BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

The biography of "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee I was thrilled when I first came across the Facebook group posting by Reynold Godwin Pereira on his plan to write a book about Choo Seng Quee, the late legendary Singapore football coach whose name still awes everyone by merely mentioning his moniker "Uncle Choo". After all, we are talking about an individual who, through his no-nonsense, tough disciplinary methods, uplifted game standards not just in Singapore, but also in Malaysia and Indonesia. PRESERVE UNCLE CHOO MEMORIES BEFORE THEY'RE GONE A biography like this one came just at the right time to inform the current young generation of the great things the man did before all those memories would fade away after the passing of one generation. With "Uncle Choo" passing away in 1983, Pereira had to rely on the accounts shared with him by those who knew him, including players who trained under him and became national players like Quah Kim Song, etc. The book auth

Led by English entrepreneur Reg Lambourne , the contingent comprised of English powerhouse Arsenal, Scottish giants Celtic FC, and Yugoslavian titans Red Star Belgrade arrived in Singapore to give local football fans one unforgettable experience in the Metro 20th Anniversary Tournament back in July 1977. I doubt scenes like this would ever happen today when I prowled and read what I gathered from newspapers archives for details on the Metro 20th Anniversary Tournament which took place in July 1977, when three groups of footballers descended together at the old Paya Lebar Airport for the abovementioned quadrangular which was part of the "World of Soccer Cup" friendly tournament played in both Singapore and Australia. "$24-MILLION WORTH OF TALENT" Was how it was labeled by The Straits Times in their report when renowned footballers such as Malcolm "Super Mac" MacDonald, Liam Brady, Danny McGrain, and Vladislav Bogicevic were part of the contingent welcome

One of the headlines on the stampede ( NLB archive ) The build-up to the match was intense. After all, it was between the two biggest sides of the tournament that saw them being the first finalists of the competition first known as the HMS Malaya Cup back in 1921. To make the showdown even more mouth-watering was the fact that Selangor, widely known as the Malaysian "second national team" back then with the likes of Mohktar Dahari, Soh Chin Ann, Santokh Singh, etc., had already beaten Singapore twice on a roll in the final to win the coveted Malaysia Cup in previous two years (1975 and 1976). The blogger speaking to Dato' Soh Chin Ann in 2010 (Gale Gan) Instead of making the arch-rivals face each other for the third consecutive time in the ultimate fixture in 1977, the script was changed to see both Singapore and Selangor in the semi-final instead. The young republic, coached by the legendary "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee, topped the South Zone undefeated with eight wi

Mr Lim Teng Sai in his younger days (as credited) The story was shared by former Singapore national defender Mr Lim Teng Sai during the launch of the book "ROAR: Football Legends of Singapore" at the Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) days ago. The former center-half approached a group of us during the friendly match between Singapore ex-internationals, which featured some of his former teammates, and their Malaysian counterparts, as he would like to peruse the book that documented the football history of Singapore. The friendly match, which was won 2-0 by the hosts, was part of the launch of the book authored and edited by long-time Singapore football supporter Mr A Thiyaga Raju and sports writer Mr Gary Koh respectively. The blogger with Mr Lim at the JBS Elated to see his name being featured in the list of the players in the book, he went on to oblige a fan's request to sign on a few pictures of his taken during his playing days in the 1970s. Pointing towards the direction wh

If not, we would not have seen what was claimed by many as the best-ever national team that played and won the Malaysia Cup in 1977.  I chanced upon the National Library Newspaper archive site one fine day, and out of curiosity, I decided to search through the site to see if I can find some of the clippings of the heydays of Singapore back in the 1970s. The result was these two clippings... 'Fans petition' in 1976 ( NLB archive ) It was interesting to note back on 16th December 1976, The Straits Times (ST) reported a fans' petition was organized to ask the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to replace "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee, arguably the best coach we ever had, with Technical Advisor Englishman Trevor Hartley as the national team coach.  "POOR RAPPORT", "OUT-MODED" CLAIMED FANS These disgruntled fans claimed the coaching methods of Choo were "out-moded" and felt there was a "poor rapport" between him and several player

🙏 Thanks for joining in the FB live streaming on 18th February . 🔗 When we talk about Singapore Football , we can't run away without mentioning Malaysia Cup because of the long association with it. "The Malaysia Cup" was published in 1991 🏆 After all, Singapore was the first winner of this competition in 1921 and the team with the second-highest winning percentage in this tournament. 📖 And the same time, I shared some rare photos and old publications like a book on Malaysia Cup authored by Mr Godfrey Robert , a few copies of "Singapore Soccer", etc. 👴 Based on the June 1976 edition of "Singapore Soccer" monthly, I am confident to say legendary coach "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee would rather win the Pre-World Cup qualifier final against Hong Kong than win the Malaysia Cup in 1977. A copy of "Singapore Soccer" Monthly 🏢 Copies of "Singapore Soccer" monthly and book authored by Mr Robert can be found at National Library

People of my generation might have heard of him, but were too young to realize who he was when he was playing. Let alone those millennials or Generation Z who might think "Mat Noh" is just a random name of someone around them. It is something we cannot pinpoint at anyone if many young people these days have not heard the names of Mat Noh and his contemporaries who wowed this island republic in the 1970s. 1977 Singapore National Team is still revered by many till today Simply because many former players have stayed out of the media limelight after they hung up their boots that it is no surprise, some might not realize who are they if they happened to stand in front or next to a former national player. SAD THAT ONLY REALIZED WHO THEY WERE WHEN THEY GONE It is a sad thing that whenever former star players like Mat Noh passed away, we only get to read articles in the newspapers and discussions on social media reminiscing the achievements they had in their heydays, other than th

INTRODUCTION   This is a follow-up blog entry to discuss a few points that were discovered along the way during the compilation of an earlier post on the plan to send Leong Hoi Meng and Foo Hee Jong to Leeds United for a tryout in early 1950.  It is advisable to read the above-mentioned blog post ( click here ) before proceeding to the article below. THE EARLIEST PRESS REPORTS Along the way, while compiling the details of this overlooked futile attempt to send both Leong Hoi Meng and Foo Hee Jong to Leeds United for a trial in early 1950, there were some interesting discoveries that would make us ponder over a thing or two.  On 5th October 1949, Malaya Tribune reported a "professional soccer scout" from the United Kingdom talent-spotted eleven footballers, ten from Singapore with one player from Selangor.  The eleven players were: Leong Hoi Meng, Lim Tiang Chye, Wee Hoon Leong, Lim Eng Siang, Ho Hin Weng, Foo Hee Jong, Tan Chye Hee, Samad Yusoff, Ahmat Yusoff, Chia Boon Leon

Cable telegram was costly in the past that only keywords were used to relay the message and hoping the recipients would understand the content. Nonetheless, misunderstandings would occur at times if the recipients failed to decipher the intention of the sender like this plan, as shown in the below clipping from The Straits Times (ST) , to send two Singaporean players to Leeds United in 1950. The news that caused a great sensation among local fans ( NLB archive )   The receiver of that cable message was the legendary "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee from AJR Hooper from Leeds on the possibility of having Leong Hoi Meng and Foo Hee Jong attend a trial at Leeds United. Hooper served in the British Army during the post-war years and found himself involved in the local football scene as a referee on top of his military commitments. It was during that period he discovered a number of local players like Chinese Athletic Association's Leong and Foo who showed the potential to p