SINGAPORE — He was just three years short of his century birthday, but “Twinkletoes” Chia Boon Leong died on Tuesday.
To be nicknamed “Twinkletoes” was a rarest footballing tribute as he had exemplary footwork and ball control, sparkling on the field in the 1940s and 1950s, that he caught the eye of China, and at 23 years, he even played at the 1948 London Games.
For the record, two other Singaporeans – defender Chua Boon Lay in Berlin 1936 and goalkeeper Chu Chee Seng in London 1948 – had been part of the China team at the Olympics, but they never played.
Quah Kim Song, the Malaysia Cup hero-striker of the 1970s, describes Boon Leong as a “Lionel Messi… he lived a very good and full life and what I admired about him was his humility in the face of global fame, he reminds me of the Argentinian World Cup striker, short but extremely good with the ball”.
FAILING HEALTH
Boon Leong’s son Soon Joo wrote on Facebook: “Despite his failing health, [dad] was very concerned for my mum telling her he was sad to be leaving her. We will miss him dearly, especially at family gatherings. I will have no expert to watch football games with anymore. Sunday’s World Cup final was the first we missed since 1974.”
Indeed, the ultimate for any sportsman is to play at the Olympic Games and football’s “Twinkletoes” did just that, ironically, for China 74 years ago.
His “Twinkletoes” monicker came from Gothenburg coach John Mahon in 1951 when the Swedish team came to play friendly matches in Singapore.
He had told his team to “watch that little 26-year-old fellow with the twinkling feet, he works hard, dribbles hard, and is outstanding both in attack and defence”.
Boon Leong wore Singapore colours with distinction, too, and won a hat-trick in Malaysia Cup finals from 1950 to 1952 (even before I was born in 1954!), scoring in the 2-0 victory over Penang, before being part of the Lions’ 6-0 thumping of Perak and 3-2 win over Penang again.
HUMBLE LESSON
If there’s a humble lesson for the younger generation, Boon Leong’s bonus for the first of their treble was “$10 and a celebratory dinner back in Singapore”.
I remember the umpteen chats I had with him, and even recently, he apologised for the personal interviews because “my hearing is failing badly, and I have to continually rest”.
Boon Leong was ultra-popular, just like Messi, wherever he played. His football charms earned him the accolade of Malaya’s most popular footballer in a competition organised by drinks company Fraser and Neave, clinching over 1.3 million votes.
He was later sent for a two-month stint in England, where they attended a four-week coaching course with the England Football Association, trained at Arsenal and played friendlies with amateur sides.
GREAT LOSS
He hung up his boots at 30 years and worked as a senior financial executive with the radio service company Rediffusion. Three years later, he became a council member of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) and was also team manager of its national team on a part-time basis between 1977 and 1980.
I will really miss “Twinkletoes”.
In my books, his death will be a great loss for sports. He epitomised the best of Made-in-Singapore sportsmanship, he was friendly, likeable and helpful – always available and willing to lend a helping hand to Singapore sports.
Rest in Peace, Boon Leong.
You’re simply one-of-a-kind, and we will forever be indebted to you for being an extraordinary “Twinkletoes”.
Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor