Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Regina Brett's 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on

I received this interesting piece of writing through my email. Of course, there're a few things that she wrote that are not quite suitable to us, as Muslims... but, overall, most of them are quite useful for us to face the challenges of our every day lives.


By Regina Brett

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay-check.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

To reach this Plain Dealer columnist, email to: rbrett@plaind.com

From HERE

Monday, October 26, 2009

Daulat Tuanku

Congratulations to His Royal Highness Tuanku Muhriz ibni Al-Marhum Tuaku Munawir for the occasion of his official coronaration as the 11th Yang Dipertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan; and to Her Royal Highness Tengku Aishah Rohani Tengku Besar Mahmud for her installation as the Tunku Ampuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan (on April 14, 200).

May Allah bless His Royal Highness and his family, and may Allah bless the beautiful state of Negeri Sembilan.

------------------

Lagu Kebesaran Negeri Sembilan

Berkatlah Yang Di Pertuan Besar
Di Negeri Sembilan
Kurniai sihat dan makmur
Kasihi rakyat lanjutkan umur
Akan berkati sekalian yang setia
Musuhnya habis binasa
Berkatlah Yang Dipertuan Besar
Di Negeri Sembilan

Listen to the song HERE

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Don Corleone


I brought the family to Magrudy's book store a few days ago. My kids and wife are readers.... they like to read. Even Apit reads... although I don't know if he understands any of the words. But it's good to start them early.

My parents have brought us up well... instilling the reading culture in the three of us. I am planning to do the same with my three kids.

I remember that my father used to travel and brought back books as one of the souvenirs. At my parents' home in Kota, we have a lot of books from all kinds of genres.... from academics to fictions to history... you name it.

Back to our visit to Magrudy's... I was actually thinking of buying myself another James Patterson's Alex Cross novel. But I found a few titles that were available and I didn't know which one to chose. Had I just got my paycheck, I would have bought the whole collection.

Then I saw it... The Godfather by Mario Puzo. To tell the truth, I am a fan of those Mafia films... especially those set in the 1940s & 50s... They really looked cool in those fedora hats and long over-coats, weilding those drum-magazine-fed M1 Thompson machine-guns.

I have read about one half of it now and found Signor Puzo a really great story-teller.... with simple and easy language & plot-lines.

Ok.... enough for now.... I want to finish reading this... After this, maybe, I'll look for the film trilogy... The Godfather (1972), The Godfather II (1974) & The Godfather III(1990)... starring Marlon Brando, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Al Pachino, Andy Garcia & Robert De Niro among others.... talking about star-studded cast.....

Save the Rain Forests


I was watching CNN in my hotel room in Tehran when a promo showing, among others, Robin Williams, Harrison Ford and Princes Charles, William and Harry appeared. It was about the Prince of Wales’ initiative to save the rain forest.... It's called The Prince's Rainforests Project.

Suddenly, the environmentalist in me came out.

I realized that we have been destroying and polluting our world, our home, with our activities (in the name of "Development") and we seemed to content that it will heal itself. Well, obviously, we were wrong.

How can we expect a fallen tree to grow back if we didn't plant a new one? I think most of the people associated with the environmental movement may have heard about the principles of Sustainable Development.

Sustainable Development has a lot of definition, depending upon from which perpective we are looking from. One of them is:

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." - Brundtland Commission, 1987

In layman's term, "we shouldn't take more than we can give back, for the sake of our future generations".

Let's look at the issue at hands.... the rain forests. If we keep destroying our rain forests, which is one of our natural heritages, our future generations will have to pay for it dearly.... to the very least. If nothing is done now, the Green Lungs of our World will be just a piece of history then. The whole world will be ecologically un-balanced. And the effect will definitely be devastating. It would be like a self-inflicted Armageddon, if I may say so.

So, let’s stop tropical deforestation, in fact all deforestations, and lend our hands in keeping our heritage intact. If not for us, let’s do it for our children, our grandchildren....and the future generations.

Please click HERE and send your message. Insya-Allah, your effort will not go in vain.

---------------------------

Here are some important things to know about our rain forest.....

Rainforests wrap around the equator of the earth like a green belt. After millions of years of evolution, they are the most biologically rich ecosystems on our planet. Tropical rainforests contain a hugely rich diversity of species of plants and animals. They are also home to many different indigenous people, who have unique and treasured cultures.

Valuable resources for everyone
Rainforests are precious resources for all of us – not just for the nations in which they are found. They provide vital ecosystem benefits for the whole world. They store water, regulate rainfall and provide a home to over half the planet’s biodiversity. But more importantly, they also play a crucial role in climate change. And that’s why we’re worried.

When it comes to climate change, the destruction of rainforests has a double whammy effect for everyone. Rainforests absorb almost a fifth of the world’s man-made CO2 emissions every year. But tropical deforestation releases an extra 17% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. So if the rainforests are destroyed, it’s bad news on both counts.

Rapid deforestation
Rainforests around the world are being destroyed at an alarming rate. This is increasingly due to destructive logging operations and conversion of the land for farming use. Cutting down and burning tropical forests to clear the land in this way enables rainforest nations to provide globally traded commodities, such as timber, palm oil, beef and soy. The world’s population is likely to increase from 6 billion to 9 billion over the next 40 years. This population growth, combined with rising incomes, will lead to a continual increasing demand for food, animal feed and fuel. And this, in turn, will lead to more destruction of rainforests – with devastating effects for everyone.

The need for urgent action
The Prince’s Rainforests Project believes that emergency funding is needed to help protect rainforests and to encourage rainforest nations to continue to develop without the need for deforestation.

If we don’t take action, we could lose another 100 million hectares of tropical forests over the next 10 years – that’s an area the size of Egypt.

Saving the rainforests will give the world a better chance to achieve its goals of stabilising climate change, while also preserving important ecosystem benefits, not to mention the fact that over one billion of the poorest people on Earth depend on the rainforests for their livelihoods.

The need for action is urgent. Recent research shows that it will be impossible to avoid catastrophic climate change without it [1].

Sources
1 McKinsey & Company, ‘Global GHG Abatement Cost Curve v2' (2009); ClimateWorks Foundation / McKinsey & Company ‘Project Catalyst'


From HERE

Monday, October 19, 2009

Rebranding America – Bono

OCT 18 - A few years ago, I accepted a Golden Globe award by barking out an expletive.

One imagines President Obama did the same when he heard about his Nobel, and not out of excitement.

When Obama takes the stage at Oslo City Hall this December, he won’t be the first sitting president to receive the peace prize, but he might be the most controversial. There’s a sense in some quarters of these not-so-United States that Norway, Europe and the World haven’t a clue about the real President Obama; instead, they fixate on a fantasy version of the president, a projection of what they hope and wish he is, and what they wish America to be.

Well, I happen to be European, and I can project with the best of them. So here’s why I think the virtual Obama is the real Obama, and why I think the man might deserve the hype. It starts with a quotation from a speech he gave at the United Nations last month:

“We will support the Millennium Development Goals, and approach next year’s summit with a global plan to make them a reality. And we will set our sights on the eradication of extreme poverty in our time.”

They’re not my words, they’re the president’s. If they’re not familiar, it’s because they didn’t make many headlines. But for me, these 36 words are why I believe Obama could well be a force for peace and prosperity — if the words signal action.

The millennium goals, for those of you who don’t know, are a persistent nag of a noble, global compact. They’re a set of commitments we all made nine years ago whose goal is to halve extreme poverty by 2015. Barack Obama wasn’t there in 2000, but he’s there now. Indeed he’s gone further — all the way, in fact. Halve it, he says, then end it.

Many have spoken about the need for a rebranding of America. Rebrand, restart, reboot. In my view these 36 words, alongside the administration’s approach to fighting nuclear proliferation and climate change, improving relations in the Middle East and, by the way, creating jobs and providing health care at home, are rebranding in action.

These new steps — and those 36 words — remind the world that America is not just a country but an idea, a great idea about opportunity for all and responsibility to your fellow man.

All right ... I don’t speak for the rest of the world. Sometimes I think I do — but as my bandmates will quickly (and loudly) point out, I don’t even speak for one small group of four musicians. But I will venture to say that in the farthest corners of the globe, the president’s words are more than a pop song people want to hear on the radio. They are lifelines.

In dangerous, clangorous times, the idea of America rings like a bell (see King, M.L., Jr., and Dylan, Bob). It hits a high note and sustains it without wearing on your nerves. (If only we all could.) This was the melody line of the Marshall Plan and it’s resonating again.

Why? Because the world sees that America might just hold the keys to solving the three greatest threats we face on this planet: extreme poverty, extreme ideology and extreme climate change. The world senses that America, with renewed global support, might be better placed to defeat this axis of extremism with a new model of foreign policy.

It is a strangely unsettling feeling to realise that the largest navy, the fastest air force, the fittest strike force, cannot fully protect us from the ghost that is terrorism .... Asymmetry is the key word from Kabul to Gaza .... Might is not right.

I think back to a phone call I got a couple of years ago from General James Jones. At the time, he was retiring from the top job at Nato; the idea of a President Obama was a wild flight of the imagination.

General Jones was curious about the work many of us were doing in economic development, and how smarter aid — embodied in initiatives like President George W. Bush’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief and the Millennium Challenge Corporation — was beginning to save lives and change the game for many countries.

Remember, this was a moment when America couldn’t get its cigarette lit in polite European nations like Norway; but even then, in the developing world, the United States was still seen as a positive, even transformative, presence.

The general and I also found ourselves talking about what can happen when the three extremes — poverty, ideology and climate — come together.

We found ourselves discussing the stretch of land that runs across the continent of Africa, just along the creeping sands of the Sahara — an area that includes Sudan and northern Nigeria.

He also agreed that many people didn’t see that the Horn of Africa — the troubled region that encompasses Somalia and Ethiopia — is a classic case of the three extremes becoming an unholy trinity (I’m paraphrasing) and threatening peace and stability around the world.

The military man also offered me an equation. Stability = security + development.

In an asymmetrical war, he said, the emphasis had to be on making American foreign policy conform to that formula.

Enter Barack Obama.

If that last line still seems like a joke to you ... it may not for long.

Obama has put together a team of people who believe in this equation. That includes the general himself, now at the National Security Council; the vice president, a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; the Republican defence secretary; and a secretary of state, someone with a long record of championing the cause of women and girls living in poverty, who is now determined to revolutionise health and agriculture for the world’s poor.

And it looks like the bipartisan coalition in Congress that accomplished so much in global development over the past eight years is still holding amid rancour on pretty much everything else. From a development perspective, you couldn’t dream up a better dream team to pursue peace in this way, to rebrand America.

The president said that he considered the peace prize a call to action. And in the fight against extreme poverty, it’s action, not intentions, that counts. That stirring sentence he uttered last month will ring hollow unless he returns to next year’s United Nations summit meeting with a meaningful, inclusive plan, one that gets results for the billion or more people living on less than $1 a day. Difficult. Very difficult. But doable.

The Nobel Peace Prize is the rest of the world saying, “Don’t blow it.”

But that’s not just directed at Obama. It’s directed at all of us. What the president promised was a “global plan,” not an American plan. The same is true on all the other issues that the Nobel committee cited, from nuclear disarmament to climate change — none of these things will yield to unilateral approaches. They’ll take international cooperation and American leadership.

The president has set himself, and the rest of us, no small task.

That’s why America shouldn’t turn up its national nose at popularity contests. In the same week that Obama won the Nobel, the United States was ranked as the most admired country in the world, leapfrogging from seventh to the top of the Nation Brands Index survey — the biggest jump any country has ever made. Like the Nobel, this can be written off as meaningless ... a measure of Obama’s celebrity (and we know what people think of celebrities).

But an America that’s tired of being the world’s policeman, and is too pinched to be the world’s philanthropist, could still be the world’s partner. And you can’t do that without being, well, loved.

Here come the letters to the editor, but let me just say it: Americans are like singers — we, just a little bit, kind of like to be loved. The British want to be admired; the Russians, feared; the French, envied. (The Irish, we just want to be listened to.)

But the idea of America, from the very start, was supposed to be contagious enough to sweep up and enthrall the world.

And it is. The world wants to believe in America again because the world needs to believe in America again. We need your ideas — your idea — at a time when the rest of the world is running out of them. – NYT

* Bono is the lead singer of the band U2 and a co-founder of the advocacy group ONE and (Product) RED.

From HERE

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Of Back-pain and Petai

It has been quite some times since I last logged in my own writings in this blog.

It’s not that I didn’t have anything to write, though. It’s just that I was too lazy to write anything.

So, let me start with this painful and irritating back ache that I had for the past few weeks. I don’t remember how it started... but probably some times during the first few days of Ramadhan. At first, it was ok... I was able to instruct my body, and mind, to ignore it.

The pain got worse after the Eid celebration (it a bit redundant, isn’t it because Eid also means celebration)... with all the lemang, rendangs, ketupats, an occasional carbo-drinks....

It got even worse when I had to attend the meeting with our business partners. It’s not actually a meeting, though. We were showcasing the new lines of product and our business plans for the next 6 months. So, most of us had to stand up because the chairs in the room were only meant for the guest.

Well for me, the pain was still manageable... but when the spasms hit... hehehe, then you’ll know how painful it was. I had to stay stationary for about 10-20 seconds because it was so painful to move.

I remember 1-2 years ago when the worst of my back pains hit me. I was just finishing my morning shower and was bending down to take the ablution for the Fajr prayer. Then, suddenly I felt it in my lower back.... but it was still bearable. So, I went to work as usual. But in a few hours after that, the pain got worse.... I couldn’t walk straight and it was a labour for me to get into the car to go home. When I got home, I couldn’t climb the stairs to the 2nd floor of our house because each time I raised my legs the pain would hit me like, well, hell.

Then, came the spasms. My family was actually at the receiving end of my tirades.... I pity them, but what could I do.... I was in so much pain. Well, actually, I don’t think I can tell this story further without any derogatory remarks....so, I should stop here, shouldn’t I?

I figured that there’s too much gas (angin) and toxic in my circulation, coupled with my weight and my belly, of course. That didn’t do my back any favour.... and from time to time, I also had to carry Apit... especially during the fasting month (he didn’t fast but when nobody else was eating, he ate less and grew tired easily).

So, my wife and I thought that we have to find something that could dispose off some of the gas and toxic from my system.

The answer was PETAI (Parkia speciosa). We found some in the Karama market. My wife cooked them with some prawns (sambal udang petai)... I also ate them raw as “ulam”s. The results... hehehe....need I say more....?

The only negative thing is that it smells, and it will make your breath and you flatulent smell bad as well.... and you will incur the ire of the cleaning guy/lady at your office toilet.... hahahaha.

Now my back is getting better. At least the spasms are gone now.... But I know that I have to start exercising now.... I have not been feeling great for a few months now.... I figure that if I can reduce my weight by 1kg every month, I’ll be 10kg lighter before my next birthday. Here's hoping......

Before I end this entry, let me share some benefits of the petai from a Prof in UKM. I'm not sure if there're really true scientific studies done but it's interesting to know and it doesn't hurt to try, does it?
------------------------
Interesting Facts about PETAI (PETE)

Little did you know..... after reading THIS, you'll NEVER look at petai
in the same way again!

Petai contain three natural sugars -sucrose, fructose and glucose - combined with fiber, petai gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proved that just two servings of petai provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder petai is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way petai can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND among people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating petai. This is because petai contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS (premenstrual syndrome): Forget the pills - eat petai. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, petai can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the petai industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating petai at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including petai in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a petai milk shake, sweetened with honey. The petai calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Petai has a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating petai for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on petai between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of the petai skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Petai is high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Overweight Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
Ulcers: Petai is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Temperature control: Many other cultures see petai as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Holland, for example, pregnant women eat petai to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Petai can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer, tryptophan.

Smoking: Petai can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium petai snack.

Strokes: According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine," eating petai as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%".

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of petai and place it on the wart. Carefully hold the petai in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, you see, petai really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe it’s time to change that well-known phrase so that we say,
"A Petai a day keeps the doctor away".

PM Dr.Aminuddin AHK
Dept. of Physiology
Medical faculty of UKM
Kuala Lumpur
Tel:6(03)40405157
fax:6(03)26939687

Side effect: This fruit give bad breath and smelly stomach gases

Monday, October 12, 2009

Iran a good market for Malaysian goods, says Matrade

DUBAI, Oct 12 — Despite the challenges of doing business with Iran, the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) views the Islamic republic as a fertile ground for Malaysian exports.

Matrade's senior trade commissioner based in Dubai, Dzulkifli Mahmud, said Malaysian exports to the Islamic republic were valued at RM1.19 billion in the first seven months of 2009.
In a further sign of Iranian importers and buyers' growing confidence in high-quality Malaysian products, a Matrade-led Malaysian business delegation succeeded in securing export orders worth RM13.39 million at the just-concluded Ninth Tehran International Industry Fair.

"Most of the Malaysian companies which participated in the fair are new to this market and they're very pleased with the export sales and orders received from Iranian buyers," Dzulkifli told Bernama on the outcome of the Oct 6 to 9 trade fair organised in the Iranian capital.

Malaysia exported RM2.45 billion worth of products to Iran last year. A total of 28 Malaysian companies took part in the exhibition which also marked the fifth participation by Matrade since 2005.

Among Malaysian products which had been well-received by Iranian buyers included building materials, vacuum cleaners, wooden items, industrial rubber products, agriculture pumps, chemicals for oil and gas sector, brake pads and rubber autoparts, solar water heater and car accessories.

"Matrade sees the prospect of exporting more products from Malaysia to the Iranian market as very bright. Iranian buyers now look at Malaysia as a country to source high quality products and services," Dzulkifli said.

He said the Matrade office would continue to assist Malaysian companies in penetrating the Iranian market comprising around 70 million people, 2.6 times the size of Malaysia's population.

"The Iranian market is a growing market and there's good demand locally for consumer products imported from overseas," he said, adding that Iranian buyers preferred high-quality and value-for-money products. — Bernama

From HERE

Sunday, October 11, 2009

She's in the web

My Sayang... at Raffles International School International Day 2009.... Manning (or ladying) the Malaysia Booth...(sambil makan satay)
From HERE

Friday, October 02, 2009

Evergreen Giggs continues to shine by Norman Hubbard

Dimitar Berbatov is rarely described as animated. Indeed, the caricature of the Manchester United striker is that neither face nor body moves. At Stoke on Saturday, Berbatov broke into a smile and a sprint at the same time, the natural delight of a goalscorer accompanied by a desire to attribute credit where it was due. Running towards the left wing, pointing at the provider, his gratitude to Ryan Giggs was clear.


Berbatov shows his appreciation for Giggs.


Fergie purrs over Giggs performance

His sentiments are being shared by increasing numbers of others. One banner at the Britannia Stadium said: "Arise Sir Ryan Giggs". Written before the Welshman marked his first 22 minutes on the pitch with assists for Berbatov and John O'Shea in United 2-0's win, it is a cause that is gaining currency.

In Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton, the club already has a pair of knights. For Giggs OBE, recognition for a lifetime's work appeared to have arrived in April, when he was crowned Player of the Year by his peers. It had a valedictory feel; despite his magisterial performance in the January win against Chelsea, he had only started 12 Premier League games in the season. The obvious expectation was that a 35-year-old would figure less frequently in the future.
Instead, Giggs has now become the early front-runner for another award. At this formative stage of the season, he is among its most influential performers, playing a pivotal part in a quartet of invaluable victories, against Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Stoke. While in the Champions League against Wolfsburg he netted his 150th goal for the club and added another assist for Michael Carrick's winner.

He has an official total of six assists in those five games, but an involvement in ten goals is a greater indication of his influence. Against Arsenal, his pass enabled Wayne Rooney to win a penalty, while his free-kick was accidentally converted by Abou Diaby for what proved the winner. At White Hart Lane, it was a perfectly placed Giggs free kick that brought the equaliser.
During the derby, his role in Rooney's opener was, admittedly, small, with a quick throw; the next three goals, however, were fashioned by a craftsman. Darren Fletcher headed in two balls from the left wing before Michael Owen, the recipient of an impeccable pass, scored the injury-time winner.

It illustrated that Giggs is capable of bisecting a defence with one ball while a set-piece expertise that has been obscured for several years has ensured Cristiano Ronaldo's free-kicks have not been missed. The Portuguese liked to operate with a flamboyant flourish; as Giggs showed when setting Berbatov up with a deceptively simple pass, making things look easy is a skill in itself.
That is one of Giggs' gifts. Other 35-year-olds can labour when running; he is blessed with the kind of natural fitness that gives his game a freshness. He no longer ranks among the game's sprinters, though that merely added to Micah Richards' difficulties in the derby. The younger Giggs would have had the acceleration to wave the right-back farewell on his way past; the footballing pensioner did not need to escape Richards. He simply beat him for a second occasion. The flecks of grey around the winger's temples may have added to the defender's embarrassment as Giggs jinked away from him again.

Speed was his original forte. If it is now skill, it is a sign of an ability to reinvent himself. Once a fixture on the left flank, he has been a second striker, a deep-lying central midfielder, a right winger, though this season has brought him full circle with a return to his old territory.
Minus Ronaldo, Giggs is now much the best option on the wings. Nani offers ingenuity, but can infuriate. Antonio Valencia, like a younger Giggs, has the pace without always providing the delivery. Ji-sung Park's game is based more on high energy than high quality. Yet there is a tendency for many of football's senior citizens to retreat to the centre of the pitch, rather than returning to the touchline as Giggs has.

The 35-year-old is showing no signs of slowing.

It means that, apart from Ronaldo's remarkable final three seasons at Old Trafford and a couple of years when Andrei Kanchelskis was in his electrifying prime, he is likely to end his career having been United's premier winger for three-quarters of a two-decade career at Old Trafford.
Yet it is one that could have been curtailed several years ago. Giggs' brace against Juventus in 2003, an undoubted highlight of even his career, came at a time when Ferguson was pursuing first Damien Duff and then Arjen Robben. Chelsea's superior purchasing power then may be benefiting United now.

Familiarity can prevent appreciation. That may have been an issue in the third quarter of Giggs' time in the United team. Now, however, it has brought a belated sense of admiration, perhaps because each year has a deceptive sense of finality. This is the fourth successive season that threatens to prove the Indian summer of Giggs' career.

In 2006-07 as United won their first title for four years, he was shortlisted for the PFA Player of the Year award; the following campaign, he equalled Charlton's appearance record by scoring in the game that clinched the Premier League and passed it in the Champions League final, converting United's final penalty in the shootout; last season, of course, brought Giggs the elusive PFA prize. This could yet bring a repeat for the oldest winger in town. As a teenage prodigy, he started out being compared to George Best; given his longevity, Giggs may be 21st century football's answer to Stanley Matthews now.

From HERE