Ibis a big step in the right direction

ON Oct 16, 2000, American television station CBS premiered a new cop drama starring a team of crime scene investigators working for the Las Vegas police department.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation soon grew into a mega hit, spawning two spin-offs featuring such investigators in Miami and New York, and paved the way for a number of similar shows on other television networks focusing on the procedures involved in solving crimes the "scientific" way.

In actual fact, such investigators in Las Vegas are called crime scene analysts and it is actually the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, but nobody cares. Also, solving crimes is not as easy as what it is made out to be in the television shows, but then again who wants to wait several episodes before you can find out whodunit?

Lord knows, if the CSI series were to follow the same time frame as the daytime soap operas, where you could miss several days worth of episodes and come back to find the characters in the same scene, the likes of Gil Grissom, Horatio Caine and Mac Taylor would never have become household names.

But the show has actually come in for criticism where the procedures are concerned. Some crimes, it seems, get solved within 24 hours and this has left, law enforcement experts say, an unrealistic expectation. For instance, the rapid analyses of fingerprints in the show. Just pick any such scene in CSI and within minutes, the computers they use will come up with a fingerprint match. Experts, however, say this process can take days and sometimes even weeks.

The same can also be said about ballistics analyses. The process seems so smooth and simple on the idiot box, yet is a long, drawn-out process, even with the aid of super-fast computers.

The fact remains that, even if you can match a bullet to a gun, and each gun and bullet used in a crime with a firearm used in a previous crime, this may never lead to solving a case, or both cases.
Now, it seems, the Royal Malaysia Police has entered the hi-tech fray at last, with the procurement of the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (Ibis). And, it was high time.

With Ibis, the police force will be able to analyse ballistics in a faster and more efficient manner. Matching firearms used in the commission of a crime can take as fast as 20 minutes. As we all have learned from Grissom and the gang, a gun leaves distinctive markings on bullets that leave its chamber as well as the casing itself. This is what Ibis looks at and matches to other bullets fired in previous crimes.

Whereas in the past, this was done manually by our boys in blue (or, perhaps, white lab coats), they now have the aid of a sophisticated computer, cutting down analysis time and, for sure, the possibility of mistakes.

With the spate of shootings which has occurred off late, this bit of news will most definitely be very welcome. Not least because of the public outcry that has ensued, nor the fact that no less than the prime minister himself has expressed concern.

One can't help but wonder, however, whether the so-called unrealistic expectations born of the CSI series will also be a factor here, now that we have such sophistication at our forensic policemen's fingertips.

You can, perhaps, expect more cases to be solved, and in a more efficient manner. But no one should expect that all cases will be solved, nor should anyone expect the crime rate to drop drastically, or the solving rate to increase exponentially.

Yes. It is a step in the right direction. A step which should have been taken a long time ago. But it is only a step. A big one, mayhap, but only a step nonetheless.

The government and the force have shown that they are trying to solve the problem of crime in the country. Apart from Ibis, more closed-circuit television cameras are being installed, more equipment such as patrol cars and motorcycles have been purchased and distributed to stations and a new department -- the Crime Prevention Department -- has been created. But, things should not stop there.

If there are other areas that need to be improved, if there are other bits of hardware or software which need to be purchased in order to bring the force up to speed in crime fighting, solving and prevention, then things need to get done.

What gives?

I have never put much faith in sports reports in the UK. It's really funny, actually, as the papers just fall all over themselves in their bid for scoops, especially when the transfer windows are open.

Take today's papers for instance. The Sunday Mirror says Rooney will be handing in a transfer request soon, while the Daily Star says he does not want to leave Old Trafford despite a pending increased bid from Chelsea.

Total opposites.

Behind closed doors

Man United played a friendly behind closed doors at Carrington yesterday, against Spanish La Liga side Real Betis.

According to Soccernet, the Devils walked away 3-0 winners with Nani, Rooney and Vidic getting the goals. The trio and Chicharito all started for United as the quartet search for fitness after missing the pre-season Far East tour.

Unfortunately, that is all that Soccernet wrote.

Good to see Nani and Rooney on the scoresheet. I've always said Nani is a fantastic player. But where Ronaldo almost completely dropped his selfish ways and became more of a team player, his compatriot has yet to learn that. He is still selfish and tends to be wasteful.

It's also great to see Vidic back. And scoring. Hopefully he can get more games in this season and score more goals.

A long hiatus

Yes, it has been almost a year since I last posted anything. This blog will change a little. It will contain my thoughts, and not just focus on Man United. And hopefully, I will be a little less horrible in keeping it updated regularly. Fingers crossed!

As it stands now, it doesn't look too good for United. I have my doubts about Moyes. I have always liked him and was impressed how he took a not-so-rich club like Everton and made the players into a good team. And with the players at his disposal now, there is no doubt that the team can challenge for the EPL crown. But can he do better than that?

The results on the Far East tour were not very encouraging. Let's just hope that the results are not a true reflection of the capabilities of the team and the manager. But the youngsters impressed, didn't they? Lingard and Januzaj seem to be coming up the ranks and knocking on the door of the first team, and Zaha seems to be a good buy, so perhaps the future is bright, with or without added firepower in Fabregas or Ronaldo or whomever else the papers seem to be linking the Devils with.

Let's not forget that it took many years before Sir Alex brought glory to MUFC, so Moyes still has some time to prove himself. And if he does, then perhaps we will get the signings we go after.

And who knows... we had the Busby Babes and then Fergie's Fledglings. Will we have Moyes' Minors, or Masters?

Hmmmm... just not the same ring to it. Maybe the British Press will do a better job at coming up with a name!

Quote of the week?

Shinji Kagawa on Sir Alex Ferguson:

Daily Mail: Language is a problem, isn't it? How are you coping with Sir Alex Ferguson's team talks?

Kagawa: I can't tell a word he says! I am trying to learn English, but understanding the manager might take a little longer.


All I can say is, good luck Kagawa. I still have problems making out what he says!

Back to winning ways

So normal service has been resumed. A nervy time for fans, I am told, but as they say, a win is a win is a win.

To tell the truth, I missed the game. But I did manage to catch the goals. The goal we let in at first was soft, it must be said. De Gea, to be fair, looked to be unsighted till the last, but I still feel he could have done a little bit better.

But there was everything else there, wasn't there. A brilliant goal from RvP, an easy goal for Kagawa, a rare goal from Rafael, and a freak own goal from Vidic.

Let's start with van Persie. That was sheer brilliance. Under pressure from a defender, the ball hit with some pace at him, flank to the goal and you would think a little out of position. But the shot was volleyed with such sweet precision. There's no denying it -- he's begun to pay back what United spent on him, and he will soon have paid back everything.

Fulham players had appealed against the other new boy's goal, but Shinji Kagawa was definitely onside when the shot came in and was spilled by the goalkeeper. So, again, there is no denying. It was a legitimate goal. Since the first time I saw Kagawa play for Dortmund, I have liked the boy. I definitely think that he, too, will soon repay what we paid for him.

What can I say about Rafael? He and twin brother Fabio are good investments too. Though both are a little rash, they are dilligent, tireless and fearless. It is good to see Rafael grab a goal.

And there really isn't much one can say about the own goal. That was as freaky as any own goal I've seen.

The only sad piece of news yesterday was the injury to Rooney. He will be out for about a month, which is a huge loss, no matter what some may think. But, with RvP in the squad, we may not feel it too much.

So, bring on the next opponents. I believe we're back on the road to another league title.

What happened?

IT was a bad, bad start.

No, not the loss. The loss I can stomach. The way United played was a different story altogether. So what happened?

Apart from De Gea, I don't think any one of the players did well. Granted, the defence was a makeshift one. With Carrick and Valencia on the right, we had a terrible combination. I know Vidic is basically a left-sided player and Carrick is a right-sided one, but couldn't Sir Alex have moved Vidic to the right and Carrick to the left? That way, we would have one experienced defender on each side.

Fellaini was giving the defence all sorts of trouble, and this was largely due to the fact that it was Carrick who was the one, mostly, who had to mark him. Vidic would have done a better job, I feel. So troubled were we that we could have lost by a larger margin, if not for De Gea.

As for the midfield and attack, we were short of ideas. Yes, we managed to keep a little busy, but it was just not good enough. Nani was the worst performer on the field. Nani and Ronaldo have similar ways of going forward, but where the latter developed, the former has been stagnant. Ronaldo developed into a less selfish winger, Nani is still a little too selfish. And he couldn't even get the ball past the near post whenever he took a corner. His crosses, whether from corners or in open play, were so low that even a four-footer would have no problem heading them out of the danger area.

Kagawa was OK, but he still needs time to integrate into the team. The link-ups were not altogether there. And playing without a left winger was not too good an idea. Young should have been playing, with Kagawa and Scholes in the middle of the park. Cleverley, though I have a lot of respect for him, could have been on the bench and brought on later for a fresh pair of legs.

But even without Young on the left, the natural choice to drift wide should have been Rooney, and not young Welbeck. Welbeck was ineffective on the side. He is, after all, more of an out-and-out striker.

So the big question is, should Fergie have played van Persie from the start? I don't think so. I think he made the right choice in leaving the new boy on the bench, simply because he is the newest boy on the roster. Sir Alex is easing him into the team, although the way the team performed, van Persie may just start the next match. He showed some form of understanding last night, but not enough.

The fact of the matter is, the team played badly last night. No two ways about it. No cutting edge whatsoever, despite having nearly 70 per cent of possession, according to official statistics.

The other thing which irked me last night was the performance of the referee. Not that he handled the game badly. I think he did an alright job in that respect. But his positioning was awful. He was in the middle of the action, in the centre of the field, and in many cases, almost right at the top of the semi-circle outside the penalty box. He disrupted both teams whenever they came down the middle, and possibly stopped some of the players from taking shots. Pardon me, Mr Marriner, but shouldn't referees be off slightly to the side of things? Just slightly, of course, as you still need to be close to the action. As it was, there were many times when players from either side had to either turn for a pass to the wing, or you had to run out of the way. It's a wonder no ball hit you.

But all this shouldn't take anything away from the performance of the Merseysiders. Everton were clearly the better team and fully deserved the win. That big Belgian Fellaini seems to make it a habit of scoring against United, and "new" boy Pienaar, in his third spell at the club, was a constant thorn in the Devils' side as well. Their defence was marshalled well by Jagielka and Distin.

So, man of the match for Fellaini, though I think a close second would be De Gea. Perhaps if the match had ended scoreless, our lanky Spaniard would have clinched the award.

It's only the first match of a long season, of course. We can only get better from here. Come on you Red Devils!

Happy days are here again, finally!

Finally, the season has kicked off!


So we've had to wait an extra day, but at least we had the benefit of an awesome Community Shield match to warm us up.


So who is going to make the cut for the starting 11 this time around? I don't think there's any doubt about a certain Mr Rooney starting the course. The question is, will he have a strike partner? I think he will this time. Hernandez is still being rested, so Berbatov, last season's top scorer, will surely be on the pitch. I don't think young Wellbeck or Owen will be starting.


Sir Alex will want to start with a win, especially with both Liverpool and Arsenal starting with a whimper and a point each, Man City set to play only on Monday and Spurs' opening match postponed. So, expect the really in-form Nani to start as well. On the opposite wing will likely be Young, who I thought was an excellent buy, if a little overpriced.


In keeping with wanting to collect all three points and beginning the title defence with a bang, Fergie will likely opt for an experienced midfield, so young Cleverley, who has so far impressed in pre-season, and last season playing on loan, will likely be warming the bench. So expect to see in central midfield a pairing comprising two of these three players: Ando, Giggs and Carrick.


Evra is still nursing an injury so either Fabio or Evans will be at leftback while the opposite side should see either Rafael or Smalling, who has proven he can play there as well.

Young Jones, it is most likely, will not be starting the match as the experienced pairing of Vidic and Ferdinand should keep the boss' faith.


As for the goalkeeper, expect to see De Gea keep his spot even though he was not too impressive between the sticks in the Shield match.


Outcome? Two goals for the Red Devils, without reply.

Here we go again!

So the Community Shield is upon us and we take on Man City in what should be a cracker, even for a charity match.

No clash between the Manchester teams has ever been anything but, so expect both sides to come out firing. With City strengthening their side, especially with the purchase of Aguero, it should be a tight match.

United has also strengthened their side, notably the purchases of Young and De Gea. The only thing missing is a midfielder the likes of Sneijder. I think he's the best midfielder of the sort United need, so I hope he does come.

Won't be commenting too much about the match, as I just want to sit back and relax for now. All I want to do today is predict the end result as well as put in my top six placings for the season.

Community Shield result: Man United 2 Man City 1

Top six placings: Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs

Sunday's Column (March 20, 2011)

Japan will rise again

IN an emotionally-charged press conference earlier this week, Japanese ambassador to Malaysia Masahiko Horie almost burst into tears as he talked about the devastation that has been visited upon parts of his country.

If newspaper reports are to be believed -- and there's no reason not to -- the affable diplomat struggled to keep his emotions in check as he spoke about how Japan was not ready to accept volunteers.

No, it was not because Japan was too proud. It was because things were still uncertain on the ground.

Horie also thanked Malaysians for the outpouring of concern and the many messages of condolences and sympathy for the disaster which swept certain parts of Japan when a "great" earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale hit 150km off the coast, resulting in a tsunami that caused even worse chaos and destruction. As if that wasn't enough, the country is also facing a nuclear crisis.

Malaysia, in fact, has been very supportive of the Japanese people and government in their time of need. We have offered assistance in the form of emergency and medical personnel -- the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) and Malaysian Red Crescent Society. Mercy Malaysia, a non-governmental organisation, has already sent people to Japan.

It is only right. These are, after all, people like us. What does it matter that they live in another country?

Even more so that it is the Japanese. Japan and its people have always been one of the first, to send help whenever anyone faces such calamities. The recent floods our country experienced is a good example.

Long before Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad instituted the Look East policy, Japan and Malaysia have been good friends.

Japan has played big brother to us more times than we can imagine. It has helped train our men and women in guarding one of the world's most important waterways -- the Straits of Malacca.

In fact, on Thursday, Horie took time off from what must be a very busy schedule to donate RM10 million worth of equipment to the police Marine Operation Force. Sure, it was a date which would have been planned quite some time ago. But would anybody, the Malaysian police included, fault him if he had decided to ask for a postponement of the event?

Now that Japan is in trouble, Malaysia finds itself in a position to help. The world, in fact, has responded well to what the Japanese people are facing.

Just go to YouTube and click on the clips showing the earthquake, tsunami or resulting problems at the nuclear plants and you will see messages left by people offering their condolences and expressing concern and hope for the people of the Land of the Rising Sun.

Sadly, however, there are the few who can't seem to bring their humanity to the fore. These same YouTube videos may have one or two messages left by people who seem to be still caught up in what happened during World War 2.

Most of them mention Pearl Harbour, saying the Japanese deserve such a disaster for that attack and for everything else the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy did between 1941 and 1945.

How sad that some people can't seem to forgive and forget. Come Dec 7 this year, it would be 70 years since that fateful day when the attack on the United States Navy base caught America napping and plunged it into World War 2. Most, if not all, of those involved that day have already gone.

Japan, though said to be an aging society, is now being led by subsequent generations. Are the sins of the father to be placed on the shoulders of the son, or in this case perhaps grandson or great-grandson?

Come Dec 8 this year, Malaysia "celebrates" the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Malaya. An invasion, in fact, which took place 45 minutes before Pearl Harbour.

And unlike America, we suffered under the harsh military rule of the Japanese for almost four years. Yet there are few Malaysians, if any, who would begrudge the Japanese aid at this point in time.

Thankfully, these few people who left messages full of vitriol found themselves being bashed black and blue by others.

Getting back to that press conference, racked with sadness as he was, Horie also showed a determination that reflects the stoicism of his people when he said Japan would rise again.

lesliea@nst.com.my