Khalid and Azraai – non-conformists who punched above their weight

LITTLE did I realise the five-minute conversation with Khalid Ali at the University Malaya Medical Centre a week ago was to be the final farewell.

“For years I haven’t seen you,” he said, while his wife, Siti Nor Khanah Mohd Yatim and daughter Syahila were there to provide comfort.

Previous attempts to see him came to nought while he was undergoing treatment for lung cancer at an advanced stage.

When news filtered through the next day that Khalid had passed on, memories of my argument with him while we were about to go live on my weekly show Kafe Sukan in a restaurant owned by his brother Datuk Zainal Abidin Hassan in Shah Alam in 2012, came flooding back. I pray that Khalid had forgiven me for all the sins I committed against him.

Born Abdul Mohd Khalid Mohd Ali in 1957, he and his elder brother Hanafiah were perhaps the first two naturalised footballers for Malaysia as their father was of African descent.

Their father, Mohd Ali Abdullah, came from Sudan, some say Yemen, with his siblings and made Singapore their port of call sometime in the 1940s, doing odd jobs here and there.

Then they sought greener pastures in Kuala Lumpur, Kampung Baru and married Fatimah Mohd Kassim who bore him nine children, with Khalid the sixth child.

A boxer nicknamed Young Johnson, Mohd Ali died in 1962 when Khalid was five and his mother was pregnant with Zainal Abidin Hassan (Datuk).

All his siblings inherited the father’s sporting genes. His sisters were active in netball while Hanafiah, Khalid and Zainal, represented the country in football.

After swapping his running spikes for a pair of boots, Khalid made his debut for Selangor in the Burnley Cup as a 17-year old, He was later called up for the senior squad for the President’s Cup in South Korea in 1977 as an understudy to right-back Jamal Nasir Ismail (Datuk).

His international career came to an abrupt halt for questioning the authority. He was banned from playing for the national team but continued playing for Selangor in the Malaysia Cup, lifting the Cup in 1978 and 1979.

Sometime in mid-79, coach Karl Weigang told FAM that he wanted to reinstate Khalid into the national team with the pre-Olympic assignment in early 1980 in mind.

FAM relented and he was back in the team.

In my interview with Khalid which was published by the Malay Mail in 2006, he recounted being given a fetch and carry role by Weigang who asked him to study German midfielder Wolfgang Overath’s game.

“We won the final 2-1 but the South Korean team manager was quick to say ‘watch us in 10 years’ during the post-match conference. But it took them only six years to qualify for the Mexico World Cup. We, by contrast, have remained stagnant,” said Khalid.

Although James Wong and Hassan Sani (both Datuk) enjoyed the accolades for combining for the winning goal that earned Malaysia the ticket to Moscow which was eventually boycotted by the Government, Khalid was the real star of the team. His physical and technical abilities as well his goal-scoring touch helped him emerge as the team’s top scorer with six goals.

Long after his retirement from football in 1985, his views remained much sought after by the media. Known for being bold in expressing his views without fear or favour on current issues, Khalid was admonished and ridiculed by certain segment of the football family. But he took it in his stride.

Datuk Hishamuddin Aun, the ghostwriter behind Khalid’s column in Berita Harian in the early 1980s, said he stayed true to his character to the end.

“Indeed Khalid was a non-conformist, who was even issued a warning by the FAM for discussing policy matters in his column,” said Hishamuddin.

Well-liked by friends and foes, Khalid was given a grand send-off to the grave, with Safee Sali, Shukor Adan and Razman Roslan, all much his junior, among hundreds who paid their last respects as well as media friends, Zainal Abidin Rawop, Hafizal Hamad and Abu Bakar Atan, his neighbours, former sports photographer Khalid Redza and former cyclist, Nor Effandy Rosli, as well as Reduan Abdullah, Datuk Dell Akbar Khan, along with FAM bigwigs Datuk Wira Mohd Yusoff Mahadi, Datuk S. Sivasundaram and Datuk Noor Azman Rahman.

As for Mohd Azraai Khor, born Khor Sek Leng in 1952, an international in the mid-70s, he was also not afraid to express his opinion, even to the detriment of his own career.

When his coaching credentials was put into question by the FAM bosses following a three-month stint in Slovakia in 2010, Azraai was quick to defend himself and fired a broadside at the secretariat.

Farewell to the two legends who accorded respect to the media and punched above their weight until the day they died. May God have mercy on their souls.