Hung Nung takes it easy now

1 Hung Nung when he played for Selangor and Malaysia in the 70s and 80s. 2 He turned to golf after a football injury in 1987. 3 Hung Nung showing some of his golf and football medals.

He belongs to an era when football was glorified by the masses and the Malaysian team was feared and respected by countries near and far.

Wong Hung Nung is well-remembered as the doughty, tough-tackling fullback in the golden age of local football belonging to a luminary backline that included the likes of Datuk Soh Chin Aun, Datuk Santokh Singh and Datuk Jamal Nasir.

He not only enjoyed a successful career with Selangor and Malaysia in football but also became one of the few double internationals moving on to represent the country in golf in 1989.

Hung Nung, 57, recalls the exceptional circumstances when he, then a fresh-faced 19-year-old managed to play for Malaysia without having represented the state before.

“I was playing for a club in 1977 and we played several friendlies with the national team. I played quite well in those matches and got the call-up to play for the team in the King’s Cup in Bangkok,” he recalled.

Hung Nung when he played for Selangor and Malaysia in the 70s and 80s.

“We shared the trophy with South Korea. I played well in the final but came back with a heel injury. Anyway, I got called for the SEA Games where we won the gold medal,” he added.

The following year, he joined the vaunted Selangor football team then, with players like Chin Aun, Santokh, Mokhtar Dahari and R. Arumugam, who were regarded as the powerhouses in Malaysian football.

“Of course, as a young player who is new, it was not easy. Playing with great players like Mokhtar, Aru, Santokh you tend to feel some pressure as you really want to impress and prove yourself,” related Hung Nung.

“Playing with the seniors like Mokhtar, Santokh, you develop a bond with them. It’s not an easy task but once you become more experienced you can pass it on to the younger players. I eventually became vice-captain,” he said.

(Seated, from second left) Hung Nung, R. Arumugam, Mokhtar Dahari and Santokh Singh (sixth from left) with Selangor teammates and officials.

One of Hung Nung’s memorable moments came in his first Malaysia Cup final facing arch-rivals Singapore.

“I remember this match as it was raining heavily and Singapore were the favourites as they had Fandi Ahmad and Kannan Kunjuraman. We won quite convincingly,” he said.

With Selangor, Hung Nung won six Malaysia Cup winner’s medals.

In 1986, Hung Nung became part of Malaysian sporting history when the country won its first Merdeka tournament beating Czechoslovakia 3-0 in the final. He scored the opening goal through a penalty while Zainal Abidin Hassan and Dollah contributed the rest. It was the first time Malaysia won in 23 years.

Hung Nung was capped more than 100 times and went on to captain the team that played in the Asian Games in 1982 and the SEA Games in 1985 where Malaysia won a bronze.

In 1987, as he went up to head a ball, he was hit in the cheekbone and was knocked out cold. He was revived and carried out. By the next day, he was bleeding and was found to have a fractured cheekbone upon examination. He was out of play for eight weeks. Later it was also discovered that he had a torn ligament as well.

At this point it was a classic watershed – as one door closes, another opens. During that break Hung Nung turned to golf for recreation, finding it a challenging sport.

“I started playing golf at the Sentul Golf Club, finding it very interesting. The more I played the more I wanted to excel in it,” he recounted.

So golf became his main preoccupation as he strode to improve himself further with a long-range target of representing Malaysia in the sport.

“It all came down to when the Selangor team’s training started and newspapers reported on the one hand that I had missed training and on another page that I was leading the first round of the Penang Amateur Open!”

He turned to golf after a football injury in 1987.

When he returned to the team, he told team manager Mazlan Harun, that he wanted to retire from the game as a result of his football injuries. His request was accepted.

By 1988, he was already making waves in the local circuit winning the Subang National Golf Club championship and several state opens. By 1989, he was called up to the national team and had his moment in the sun in the SEA Games that year.

Hung Nung was part of the team that won the gold in the team event at the Saujana Golf and Country Club and also won a bronze medal in the individual event.

He was in the national team until 1994, a period when he played in three Asia-Pacific Golf Championships (Nomura Cup) and two World Amateur Golf Team championships in New Zealand and Canada where he met and played against some of the world’s best players.

After five years in the national team, Hung Nung, then the No.1 amateur in the country, decided to turn pro. It was a decision he decided to make as he accepted an offer to become golf director at the Mines Resort and Golf Club which would later host the World Cup of Golf in 1999.

After his stint at the Mines, he ventured into various business ventures from a golf academy, event management to a Perodua car dealership besides playing on the local professional tour. In 2001, he won two pro events, the Genting Masters and the President’s Cup.

“Golf will always be my passion although I gave up playing pro golf several years ago,” said Hung Nung, who has been to the British Open and US Masters and played in some of the world’s best golf courses like Pine Valley, US and Carnoustie, Scotland, to name a few.

“Today, I am contented with what I have achieved in my sporting career and also been very successful in my business ventures.

“I am blessed to be able to travel freely, have a wonderful wife with my two daughters and most importantly to appreciate life and take things easy.”