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Seems that our local TV station won't be showing any telecast of Euro 2012. Previously I remembered they still show opening, semi-final & final. Now zilch. Have to rely on overseas channel or internet for the matches. Won't be catching all the matches so no point paying 60+ for the package. Curious to know how many will sign up it.

Link Cleopatra, Cixi wrong choice as iconic women MEDIACORP is currently promoting its Singapore Women's Month through regular television and radio spots. The four iconic women it has chosen to front the promotion include Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and Empress Dowager Cixi of China (Mother Teresa and US aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart are the other two). To state that Cleopatra saved Egypt with her beauty is as sexist as it is absurd. One might just as well say that Pocahontas saved the American Indians with her naivete. Cleopatra indeed seduced Julius Caesar with her feminine charms but in her historic role, she was proven more a political player with obvious self-advancing motives than a self-sacrificing saviour of her kingdom. After Caesar's assassination, her charms were next applied on Mark Antony whom she dropped just as quickly when fate instead favoured Octavian. Ancient Egypt thus became a Roman province and she ended the line of pharaohs when she finally sought the company of an asp. More ludicrous is the assertion that Cixi ruled China with her strength (and wisdom in the Chinese spots). Even after one discounts her commonly perceived traits of cruelty, selfishness, corruption and debauchery, Cixi's rule did little to advance the imperial fate of China. Endowed with an 'arsenic' will to stay in power, Cixi schemed extensively to be the de facto force in the Qing court, out-manoeuvring ministers, princes and even emperors. Her penchant for luxury had her building lavish palaces at a time when China was on the brink of bankruptcy and the population was living in abject poverty. She actively squashed all manner of Western reforms when they were most needed, and with little grasp of the gravity of China's gross inadequacy during the colonial era, she even threw in her weight behind the ill-fated Boxer Rebellion, to drastic consequences. Having pulverised all prospects of restoration for the Qing, she departed with just a tot (the toddler Puyi) in station, setting the scene for the final stage of dynastic destruction that would let loose decades of civil strife and suffering in China. Iconic these women may be, but I believe we have others in human history to select from for better representation. The sentiments may be right but the facts and presentation are plainly wrong. Cedric Tan

does anyone knows whether mediacorpse broadcast some live matches of euro 2008 especially the openng match and final match?

Mon, Jul 30, 2007 AsiaOne MediaCorp drops pregnant Zoe Tay MediaCorp has suspended the contract of Caldecott Hill Queen Zoe Tay, who is seven months pregnant. Ms Tay, 39, who is expecting her second baby, said that under the company's new policy, pregnant actresses are suspended from work but they will be reinstated when they resume work. Gracing the latest cover of Citta bella, Ms Tay told the Chinese women's magazine that she is now "jobless" and confessed that she felt "troubled" about the situation as she currently has no income. She said her main concern now is getting her job back after having the baby, who is due in October. The actress, who has been married for six years to pilot Philip Chionh, also 39, found out that she was pregnant during the Chinese New Year period in February, but chose to announce the good news only after her first trimester. The couple have a two-year-old son, Brayden. She was able to continue working during her first pregnancy in 2004, and hosted an infotainment programme educating women on the dos-and-don'ts when having a baby. Asked if she would consider becoming a full-time mum, the former model-turned-actress said: "No way! I still need to work for myself. So long as the job gives me time to look after my children, I will not become a full-time mum." She added: "It's not easy being a full-time mum." Another MediaCorp star, Ms Huang Biren, who is also pregnant, apparently can continue to work because she is being covered by an old contract. Now two months pregnant with her second child, Miss Huang, who has a seven-year-old son, told Shin Min Daily news that she has not suffered the same fate as Ms Tay and is "still getting her normal salary." "My current contract is an old one which I signed with MediaCorp four years ago," she said. "It will expire next year after I have given birth, which means I can continue to work even while I am pregnant." Ms Huang said she is among a small group of artistes who are still on the old contract. Most of the others either renew or sign new contracts which carry the clause that actresses who get pregnant midway through their contacts will be dropped.