By V. Ashok

When Youth and Sports Minister, Hannah Yeoh recently spoke about a proposal to relocate the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) headquarters to the Kuala Lumpur Sports City in Bukit Jalil, it reminds me of my reporting days in the 90s.

Back then, it was all about two venues – Stadium Negara and Stadium Merdeka – which was our main sports hub. Most of the major international events or tournaments were happening over here. It was a like ‘busy zone’ throughout the year.

To add on, the National Sports Council (NSC) and OCM offices were based in Stadium Negara to work hand-in-hand in assisting the needs of the national associations, with the majority of them were housed there too.

This is the place some of our most memorable sports history were created. It was a truly a sporting landmark, not only known to our local sports lovers but well recognised globally.

During that era, we, the sports journalists from the mainstream media not only had the luxury of Stadium Negara as ‘our hunting ground’ for daily news, but also the historically famous Stadium Merdeka, which was just a stone throw away.

Both this arena was an iconic structure that symbolises the sports face of our nation. Simply to put in words, it was our ‘little sports city’ at that time – a nerve centre for sports excellence.

But with the emergence of Bukit Jalil sports complex in late 90s, these two iconic buildings became less prominent. It has to give way as almost all major sporting events, including football, hockey, athletics, badminton and squash shifted their base to a more modern and world class venues.

The NSC too moved their HQ over there while OCM opted to operate their administration centre from Wisma OCM in Jalan Hang Jebat. It was build in 1991 and houses the OCM office, national sports association (NSA), training hall, Olympic Hotel, and OCM Sports museum.

I’m sure when Hannah visited Wisma OCM, last month she would had captured the magic moments on how our nations sports grew from this historic hub to what it is today.

Recalling the scenario those days, it would normally be a busy hours at Stadium Negara. The officials from OCM and NSC not only has to entertain request from NSA’s but also the needs and assistance of other states as well.

We, the sports journalists would add their headache at times while hunting for materials needed to beef up our stories. Our mind will only think of the deadline for tomorrow’s print.

Looking around, I could see piles of work on their tables. Some officials would be seen running around their working zone, preparing letters and making phone calls. At times it reminds me of the stock exchange floor, but on a much milder situation.

It was also the centre for our national athletes and coaches or team managers to come and settle their dues, including training programmes for future competitions. Mostly, it involves them direct with OCM and NSC.

Not to give up, we will try to find the gap to slot in our interview session. In between, we do go and visit other officials or bumped into someone you know. It may also give you an opening for other sports news as well. Lucky day.

There will be a time you may not even get much details due to the sports officials’ other commitment. But, some how, our work will be done.

“Boss, can I call you after lunch. Need few more details,” I asked one official before returning to Berita Harian office in Jalan Riong to start my 2 pm duty. His spontaneous reply would be: “Aiya, Ashok…busy la today. Ok, ok, you try calling me in the evening.”

That would give me a sigh of relief in order to strengthen my story. We knew the pressure from our bosses who do expect something big from us to decorate the sports back page. Yes, that’s the print media culture and we will try our best to fullfill it.

In the process, there would also be some heated arguments or disagreement between the media and officials at times. Just like us, they too have their job to finish under pressure.

The next day, we try to patch up and come back to our senses. The important thing is we need to keep a good rapport with the officials, also the coaches and team managers. Yes, they need us and we need them too – all for a good cause helping our own sports growth.

Over the years, all these quarrels also helped us to develop a good relationship with them. We learn to know each other better, also to avoid the sensitive issues and more importantly, make our time together much lively and easier for all.

It is also about their trust on how we sports journalists go about to get exclusive stories from them. This bond was built slowly over a long period after meeting regularly and knowing each other character well.

We spent most of our time meeting the athletes and officials or even the president of the associations, personally rather than making phone calls those days. This face to face communication at times will provide you with good stories and also valuable information on what’s happening around, especially from your close source who trust you.

Me and my colleagues learned the hard way being a sports reporter as it involved human interaction. Our PR approach comes in handy and after years of gaining experience we stand to know how not to hurt people for our own gain – in this case the importance of officials and athletes who were our main source for information on daily basis.

Till today, some of them remains our good friends.

On a lighter note, tasty food was also on ‘our side agenda’ each time we were assigned to cover events or to attend press conferences at this once famous sporting hub.

I still remember there was a food court just nearby Stadium Negara, mostly to cater for the OCM, NSC and other staff. It was also open to the public who frequented these eatery place during lunch hours.

Usually, I would go for nasi goreng or nasi campur (mixed rice) plus a teh tarik. It was also worth trying other menu for a reasonable price.

If there was an international badminton tournament in progress, it would be packed with huge crowd, lining up and rushing to get their orders. For the food and drinks operators, it must be a profit day.

To avoid the crowd, we will have our Plan B. Guess what? Yes, nasi kandar kari kepala ikan at Stadium Merdeka. It is the favourite menu that people will go after, especially for lunch. You must know the right timing to be there and get your orders fast before it finishes.

You noticed the car park compound will be full almost every day as those working around the city will be craving for the food here. They don’t mind driving from a distance to fill up their stomach with tasty dishes.

Enjoying your meal under the fan on a hot day, added with some crispy fried chicken and sotong goreng, it would be a story to tell our working colleagues when you get back to office. Yes, you can see many ’angry faces’ after that. Ha ha.

Ok. Back to work matters.

Our late Sieh Kok Chi, the legend and secretary general of OCM would be the main target as he was our prime story provider those days. To tell the truth, this nice gentleman would not disappoint if you are having a dry day. He will give you stories as he understands our job nature.

The late Kok Chi used to ask the writer what’s happening in sports circles just to tease and test before giving the details for the stories we were hunting for the day

“Ya, ya, what you want. So tell me what’s happening in sports here,” he would ask me while at the same time focusing on his paper work. Sometimes he just wanted to tease you. A very shrewd person indeed and knew well what’s going on in our sports circles. All at his finger tips.

He may look arrogant. But if you know him well, you understand the situation. When his thinking cap is on, you need to ask clearly the details you wanted. But, surprisingly, most of the time he will try to balance his work and answers all your questions.

If you come well prepared, it might turn out to be a bonus day as you will get some extra good stories to be kept as stock for the next few days.

There were times he will entertain you for hours if he was very free.

That’s the kind of moment we would look for and start recording his statements with much focus on OCM’s future plan. At the same time get our current follow-up stories to sell to our bosses.

A wonderful gentleman indeed to the local media. Kok Chi passed away at the age of 83 on July 16, 2022. He was fondly called the sports ‘Wikipedia’ as he will give an answer for every question you asked. He spent almost his entire life working at Stadium Negara and later at Wisma OCM. Salute him.

There was also our former NSC Director General, Mazlan Ahmad to cater us for news from time to time. With OCM and NSC stationed there, the ‘little sports city’ area was so lively those days.

The memories and success stories at Stadium Negara and Stadium Merdeka cannot be erased easily. It’s like an immortal sports arena. We will keep mentioning it for many generations to come.

Almost every major tournament and event was happening over there and it was like a one- stop-centre for our sports lovers in the 70, 80 and 90s. Those fans travelling to watch tournaments from other states as far as Kedah, Pahang, Johore or Terengganu would have no problem coming as the main bus terminal in Pudu Raya was not far from these well known landmark.

Football, athletics and hockey once heavily occupied Stadium Merdeka for international events while Stadium Negara was more of a home for our national badminton team, famously remembered till today for winning the Thomas Cup in 1992. It was also a venue for the national basketball team and few other indoor sports.

Later, hockey moved to Stadium Tun Razak in Jalan Duta as the national players began to change their game approach from grass pitch to astroturf – in accordance to Federation of Internatioanl Hockey (FIH) ruling, advising their affiliates to start using the synthetic pitch for centralise training and tournaments.

Stadium Negara, opened in April 19, 1962 was once considered one of the advanced indoor stadium in Southeast Asia and in February 2003 it was named as national heritage building.

The same status goes to Stadium Merdeka, once a principal venue in Kuala Lumpur for celebrations and sporting events until 1998 when Bukit Jalil National Stadium was built for the 16th Commonwealth Games.

Prior to that it was the home ground for our national football team. It witnessed the historic qualifying match of the 1980 Olympics Games when we last qualified. Due to the boycott led by United States, our country did not participate in the final tournament in Moscow.

For the football fans it was a joy and pride to step into the venue labelled as ‘stadium keramat’ by our locals, especially to watch the Pestabola Merdeka tournament where thousands of fans will go crazy when we win the titles. Lifting the prestigious trophy as a host was achieved many times with big teams like South Korea, Japan, China, Morocco and clubs from Brazil were invited to participate.

Beside that, Stadium Merdeka also hosted the fight between legendary Boxer, Muhammad Ali dan Joe Bugner in 1975. The stadium also hosted the final of men’s hockey World Cup the same year.

On Oct 17,2005, Stadium Merdeka and the nearby Stadium Negara were gazetted under the Antiquities Act 1976 as national monuments.

Whenever I drive passed this vicinity, I could still feel the same aura and good vibes around me after more than 30 years. It was a place we learn, not only about sports but also values of life.

Majulah sukan untuk negara!