The Grandslam #49 June/July 2009

THE GRANDSLAM
SRC BRIDGE SECTION NEWSLETTER
June/July 08 ISSUE #49

1. Message from the New Convenor – Zain Moledina
I was the Convenor when the SRC Bridge section was established in 2000. It was by default really, as I happened to have some bridge experience. 101 things to set up from scratch and what did I gain? Definitely not my locks. “Enough” I said.
I have been successfully “hiding” for 7 years as your propagand … ur … editor. It is a position I enjoy. So why am I moving out of my comfort zone? First and foremost, I have already lost most of my hair and look really ugly so losing more will only improve my looks (all this flawless logic is from Shamim). Secondly, she has been asking me for the past few months to help her manage tricky new issues, trends and changes we have been seeing (ouch! – a 2-prong attack). So there. The monkey is now officially back on my back although I don’t think it had ever fully got off.
From our ivory tower, we think we know what to do – more members, more training, more successes, more professionalism, more activities … more … and still more. Needless to say, I was 100% guilty in all this “more” stuff and fully endorsed it. However, during my upcoming term as convenor, I want to revisit these self-evident axioms and see if pigs really have wings.
When bridge started at SRC, we were a small close-knit social oriented group. It was fun to make our contract or get our opponents down. Now when the same thing happens, we are tense! Will the other table make an overtrick? Why didn’t I double? Expectations are higher and stress levels are through the roof. Long post mortems are standard and conventions are constantly being added to further tax our aging memory.
We exist because of the support from the management of SRC and our section members. So the bottom line has to be “what does SRC expect of us and what do our members (most of whom are novices) want?” One “more” size fits all? Right now, only the walrus knows for sure.
“Sitting on a cornflake,
waiting for the van to come.
Corporation tee-shirt,
stupid bloody Tuesday.
goo goo g'joob”
(Lennon/McCartney)

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
(Lewis Carroll)

2. SRC Bridge Section AGM- 1st June
The 8th Bridge Section Annual General Meeting had a quorum and started after a light lunch at 12.30pm. Out-going convenor Shamim summarised her terms 2 major activities – getting 2 members certified as tournament directors and organizing an Advance Course for our members. There was also a long string of successes in tournaments which can be found in past issues of The GRANDSLAM . The treasurer stated that the section’s finances have further strengthened with a healthy surplus. The elections were then held and all positions were uncontested.
Incoming Committee 2008/09 Outgoing Committee 2007/8
Convenor Zain Moledina Shamim Moledina
Vice Convenor Shamim Moledina B.K. Tham
Treasurer N. W. Leong Pat Leong
Secretary Ong Cheng Huat Adelene de Roza
Editor (discontinued – see 7 below) Zain Moledina
3. SRC Open Teams – 1st June
Once again our premier team event had an overwhelming response. Halfway through the event, the X-Men team of L L Wong, Rajendra, Christopher Gregory and Ng Chun Tat were clearly in the lead. The tussle for the minor positions remained extremely keen and it was anybody’s game going into the last round. With a final spurt SRC’s M.RR (Murli Vassanmal, Dorothy Wong, Rahim Rahmat and Ron Savage) grabbed 2nd spot with defending champion SRC Rouge et Noir (Zain & Shamim Moledina, Caio Feilhaber, Trevor Li) and Chinese Swimming Club (Robin Fong, B Y Chia, C L Chia and Eric Luk) tied for 3rd. The Crossword prize was won by Trevor Li. (see bottom of newsletter to try your hand at it – easy this time round -- not more than 5 minutes required)

4. To Bibik or not to Bibik -- Labour Day Special – 1st May
With the departure of the Bibik Restaurant, the bridge section now has an interim new area to practice on Tuesday. It is spacious, quiet and a 270-degree view second to none! Although the space has been earmarked for conversion into Guest Rooms in the near future, right now we are over the moon. Many thanks to GM Rashid and Social Chairman Richard Yong.
A special game was held on Labour Day to celebrate this occasion. We invited representatives from clubs all over Singapore including Mr. Derek Maggs, the Secretary of the Singapore Contract Bridge Association and his wife, Alison.
A simple but savory dinner was served to end a delightful afternoon of bridge and socialising. Although no dessert was served, there was nevertheless an icing on the cake when SRC players were represented in both first and second spots.
1st Dr. Trevor Li & Zain Moledina (SRC) 69.5%
2nd Magdalene Medora & Prof. Yu Chun Yee (SRC) 57.5%
3rd (tied) Veronica Png & Evelyn Klyne 56.0%
Ron Savage & Rahim Rahmat

5. CSC Premier League – March 2nd to June 22nd
SRC hosted the 6th leg of the event on 11th May with a full dinner. Once again our thanks go to the SRC Management Committee for their support to make this possible, Results so far are:-
SRC vs National University of Sgp Staff Won 23-7
SRC vs Serangoon Gardens CC Won 23-7
SRC vs Geylang West CC Won 25-4
SRC vs Keppel Club Won 25-5
SRC vs Tanglin Club Won 25-0
SRC vs Siglap CC Won 21-9
We have yet to play Singapore Island CC and Chinese Swimming Club (who are 2nd behind SRC).
Get all the details at http://premierbridgeleague.webs.com/

6. SCBA Inter-Club League Div 3– April 12th to 25th Oct 2008
Round Robin League Results (standing after Round 3 out of 9) :-
SRC Dreamers vs National University of Singapore C Won 18 – 12
SRC Dreamers vs Nanyang Technological University B Won 25 - 3
SRC Dreamers vs Bukit Timah CC B Won 25 - 0
Knockout Cup Double Elimination Results :
Round 1: SRC Dreamers vs Bukit Timah CC B Won 78-49 Qualified for Round 2
Get all the results at http://bridgeleague.net/

7. O Editor, My Editor
The outgoing Bridge Committee has unanimously passed a motion on 27th May 2008 to officially eliminate the committee position of Editor effective immediately. The responsibilities of the Editor are currently being covered by the Convenor.

8. SRC Tuesday Bridge Results from Apr 15th to May 27th
DATE FIRST SECOND THIRD .
Apr 15 Zain/Caio Rahim/Marvin Alan/Theresa
Apr 22 Shamim/Murli Zain/Trevor=Yu/Ping
Apr 29 Yu/Ping Dorothy/RonS Shamim/Murli
May 6 B K/Richard Yu/Ping Zain./Shamim
May 13 Chris/Nancy Caio/Shamim Yu/Ping
May 20 Alan/Ping Yu/Chen RonOh/Nancy
May 27 Caio/Shamim Evelyn/Jane Koh/Firoz

BROKEN BRIDG –JQK (jokes, quotes & krap)

9. Points to Ponder
The late British expert Alan Hiron captained the Junior Team at the European Championships in Prague in 1968. For transport, he hired a Skoda and overloaded it with his whole team and also some press personnel and supporters. Needless to say, he was stopped by the police. One of the bridge correspondents in the car was Robert Sheehan. He calmly produced his Masterpoints Card and had a quiet private talk with the cop. They were let off with a warning.
This is the only recorded instance of Masterpoints being of any practical use.

10. Confusion Says …
Secret of happy partnership is ....... still a secret.

11. Lost Cause
Losing a bridge partner can be hard. In my case, it was almost impossible

12. Shooting Blanks
Bridge is something like photography, if you don't focus; all you have is the negative.

13. How’s That Again?
I somehow get the feeling that bridge would be more enjoyable if it had been played with a soccer ball.

14. Confusion Says …
Man without bridge is like neck without pain.

15. Butt Of Course
The only reason I prefer sex to bridge is because I get to smoke a cigarette afterwards.

16. New Deal
I told my wife that I don’t want to be there for the birth of our child.
I don’t see why my bridge game should also be ruined.

17. Bridging the Years
I never met anybody who said when they were a kid, "I wanna grow up and be a bridge player"

18. Bad Break
You must excuse my bridge partner. He suffered a stroke a few years ago which rendered him totally annoying.

19. Scotch and Water
Giving bridge advice to Zia Mahmood is like giving a fish a bath.

20. Shoveling Dirt
My new neighbour was helping me with some gardening. I knew immediately that he was a Bridge player when it took him almost 2 minutes to understand what I meant when I asked him to "Pass the Spade".

21. Final Resting Place
Bridge is the last refuge of those who have nothing to do.