AFTER achieving an all-time high of a fourth place finish in the 1975 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian hockey had its ups and downs. But Malaysia has put in place a “vision and mission” and is on the right track as it pushes towards regaining Malaysia’s position in elite hockey at international arena.
Malaysia may have missed out on the recent London Olympics but under the dynamic leadership of HRH Prince Abdullah Al Haj Ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah, president of the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC), Malaysian hockey is certainly on the upturn despite heartbreaks here and there on the road to progress.
Prince Abdullah has laid out the fundamentals with key objectives – right vision and mission; strategic objectives; good governance and accountability plus an excellence road map with targets in place, in fostering Malaysian hockey to world class.
Malaysia’s silver medal in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou and the juniors achieving a first by winning the inaugural Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 Invitational six nation tournament in Johor Bahru in November 2011 and clinching their first ever Junior Asia Cup in May this year.
The Sultan of Johor Cup was Malaysia’s first ever success in winning an international tournament either at home or away. The previous best by Malaysia was a silver medal won by the senior team at the Asiad in Guangzhou, China.
Coach K. Dharmaraj described Malaysia’s success in the Sultan of Johor Cup as a “great moment for the game in Malaysia” and a perfect boost for the Junior Asia Cup that was played in the historic city of Malacca in May 2012.
The Asian meet also served as Qualifier for the Junior World Cup to be held in India in 2013. The Malaysian Juniors not only qualified for the World Cup Finals by beating Pakistan 2-1 in the final but knocked out defending champions 2-0 in the semi-finals.
Prince Abdullah is also credited for the second re-engineering of merged Malaysian hockey which brought the men’s and women’s hockey under one umbrella – the Malaysian Hockey Confederation – at the beginning of this year. The restructuring involved a completely new paradigm of management where hockey in Malaysia is managed under one governing body – a unique structure indeed where the ratio of men and women is absolutely equal. All positions are open for either gender to contest.
The first restructuring of merged hockey was done on 16th July 2005.
THE Malaysian Hockey Federation, as the Malaysian Hockey Confederation was then known as, was formed in 1954 after Singapore went their way. Herman Marie De Souza was elected president and Kandiah Aryaduray the secretary. Sir Gerald Templer, the supremo of Malaya and Sir Donald MacGillivray the High Commissioner of Federation of Malaya, were roped in as Patrons.
Before going separate ways, after the end of the North versus South hockey match at the end of the 1947-48 season in Kuala Lumpur, delegates from the Hockey Associations of Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Johor and Singapore met.
Singapore Hockey Association president Sir George E.N. Oehlers formally proposed, “that a body governing the game of hockey in the Federation of Malaya and the Colony of Singapore be formed and that such a body be called the Malayan Hockey Council”. Sir George was duly elected the first president.
With that came the quadrangular hockey over the weekends during the hockey season and the introduction of the Malayan Championships in 1951 put the game on a higher level in the country. The exploits of the legendary Indians in the Olympics – they had won five titles since the 1928 Amsterdam Games, and the fifth was at the 1952 Helsinki Games – fired the imagination of hockey enthusiasts in Malaya.
Olympic participation is through the Olympic Council and the Malayan Hockey Council did the needful, with the Amateur Athletics Union of Malaya. They met at the PWD Sports Club in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur on Aug 15, 1953 at 11.30am and the Federation of Malaya Olympic Council was born 35 minutes later.
And Malaya were ready for their first international outing – the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and have never looked back since.
Past records reveal that the first formal match played in Malaya was between Harris’ XI and Whitley’s XI on Nov 30, 1898 in Kuala Lumpur. Inter-club matches were played between Selangor and Singapore as early as 1904. Other British-dominated clubs in Malacca, 1poh and Penang also had their matches and by 1920 there were more Malays playing the game. The Federated Malay States versus Colony series was started in 1925.
Penang claim to have formed the first State Hockey Association, though all records were lost during the World War Two, the “memory of the old-timers” says the association took shape about the 1924-25 season.
Perak, however, were the first to officially form a State Hockey Association and this was in October 1927, and so too were Negeri Sembilan. And in Perak, the Constitution was amended in 1936 to provide for District Hockey Association. Six districts formed their Hockey Association the same year.
Records show that the game was played at club level in 1931 by Tamilians’ Physical Cultural Association (TPCA), Selangor Malays and Selangor Chinese Recreation Club in Kuala Lumpur. The game went “international” with the visit of the Indian Olympic team in 1932. The Indians treated the local fans to a delightful display of hockey on their way to a 7-0 win over the Malayan Xl.
By the 1930s, regular inter-state matches were held. The 1939 records show that Selangor were a hot number, beating Negeri Sembilan 9-0 on Nov 4, Malacca 2-0 on Nov 18 and Penang 1-0 on Dec 2. Hockey was up and running in the country and the game was played at club and district levels nationwide by the late 30s.
The hockey season ended with the classic North vs South match. North was made up of Kedah. Penang, Perak, Pahang and Selangor while South had Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Johor and Singapore.