Reliving Singapore Football Glory Through "Kallang Roar The Movie"

The tickets to the "Kallang Roar The Movie" 

As a promise to Mr Dollah Kassim, and been eagerly waiting for the release of the movie. Finally, I headed to see the movie - "Kallang Roar The Movie" just now after work.

Had our quick dinner at the KFC, right outside the cinema

Where it was all about - the National Stadium

At first, we thought of watching it at Orchard's Lido after there was no suitable time slot at Shaw's Balestier cinema, but in the end, we settled on Kallang (because of the ample parking lots for my colleague who was driving us there).

Now, as mentioned, I was never meant to be a movie critic, and all I can say is this movie is a sincere production.

For the younger generation, be it the fans, players and whoever, this movie shall be seen as a tool of inspiring and learn to appreciate the game of football.

Back in the good ol' days, life as an amateur footballer was a tough one, as depicted by the character "Samad", who lost his job because of his centralised training with the team (once I read that another player, Arshad Khamis, was forced to quit the game because of his work commitments).

As such, full-timers in the S.League should learn to cherish what they are doing now, unlike those players in those days, who had to juggle so many things at one go.

(L-R) Hussein Aljunied, Choo Seng Quee, Andrew Yap and Majid Ariff - coaching panel of the 1977 Singapore National Team **

Although I'm not sure if the players nowadays could even cope if "Uncle" is their coach, whose tough, non-nonsense "garang" way of coaching is legendary and still awes those who were under him.

But one thing is for sure: what "Uncle" left behind is what it is all about - "Untuk Bangsa Dan Negara!"

** This image is scanned from the original photograph, which I do not own their copyright

PS: This article was first published on 29th August 2008 and is being refurbished with additional details on 5th October 2025 in line with the content renewal of this blog.