When Kallang Roared! (Part One)
Out with the old and in with the new. Changes are inevitable. If you have been away for some years you may not recognise your old home town. If you have not been somewhere for awhile, you may suddenly see new buildings sprouting up but the National Stadium at Kallang is the Grand Old Dame first opened in 1973. I remember vividly because we hosted the then SEAP games and many other events since. It also resembled a birthday cake on National Day when it was held there. So when they announced its closure to make way for a new state-of-the-art facility, it was a walk down memory lane for me. Kallang was the equivalent of "Anfield", Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, White Hart Lane, Nou Camp, Bernabeu or Wembley". It was the arena for gladiators in a game called football or soccer where the "Lions" of the Singapore national team walked on to holy turf. It was the Lions' Den. Those were the halcyon days of greatness and insatiable hunger and passion for soccer.
This monument will forever be a thing of the past.
The demolition started some time back.
Whenever I passed by I will walk around to see pieces of my memory erased. Nostalgic moments will flood my memory bank. In my mind, I could see vague images of people queuing for tickets or rushing to get in for a Malaysia Cup game. The shouts of peddlers from food and drinks stalls peddling their wares as they go around the stadium: "Drinks, "kuay-chee" (melon seeds), curry puffs!" I could hear the shrill of a referee's whistle, the famous chant of "referee kayu" (kayu is wood in malay basically also equal to stupid, lousy and #@%! ). The stamping of feet that reverberated throughout the stadium when Singapore was about to take a corner or free-kick and the surreal sounds of joy when a goal was scored. You could hear the "Kallang Roar" from a distance. Ah, if only we could have these kind of floodlights on the golf course. Now they are just ghosts of past glory.
He would pick me up in his trusted scooter and we could zip in and out of traffic quite easily and will still be on time. When I was older and owned an old car, it was my turn to give him a little more comfort but we have to go early and know exactly where to park so as to get out very quickly instead of getting stuck in a jam. It took great observation and careful study. Sometimes, my dad and his friend would join. Some of my childhood friends were always there with me together. Once, Ben, Lionel and I spent all our money on tickets, food and drinks and we got to walk all the way home.
On away games, being young and penniless, we can't get to travel so when there was no live telecasts, we would come together and listened to the radio for live broadcast. This was a time where the national players played for the passion and love of the game and pride for the nation and the fans but never for money. It was a time where people would even follow the NFL (National Football League) where Geylang International has players like Dollah Kassim, Arshad Khamis, Samad Allapitchay, Gulam Mohamed, Tampines Rovers has Quah Kim Song, Edmund Wee, V. Khanisen, M. Kumar, Ho Kwang Hock, Toa Payoh Utd has Mat Noh, Zainal Abideen, Abdul Ghani, Hasli Ibrahim, Syed Mutalib, Brian Rozario, Farrer Park has Seak Poh Leong, Nasir Jalil, Cairnhill has Leong Kok Fann and David Lee. The Business Houses has its football league too and that was why my uncle Eric was such an avid fan as he watched all of them. That was what we call "passion".
I have experienced two occasions where we have to queue overnight for tickets both semi-finals versus Penang and then Selangor. We brought along ponchos, food, drinks and a guitar to while away the night. Once there was a stampede resulting in many injured at Kallang before they decided to decentralized sales.
On match day, a colorful spectacle exploded right before your very eyes when you walked into the stadium. It was a kaleidoscope of sorts. The Police was everywhere at strategic location controlling traffic, along the gates and entrances. Going to the toilets can be a challenge. Where were the best seats in the house? Many fans instinctively go the the middle section where you can watch both sids equally. This section was always quickly filled but you can see both sides but only at a distance and you will miss all the goal mouth actions. Some sit right at the top for a bird's eye view but when you gazed down you only saw tiny figures running around. The best seat in the house for me was in choosing to sit at an angle from goal where Singapore was attacking, slightly away from the grandstand and at the mid-section so that you are looking at the goal mouth area diagonally. That is to me the best seats in the house.
This was where you can catch all the goal mouth actions, witnessed all the acrobatic saves and the gems of goals scored. I have tried all the positions and this is and will still be the best. Trust me. This was also near to the tunnell and entrance where the teams made their entrance to a grand piece of music as they marched out to go to the middle circle of the pitch to take their bows. A group of die-hard fans were always there to release hundreds of colourful balloons that flew into the brightly lit night sky when the Singapore team appears from the tunnel.
To know whether you were part of those historic moments, I share with you these music that were blasted on the stadium loud speakers during halftime. If it sound vaguely familiar, you may have participated some of the times but if they rang loud and clear and bring a tear to you eyes, you are truly part of the set up..... a true blue fan. Were you a Kallang faithful?
"Stylistics - Can't Give You Anything But My Love" (my devotion I will give for as long as I live) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPTbzPHkEGA.
Sometimes when we play our weekend soccer, we may think that we were Kim Song, Mat Noh or Rajagopal much like this:
Sometimes when we play our weekend soccer, we may think that we were Kim Song, Mat Noh or Rajagopal much like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eax7GqQ3Uj4 (well, dreams are free).
And also "Paul Mauriat - El Bimbo":
(another version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deXt2lkMpZU&feature=related).
Finally check out his very lovely version of "Love Is Blue" and you will thank me for the beautiful memories: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9FYD1dlw4E.
The last one standing.
Part of the gallery that were already dismantled.
Right at the end and at the top where the giant scoreboard was.
The last sections before they were forever gone.
I had the good fortune of not only being pat of this history but I had the added fortune watching Majid Ariff our Asian All Star as a coach cum player and also Quah Kim Lye playing for Tampines Rovers and Singapore Chinese.
Watch this space as I have even more goodies coming out to help you relive those glorious moments of the good old days. Don't miss it! Walk with me...
To Be Continued.....
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