my good friend from Belgium ... read Lukaku's story (blood, sweat, tears and some more):

...He was like, “How old is this kid? Where is his I.D.? Where is he from?” I thought, Where am I from? What? I was born in Antwerp. I’m from Belgium.
I knew we were struggling. But when she was mixing in water with the milk, I realized it was over, you know what I mean? This was our life.
If you don’t like the way I play, that’s fine. But I was born here. I grew up in Antwerp, and Liège and Brussels. I dreamed of playing for Anderlecht. I dreamed of being Vincent Kompany. I’ll start a sentence in French and finish it in Dutch, and I’ll throw in some Spanish or Portuguese or Lingala, depending on what neighborhood we’re in.
I’m Belgian.



I've Got Some Things to Say






JUN 18 2018





I
remember the exact moment I knew we were broke. I can still picture my mum at the refrigerator and the look on her face. 
I was six years old, and I came home for lunch during our break at school. My mum had the same thing on the menu every single day: Bread and milk. When you’re a kid, you don’t even think about it. But I guess that’s what we could afford. 
Then this one day I came home, and I walked into the kitchen, and I saw my mum at the refrigerator with the box of milk, like normal. But this time she was mixing something in with it. She was shaking it all up, you know? I didn’t understand what was going on. Then she brought my lunch over to me, and she was smiling like everything was cool. But I realized right away what was going on.
She was mixing water in with the milk. We didn’t have enough money to make it last the whole week. We were broke. Not just poor, but broke. 
My father had been a pro footballer, but he was at the end of his career and the money was all gone. The first thing to go was the cable TV. No more football. No more Match of the Day. No signal. 
Then I’d come home at night and the lights would be shut off. No electricity for two, three weeks at a time. 
Then I’d want to take a bath, and there would be no hot water. My mum would heat up a kettle on the stove, and I’d stand in the shower splashing the warm water on top of my head with a cup.
There were even times when my mum had to “borrow” bread from the bakery down the street. The bakers knew me and my little brother, so they’d let her take a loaf of bread on Monday and pay them back on Friday.
I knew we were struggling. But when she was mixing in water with the milk, I realized it was over, you know what I mean? This was our life.
I didn’t say a word. I didn’t want her to stress. I just ate my lunch. But I swear to God, I made a promise to myself that day. It was like somebody snapped their fingers and woke me up. I knew exactly what I had to do, and what I was going to do. 
I couldn’t see my mother living like that. Nah, nah, nah. I couldn’t have that. 
People in football love to talk about mental strength. Well, I’m the strongest dude you’re ever going to meet. Because I remember sitting in the dark with my brother and my mom, saying our prayers, and thinking, believing, knowing … it’s going to happen. 
I kept my promise to myself for a while. But then some days I’d come home from school and find my mum crying. So I finally told her one day, “Mum, it’s gonna change. You’ll see. I’m going to play football for Anderlecht, and it’s going to happen soon. We’ll be good. You won’t have to worry anymore.”
I was six. 
I asked my father, “When can you start playing professional football?”
He said, “Sixteen.” 
I said, “O.K., sixteen then.” 
It was going to happen. Period. 
Let me tell you something — every game I ever played was a Final. When I played in the park, it was a Final. When I played during break in kindergarten, it was a Final. I’m dead-ass serious. I used to try to tear the cover off the ball every time I shot it. Full power. We weren’t hitting R1, bro. No finesse shot. I didn’t have the new FIFA. I didn’t have a Playstation. I wasn’t playing around. I was trying to kill you.
When I started growing taller, some of the teachers and the parents would be stressing me. I’ll never forget the first time I heard one of the adults say, “Hey, how old are you? What year were you born?” 
I’m like, What? Are you serious? 
When I was 11 years old, I was playing for the Lièrse youth team, and one of the parents from the other team literally tried to stop me from going on the pitch. He was like, “How old is this kid? Where is his I.D.? Where is he from?”
I thought, Where am I from? What? I was born in Antwerp. I’m from Belgium.
My dad wasn’t there, because he didn’t have a car to drive to my away games. I was all alone, and I had to stand up for myself. I went and got my I.D. from my bag and showed it to all the parents, and they were passing it around inspecting it, and I remember the blood just rushing through me … and I thought, “Oh, I’m gonna kill your son even more now. I was already going to kill him, but now I’m gonna destroy him. You’re gonna drive the boy home crying now.”
I wanted to be the best footballer in Belgian history. That was my goal. Not good. Not great. The best. I played with so much anger, because of a lot of things … because of the rats running around in our apartment … because I couldn’t watch the Champions League … because of how the other parents used to look at me. 
I was on a mission. 
When I was 12, I scored 76 goals in 34 games. 
I scored them all wearing my dad’s shoes. Once our feet got to be the same size, we used to share. 
One day I called up my grandfather — my mum’s dad. He was one of the most important people in my life. He was my connection back to Congo, where my mum and dad are from. So I was on the phone with him one day, and I said, “Yeah, I’m doing really well. I scored 76 goals, and we won the league. The big teams are noticing me.” 
And usually, he always wanted to hear about my football. But this time it was strange. He said, “Yeah, Rom. Yeah, that’s great. But can you do me a favor?”
I said, “Yeah, what is it?” 
He said, “Can you look after my daughter, please?”
I remember being so confused. Like, what’s Grandad on about?
I said, “Mum? Yeah, we’re cool. We’re O.K.” 
He said, “No, promise me. Can you promise me? Just look after my daughter. Just look after her for me, O.K.?” 
I said, “Yeah, Granddad. I got it. I promise you.” 
Five days later he passed away. And then I understood what he really meant. 
It makes me so sad to think about, because I just wish that he could have lived another four years to see me play for Anderlecht. To see that I kept my promise, you know? To see that everything was going to be O.K. 
I told my mum that I would make it at 16. 
I was late by 11 days. 
May 24, 2009. 
The playoff final. Anderlecht vs. Standard Liège.
John Thys/AFP/Getty Images
That was the craziest day of my life. But we have to back up for a minute. Because at the start of the season, I was barely playing for the Anderlecht U-19s. The coach had me coming off the bench. I’m like, “How the hell am I going to sign a pro contract on my 16th birthday if I’m still on the bench for the U-19s?” 
So I made a bet with our coach. 
I told him, “I’ll guarantee you something. If you actually play me, I’m going to score 25 goals by December.” 
He laughed. He literally laughed at me. 
I said, “Let’s make a bet then.” 
He said, “O.K., but if you don’t score 25 by December, you’re going to the bench.”
I said, “Fine, but if I win, you’re going to clean all the minivans that take the players home from training.” 
He said, “O.K., it’s a deal.” 
I said, “And one more thing. You have to make pancakes for us every day.” 
He said, “O.K., fine.” 
That was the dumbest bet that man ever made. 
I had 25 by November. We were eating pancakes before Christmas, bro. 
Let that be a lesson. You don’t play around with a boy who’s hungry!
Romelu Lukaku Remembers His First Goal
I signed my pro contract with Anderlecht on my birthday, May 13. Went straight out and bought the new FIFA and a cable package. It was already the end of the season, so I was at home chilling. But the Belgian league was crazy that year, because Anderlecht and Standard Liege had finished tied on points. So there was a two-leg playoff to decide the title. 
During the first leg, I’m at home watching on TV like a fan. 
Then the day before the second leg, I get a phone call from the coach of the reserves. 
“Hello?” 
“Hello, Rom. What are you doing?”
“About to go play football in the park.”
“No, no, no, no, no. Pack your bags. Right now.” 
“What? What did I do?”
“No, no, no. You need to get to the stadium right now. The first team wants you now.” 
“Yo …. What?! Me?!”
“Yeah, you. Come now.” 
I literally sprinted into my dad’s bedroom and was like, “Yo! Get your ass up right now! We gotta go, man!” 
He’s like, “Huh? What? Go where?” 
I’m like, “ANDERLECHT, MAN.” 
I’ll never forget, I showed up to the stadium, and I like pretty much ran into the dressing room and the kitman said, “O.K., kid, what number do you want?” 
And I said, “Give me number 10.”
The kitman said, “O.K., kid, what number do you want?” And I said, “Give me number 10.”
Hahahaha! I don’t know. I was too young to be scared I guess. 
He was like, “Academy players have to take 30 and above.” 
I said, “O.K., well, three plus six equals nine, and that’s a cool number, so give me 36.”
That night at the hotel, the senior players made me sing a song for them at dinner. I can’t even remember what I picked. My head was spinning. 
The next morning, my friend literally knocked on the door of my house to see if I wanted to play football and my mum was like, “He’s out playing.” 

My friend said, “Playing where?”
She said, “The final.” 
We got off the bus at the stadium, and every single player walked in wearing a cool suit. Except me. I came off the bus wearing a terrible tracksuit, and all the TV cameras were right in my face. The walk to the locker room was like 300 meters. Maybe a three-minute walk. As soon as I put my foot in the locker room, my phone starts blowing up. Everybody had seen me on TV. I had 25 messages in three minutes. My friends were going crazy. 
“Bro?! WHY ARE YOU AT THE GAME?!”
“Rom, what is happening? WHY ARE YOU ON TV?” 
The only person I texted back was my best friend. I said, “Bro, I don’t know if I’m gonna play. I don’t know what’s going on. But just keep watching the TV.”

p/s  To read the rest of article, please click on link above