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. ...