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This is starting to get very interesting. I was sitting quietly at a cafe in Ho Chi Minh City airport waiting for my flight to Singapore when I received this email from Edmund Lee, together with the following photo. I just had to post it up immediately. Apologies for any typos (which I will correct later) ...
Standing (L to R)
Cikgu Bujang Hadi (Coach/Manager), Joseph Jinggut (Captain - Midfield), Steven "Ferrari" Joseph (winger), Dublin "Iron-man" Unting (Full-back), John Dawi (reserve), Mathew Chin (with specs, partly hidden - reserve), Morshidi "Steady" Gani (full-back), Jonathan "Striker" Nanang (Centre-forward), Sudarsono "long-man" Osman (Centre-Back), Rev Bro Columba.
Front Row
Abdul Rahim (reserve), Abdillah "speedy" Adam ( Winger ), Dennis "Gordon Banks" Liew (Goalkeeper), Awang Abdullah (left back), Osman Abdul Rani (Mid-field), Soedirman Aini (forward)
Excerpt of Edmund's email follows ...
"... follow-up on the chance-meeting with Cikgu Bujang and posting on our School's Football Teams of the '70s, especially the Team of 1973 which spearheaded St. Joseph's School dominance in the Inter-School Football arena - Champions for 3 consecutive years, 1973, 74 and 75.
Cikgu met up with a few of us this morning over breakfast and what was initially thought of as a short & quick meeting carried through for another two hours.....with Cikgu sharing nostalgic memories of life in the heydays of St. Joseph's.
What was even more impressive was that Cikgu told us that he spent more time in school than at home - from his normal teaching routine to the much-looked-forward-to training on the football pitch. He mentioned that his greatest challenge was not the lack of players but the sadness in excluding some potenially good and committed students from the team because he could only register 16 players. Such was the pool of talent available and the enthusiasm of these students to don the school colours...that's St. Joseph's.
And Cikgu also shared a very touching, yet interesting part of his personal life....his marriage. His wedding party, to be more precise. We were astounded when he mentioned that his best man was a CHINESE ! Yes, a Chinese as a best man in a Malay wedding !! Would you believe that ? And that Chinese best man was non other than his buddy and colleague - Mr. Anthony Goh, our school's renowned athletics coach extra-ordinaire.That's REALLY 1Msia - a Christian Chinese as best man at a Muslim friend's wedding !
Unfortunately, Cikgu was unable to produce a photograph of that "historic" occasion, as the best man was too busy ushering the guests. (multi-tasking, I guess )
Kudos, Cikgu for your magnanimity and humility. No wonder you were ( and still are ) held in such high regard and respect among the students during your tenure in St. Joseph's.
Back to the Team photo - the famous sons of 1973 ...
For the record, the Team beat our arch-rivals St. Thomas' School 2-0 in the replayed final match. The first match ended in a stale-mate. ( 1-1 )
Let's hear it from some of our brother Josephians who were there when it happened....be it in school or during the tournament itself.
Do we still recall the Monday school assemblies when Bro Columba presented trophies or awards for achievements ? Were you one of the lucky few who were priviledged enough to walk up those steps to the stage to receive your awards?
The feeling must be "out of this world" as fellow school-mates gave you an ovation when your name was announced. That's the spirit inculcated in us and the environment that we went through - regular bonding and a great camaraderie among this band of brothers. We ate, we talked, we slept, we dressed "St. Joseph's" That distinguished us from other schools - we had "THE JOSEPHIAN SPIRIT" "Ora Et Labora"
Cheers and have a Great and Blessed Weekend."
Thanks Edmund. This third report seals your reputation as the "Football Correspondent" for the Josephians of the Seventies blog. I have no doubt this is just the start of the "Football Chronicles"....
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