GOING the distance is a revered athletics phrase and when vintage champions over a half-century era, get together, it’s simply a tear-jerking blast.
Heather Siddons, a teenage beauty queen turned regional sprint hurdling champion of the 1970s, now migrated to USA, just made it happen as over 60 famous track and field champions turned up for Saturday’s homecoming reunion, hosted by famous lawyer Mirza Namazie, a former long-distance champion, at his King Albert Park residence.
The cast of ‘Golden Oldies’ was simply breath-taking.
A ‘Who’s Who’ of regional track and field luminaries, some in wheelchairs and walking aids, some padded at the ankles and knees, but determined to keep the reunion date a dream-come-true.
Even as a budding journalist from the late 1970s, when I covered the sporting scene, my jaws literally dropped as I met the legends but I could rattle their revered names because of their overwhelming reputations as singular icons in their respective arena.
Even the “Flying Doctor” Tan Sri Dr Mani Jegathesan, now 75, hopped in from Kuala Lumpur. His 1960s era was regarded as the “Golden Era” of Asean athletics as in his 100m and 200m events, he was regarded as the fastest man in Asia. He competed in three consecutive Olympic Games, Rome (1960), Tokyo (1964) and Mexico (1968). At the Kingston Commonwealth Games in 1966, he became the first Malaysian to qualify for the final of the 220-yard (now the 200 m) race.
He was not only an accomplished athlete, doctor and researcher, but held important responsibilities as Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Medical Commission and honorary Medical Advisor for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. He also served the government health service for 32 years including the posts of Director of the Institute for Medical Research and Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. He was also the Deputy President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM).
MELBOURNE OLYMPIAN
His elder brother, the Singapore-based Hari Chandra, who ran at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, came in a wheelchair. Now in his mid-80s, he smiled as he met me but couldn’t recollect my name (!) until prompted by his wife. I remember two decades ago when he used to emotionally recollect his glorious time as Asia’s only representation in the WMA (World Masters Association) Council.
Quite honestly, majority at Saturday’s bash could easily be inducted to Singapore’s “Hall of Fame” for their athletics contributions from the sprints, long-distance and hurdles, relay-runs and race-walks to field prowess in the high jump, triple jump, shot putt, javelin and decathlon.
They were choice and classical. Rare and ripe from an antiquated era. As I stared at them, it brought back capital memories of consummate champions, who ran for the genuine love of sports and stood out as mesmeric role-models. In a nutshell, they were truly the stuff of champions!
“Honestly, I was left quite speechless. I was overwhelmed by the turnout as everyone brought back a special memory to me,” said Heather. “This is truly worth the wait to return home to meet the glorious past champions.”
As I looked at the weather-beaten faces of the legends, special thoughts raced through my mind of the umpteen headlines they created from the Olympic Games to Commonwealth Games, Asian and SEAP & SEA Games as they excelled, simply because they gave more than 100 per cent, without a thought on monetary rewards.
From Canagasabai Kunalan, the 1964 (Tokyo) and 1968 (Mexico) 100m sprint legend, who came with sprinter-wife Elisabeth. He was a former footballer and educationist,who specialised in functional anatomy and exercise physiology and conducted practical classes in fitness and conditioning. He’s widely regarded as one of Singapore’s greatest ever athletes. He was significantly named SNOC ‘Sportsman of the Year’ in both 1968 and 1969 and his feat of 10.38 seconds at the 1968 Mexico Olympics was a national record that stood for 33 years.
HE RAN 10,000M BARE-FOOTED
Long-distance icon P C Suppiah just left me shaking my head. He was poor and at 17 years, couldn’t afford a pair of track shoes. He ran bare-footed in the 10,000 metres at the 1972 Munich Olympics. I remember his words to me 46 years ago: “The other runners stared at me, wondering if I was either crazy or just plain poor to turn up with no footwear. A few thought I was from a poverty-stricken part of India! One IOC official even said: “You forgot your shoes! Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you to go back and grab them.”
Suppiah, born in Malacca but naturalised as a Singaporean on the eve of the 1971 SEAP Games, took the 5,000m silver and 10,000m gold at the 1971 Kuala Lumpur SEAP (South-east Asia Peninsular Games) Games. He was duly crowned 1971 SNOC ‘Sportsman of the Year’.
Glory Barnabas is still a “wow”. Her traditional Indian mother never allowed her to wear shorts and wanted her to be a homemaker. But the educationist defied family odds and was a significant part of the track and field “golden generation” that won numerous medals at the SEAP Games from 1965 to 1975.
Her list of career achievements includes two gold, three silver and three bronze medals at the SEAP Games in 1967, 1969 and 1973. She also clinched a 4x100m relay silver at the 1970 Bangkok Asian Games before her final triumph at the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran, where she won a silver and bronze in the 4x400m and 4x100m relays, respectively.
The national women’s 4x400m relay record of 3min 43.85sec set in Tehran in 1974 by Barnabas, Maimoon Bakar, Lee Tai Jong and Chee Swee Lee also remains unbroken after 39 years! Except for Swee Lee, now settled in USA, the other three were present at Saturday’s reunion.
“We ran for the passion, not the money,” Barnabas reminded me. “There was humility in victory and absolute grace in defeat.”
Now at 78, with sports-loving husband Edwin always by her side motivating her, she’s President of the Singapore Masters Athletics (SMA). Wow, she remained active in the sport after her final Asiad appearance, winning gold in the 200m at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Melbourne in 1987.
SPORTS BOSS
Touching base with Richard Seow, the outgoing Chairman of Sports Singapore, was a revelation.
His affable nature and ready smile always belie his diverse and numerous achievements. I remember covering his track exploits in the early 1980s when he was the first secondary schoolboy in Singapore to run the 100 metres in under 11 seconds, thereafter heading to the University of Oregon, USA, and was later a Singapore Armed Forces Sword of Honour recipient in 1984. He later embarked on an illustrious career in the banking industry – just like his great grandfather and grandfather.
Adorably, when it came to taking the group photograph at Namazie’s home, Richard was at his humble best as he was among the first to sit cross-legged on the floor, regardless of his awesome reputation as “Mr Singapore Sports”.
“Heather’s return triggered this wonderful reunion as I was able to mingle with track and field heroes of a past generation,” he said. “I commend Heather. She reflects a special dedicated generation of athletics legends who passionately ran for the pride of Singapore colours, without a hint over monetary dividends.”
Likewise broadcasting icon Brian Richmond, with his wife Sue, who vividly recollected his quarter-mile exploits from the St Thomas School era, where with John Fernandez and A. Sadayapan, they broke the 4 x 400m relay record at Farrer Park.
The veteran radio personality is a familiar face on television and radio for over 40 years, since he joined Radio Singapore in 1971, and ranks as a leading compere-announcer who extensively covered global sporting events, such as the South-east Asian Games, Asian Games and Olympic Games.
‘BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS’
“That 1960s and 1970s era of track legends were more than a class act,” said the 72-year-old Richmond, who also captained the Singapore Youth football team before a serious knee injury ruined his career.
“There was the ‘blood, sweat and tears’ in the way they handled their track and field events, simply passionate to offer their best. We lack these crucial personal sporting trademarks in majority of the sports.” An award winning DJ from MediaCorp’s radio station Gold 90.5, Richmond was voted “Most Popular DJ” and “Friendliest DJ” by listeners in 2007.
Retired, he is still recognised as a media legend and in 2006, he was bestowed the “Lifetime Achievement” award by Mediacorp. That year , he was also given a special award by COMPASS in recognition for his contribution in the promotion of local talents in Singapore.
Ho Mun Cheong’s presence was significant as he discreetly worked behind-the-scenes with Heather to make Saturday’s bash a nostalgic success. Currently the SA (Singapore Athletics) President, he was an Asian-class quarter-mile specialist, who could match the best in the region.
He said: “I’m delighted by the turnout at short notice when we short-listed close to 100 former track and field greats. Reunions like this are perfect gestures to embrace past bondships and also to recognise the feats of so many athletes, coaches and officials.”
The “big, strong and friendly” Sikh-turbaned sportsman Sarvinder Singh Chopra never fails to amaze me. In his trademark red turban, he’s a rare breed of sportsmen who donned regional colours for athletics, weightlifting and judo.
“It’s a rare honour to come to an event and meet your running mates, some of whom you’ve not met for probably 30 to 40 years. It’s tear-jerking, too, as we exchanged notes and sometimes even wondered how we’ve changed physically, mentally and socially,” he said, recollecting the “very fond memories of our good ‘ole Farrer Park days”.
He added: “It was at Farrer Park that I started my journey and love with track and field as a discus thrower. I used to see the big names like C. Kunalan, Yeo Kian Chye, Glory Barnabas, Sheila Fernando, Mirza Namazie, Major Singh, Avtar Singh, P.C. Suppiah, K. Jayamani pounding the track . Wong Chong Sai on the pole vault and Noh Azhar on the high jump. Leslie Sheperdson a specialist in the triple jump and (the late) Lim Boot Hian on the long jump. Wow, splendid nostalgic memories.”
MISSING HERO
Conspiciously missing from Saturday’s bash was icon track coach Maurice Nicholas, 86, who started coaching in 1959 and won SNOC ‘Coach of the Year’ in 1972 for inspiring P.C. Suppiah and Kandasamy Jayamani, both named SNOC ‘Sportsman of the Year’ and ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ respectively.
He is recovering on hospitalisation leave and commendably, he is still with the IAAF (International Amateur Athletics Federation), where he continues to serve from 1981.
The lady-of-the-moment was undoubtedly the glamorous Heather, still strikingly statuesque at 69, with similar stunning pin-up looks from the 1970s when she was a teenage beauty queen, just out of the CHIJ (Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus).
Her proudest moment was at the 1973 SEAP Games, hosted here, when at 24, the mother of two won the 100m and 200m hurdling events with the crowning moment when the then-President Benjamin Henry Sheares awarded her the 100m hurdles gold medal.
In my books, Heather remains a role-model brave-heart, even off-the-track, as she endured two heart-breaking tragedies in recent years with the death of her century-old mother and her only son.
GOING THE DISTANCE
As she spoke of the Mirza Namazie-hosted celebrity dinner, she reminded me of the spiritual sporting words: Running is about going forward.
“When you are running to compete, you are not running away from someone or something, you are running towards a goal. Although most people think that the goal is simply to win, we must feel that this quote from Pinterest perfectly embodies the goal of a competitive runner,” she said. “We must always move forwards no matter what happens in life.”
Indeed, running is about growing stronger and faster. It’s about not letting anything hold you back. And the homecoming of Heather Siddons is a perfect reminder of “going the distance”, a much revered athletics phrase.
I salute Heather and the vintage champions over a half-century era, where they’ve shown that track and field bondships are simply priceless.
As I end, a long last-liner, let me put in writing some of the past luminaries who turned up last Saturday: Cedric Monteiro (the “Flying Schoolteacher” of the 1950s), Evelyn Tan (sprinter, wife of the late Tan Eng Yoon), Maimoon Bakar (quarter-miler), Kamariah Yunos (sprinter), Noh Azhar Hamid (high-jumper), A. Sadayapan (quarter-miler) Kana Intherasa (Melbourne-based sprinter of Cedar Girls’ fame), Mirnigar Begum (long-distance), Lee Tai Jong (long-distance), Eng Chiew Guay (sprinter), Leslie Shepardson sprinter-triple jump), Peter Goh Pi Tuan (decathlete), Steven Tan (thrower), Kok Wai Leong (thrower), A. Alagrisamy (middle-distance), Godfrey Jalleh (quarter-miler), Kannan Arumugam (race-walker), Avtar Singh (long-distance), A. Alagappan (middle-distance), William David (sprinter) and U K Shyam (sprinter).
Oh dear, a thousand apologies: I seek forgiveness, in advance, for missing out the names of a few other endearing past champions. – BY SURESH NAIR
- Suresh Nair is a Singapore-based sports journalist who covered the track and field scene, as much as football and hockey, over the past four decades.
