AT the Press Club- I renewed my acquaintance with .....a malaysian football great...uncle bernard khoo...

they say" what a small world...."

uncle bernard khoo, most of you know him as "zorro-masked & unmasked".... but i bumped into uncle bernard in 1978 while he was the MAIN MAN of Malaysian Schools Soccer

some things in life you will never ever forget, especially, the moments when people don't have to, but they still do, because they are GRACIOUS......

Uncle Bernard khoo...is one such person,...very very GRACIOUS....( undeserved or unmerited favour )....to me at least....

You see, uncle Bernard, with Gerard Rozells were THE coaches who, unflinchingly gave their all for Malaysian Schools Football, back in the 70's

Going back for those in the know, uncle Bernard was the man who gave many legendary names in Malaysian soccer, Santokh Singh, R.Arumugam & Mokhtar Dahari, the breaks they deserved even when they were in their teens, to become the great legends that they are today....

but for me, i remember him as a very stern, no nonsense coach( even though i did get to trials for the Selangor Schools & did not succeed, but it was an experience that i'd never forget)

The year was the 1978. I was a reserve in ACS Klang soccer team, and we had a few good players in our team.

I knew i had no chance at all whatso ever, but the 3 other players who wanted to get to the Selangor Schools Trials at the Victoria Institution school, were adamant that they deserve a chance at least... Kok chye, Azlan Johar & Azman...they were all good.....born to play soccer......

the trials at the V.I was 8am on the Saturday, but as coincidence would have it, Maxwell School, with the GIANT of a striker, underaged Zainal Abidin Hassan, 15 yrs young but already playing for the under 18 team and younger brother to Hanafiah & Khalid Ali,....malaysian internationals both....

....well maxwell was playing some other school at the Kota Raja Stadium in Klang and on the Wednesday before the trials on Saturday at VI and so all four of us, Kok Chye, Azlan, Azman and myself, went to Kota Raja Stadium in Klang, our hometown, to watch the match....

Maxwell ended up beating the other school and Zainal was on fire, scoring a hattrick.... but after the game...as everyone was going back, kok chye and azman plodded me to go up to Uncle Bernard, who was head coach of Selangor Schools, and ask him if we too could attend trials on Saturday....

I ended up mumbling something, the words would not come out, i froze ,....and as cold as cold can be uncle bernard gave us that look like"do u kids know what you are doing" and he just said 6 words, ok, be there, sharp 8am

So all four of us went, none of us made the Selangor Schools team BUT that did not matter, did it?

what mattered is that this giant of a man, who just gave his all, to contribute his part, and who did it at the grassroots, at the schools, where no credit or glory is ever given BUT where the talents are really nurtured and found, cos' what we learn in schools will determine what we will do later in life.....still no title or recognition whatso ever, but to all of us who know and will remember, we fondly remember....

Uncle Bernard, and now as a fellow blogger and meeting up frequently with you and all the common causes that we are standing for together, please allow me to say this SIR,

you are a TOWERING MALAYSIAN sir !!!! with utmost respect....

thank you for being so gracious to the 4 kids from Klang and giving them a chance even though you had already selected your team and the trials were merely a formality, we will never forget that.....30 years down the road....

thank you uncle Bernard & may GOD bless you