…7 countries smaller than Singapore that have reached the World Cup
SINGAPORE: It’s official. The deltoid workout du jour that is the Viking Thunder-Clap will return for another outing at a major football championship.
Iceland, who wowed us all at Euro 2016, have reached their first ever World Cup at Russia 2018 following a 1-0 win over Kosovo.
There’s a nice bit of incongruity here: One of the world’s tiniest nations will play at the planet’s biggest sporting event in the world’s largest country.
With just over 330,000 people, Iceland will now be the smallest country ever to play at the World Cup – breaking the record held by the 1.3 million-strong Trinidad and Tobago.
Singapore, with around 3.4 million citizens making up its 5.6 million population, once harboured World Cup hopes too.
Goal 2010, which was an ambitious project to reach South Africa, failed in its objective and, by the looks of it, it will be some time before the Lions reach the beautiful game’s pinnacle.
So it’s clear as day: When it comes to football, size doesn’t matter. Here are seven countries (there are more; but let’s not stick it in too deep) smaller than Singapore that have reached the World Cup.
ICELAND
Best known for its geysers, tectonic plates and a lack of forests, Iceland is the World Cup’s newest debutant. Its national sport isn’t even football; that honour goes to handball.
To be fair though, most football fans saw this coming.
Its volcanic-hot performances at Euro 2016 – where it reached the quarter-finals – and its sprinkling of class footballers across European leagues pointed to the fact that the country was in the throes of a golden generation, football-wise.
We’ll be looking forward to their happy clappy fans at Russia 2018.
Fun Icelandic fact: Mosquitoes do not exist in Iceland.
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Trinidad and Tobago’s squad poses prior to the 2006 World Cup match against Sweden, Jun 10, 2006 at Dortmund stadium. (Photo: AFP)
Before Iceland’s exploits, cricket-crazy Trinidad and Tobago held the smallest-country-to-have-gone-there-done-that trophy.
They reached Germany 2006 after an impressive qualifying campaign – and did not embarrass themselves on the big-stage, earning a draw and two defeats.
And at 34, football fans finally got to see former Manchester United smiling assassin Dwight Yorke at a major tournament. He did disappoint, unfortunately.
Fun Trinidad and Tobago fact: Trinidad’s Moruga Scorpion Pepper is the world’s hottest.
KUWAIT
Sheikh Fahd al-Ahmed al-Sabah (C), brother of Emir of Kuwait is pictured during the World Cup football match between France and Kuwait on Jun 21, 1982, in Valladolid. (Photo: AFP/GEORGES BENDRIHEM)
When Kuwait reached the World Cup in 1982, the tiny Gulf state had a population of under 2 million. With a large part of that number comprising foreign workers, the Kuwaitis really had a small pool to choose from.
What made their achievements even more laudable was the fact that Asia only had one spot at the 24-team tournament.
And Kuwait left one of the more indelible images at that tournament in Spain. A Kuwaiti sheikh made his way down to the field in protest when opponents France scored. Following his intervention, the goal was disallowed.
Fun Kuwait fact: Kuwait is smaller than the US state of New Jersey.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Gerry Armstrong scores to given Northern Ireland a shock 1-0 win over hosts Spain in the 1982 World Cup. (Photo: Bob Thomas/Getty/AFP)
When it made its debut at the 1958 World Cup, Northern Ireland had a population of 1.4 million. That figure now stands at around 1.8 million – making the fact that they reached three World Cups (they also qualified in 1982 and 1986) all the more remarkable.
Sure, this troubled province of the United Kingdom has had no shortage of footballing talent – with the likes of George Best, Gerry Armstrong and Martin O’Neill – but it also had to contend with wretched sectarianism and sub-par local leagues.
Fun Northern Ireland fact: Milk of Magnesia was invented in Belfast.
SLOVENIA
Slovenia line up against Paraguay in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan. (Photo: AFP)
When you have a mountain range depicted on your national flag, it sort of hints that you might just suck at things that require flat surfaces. Like laying out a flatpack from IKEA, beer pong – and yes, football.
Slovenia was the first region to break away from the former Yugoslavia after a short war. And eleven years later, they found themselves at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
They lost all three games at their debut outing, but notched a highly creditable win, draw and a loss at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
With a population of around 2 million, the alpine nation is still more winter-sports friendly than it is for football, with ice hockey, ski jumping and skiing popular pursuits.
Fun Slovenia fact: Half the country is covered in forest.
JAMAICA
Japanese midfielder Takashi Hirano shoots a free kick in front of the Jamaican wall during the match against Jamaica. (Photo: AFP)
OK, so we know that Jamaicans can run. And running is a big part of football. Yet, Jamaica has only been to one World Cup – in 1998.
Still, pretty good we’d say for a country of 2.8 million which prefers cricket and athletics. (They even got to a Winter Olympics before a World Cup.)
Being able to scour the Jamaican diaspora in the UK finally helped the team get to a decent level – but who’s complaining?
After spankings by Croatia (3-1) and Argentina (5-0), the Reggae Boyz (yes, that’s their nickname and that’s how you spell it) edged fellow debutants Japan 2-1 in their final outing.
Fun Jamaica Fact: Rum, which is widely available across the island, is also used for first aid purposes.
IRELAND
Ireland fans during their World Cup clash against Holland at the 1990 World Cup. (Photo: AFP)
Ahh, the luck of the Irish. Ireland had a population of just over 3 million when it reached its first World Cup in 1990, where they got to the quarter-finals without winning a game.
Jack Charlton, who won a World Cup with England, strung a Dad’s Army type team featuring many players with tenuous links to the Emerald Isle. (A good number in the team were actually born in England.)
Ireland went on to qualify for another two World Cups in 1994 and 2002 and are on course for Russia 2018.
So maybe there’s a lesson for Singapore: Diaspora.
So far, we have Luke O’Nien (better be quick, Ireland could get to him first) at Wycombe Wanderers. Another ten more and then some needed for the Lions, maybe?
Fun Ireland Fact: Ireland is the only country in the world that has a musical instrument as its national symbol.
White tiger cubs maul new zookeeper to death in India
BANGALORE – Those who deal with wild animals understand that they must take utmost precaution at all times, but one Indian man lost his life after failing to do so.
Just one week into his new zookeeper gig, Anjaneya Anji was mauled to death by two white tiger cubs in the Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bangalore, India, over the weekend.
According to the Times of India, the 41-year-old man was going through his daily chore of placing meat inside the animals’ enclosure when he did not notice that the cubs Vanya and Jhansi Rani were close by.
One of the cubs reportedly attacked the keeper and bit him on the neck, while the second one violently followed suit.
Another zookeeper was with Anji during the time of the attack, but luckily escaped the wrath of the felines.
Before accepting the job as a zoo keeper, Anji worked as a security guard and had no prior experience in handling animals, the report said.
Indian authorities, meanwhile, ruled the incident as a case of unnatural death due to a complaint by park authorities.
“Since a police investigation is on, it is not fair on my part to give any reason behind Anji’s death,” the park’s Executive Director Santos Kumar was quoted as saying in the report.
Anji is survived by his wife and two children.
Channel 8 actor Xu Bin to wed girlfriend of 3 years on Nov 3
SINGAPORE: China-born Singapore-based actor Xu Bin has announced that he is getting married on Nov 3.
The 28-year-old Mediacorp artiste announced the news in an Instagram video post on Monday (Oct 9) evening, but did not mention his fiancee Wang Yifei, 27.
Xu confirmed the news on Tuesday at a press conference, where Wang was not present.
“I didn’t get to sleep last night because I felt too stressed and I felt like I had to have my phone away from me,” the actor said. “I felt like I had to prepare myself … so that I would be able to answer all your questions especially since this is about my wedding, which is a once-in-a-lifetime (event).”
Xu and Wang had filed for a notice of marriage on Aug 4 this year, according to a Toggle entertainment report. He said they have been preparing for the wedding for four to five months.
The couple have been together for about three years. They first met at a friend’s birthday party while Wang, a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, was studying in Singapore. They have mostly been in a long-distance relationship, according to the report.
They got together after Xu started to ask for acting tips from Wang. However, they had to keep their relationship a secret from his manager, Dasmond Koh, who implemented a no-dating rule among all the artistes under the agency.
Xu proposed to Wang on a yacht he borrowed from actor Darren Lim out at sea.
“I lied to her (Wang) that I had to go for filming, so I woke up at 4am and reached Sentosa at 5am,” he said. “We spent the entire time decorating the boat and we blindfolded her and led her to the boat. We sailed out to sea and I proposed to her when we were out there.”
A clip of the couple’s pre-wedding photoshoot in Maldives was posted on Xu’s website at http://www.myyuwang.com.
“At the beginning, I was attracted to her because she was beautiful. As time went by, I realised that she’s a very outstanding person and is of wife material. She might give you a cold feeling when you first get to know her, but she’s easy to get along with once you know her better,” Xu Bin said.
Following their banquet in Singapore, they will also be holding dinners in China on Jan 13 and Jan 28 next year in Fujian and Wuhan respectively. Xu’s hometown is in Fujian, while Yifei is from Wuhan. The ceremonies in China will be more elaborate, he said.
Born in Fujian, China, Xu moved to Singapore 16 years ago. He is known for starring in popular Channel 8 dramas such as 118 (2014) and You Can Be An Angel 2 (2016).
Men in zombie-like trance spotted in Kallang
Two men who appeared to be in a zombie-like trance were spotted near a bus stop along Kallang Avenue yesterday (Oct 9) at around 7pm.
They were standing next to each other, hunched over with their arms dangling by their sides.
One of them was swaying slightly from left to right.
The sight was disconcerting for those waiting at the nearby bus stop opposite Aperia Mall.
“Everyone was staring at them but nobody did anything,” Stomp contributor Amanda said in a phone interview.
She added that they were probably too scared to get close and that she called the police and informed them about the men.
“Has anyone else come across such behaviour recently?” she asked.
Stomp understands that when the police arrived at the location, the men were gone.
It is unclear whether this was a prank or publicity stunt or if the men had taken any substances. January.
Meryl Streep, Judi Dench voice outrage at Weinstein sex revelations
NEW YORK – Movie legends Meryl Streep and Judi Dench led a chorus of outrage Monday following the revelation that Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed women for decades, as Hollywood stood accused of covering up a pattern of misconduct that finally cost the film mogul his job.
Weinstein was fired late Sunday from his own film studio, three days after a bombshell New York Times report alleged that the Oscar-winning producer behind such hits as “The King’s Speech” and “The Artist” had preyed on young women hoping to break into the film industry.
Weinstein’s accusers – who reportedly include celebrities such as Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd – say the 65-year-old tycoon had promised to help advance their careers in exchange for sexual favors, pressuring them to massage him and watch him naked.
The Weinstein Company’s board said it had sacked him “in light of new information about misconduct” in the explosive Times article, which detailed decades of legal settlements stemming from harassment allegations.
Variety magazine reported Monday that Paramount Network had subsequently dropped Weinstein as an executive producer on two upcoming drama series, “Waco” and “Yellowstone.”.
WHO KNEW?
As the firestorm of controversy escalated, a string of entertainment industry figures have spoken out to condemn Weinstein – including actors Seth Rogan, Lena Dunham and Patricia Arquette, director James Gunn and fellow producer Judd Apatow.
Streep – who famously called Weinstein “God” in an Oscars acceptance speech – broke her silence in a statement first published by the Huffington Post, in which she said she was “appalled” by the “disgraceful” news and insisted “not everybody” knew about the allegations.
“I don’t believe that all the investigative reporters… would have neglected for decades to write about it,” she added.
Fellow Oscar winner Judi Dench, who has credited much of her success to Weinstein and once revealed she had a fake tattoo of his initials applied to her buttocks, said in a statement to Newsweek she was “horrified” and also denied any knowledge of the accusations.
George Clooney also broke his silence and called Weinstein’s behaviour “indefensible.” Clooney said he had heard rumours starting in the 90s about women sleeping with Weinstein in exchange for acting roles, but that he had dismissed them as ploys to dismiss the actresses’ talent.
But tough questions were also being asked about what some suspect was a collective effort to protect the movie mogul and father-of-two, one of Hollywood’s most influential powerbrokers who was able to make or break careers.
In a statement to the New York Times, the actress Glenn Close acknowledged that “for many years” she had been aware of rumours of inappropriate behaviour by Weinstein.
“Harvey has always been decent to me, but now that the rumours are being substantiated, I feel angry and darkly sad,” she wrote.
The New York Times wrote that of the more than 40 entertainment industry players it contacted for comment after breaking the story last week, almost all refused to speak on the record.
“We read the reports about his temper and volatility, but we had also heard stories that he was, to put it bluntly, gross: the kind of guy who promised to make someone a star in exchange for sex, and leveraged his power in the industry to make sure no one talked about it,” wrote BuzzFeed journalist Anne Helen Petersen.
Sharon Waxman, creator of showbiz website The Wrap, meanwhile accused the New York Times itself of initially covering up the scandal.
In an editorial, she said the newspaper sent her to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct by Weinstein in 2004 – a story she said did not run following “intense pressure” from the producer.
The Times disputed her account in a statement to AFP, defending its “meticulously reported investigation” of Weinstein’s settlements for harassment and stating that “in general the only reason a story or specific information would be held is if it did not meet our standards for publication.”
The Wrap reported Monday night that the damage to The Weinstein Company is so great that it is expected to change its name. The site quoted an individual with knowledge of the company.
“TWC will need a new name,” this person told The Wrap.
HOLLYWOOD POWERHOUSE FADES
Five of The Weinstein Company’s nine all-male board members have so far resigned over the scandal.
It was not immediately clear what would happen to Weinstein’s share in the firm.
The tycoon, who was said to have been fighting to remain at the company, last week issued a bizarre statement apologising for his actions without addressing any specific allegations, misquoting the rapper Jay Z, and appearing in part to justify his behaviour.
He also said he was hoping for a second chance while acknowledging he had “work to do to earn it.”
Republicans have pounced on the scandal involving a staunch Democratic campaign fundraiser, while many Democrats have vowed to give their contributions from Weinstein to charity.
President Donald Trump – who himself faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct before winning the White House – declared himself “not at all surprised” by the revelations about Weinstein.
Weinstein’s lawyer Charles Harder said the Times’ report “relies on mostly hearsay accounts and a faulty report, apparently stolen from an employee personnel file, which has been debunked by nine different eyewitnesses.”
The lawyer is preparing a lawsuit against the newspaper, and has vowed to donate any proceeds to women’s organisations.
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Unemployment leads to rise in divorce in Batam
Financial issues top the cause of divorce in Batam, Riau Islands, where mostly wives file for divorce after their husbands are dismissed from work, according to data by Batam religious court.
The court recorded 1,300 divorce cases from January to September this year, caused mostly by economic problems. Some 80 per cent of the cases were filed by the wives.
“The majority of the cases are financial issues. Husbands who could not provide for their wives or family,” the court’s spokesman Ahmad Nabawi said on Friday.
The husbands did not have the income to support the family after they were fired from their jobs, as there had been many lay-offs taking place in Batam.
The number of divorce cases rose compared with 1,000 cases handled by the court throughout last year.
Read also: Pigeon racing leads to dozens of divorces in Purbalingga
In an effort to reduce the high rate of divorce, the Batam office of the Religious Affairs Ministry has encouraged mediators to bridge the communication between couples who are on the verge of divorce. The mediation process takes place usually before the couple proceed with the divorce process in the court.
Batam Empowerment Agency reported that from January to July this year there had been 46 small scale and big scale companies in the city that filed for closure to the agency on the back of negative economic conditions. A total of 3,000 workers had been dismissed, the agency head Rudi Syakyakirti said.
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HK Immigration to launch self-service departure at HKIA for visitors
HONG KONG – The Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government (HKSAR) on Monday announced that self-service departure for visitors to Hong Kong would be launched at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) on Oct 10.
Smart Departure, which employs face recognition technology for identity verification, will be launched at Hong Kong International Airport on Oct 10.
The department said in a press release that Smart Departure aims to provide greater travel convenience for visitors while enhancing the effectiveness of immigration control.Smart Departure employs face recognition technology for identity verification, which facilitates self-service departure for visitors.
Photos of visitors will be taken at arrival clearance counters to assist in authentication of their identities. The whole process takes about 20 seconds.
Visitors aged 11 or above who hold valid electronic travel documents compliant with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s requirements and issued by designated countries or regions as announced by the department may perform self-service departure clearance through Smart Departure e-channels without prior enrolment.
According to the existing arrangement, all arriving visitors will be issued with landing slips.
Upon completion of arrival clearance at immigration counters, the landing slips of eligible visitors will additionally bear the Smart Departure logo.
No ifs, no butts – beach smoking in Thailand is banned
The Marine and Coastal Resources Department plans to ban smoking on beaches around the country next month after thousands of cigarette butts were found in the sand.
In a pioneer project, the department is to invoke a coastal resources management law on to issue the smoking ban on 20 popular beaches early next month, said department chief Jatuporn Buruphat.
Jatuporn said he had consulted with Natural Resources and Environment Minister Gen Surasak Kanchanarat and the minister agreed with the proposal. Since the ban will be based on marine park law, offenders will be subject to huge maximum penalties of one year in jail or Bt100,000 fine.
Jatuporn said the ban had been discussed with provincial governors and local administrations.
The 20 beaches involved include Mae Pim, Laem Sing, Bang Saen, Cha-am, Khao Takiab, Bo Phut, Haad Sai Ree, Patong, Pattaya, Jomthien, Koh Khai Nok and Koh Khai Nai.
Jatuporn said he decided to take action after the Andaman Coastal Resources Research and Development Centre found in a recent survey that there were anything from 63,000 to 138,000 cigarette butts on a 2.5-kilometre stretch of Patong Beach.
The figure was estimate based on a sampling survey of a 9-square-metre area to a depth of 10 centimetres. The survey found an average of 0.76 cigarette butt per square metre of sand.
“We won’t totally ban smoking but we will set aside smoking area for smokers before they reach the beach. They can drop their cigarette butts there but they will not be allowed to stroll on the beach while smoking,” Jatuporn said.
“Doing that allows for a high possibility cigarette butt being dropped into the sand.”
Jatuporn added that his department would soon expand the ban to cover every beach in the country.
He said the department would also consider a smoking ban on passenger and tourist boats to tackle the issue of cigarette butts dropped into the sea.
