'Uncle Choo' epitomised heart and soul of Farrer Park

For about 100 retirees, many of whom were sexagenarians and septuagenarians, the daily weekday evening ritual then was to gather at the concrete stands of the Farrer Park Athletic Centre.

It was a period in the 60s and 70s when local sport - the unadulterated version enjoyed by sports-mad amateurs - experienced its heyday with athletes and spectators deriving delight through sheer indulgence.

These retirees were there not to run, leap or jump, but watch sporting beauty, and occasionally ogle at a stunning female hurdler who combined athleticism and attractiveness.

Singapore hurdler Heather Merican was the reason for their presence. Her blue eyes, golden hair and shapely legs were the drawcard, and when she sailed over the hurdles during her training routine, the "old men" derived a thrill.

Rain or shine, they came again and again every evening for their dose of excitement as a nonchalant Heather - skimpy shorts and orange-blue spikes - ignored their stares and comments and focused on her dream: to be a champion athlete.

She was not bothered that these retirees probably took back with them photographic images of a beauty pageant winner doing her bends and stretches in an age when handphones were non-existent.

Uncle gave me the biggest break in football at Farrer Park. Former national captain Terry Pathmanathan

About a stone's throw away at a corner of the expansive Farrer Park grounds, a crowd of between 300 and 500 spectators always gathered to watch a football training session which, unlike Heather's relatively quiet sweat-out, was a noisy affair.

The full blast of that session also came from one big and bulky man - perennially in a Hawaiian shirt and long pants - who not only shouted instructions but also spewed swear words in Bahasa and Hokkien that occasionally bordered on the vulgar.

Choo Seng Quee, the legendary football coach, was the focus of their attention, not the stars of different generations under his charge, among them greats like Majid Ariff, Rahim Omar, Quah Kim Lye, Quah Kim Song, Seak Poh Leong, Mohamed Noh, Terry Pathmanathan and R. Suria Murthi.

A former Singapore stalwart and Malaysia Cup hero in the winning teams of 1937 and 1939 who switched to coaching jobs at various clubs and countries since 1949, "Uncle Choo" was a tactical genius.

And it was at Farrer Park, more than anywhere else, that Singaporeans saw the intimate side of the coach.

Where he scored best with the fans at Farrer Park was in the amusement he provided in his sessions, when the perfection of drills, professional fitness regimes and his luxurious freedom of expression was often laced with vitriolic vulgarities.

It was from this hard work and sacrifice that we earned our stripes during the 1978 MRU Cup victory. Former national rugby coach Natahar Bava, whose team used to train at Farrer Park in the evenings, using free light from the nearby tennis centre

Justified or not, they came when players showed indiscipline, such as tardiness, poor attitude and an unwillingness to learn. And they were moments which gave onlookers a bigger thrill than his normal football routines.

The players took it in their stride, aware that he was a no-nonsense coach who oftentimes lured crowds away from the adjacent league matches to watch the master tactician at work on a patch that produced Singapore football stars.

A sentimental Pathmanathan who said that he was going to dearly miss the Farrer Park venue, will always have a special place in his heart for someone who he only calls "Uncle".

"Uncle gave me the biggest break in football at Farrer Park. He spotted me at an inter-schools match there when I was playing for Whitley when in Secondary 3," Pathmanathan told The New Paper.

"He told me to come for training the next day, and after one tough session, I gave up. But he saw me again at Farrer Park in another schools' match, and reminded me to attend his training.

"I joined a group of 20 boys, and from 3pm to 7pm I went through his sessions, which were mostly about skills training, namely one-touch football, wall passing and dribbling past sticks.

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"I remember one friendly match when our jersey colour clashed with that of the opponents and he told us to play bare-bodied. The crowd were amused yet absorbed in the proceedings.

"With Suria, who stayed at the adjacent Race Course Road and was always first on the pitch with a ball, and my other teammates, we had a tough but great time under 'Uncle', who bought us a teh-o after every session.

"I owed my football career to Uncle."

"Uncle" was an institution at Farrer Park, for he also owned the Maju Jaya Sports Store at nearby Owen Road and often donated trophies for football competitions.

The father of three lived and breathed the game from his schooldays (Victoria Bridge School and Raffles Institution) to his Malaya Cup exploits and later into his coaching years and did not let anything come in the way of his football involvement that straddled Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

He was a diabetic who refused treatment for a leg infection because he had an important football date: the 1977 Malaysia Cup final. And he rejoiced that his "sacrifice" paid dividends when the national team won, beating Penang 3-2.

Soon after, his condition worsened and he had his gangrenous right lower leg amputated to the knee in September that year.

With gangrene spreading, a further amputation on his right upper leg was performed five days later.

Despite this, "Uncle Choo" was still spotted at the Farrer Park grounds on a wheelchair, soaking in the Singapore Business Houses Football League and the Singapore Government Services Football League action with fans always greeting him or engaging him in dialogue.

For all his eccentricities and tantrums, he endeared himself to his players and all football fans. When he died in June 1983 after being hospitalised with kidney problems, a whole nation mourned.

About 2,000 people attended his wake and around 500 mourners were present at his burial where Singapore international footballers Edmund Wee, Quah Kim Song, Ho Kwang Hock, Suria and Pathmanathan were among the pallbearers.

News that the hallowed Farrer Park grounds and surrounding facilities will be turned into residential development would have saddened "Uncle Choo".

For Farrer Park was his paradise, a playground where he taught and soaked in the beautiful game.