A good chance to learn from the past masters

REUNIONS are always so nice.

I had two in March – one with former schoolmates of Methodist Nibong Tebal primary and secondary schools and the other with buddies, seniors and juniors from Universiti Kebangaan Malaysia (UKM).

We laughed about almost everything. Secrets kept over many years surfaced. Old funny nicknames re-emerged.

There were solemn moments too when we remembered dear ones who left us too soon.

It was great to get reconnected, even after three decades.

And just last Sunday, I found out about another reunion that will take place – a gathering of the 1976 Thomas Cup members on May 15.

The get-together will be organised by the respected badminton coach Moe Chin Kiat, fondly known as Ciku, with the help of a few of his students.

Ciku, who is 86, was the camp commandment when the team stayed at the Maba House during their centralised training.

He may be an octogenarian but he remembers how the team, then a bunch of inexperienced youngsters just out of school, went on to stun the big guns before bowing out to favourites and defending champions Indonesia in the 1976 final in Bangkok.

They did not win the Cup but they certainly won the hearts of many with their fighting spirit.

Among the team members were Dominic Soong, Cheah Hong Chong, Phua Ah Hua, Saw Swee Leong, Datuk James Selvaraj, Moo Foot Lian and a few reserves (Suffian Abu Bakar, Kwek Chiew Peng, Lim Cheng Hoe).

The late Datuk Punch Gunalan was team manager while the coaches were Michael Chan Looi Cheong (a physical educator) and Lee Guan Chong.

It was an unforgettable era when Denmark were powered by Flemming Delfs, Svend Pri; India were led by stroke master Prakash Padukone; and Indonesia boasted stars like Lim Swie King, Rudy Hartono, Christian Hadinata-Ade Chandra and Tjun Tjun-Johan Wahjudi.

The first thing that Ciku plans to say when they meet during the reunion is: “I’m sorry”.

That’s because he used to drive the players hard.

“I used to wake them up at 5.30am, and put them through two to three sessions of training. After every training session, we would make them do skipping for 30 minutes.”

He feels it was the team’s fitness that saw the inexperienced Malaysian team upstage Denmark 5-4 in the first inter-zone semi-finals. (the format was different in the 70s).

“The gathering would take place at the same venue where they stayed during the centralised training – at the Maba house. Yes, they stayed in the dorm! It will bring back many memories,” he laughed.

There indeed will be some great memories – even of a fire they had been caught in.

The fire broke out at the players’ hotel in Bangkok after the semi-finals and they all had sleepless night before the final.

They lost in the final and most of the players returned home but Dominic, who came down with appendicitis, had to stay back with Ciku.

Journalists who covered the event in Bangkok will also be invited for the reunion.

“Almost all of them will be back for the gathering ... we still can’t get in touch with a few for now but we hope to get connected,” said Ciku.

It’s great that this reunion is happening but we are all waiting for another – the one involving the great football team that qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

It has been talked about for a long time now, but there is still no word from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

It will at least fulfil the wish of the late football legend Namat Abdullah.

Namat, when met at his home in Taiping in August 2020, had wanted to meet his teammates but succumbed to cancer a few months later.

FAM have yet to call for the reunion. Since 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic was in the way, but the coast is clear now and I hope FAM do not wait too long.

Many of those greats are now in their 70s and 80s. They deserve a reunion where their achievement – they were the only Malaysian team to play in the Olympics – can be celebrated.

Such reunions are not just about looking back on “the good old days”. Those legends can inspire a whole new future for the country.

There is a lot to be learnt from their experience.

Like the author Rick Warren said, “it is wise to learn from experience, but wiser to learn from the experience of others.”