Mary’s Lunchbox cafe is located right across White Hart Lane station and enjoys a steady stream of customers whenever Spurs plays. In one respect, the food served is similar to how Spurs sometimes plays their football, ie a large amount of crap.

 

This was plain to see during the first half of the Aalborg game where Spurs made their best impression yet of a Sunday pub team. We were down inside two minutes when the entire Spurs team just invited the Danish player to shoot from outside the penalty area. He curled it perfectly into the top far corner, but not without the by now customary flash of yellow as Paul Robinson made a despairingly late dive. Worse was to follow as the Danes went further ahead when they capitalised on unnecessary mayhem in the Spurs defensive ranks. Up-front, we were reduced to lobbing high balls to the increasingly isolated Berbatov. Understandably, the Spurs faithful booed the team off the pitch at half-time.

 

Fortunately, this was a game of two halves. Where Spurs were toothless and bereft of attacking ideas in the first half, they were sparkling and full of invention in the second. Where Aalborg was calm and resolute defending in the first half, they were at sixes and sevens in the second. Within five minutes of the restart, we were level through goals from Berbatov and Malbranque. Another 10 minutes later, Bent completed the comeback with the third. Game Over.

 

The second half truly reflected Juande Ramos’ tactical nous. He was forced to replace the injured Jenas with Huddlestone but he also had the nerve to take off Lee Young-Pyo and put on Darren Bent. Spurs then went to a fluid back-three, Keane moved to the top of a midfield diamond, and Berbatov was now free to play a roaming role just behind Bent. While I am a great admirer of Martin Jol’s achievements, this was one area where Jol never got right --- how to adjust tactically when the game did not go according to plan. What was even more remarkable about Ramo’s tinkering (which was ignored by the media) was the changes that he made after we were in the lead. He took off Berbatov and put on Boateng. This allowed Chimbonda to revert to his favourite right-back position and Zokora to provide balance in the centre of defence. This allowed us to close the game comfortably instead of the usual nerves at the end.

 

There have been some letters to the Forum Page of the Straits Times that MOM has been too lenient in liberalising foreign worker controls when locals still can’t get jobs. Someone cited that he had difficulties getting a job because of his age. Of course, no one will admit that they were not the right fit for the job to begin with. You really have to wonder what sort of person can’t find a job in a red-hot economy where jobs chase people.

 

Days before the relaxing of foreign worker controls, WDA announced a new scheme where they would pair jobseekers living in the Jurong area with jobs located within 30 minutes of their homes. The idea is to attract the housewives who might still have to look after their children back to the labour force. While eminently laudable, I could not help but wonder whether government intervention is even necessary in this case. Would these jobseekers have found such jobs without this programme? Sure, there might be some financial incentives that WDA provides to encourage such housewives to tip the balance. But it still begs the question whether such a programme is sustainable given that one does not expect such financial incentives to go on forever.

 

I was mulling over these questions when I attended the Global Social Venture Competition Symposium at LBS yesterday. The atmosphere was electric. Everyone (with the exception of dear me) were brimming with ideas on social ventures. More importantly, many had actually tried to get these ventures off the ground. And in the course of their social ventures, they asked far more probing questions about the impact and sustainability of their work, than I have ever seen in any Budget Review Meeting. This was understandable because these social entrepreneurs have to earn what they spend and have to justify outcomes to their sources of funding. The craziest idea I heard was how someone was clearing landmines in Tanzania using domesticated rats to sniff out the TNT. It sounds like a joke but it actually works and there are plans to spread this beyond Tanzania. There was even one chap who tried to start a social venture in China, where the concept is alien because the CCP is supposed to take care of everyone.

 

I can only imagine the possibilities if only 10% of that energy and intellect in that lecture theatre was applied in Singapore without government intervention snuffing out their entrepreneurial spirit.