These folk helped turn Farrer Park into a gloriously busy sports venue

C-R-A-S-H and the cyclists were floored

Sitting on the stands at the Farrer Park Athletic Centre, I saw horror.

It was during cycling practice for the 1973 SEAP Games only days before Singapore's hosting of the biennial event that September.

Ace cyclist Roland Lim and his team went off the beaten track at the end of the first turn and the crash saw a pile of bodies and twisted cycles strewn on the track and beyond.

As medics were attending to the injured, an ambulance arrived and took some of the victims to hospital.

Our cycling hopes were dashed, but the sport's officials consoled themselves that no-one was seriously injured.

Rugby boys train under free light

It was already dusk, well past 7pm, but there was no let-up among the rugby boys at training for the 1978 MRU Cup.

National coach Natahar Bava was putting his charges through the paces in one corner of Farrer Park near the Rutland Road area with just scant light from the floodlights at the nearby tennis centre.

Crazy, some would say. But when the ground is borrowed and the light free, there can be no complaints from the committed rugby players whose association was one of the poorest in the 70s.

Said Bava: "We had to pay out of our own pockets for our flights and accommodation for overseas assignments, so every cent counted for us.

"It was from this hard work and sacrifice that we earned our stripes during the 1978 MRU Cup victory, even beating the bigger and heavier New Zealand Force along the way."

Where the best in boxing often met

When boxers stepped into the Farrer Park gymnasium in the 70s, they had to queue to gain possession of dumb-bells, skipping ropes and punching bags.

For small as it was - sandwiched between the football grounds and swimming pool - there used to be a large turnout as the sport was very popular then.

Among the protagonists were celebrated champions Syed Abdul Kadir and Cyril Jeeris who, no doubt, received special treatment because of their reputation.

It was not just national boxers who frequented the gym, but also former champions, like Singapore's first SEAP Games gold medallist Ow Mun Hong, Brian Isaac, Krishnan Gopalan and Lim Kee Chan, who were often there to inspire the many talented athletes there.

Dull was the colour of the gym although gold was what so many pugilists sought at the time.

Where the Angs ruled the waves

Bare-bodied, he paced along the sides of the Farrer Park pool in majestic fashion.

He was not only a swimming coach, but also a judo champion and Olympian (1964).

Ang Teck Bee had an aura about him. That is why his charges often turned out tops in swimming and judo competitions.

Among them was his swimmer-son, Ang Peng Siong, who once held the world's best time for the 50-metre freestyle.

I have had several interviews with Teck Bee at the pool, and one that stuck was when he told me that he did not make the weight qualification for the heavyweight division at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo for judo.

The hulk of a man just sulked after telling me this.

Farrer Park first inter-con champs

How right that Farrer Park won the first inter-constituency football tournament in 1972.

Initiated by the country's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, the constituency beat Pasir Panjang in a thrilling final at Jalan Besar Stadium watched by a capacity crowd estimated to be 25,000.

A day after the final, as the cup made its rounds at the Farrer Park area, the hawkers (especially those who ran stalls around Northumberland Road) and some coffee shops in the area offered free food for the residents while the players were honoured in a van parade.

One other time when there was a road parade in the area was when Singapore's first Fifa World Cup referee George Suppiah (1974 in Germany), who lived at nearby Owen Road and had played and refereed easily more than 1,000 games in his career, died in December 2012. - GODFREY ROBERT