14th ISCI Hockey Festival, Jakarta (24-27 May 2013)

RSC made their annual trip to Jakarta for the ISCI Hockey Festival at the end of May (24th – 27th). This was the 14th edition of the fun filled tournament sponsored by San Miguel.

The team left on Friday morning and upon checking into the Hotel, straight went out for some local food. Unfortunately, the choice of food was not very good but the beers thereafter made up for it.

The Welcome Reception was held on Friday night at the official hotel, The Part Lane, which was attended by all the foreign teams. It was a good time meeting up with old friends over some food and drinks.

The 8-a-side tournament had 18 teams (8 local and 10 foreign) divided into 3 groups of 6. Each team had to play a minimum of 5 games.

The tournament started on Saturday morning at 8.30 a.m. RSC’s first game was at 9.50 a.m. and was against Valley RFC (Hong Kong). We won 2 – 1. Our next game was some 4 hours later, so there was sufficient time for some Nasi Ayam and lots of San Miguel. We played against Sathya (Malaysia) and won 1 – 0. Our last game for the day was another 3 hours later against SCC (Singapore). We won 2 – 0 even after more San Miguel.

We had our team dinner on Saturday night at the Immigrant. The workers at the restaurant were given a lesson on how steaks should be properly cooked by our expert Chef Harry. The good company made the night.

The tournament continued on Sunday morning at 8.00 a.m. Our first game for the day was at 9.20 a.m. against a young local college team (Alzaytun). We held them as long as we could and eventually lost 1 – 0. Our next game some 2 hours later was against another young local team (DKI Jakarta). We held on to a 1 – 1 draw. After that it was Nasi Ayam time.

We finished second in the group and qualified for the Cup Competition. The quarter-finals saw us play against another young local team (Alumni). The game which was played at 2 p.m. went on to extra time wherein 2 players were taken out every 5 minutes. Left with 4 players on each team, our old legs could not take it any longer and we lost 1 – 0. That was the end of our tournament and it was San Miguel full time after that.

The consolation for our team was that we lost to the 2 teams that eventually reached the finals. Alzaytun beat Alumni 2 – 0 tobecome the 1st local champions of this tournament.

A big thank you to all the players who made the trip to represent RSC. Also to our Convener James, Uncle Bala and Chef Harry for the support in the beer tent. Last but not least to Harnam andGurnam for the entertainment during the trip.

A bit of this and that...

First up, apologies for the slow traffic on our blog site... The editor has been rather caught up with things of the world, such as work, work and more work!

The weekly sessions are still on-going despite the occasional interruptions (this month's sessions on 18/6 and 20/6 have been cancelled due expected water supply cut at the stadium area). Dato Poon and Colin Sta Maria, with the support from James Sia continue to arrange games week in, week out. Thank you for your dedication and hardwork to keep this going!

The Kelab Aman tournament which was scheduled in May has been postponed to August (or so we were informed). Meanwhile, the boys had a good outing in Jakarta for the ISCI tourney which took place at the end of May - We are still waiting for the report on that!

The annual PSC tournament is scheduled in the 3rd week of June, but it unfortunately clashes with the RSC AGM (or EGM, sorry it slipped my mind), and with a heavy heart, we have opted to skip this year's tournament.

We have also been invited for the Liquorice-All-Stars tournament in August. The inaugural tournament was held last year, and we participated under the stewardship of Siva Subramaniam. More information to come soon via email.

The RSC 9s will be held in October this year, in view of the fasting month in July. As usual, the committee is already hard at work canvassing for teams, funds and volunteers. All interested parties may contact Ommen Koshy for more details.

The committee has also made it a point that the Hockey section is represented in every edition of the Berita RSC, and this upcoming issue is no different. Do check it out!

For the next edition, we will have more hockey history to unravel, and to show our appreciation to the people who have contributed to the section all these years.

Signing off for now.... The Editor

Hockey Personalities featuring.... RANI KAUR

These days, Rani Kaur Sandhu is committed to the luxury watch and jewellery business.

As a director for Chopard Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Rani is busy with the fashion world, far from her days of swinging a hockey stick for a good 19 years.

For it was hockey where Rani gained her sporting fame.

She skippered the national women's team to bag the Asian Cup in 1974, 1977 and 1982, and was proclaimed Sportswoman of the Year in 1974 for her contributions to the nation.

 

After retirement from the national and state teams, Rani stayed active playing for the Royal Selangor Club and turned to coaching, becoming the first woman to coach the national women's team for the Tokyo Invitational Tournament in 1979.

In her heydays, Rani was a pillar of women's hockey in Malaysia, playing first for her school in her hometown in Kuala Kangsar, Perak in 1959.

Her impressive performance resulted in her selection into the Perak combined schools team that very year and the rest, as they say, is history.
 

Rani, the eighth in a family of 14, has her father, YBHG Dato’ Chingar Singh Sandhu to thank for.

"He was an accomplished boxer and encouraged me and my siblings to take up sport actively. My sisters June, Kalbunth and Santokh Kaur got the ball rolling playing for the country," she said.

Being deft with the hockey stick as a schoolgirl, Rani soon made it to the Perak state team after shining for the Combined Schools.

 

However, it was her move to Selangor that sparked her international career.

Rani skippered Selangor for over 12 years and represented Malaysia between 1972 and 1982. She was selected national skipper for the first time in 1973, replacing Maureen Chapman.

As a prolific striker and captain, Rani steered Malaysia to the Asian title in 1974 and 1977. The 1974 final triumph saw Rani bag six goals! 

"I am glad much of my efforts and that of the other players were not left unrecognised when I was adjudged the Sportswoman of the Year in 1974.”

"It was just reward for the blood, sweat and tears on and off the pitch," said Rani, who holds a Malaysian Hockey Confederation advanced coaching certificate.

Rani's international career took a twist when she was not selected for being honest and vocal about mismanagement in the sport. But nonetheless, her passion for the game kept her going on at state and club level after that.

 

Asked on her current career, Rani said many sportswomen had the ability to demonstrate their passion, commitment and intellect in any choice of careers. And Rani knows this well enough.

Why, in 1984 Rani made heads turn off the pitch by being voted as one of the ten best dressed women in Malaysia.
 

"Even as a player, I had always been conscious of my feminity. If in sports, your life was being in and out of a track suit and T-shirts, it should not be an excuse for not being well dressed after a game.”

"How you dress will reveal the woman in you," said Rani, whom Malaysians had seen coming out of muddy pitches and brandishing a hockey stick.

But it's all a different ball game for Rani now, as a top executive in the fashion world !

CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING SELECTED AS THE ROYAL SELANGOR CLUB'S CHAMPIONOF HOCKEY FOR YESTER-YEARS.　

AGM 2013 Result

AGM results - last year's committee re-elected for another term.

Convenor - James Sia

Secretary - Charles Lim

Treasurer - Siva Subramaniam

Committee member - Dato Poon Fook Loke, Colin Sta Maria

Auditors - James Andrew, Jay Ooi

Let's have a great 2013!

Hockey section AGM (postponed to 27 March 2013)

The AGM is postponed to 27 March 2013 (Weds) - same time and venue

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Hockey section AGM (18 March)

Please note our AGM will be held as follows:

 

Date : 18   27 March 2013 (Monday Wednesday)

Time : 7.00pm

Venue : Dewan Tun Hamzah, Kiara Sports Annexe, RSC

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2013

The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2013 is underway at Ipoh from 9 March 2013.

This is the 22nd edition of the tournament.

Teams participating this year are:-
Australia
New Zealand
Pakistan
India
South Korea
Malaysia

Our national team has gotten off to a good start with wins over South Korea and New Zealand.

For more news and updates, please visit http://www.azlanshahcup.com/

Hockey Personalities featuring... TAN SRI BASHIR AHMAD

Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad is a prominent public figure with over 40 years of involvement in the Malaysian airline industry. 

His contributions to Malaysia Airlines, a company he joined as a founding staff back in 1972 (in his words - “back when MAS did not own an airplane yet!” ), and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), as the Managing Director since 2003, is well known to all.

However, what the papers do not report is his passion for sports and his involvement in the sport of hockey!

Born in the Pearl of the Orient, Penang in 1949 and schooled in the famous Penang Free School, Tan Sri had developed a keen interest in hockey at a young age.
 
He began by playing hockey for the school and later for the university besides representing the state U-23. His usual playing position is centre-forward or right-inside in the traditional Pyramid system. Whilst he did also enjoy

playing football, rugby and cricket at school and university, hockey had always been his main game.

Upon graduating from University Malaya and joining Malaysia Airlines, he decided to give up competitive hockey and focus on his work which did involve quite a bit of travelling. However, he still wanted to play some hockey and was faced with the problem of where to continue his passion for hockey!

A much younger Tan Sri Bashir back in 1985!

So, Tan Sri Bashir joined the Royal Selangor Club in 1973 as a Sports Member. All he wanted to do then was to continue playing hockey and this was the main reason he joined RSC!

Back then, the hockey games were organised 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and played at what is now known as Dataran Merdeka. He joined the club together with a group of young players from University Malaya that also played for RSC in the 1970s. These, then young players, formed the backbone of the hockey team and they participated in the top division (Division 1) of the KL hockey league (known as Selangor Hockey League, back then). Even during his short stint in Singapore in 1975 and then later a posting back to Penang for 2 years, he continued to play for our affiliate clubs, the Singapore Cricket Club and the Penang Sports Club.

He finally decided to take up full membership at RSC in 1978, and is still a club and hockey section member until today.

Back in the days of wooden hockey sticks and bamboo hockey pads!

Tan Sri Bashir continued to play for RSC up till the early 2000s when he retired from hockey. However, every once in a while, the itch to get back onto the hockey pitch would prove too tempting and he would join the Sultan Ahmad Shah (SAS) Veterans for tournaments from time to time. He also represented the Malaysian Senior Veterans for the Veterans Tournament in conjunction with the World Cup 2002, which emerged as Champions! He says playing in these tournaments gave him the pleasure of playing beside some of the best Malaysian players of the time.

He was a Vice President of the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF), now known as Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC), from 2001 till 2008 and headed the Competitions Committee organising the National Hockey League and various other tournaments throughout Malaysia.

Tan Sri Bashir with ex-national players from the 1975 World Cup Team (L-R) Dato' Shan (Captain), Coach Param, Wong Choon Hin, Dato' Poon Fook Loke, Patmaraja and Ow Soon Kooi, taken at the recent FIH World Congress in Kuala Lumpur

“I believe that for those of us who have had the good fortune to be able to participate in sports, we must try and give back to the sporting fraternity so that others, especially the younger generation can enjoy sports as well. We must find ways of doing so!” he said.

Tan Sri Bashir tried to inculcate interest in sports in whichever organisation he was in. He organised and participated in the first inter-departmental football game in Malaysia Airlines and was manager of the team that first took part in the Inter-Airlines Tournament, which happened to be basketball, even though he himself did not play basketball. His involvement in sports in Malaysia Airlines continued and he soon became President of Kelab Sukan Mas in 1994 until 2001. For his contribution to sports in Malaysia Airlines, he was made the Honorary Life President of the Club.

Upon joining MAHB, Tan Sri Bashir continued to promote sports in the company. He himself would take part in various games so as to set an example for the staff to follow.

Tan Sri Bashir believes that companies should try and provide sporting facilities for their staff and he is pleased that in MAHB, he is able to do just that. Recently, a new football field, netball and basketball courts as well as a gym, were constructed at the Corporate Head Office in KLIA. This will soon be followed by tennis courts. These facilities will provide an avenue for the staff to participate in sporting activities.

For the longer term, Tan Sri Bashir has obtained approval from the Board to build a sports complex with a stadium to serve the community at KLIA. This will enable the staff of airlines and agencies to have access to sporting facilities.

Tan Sri Bashir still runs and swims regularly to maintain his fitness. There is an occasional game of golf but he hopes to be able to find more time for golf in the future. This passion for sports also runs deep in his family. His wife, Puan Sri Annette Bashir, is an ardent tennis player, while his son actively plays futsal, rugby and golf.

Tan Sri - Hope to see you on the hockey pitch sometime!