Speech No. 5 – Your Body Speaks
My Most Memorable Moments in Sports
It all started with some kid grabbing my self-made Mobile Phone and running off with it.
One day I waited for him along the village path. When I heard him coming I hid behind a large rubber tree. When he got close I jumped out and tried to kill him with my bare hands. However it was I who got pummelled to the ground. He ran off leaving me sobbing. The rain came down and good thing too. I went home and my mother did not know I was crying for the rain water. I realised early that I was never going to be Jo diMaggio or Henry Cooper.
The time came for me to enter School where the teachers saw my talent with numbers and geometry so since I could not take part in sports I helped them measure out the tracks: sort of a Clerk of the Course.
Years later in Secondary School I could only hang around the Cricket team and was asked often to be the Cricket Scorer seeing that I was good with figures. One day however, my time for fame came. One member of the school team was absent and as there was no one else around I was asked to be one of the fielders. I was asked to field at point and soon enough to my delight but to his chagrin I caught out the top player of the opposing team. I was elated with all the backslapping.
I left my school to go to Kuala Lumpur to continue my studies in the Sixth Form. During the Games festival since there were only 20 of us in the class and half were girls I made the Lower Six Rugby Team. During a confused loose scrum near the goal line I picked up the ball and ran 2 yards forward to score a try. Our Team beat the Upper Six 5-3. Again I was delirious with the back slapping.
I grew up to be an adult and still not adept at any sports.
Naturally the next sport I took up was Golf. I hacked away from Seremban to Kuala Trengganu and then back to Kuala Lumpur. One year I came near fame when I tied for top place with another player for one of the annual trophies. They decided we should re-play one week later to determine the winner. On the afternoon of the play off my opponent said something to me on the starting tee, which I took to mean that he was nervous about our game. I knew then that the trophy would be mine, and four hours later it was. Fame has come at last. To this day each time I visit the Club I would look up at that particular honour board where my name was etched and look at it with pride. I would point it out to whoever was near me whether they were interested or not.
After hacking away for 30 years I scored my first hole in one at the 7th Old Course at RSGC on 26th Sept. 1999. Not satisfied with one I did my 2nd Hole in one at the 4th Old Course RSGC again two years later on Christmas Day 2001. Not many people can say they have had a hole in one let alone two.
While I celebrate my 70th Birthday tomorrow 15th July 2009 I still cherish those moments when I shone in 3 sports by accident.
As for the boy who ran away with my mobile phone that many years ago I do not give it much thought these days. We met some years back in the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia. We did not recognise each other but as we were seated next to each other we shook hands and introduced each other and asked where we were from and were shocked to find out we grew up together that many years ago. I never mentioned about our fight that time. A few years back I was told he had gone on to paradise. As for me I now have the latest gadget: my new iPhone, only there is hardly anyone around to call me.