OVA has been invited by our cousins, Victoria Institution Old Boys’ Association (VIOBA) of Malaysia, for the annual Soccer friendly which is in its second year.

A squad of about 25 players will depart on Saturday, 11th April 2009 for Kuala Lumpur. The Game is scheduled on Sunday, 12th April 2009 at 5 pm during VIOBA’s 40th Daniel Shield Heritage Edition.

OVA was supposed to host them this year but as Victoria Institution was pronounced as a ‘National Heritage’, we were instead invited to go and visit them again.

In the wise words of fellow Victorian, Mr Dick Yip, “win or lose in the game… not crucial… building friendship and bridges (is)…”

If you wish to have more info or details of the trip, do drop me an email at soccer@ova.org.sg.

Zan
OVA Recreational Soccer

Reflections from Zan

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More photographs on Facebook.

Saturday – 11th April 2009

Well, the journey up was uneventful, as everyone of us, got a good rest in the Coach (you Wish!!!) and before we knew it, we were in KL before 2pm.

By 4pm, we were joined by other members of the Squad, that had made their own way there, as some of us drove and some were driven…

We then had lunch and by the time, we finished our late lunch, I knew that my intuition to inform the rest to bring along our swimming trunks, were right, as the skies were dark and it was raining kuchings and anjings!!!

Nevertheless, it stopped raining at about 7pm and we were up and about, looking for food… and after watching that lucky Liverpool win at the ‘Mamak’ stall, we made our way to a more classier Pub, to watch that SUPERB, Man U win, with that SUPERB Goal, by the SUPERB Sub, who scored with his SUPERB first touch and put Man U, back to the top of the EPL table, where it rightfully belongs!!!

Feeling happy, that the EPL table only changed momentarily and that the weather was looking good, most of us headed out to Town, whereas some decided to ‘Walk Alone’…

Sunday – 12th April 2009

The weather was Wonderful as after breakfast, at around 11am, the Sun was shining beautifully and we were all raring to go. But by 4pm, we were raring to go back to our Rooms as, it started to rain again, but this time it, was raining hippos and rhinos!!!
However, being the good Victorians that we are, we dragged our feet and threw our football stuff onto the Bus to take us to VIOBA grounds which was provided for by one of our own fellow Victorian…

Upon reaching the Field, we knew that if we had brought along our swimming trunks, it would be redundant, coz we should have brought along our dragon boat and its oars… as the field was totally, a BIG POOL of water….

Doubts began to creep into us and Chef De Mission Aaron, Ben and Ken decided that those that had more buoyancy and had some kind of swimming lessons, were to be fielded first, as they remembered that during one of the Science lessons, they were told about Archimedes’ Principle, where it’s stated that,

“When an object is completely or partially immersed in a fluid, the fluid exerts an upward force on the object equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object”

Tactically, it was a bit of a genius thing to do, but I guess, none of the three, remembered about Newton’s Law, where it’s stated that, “Every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force that is directly proportional to the product of the masses of the particles and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them”

After about 15 minutes or so, all the players, including the Opponents, really felt at home, as they were happily sliding, swimming, kayaking, sailing and diving, ALL over the field…

The next set players from both sides were only raring and eager to go and play in the rain, just like many years gone by, reminding us of our childhood days, of playing in the rain!!!

As there was’nt much soccer to be played, I too had not much soccer things to write…
However, if not for the heroics of our Goalkeeper, the game would not have ended in a Nil Nil draw, as there were 2 ex-KL State Player and an ex Malaysian National Player in Shahrin Majid in the VIOBA Team.

But credit too must be given to
our Defence, who managed to kicked the water and occasionally the ball, onto the Opponent eyes to shield the view…
our Midfield, who managed to kicked the mud and occasionally the ball, onto the Opponents Jerseys to weighed them down…
our Forwards, who managed to make their defence lost concentration, by diving, when NOT having the Ball…

We then had dinner at VIOBA Clubhouse and we were honoured to have their President, Datok Yusli Mohamed Yusoff, who is also the current CEO of Malaysia’s KLSE, to welcome and invite us for the Dinner.

Our Chef De Mission, Mr Aaron Tan, gave away the Plaque, which was momentous to VIOBA, as this Year, they were inaugurated as a “National Heritage”.

He also invited VIOBA for our VSC, which is scheduled for 30th May 2009 and it was warmly received.

VIOBA, Asst Sec, will revert to us soon, with regards to the VSC…

Soon after, it was time to leave and we took the chartered bus back to our hotel, washed up and being Singaporeans, we then took to one of our favourite hobbies, none other than, looking for “MAKAN”!!!

Monday – 13th April 2009

The journey back home was really an uneventful one, as basically, I was totally zonked out and thus the rest, too got some respite…

Though we left KL at bout 2.30pm, by 6.35pm, we had already cleared Malaysia’s Immigration and by 7.15pm, we were at our drop-off point at Lot 1, Choa Chu Kang.

Overall outtake on the Trip, we are proud to say that, we have established firm ties with VIOBA, as they too are keen to initiate more sporting activities with us…

It is our hope that the Younger Victorians from both sides, would take on the baton and keeping both of her Flags Unfurled!!!

Malaysia Singapore
2008 2 4
2009 0 0

By: Roshaizan Bin Sapan

49 Comments. Leave new

  • victor huang
    30 March 2009 20:53

    It's great to learn there is now a revival of sporting contacts between the two schools from Singapore and KL. I remember from reading old VS Annual Magazines about the sporting ties in the 1950s and early 60s between VS and other renowned Malaysian schools such as VI, Penang Free School, and others.

  • Abang Victor…
    Do you have the Magazine now???
    I really, really, do wish that we have a Book or a Magazine, capturing all of Victoria's Sporting moments from years gone by…
    Without any doubt, were the Sports School then coz, i do remember being the ballboy at the Old Jalan Besar Stadium, in 1974, when Victoria School was in the Soccer Finals…

  • victor huang
    31 March 2009 20:46

    Hi Zan
    Sorry I don't have those old school magazines and newsletters. One good source of information would be the microfilms of the Straits Times at the National Library. My friends and I used to spend hours at the NL in Stamford Rd pouring through the microfilms reading about the sporting achievements of the school. There was a very vibrant sports coverage of school sports in the early years right up to the 1960s and perhaps early 70s.

    VS excelled in almost sports played in schools in those days right up through the 1960s. It may surprise some of us to know that besides games such as football, hockey, cricket, the school was at various times inter-schools' kingpins in sports such as swimming, rugby and badminton. We had Victorians who represented Singapore in all these sports.

    During the 1960s, there were many outstanding sporting heroes. One most notable sportsman was Nga Thio Hwa who played almost all the major sports at a very high level and excelled in them all! He was the combined schools' football goalie, rugby player and district winner in sports such as athletics (a strong triple jumper), swimming, hockey and softball. He was also good in his studies. Just amazed at how he juggled so many sports (and excelling in them) and yet have the time to take good care of his studies. A rare breed indeed!

    Other well known names then were Eric Paine, the legendary Spore national football goalie, Alagiri, the champion middle distance and cross country runner who was a SEAP Games medalist, Kadir Sultan another all round sportman who excelled particularly in sprint events and softball. Kadir represented the country in softball as the national captain and later national coach, Siah Kim Bin, the middle distance ace who excelled in 800 and 1500 metre events (he was also an outstanding student who graduated as a medical doctor), Neethianathan who represented Singapore in hockey, cricket and football (at youth level), Giang Toh Chye, the first schoolboy to run the 400 metres in 50 seconds in 1965 and an oustanding footballer too, Chan Peng Kong, (the combined schools' table tennis champion) and many others.

    VS has traditionally been a football power house and as I understand it, it still is today. Great names during the 1960s included Eric Paine, Bahrom Salleh, Yong Chong Fatt, Neo Nam Tah, Tan Yak Chin and Jegaraman, among others. I believe the national coach at one time, Robin Chan also hailed from VS.

    Lest we forget, we must also pay tributes to our ardent cheerleaders and supporters at various sports meets. Names that come to mind include the late Dr Ong Chit Chung (the great Victorian patriot), Syed Alwi Abdullah and Arthur. Arthur, now a successful publisher cum author/motivator was instrumental in coming up with the first supporters' caps worn by our students in 1967-68 at the various sports meets and games, in particular the then Serangoon District athletics championships. This was subsequently copied by other schools including the one then located in Bras Basah Road, and now in Bishan. We also have fond memory of the great sports master of our school, Mr Soccelaraj. A cricketer legend himself, the Penang Free School old boy was truly one of the greats of sports masters in Singapore schools.

    Hope the information is of some interest.

    Regards

    Victor

  • SOLID!!!
    I mean the info…
    And guess what, Abang Neethianathan is still playing Soccer with us at VS on Sundays!!!
    And the last time he turned up despite his busy Sunday schedule as the Secretary of Singapore's Cricket Association, on 4th January, he SCORED, an EXCELLENT GOAL!!!! see my post at http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=34021183730

    Abang Victor, as suggested,
    " wish that we have a Book or a Magazine, capturing all of Victoria’s Sporting moments from years gone by… "
    nudge! nudge! pushed! pushed! shoved! shoved!…
    if you know what i mean!!!!

  • Hi,
    I was in VS from 1971-1974. Had a great time there and got lots of memories of the old grand building along Tyrewhitt Road. On the subject of a magazine, I wish for one on VS on all aspects. I was among the poor ones who could not afford to pay for school magazines at the time, so I do not have anything to look at in retrospect. If a magazine or website could capture as much of the past as possible, I am sure it would bring back many of our Victorians. Fingers crossed…

  • Ha! Abang Allan,
    You're not the only one who can't afford to get the Yearly Magazine, during those days!!!
    So, Abang Victor,
    I do believe that you have the resources and definitely the knack for it…
    I on my part, can try to "pinjam", some Old Year Books from Mr Sooceleraj, himself, through our Sports Secretary, Mr Ganess (who is Mr Sooceleraj's Son)… but "pinjam", only lah…
    How ????
    Can ???
    Can ???
    Can ???
    Please ???

  • Hi Roshaizan,
    Tks for the support. It would be great to have something for ALL Victorians, from the very beginning till today!

  • Hi Victor Huang,
    Thanks for all the sporting info of VS.
    1. Uncle Choo Seng Quee, the legendary football coach, was also a Victorian. He was a student at Victoria Bridge School
    2. Vincent Subramaniam, a national football coach in the 1990s, was also an old boy. This was reported in Lianhe Zaobao.
    3. Is Robin Chan an old boy? As an avid Malaysia Cup fan, I don't remember this was ever reported in the local papers.
    4. Any one know Charlie Chan? I heard he was rated as the best young inside forward in Malaya when he was a Victoria student by the Straits Times. He was the national team manager in the 70s. Has he ever represented the Singapore national team?
    5. The Kadir Sultan you mentioned – is he also known as Sunny Sultan who was the softball coach at VJC previously?

  • Those of you who are keen to find out more newspapers reports on VS can go to the link below, but the full reports are only available at the libraries.
    http://newspapers.nl.sg/Search_Result.aspx?keywor

  • Re: Old Boy's msg dd 7 May

    Can't quite recall from which press reports abt Robin Chan being an old VS student. There was a well known footballer in the VS team in the early 1960s surnamed Chan, who was a contemporary of Yong Chong Fatt.

    Charlie Chan was a star player in VS in the 1950s. Later he became a leading official of the FAS, probably as a team manager.

    Kadir Sultan is indeed Sunny Sultan. If I am not mistaken, Kadir has a son who was a top sprinter himself in VS and VJC.

  • It is interesting to read on the Wikipedia site on VS tha t prominent sportsmen of the school of yesteryears are now listed. Would like to add the following

    Abdullah Noordin represented Spore in hockey at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics

    Cheong Cheng Swee was a member of the Singapore Thomas Cup team and subsequently manager of the national team.

    According to an Old Vic from the era, there used to be a sportman in the school who later achieved fame as a fighter pilot in the RAF and the Malaysian air force. His name was Sulaiman Sujak. From the publication "Who's Who in Malaysia and Spore" by one Victor Morais, Singapore-born Sulaiman

  • The last para should read

    According to an Old Vic from the 1950s, there used to be a sportsman in the school who later achieved fame as a fighter pilot in the RAF and the Malaysian air force. His name was Sulaiman Sujak. From the publication "Who's who in Malaysia and Spore dated 197s, Singapore-born Sulaiman Sujak won top honour as a cadet at the RAF Flying School and went on to become a squadron leader in the RAF. Subsequently, he became the first Chief of the Malaysian air force and held the rank of Air Marshal. Thank you.

  • Sorry, the name of the Victorian who represented Singapore in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne was Abdullah Hamid and not the name given above. Abdullah was in that distinguished group of Victorians comprising Messrs Vijiratnam, Douglas Hay, Abdullah Hamid and Jeyathurai who took part in the hockey tournament in the Olympic.

    By the way, there was another Victorian who represented Singapore in the said Olympic. He is Mr Gan Eng Teck who was in the water polo team.

  • Reply to victor:
    1. Robin Chan – seem like the former national coach is likely a Victorian. The former national coach was a former international in the 60s and became coach of the Police team in the mid-70s.

    2. Is Gan Eng Guan, the brother of Gan Eng Teck, a Victorian too?

  • Hi 'Old Boy'

    Don't know who is Gan Eng Guan and if he is related to Gan Eng Teck. BTW, Mr Gan Eng Teck was a member of the Singapore's Gold Medal water polo team at the 1954 Manila Asian Games.

    Talking abt brothers having hailed from the same school, during the 1960s there were four brothers studying in VS. They were the Chong Brothers: Keng Choy, Kok Choy, Seng Choi and Li Choy. Kok Choy and Seng Choi were head prefects of the school and Keng Choy and Li Choy were deputy head prefects. Li Choy, the youngest, is now Professsor of International Management (SEA) and Director, Asia Research Centre at the University of St Gallen in Switzerland.

    During those days, there were several other similar broodS of brothers attending VS. Perhaps Old Victorians reading this may want to add in whhat they know of other set of siblings studying in our school then. Thanks.

  • Reply to Victor:
    Eng Teck and Eng Guan were in the same natioanl water-polo team. There was also a Gan Eng Joo in the same team who is from ACS.

    ENG TECK BEATS HIS BROTHER BY POINT FOR SWIM TITLE [ARTICLE]
    The Straits Times, 14 October 1956, Page 22

    ENG TECK BEATS HIS BROTHER BY POINT FOR SWIM TITLE OLYMPIC GAMES I water-polo player Gan Eng Teck was the individual champion in the men's division with 25 points at the Tiger Swimming Club's cham- pionships held at Haw Par pool yesterday. Twenty four year old Gan was first in…
    http://newspapers.nl.sg/Search_Result.aspx?keywor

  • According to Internet records, there is one John Gan Eng Guan who was a veteran candidate for the Workers' Party in several General Elections. In the 1984 GE Mr Gan stood unsuccessfully against Mr Abbas Amin of the PAP. If John Gan Eng Guan was the sportsman from VS, then that GE contest would have been a fight between two great sporting heroes from VS! Mr Abbas, as is well known, was formerly President ofthe Football Association.

  • Some more sporting heroes from VS:

    Lam Yin Koi was captain of Spore National Hockey Team in the 1970s. Spore won the SEA Games Gold in 1973 held here in Spore. Lam also had the distinction of representing Singapore in darts.

    S Sivalingam and S Muruthi were captains of the Spore Cricket team spanning the 1960s to 1980s.

    Pang Kwok Leong was a leading national chess player in the 1970s and was a member of the champion school team in the national tournament together with Indonesian-born Oei (full name not available) and others.

    Fok Keng Choy was the champion short putter in the Malaysia-Singapore Schools Athletics Championships in the late 1960s. He also represented Spore in the event in the SEA Games.

    Goh Pi Tuan was a top all round national student athlete in the early 1970, being the national champion and record holder in pole vault and 110 metre hurdles. Subsequently represented Singapore in the decathlon in the SEA Games.

  • In addition to Mr Lau Teng Chuan, the renowned sports administrator and teacher of Singapore, we have another Old Boy of Victoria School who has been equally well known and respected in Singapore as well as in Hong Kong for his role as a leading sports administrator and teacher.

  • In addition to Dr Lau Teng Chuan, the renowned sports administrator and teacher of Singapore, we have another Old Boy of Victoria School who has been equally well known and respected in Singapore as well as in Hong Kong for his role as a leading sports administrator and teacher of his time. This gentleman is Dr Low Wing Kee, now in his early 80s. Dr Low was a champion athlete in VS in the immediate post war years. An all round sportsman, Dr Low had represented the Singapore Chinese in soccer, rugger, cricket, hockey, badminton and track & field. He was also Director of Coaching in the Singapore Amateur Football Association, the predecessor of today's FAS. Professionally Dr Low was the Head of Physical Education Dpt at the former Teachers' Training College (now NIE) and subsequently moved to Hong Kong where he became the Director of Physical Education and Sports at the University of Hong Kong. He retired after his service in Hong Kong and returned to Singapore. Pl read the Internet for more information on Dr Low Wing Kee.

  • Found this on Low Wing Kee:

    Prior to that there had been a unitary Physical Education Unit formed in 1956 (initially under the directorship of Mr. James Duthie and later under the directorship of Dr. Low Wing Kee 1967-1986 and Mr. Mike Speak 1987-1997). http://www3.hku.hk/iohp/aboutus/history.php

  • Fok Keng Choy – I believe his discus and shot put records were not broken for 10-20 years.

    Lam Yin Koi – Was he in the 1973 SEAP Games gold-winning hockey team? He was probably a reserve if he was in the team at that time.

  • The 13 players in the 1973 SEAP Games gold-winning team. Only 13 players are listed probably because they give out only 13 medals at that time (my guess).

    S Mohinder Singh Grewal
    K Tharumarajan
    Ow Soon Hooi
    Poon Fook Loke
    Harnek Singh
    Hanapiah b Hj Ghani
    Balbir Singh
    Low Ban Tiam
    V Maniam
    Michael Yan Wai Pin
    K Balasingam
    M Subramaniyam
    S B Rajendran
    http://www.singaporeolympics.com/files/SEAGamesPa

  • The list of hockey players cited by Old Boy, seems to be that of the Malaysian team which I believed was beaten to the gold medal by Singapore!

  • Reply to victor:
    Ha! I wonder how the site could get it wrong!

  • Besides Lam Yin Koi, another Victorian was the national hockey captain in 1980.
    Another national hockey captain is Harbhajan Sigh Loomba. He also became national or assistant national coach in the 1980s:

    H.S. LOOMBA (left-half) 1957-1966. The Whitley schoolteacher started his hockey at Victoria School in 1948. While in Standard Eight, he won a place in the Combined Schools team as a left-half. Harbhajan played in the 1962 Asian Games.

  • Besides Lam Yin Koi, another Victorian was the national hockey captain in 1980 – Hira Singh.

  • Reply to Victor:

    Has Charlie Chan ever in the national football team?

    Is there a S Yogarajah from VS who is a famous S'pore hockey personality?
    ———————————————————-
    Charlie Chan was a star player in VS in the 1950s. Later he became a leading official of the FAS, probably as a team manager.

  • Is former national cricket player, Mahmood Gaznavi, an old Victorian?

  • re 5 Jun posting, pleased to know that Goh Pi Tuan is General Manager of Jurong Country Club.

  • I found out that Charlie Chan was playing for Singapore when he was still a 18-yr-old student in VS!

  • In the mid/late 70s, there was a VS Pre-U female student call Chan Wai Lin, who was already a national sprinter. Subsequently, she went back to her secondary school alma mater, Cedar Girls', to be the head coach of the track and field team there. She is now the Assistant Director of Sports at Singapore Sports School.

  • Reply to Victor (June 5, 2009)

    The person you mentioned could be Oey Liang Hien. Is Oey an Old Victorian too?

    ———————————————————
    Pang Kwok Leong was a leading national chess player in the 1970s and was a member of the champion school team in the national tournament together with Indonesian-born Oei (full name not available) and others.

  • Yes, that's the name. According to the Wikipedia on the Spore Nat Chess Champions, Oey Liang Hien was the 1970 champion. Yes, he was in the all conquering VS chess team then. BTW, how goes the VS team nowadays?

  • Reply to Victor:
    I have no idea about chess in VS nowadays. As a matter of fact, I think there is hardly any news on inter-school chess in the local papers for many many years already.

  • From the list of sporting greats of VS, as listed in Wikipedia, the school has produced national skippers and coaches in various sports, including hockey, cricket, rugby, softball, football and badminton. We also have an old VS boy, Douglas Ooi, who is a former captain of the Spore national golf team and a former champion in the sports himself. Douglas was a student in VS in the 1960s and had represented the school in swimming then.

  • There is also a Jonathon Leong, formerly VS, who won a silver medal (team) for golf in one of the recent SEA Games.

  • Douglas Ooi won the Singapore Open Amateur Championships in 1984. http://www.sga.org.sg/Default.aspx?PageID=235

  • Reply to Victor Huang (31 March 2009):

    "VS has traditionally been a football power house and as I understand it, it still is today. Great names during the 1960s included Eric Paine, Bahrom Salleh, Yong Chong Fatt, Neo Nam Tah, Tan Yak Chin and Jegaraman, among others. I believe the national coach at one time, Robin Chan also hailed from VS."

    Apart from Eric Paine, Yong Chong Fatt and Robin Chan, I have not heard of the others. There is a E Shanumugaretnam who was in the national team (striker) from 1978-1979. He played for Armed Forces in 1978 and Tampines Rovers in 1979 in the local league. He could be from VS. And if he did his national service in 1977-78, he should be in VS around 1971-76 or 1975-76.

  • Reply to Victor (June 4, 2009):

    This is probably the same Chong Keng Choy, who is Assoicate Professorial Fellow at NIE. http://www.nie.edu.sg/nieweb/dept/loading.do?id=A
    ———————————————————
    Talking abt brothers having hailed from the same school, during the 1960s there were four brothers studying in VS. They were the Chong Brothers: Keng Choy, Kok Choy, Seng Choi and Li Choy. Kok Choy and Seng Choi were head prefects of the school and Keng Choy and Li Choy were deputy head prefects.

  • in the 60s there was a VS student who excelled in middle distance running and in cricket by the name of Vijay Kumar Sethi. He later qualified for medical school. I think he was related to Mr Sethi, a good and well liked maths teacher in the school at the time. Is this Vijay Kumar the same person as Dr Vijay Kumar Sethi, who is the current President of the College of Radiologists, Spore, and Chairman of NCSS Medical Board? Thanks.

  • the VS soccer stars of the 60s mentioned, Neo Nam Tah, Bahrom Salleh, Yak Chin and Jegaraman played for Spore National Youth teams, which were a formidable force in those days. i recalled that Yak Chin played in one game for the then Spore Malaysia cup team when he was still in school. Nam Ta and Bahrom were stalwarts of the great Armed Forces teams of the 60s and 70s.

    Yes, i think the prof Chong Keng Choy of NIE, is one of the illustrous Chong siblings of VS of the 1960s.

  • I really like this blog good job.

  • VS chess team on the rise once again?

    http://mrsiow.blogspot.com/2009/08/50th-national-

  • Reply to chessvic:
    VS was joint-champions with ACS(I) in 2002 in Under-16 Boys. http://www.singaporechess.org.sg/tourney/results2

    There are probably other good results for VS. But only the school will have the record.

  • From VS website, Pok Wern Jian was 2nd in the National School Individual Chess Championships in 2003 and 4th in 2004.

  • Correction: In was in 1999, not 2002.
    VS was joint-champions with ACS(I) in Under-16 Boys. http://www.singaporechess.org.sg/tourney/results2

  • Oldtime, is the former national football coach, Robin Chan, the same Robin Chan from VS?
    He is 58 yrs old in 2002: http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/today20
    This means he was probably in VS from 1957 to 1962.
    There was a Robin Chan from Bartley Sec who played against VS in 1955. http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straits

  • […] Check out Zan’s reflections and photographs at: https://www.ova.org.sg/2009/03/daniels-cup-2009/ […]

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