“If
something is possible, do it. If it is not possible, don’t fret and cry about
it. Just accept and carry on with what is achieveable. ” – Dr Jagdev Singh Badhesha
Dr Jagdev Singh Badhesha or Jag, as he would preferred to be called, has lived an active lifestyle from the time he used to be “pulled” out of bed at 6.am every morning by his father as a child, and caned to run around a field behind their quarters. This was because at age 7 and brought up by his “dotting” grand parents he was a grossly overweight child. The exercise or fitness program then instilled into him by his father at a young age, soon became his way of life. Even to this day he would still be doing his daily brisk walks, if not for a cruciate ligament injury of his right knee he sustained during a fall while playing hockey on astro turf. Knee replacement sugery was arranged but has been postponed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. To substitute his brisk walk program, he now has a stationary exercise bicycle. Thus daily exercise has been his way of life for him till this day! At age 90-years and in “semi-retirment”, he is still living life to the fullest.
Born on 18th
March 1931 in Punjab, Jag relocated to Taiping at age of 7, as his father was
recruited from India into the Malaysian Police Force and posted to Taiping, Perak.
He began his schooling at King Edward VII in Taiping. One can only imagine the
challenges faced by a young boy in a foreign land which eventually became his
home. His sister and brother still lives in Taiping till today, a place which
he calls ‘my hometown’.
Despite
having only lived in Punjab during his early childhood, he fondly remembers his
then days in Punjab, a village life, riding camel, going with his grandfather
to the fertile wheat and grain fields. He also fondly remember food he enjoyed
while in the village – fresh milk from home bred cows, the yogurt butter and
ghee made from the fresh milk. Also not forgetting the wholesome food he had as
a growing young lad -back in the Punjab, starting with home grown wheat flour -
chappaties, prathas, puris, taste of home grown vegetables, cauliflower,
potatoes, beans, varied type of dhalls etc. His favourite dish till today is “saage”
with a spoonful of butter and eaten with Chappati made of Maize flour together
with raw onions and green chillies as salad. Saage is made from finely cut mustard
leafs, spinach and green chillies with some spices added while cooking.
He still
loves his saage and chappati made with maize flour which he makes at home till
today.
As one can
imagine, all the good food and lack of physical activity made him a bit chubby
as a child. However, this was quickly remedied upon his arrival in then Malaya,
when his father got him running and later his involvement in many different
sports while in School.
Navigating
through his schooling in King Edward VII, Taiping till Std. 9 (Form V) in 1950,
his Post School Cert. (HSC) at St Xavier’s Institution, Penang in 1951, and on
completion of his PSC, in 1952 he went to University of Adelaide South
Australia, for his medical studies, Jag always put his best foot forward and
got his medical degree in 1957. As a
doctor he excelled academically, getting his Post-Graduate qualifications in
Public Health from University of Singapore, Occupational Medicine from Dundee
University Scotland, and Aviation Medicine
qualifications from Farnborough, UK,
In his
younger days as a Doctor, he was posted to Malacca General Hospital. After a
few months he was seconded to the Malaysian Armed Forces as a Medical Officer
with the rank of Captain. His first posting in the Forces was PD Garrison, but
within a few months he was assigned to the Royal Malaysian Air Force in KL. That
posting stimulate his interest in Flying and joined the Flying Club at the old
Airport. After his short sercive commission in the Forces, he was invited to
join well known Group Medical Practice in KL, Drs. Young & Newton and
Partners in which he rose to be the “Principal” partner” and remained so before
joining Esso Malaysia as the Medical Director in January 1980.
Unknown to
many, Jag was also instrumental in making Drs, Young and Newton a sort of “brand name”.
In the 1960s’, corporate branding of doctors clinic was not yet
something doctors considered important. Jag understood the value of brand name
and convinced the partners to keep the name ‘Drs Young & Newton’ although
both – Dr. Young and Dr. Newton had retired from the practice but the Group
Medical Practice named Drs. Young &
Newton remains as a premier clinic to
this today.
During one
of his sabbatical leaves from Drs Young & Newton, he took up a job as a
Flying Doctor based in Kargoolie, Western Australia and visited outlying country
townships, large farm complexes and native stations, providing medical care and
related services to these rural areas.
On the
Aviation Medicine side, he is currently the Chief Medical Assessor (CMA) for
the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (a quick google search listed Jag as
#1 on the DCA list of Designated Aviation Medical Examiners). He still holds
the responsibility of making the final assessments for issuance or renewals of pilot
licences. In some doubtful cases as and when required, he arranges the for the DCA
Medical Board to review the case to reach an “accredited “ conclusion without compromising
Flight Safety. He has held the CMA post for over 45 years.
All work and
no play makes Jag a dull boy (pun intended)! As we all know, Jag also excelled
in the field of sports, namely hockey, cricket and rugby - playing all above
games at School, College, University, Clubs, State and National level.
He started
his sporting career in King Edward VII School in Taiping, playing Hockey, Cricket
and Rugby, and represented his school in all three disciplines.
His memorable
Cricket game was against Penang Free School. He reminisced the time KE VII demolished Penang Free School Cricket side for
only 11 runs. He took out 5 wickets for 6 runs.
As a hockey
player, Jag operated in the middle of the field, playing primarily in the
centre half position. I can visualise him holding his own against the Australians.
He represented Adelaide University, Austrlian Combined Universities and his
State - South Australia at Hockey. In South Australia he received the “Best and
Fairest Player “ award. All these whilst
pursuing his medical degree in Adelaide. When asked about the difference in
playing style in Malaysia and Australia, he explained “Here we tend to do more
dribbling, whilst over there, they tend to pass the ball more. But I adjusted
to it quickly when I was there”.
When the
situation demands it, Jag would switch to left-inside (a notoriously difficult
position in the traditional pyramid system) or centre forward, and “score a
goal or two”, as he casually puts it. Before the advent of reverse stick
hitting, Jag remembers the days when he did a reverse stick pass from almost the
left side baseline, to the centre. The ball ‘curled’ around infront of the opposition
goalie (he still doesn’t know how it happened!), and kept on curling and went into
the opposite side end of the goal. Another memorable goal was the winning goal against SCC in the mid 1970s,
during our Inter-club match. During the last quarter of the match the score was
at tied at 3 -3. Five minutes before the
end of the game, Jag got a pass as left inner. He did a fast dribble to the “D”.
The SCC goalkeeper on seeing him come, ran out towards him. On reaching the “D”
Jag did a reverse stick flick which went over the SCC goalie’s head and sailed into
the far top corner of the goal. The score then became 4 – 3 with RSC leading. Not long after that the whistle blew to end the game, RSC thus beat SCC 4 -3 . That’s when Jag
received a standing ovation not only from the players but also all present.
His
contribution to RSC hockey is no less impressive, playing for the club well into
his 70s, until the dreaded knee injury put a stop to his exploits on the hockey
pitch. Jag is still a member of the RSC hockey section till this day.
As a left
arm spin bowler, cricket is another passion of his! The sport took him to most
Cricket playing countries – New Zealand,
Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Maldives and UK. This was made possible
with earlier Malaya/Singapore combined social sides, and then as a member of Singapore
Cricket Club (SCC). He was always picked as an SCC touring member even after his
long stay in the island state was over.
Back in
Malaysia, the multi-talented Jag was a regular in club hockey sides plus the
Selangor and Malaysian cricket sides (and captained these teams in the last few
year of his sporting career!)
Why did he only
play at a high level in hockey and cricket? Well, his pragmatic reply was “I
had to juggle between hockey, cricket, medical school, medical practice and
other assignments. Hence, I had little time for rugby, which I played while at school and at college in Australia.
On return to Malaysia in 1960, I had a few games of rugby when in Malacca ”…
and proceeded to show me how he could still make a rugby pass with his arm
swinging motion and a flick of the hands! I’m sure he would have actually made
a pass if we had a rugby ball with us!
As an
established sportsman, Jag believes that we must always encourage the younger
players and build their confidence to take up the sport in a good way. He would
always play according to the level of the youngsters eg bowling at a slower pace
without any spin, to give them a chance to enjoy the sport. This was his way of
encouraging them to keep improving and playing the sport. Simple. Effective.
Jag no longer plays hockey or cricket these days, but continues to be active, clocking-in to his clinic daily for couple of hours, exercising on his bicycle, contributing to the Free Masons fraternity, keeping up with daily news and updating himself of the latest medical advancements via medical journals. He is certainly not one to stay idle and to just while his time away aimlessly.
On and off, he
would still come to RSC Kiara to watch cricket and hockey games during the
weekends.
As we approached the end of our interview, his granddaughter, Sunaina and wife, Neeta joined us at the table. I could see Jag’s eyes light up with delight when his family arrived!
Jag - I think you have done it all. Anything possible. And never cried about things which were impossible. Lived life, enjoyed life and continue to do so today.
He doesn’t
remember exactly, but this could be the St Xavier’s Institution team in his HSC
days
3rd
from the left (front row), as Vice Captain of the Adelaide University team
3rd
from the right (middle row), with the Combined Universities team
3rd
from the right (back row), with the South Autralia state hockey team
Jag in
action in Australia
Jag
receiving this award as the Best and Fairest Player
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