Raja Bola (King of Football)

    On 22 November 1959, in the occasion of celebrating the Silver Jubilee of Malay Football Association of Selangor, Abdul Ghani Minhat was awarded with a title of Raja Bola (King of Football). He won the majority of votes for this title with 200 votes that came from the ex-football player and football player of that time. This award was given to him in appreciating his passions and desired towards football at that time. 

Abdul Ghani Minhat.

When he represented Malaya in football.

    Abdul Ghani Minhat started to play football when he was 10 years old and he played for Malay School Princess Road. Then, in the year 1953, he played for Malay Football Association of Selangor in the Malay Football Association Cup and reached final. The final game was held in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. In the final, Selangor won together with Kelantan. Now, with this valuable knowledge, all of us know that Raja Bola was awarded specially to Abdul Ghani Minhat by Malay Football Association of Selangor in appreciating his passions and desired towards football at that time and this title still remain until today although he has passed away. He's a great legend !!! Here, some video photo dedicated for him:-

A.L. Henry - The Best Footballer In Malaya

    On 19 December 1933, a person known as A.L. Henry won a Tiger Beer Competition and was awarded as "The Best Footballer In Malaya". It was every football player dream in Malaya at that time. This competition was held by Malayan Breweries Ltd in searching the best footballer from Malaya to be awarded with this great title. It was the first competition in Malaya of its kind and A.L. Henry was the first person from Malaya to be awarded with this title of its kind. This competition was based on counting of votes from supporters. A.L. Henry was a Selangor state player won 28,617 votes. Meanwhile, two Singapore players that were Chia Keng Hock won 27,293 votes and Dolfattah won 21,342 votes. The winning of A.L. Henry was a quite shock because in the early round of counting votes, Chia Keng Hock and Dolfattah were leading A.L. Henry. However, the final result of counting votes turned out that A.L. Henry was "The Best Footballer In Malaya". A.L. Henry was a leader of Tamilians' Physical Culture Association (TPCA) football team in 1933. On that year, he bring his team to the top level by winning Selangor A.F.A League without losing any game and also won the Watson Shield without losing any game. Through this great performance, he managed to be absorbed as as Selangor state player and play for Selangor in HMS Malaya Cup 1933. He also played in other friendly football tournament which impressed the supporters with his great performance and football skills. Furthermore, he also played cricket, badminton and rugby for TPCA and Selangor state team. He was just a government clerk, but his talent in sports was marvelous and honoured by his supporters.

A.L. Henry.

TPCA football team 1933 in golden era.

    By winning this competition, he won a trip to England and played in several football clubs. He departed to England on 19 January 1934 with P. & O. R.M.S. Naldera ship. In England, he played in Athenian League for Golders Green Club, one of the top amateur club in England. During his stay with this club, he managed to score a grand goal and earned a title as the best forward. He scored twice in three matches. Then, in Highbury, he was trained with Arsenal and was invited as an Arsenal Reserves. He learnt many things about football when he was in England. In addition, he also watched every football big match including international match between England and Scotland. He stayed in England for four months.

P. & O. R.M.S Naldera ship

Athenian Football League emblem.

Golders Green Club match card.

    When A.L Henry returned back to Malaya, he was appointed as a captain of Selangor HMS Malaya Cup team from 1935 until 1939. In 1935, 1936 and 1938, Selangor lifted the HMS Malaya Cup as a champion and he was the captain. For the first time in HMS Malaya Cup final, Singapore lost to Selangor in their own home ground of Rifle Range Road with a result of 0-2 in 1936 HMS Malaya Cup final and A.L. Henry was the Selangor captain. A.L. Henry was a successful captain in bringing Selangor team to achieve three HMS Malaya Cup victories after he came back from England. He was "The Best Footballer In Malaya" and  it was undeniable until today. He is also an uncle to Edwin Dutton who follow his uncle footsteps by playing for TPCA and Selangor and being awarded "The Most Popular Footballer" in 1954. Edwin Dutton also was a Selangor captain.

Edwin Dutton.

Malaysia flag, its evolution story

    

    Malaysia flag what we seen today has gone through a great evolution in history. It was a great heritage that most of us don't know about it. Today, we will share this great knowledge with all of you. Malaysia flag known as "Jalur Gemilang" consist of 14 stripes of red and white colours. These stripes represent 13 states and one Federal Territory in Malaysia. The 13 states were Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak, Pahang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. The Federal Territory consist of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. The red colour on the stripes means bravery and the white colour means purity. The crescent represent Islam as the official religion. The 14 points of star known as Federal Star represent 13 states and one Federal Territory. The yellow colour means the royal colour of the Malay Rulers. The blue colour means the unity of Malaysian people. The combination of three main colours of red, blue and white symbolize the friendship relationship between Federation of Malaya and United Kingdom and also the unification of Federation of Malaya with other Commonwealth countries.

    This flag history started back when Malaya flag was created back in the 1940's. The Malayan flag was designed by Mohamad Hamzah, a 29 year old architect working for the Public Works Department (JKR) in Johor Baharu, Johor. He entered the Malayan flag design competition on 29 November 1949. His flag design that won that competition and the design was similar with the current flag but with a five pointed star. It borrows major design elements from the East India Company flag (1801-1857), notably the red and white stripes. 

East India Company flag (1801-1857).

The flag design by Mohamad Hamzah.

    The Malaya flag gone through few changes before being approved by Conference of Rulers on 22 and 23 February 1950. Later on, it was brought by the Federal Legislative Council to the Chief Secretary for approval by His Majesty King George VI and was approved by His Majesty King George VI on 19 May 1950. It was first raised in front of Istana Selangor on 26 May 1950. On 31 August 1957, it was raised upon independence at Merdeka Square in place of the Union Jack flag. The Malaya flag consist of 11 stripes and 11 points of star that represent 11 states in Malaya such as Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak, Pahang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor.

Malaya flag.

    When Malaysia was formed in 16 September 1963, the Malaya flag was known as Malaysia flag. It also changed into 14 stripes and 14 points of star because of the inclusion of 11 states in Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. However, when Singapore was out from Malaysia in 1965, many sources said the Malaysia flag remain the same. BUT, there was a proof that the Malaysia flag has changed into 13 stripes and 13 points of star for a moment. After that, Malaysia flag changed back into 14 stripes and 14 points of star. Below was an evidence of the existence of that 13 stripes and 13 points of star flag, its genuine, authentic and antique:-

Very rare genuine, authentic and antique Malaysia 13 stripes and 13 points of star flag.

    On 31 August 1997, Tun Dr Mahathir who was a Malaysia Prime Minister of Malaysia at that time, giving a name for this beautiful Malaysia flag known as "Jalur Gemilang".

  

How Perlis football team got his "Northern Lion" title.

     In the 1950's, Perlis football team performance was worst because in all matches, it lost with a result 0-6 to the opponent. Every matches was held in Derma English School field or hospital field. The Perlis Football Association (PFA) only has white cloths to cover as a wall and only a small amount of fee being charge for entrance. Therefore, many spectators climb the trees in the field to watch the game for free. In 1968, Perlis with the great players has beaten Singapore in the final game of "Piala Emas Raja-Raja". The great players were Tok Chod, Jalaludin, Osman, Ali Osman, Megat, Idris Nor and others. They have brought Perlis into a golden era. This great team of players were multiracial team with the mixture of Malay, Chinese and Indian became the backbone of this team not only in action for "Piala Emas Raja-Raja" but also in Malaysia Cup. 

     Then, in 1960's, PFA was managed by Mr. Mansor Osman (known as Pak Chok Putih) and Tuan Aman Shah Khalid as an assistant. After that, it was taken over by today King of Perlis and Tuan Aman Shah Khalid still an assistant. At that time, under the management of today King of Perlis, the quality of Perlis team performance has increased. Perlis was no longer a punching bag team, but were feared by its opponents. It has a national level players such as Bakri Ibni, Saidin Osman, Osman Ibrahim, Ibrahim, Ali Osman, Tok Chod and other well known players. When there was a match between Perlis and Singapore in Singapore, the newspaper in Singapore gave a wide coverage as Perlis was a great team and they gave a title to the Perlis team known as "Northern Lion". This title stick to the Perlis team until today.

*this story credit to Tuan Aman Shah Khalid, Northern Lion Perlis Fan Club and Anuar Che Ahmad.

Perlis team during their golden era.

Malaysia football heritage collectors live interview in local television programme

On 18 December 2015, two lucky Malaysian football heritage collectors were interviewed live by local television known as TV3 in the "Malaysia Hari Ini" programme. The topic on that interview was about Malaysia football heritage collections. These two lucky Malaysian collectors were Faiz and Sahrin. On that interview, they were asked about their collections mostly on how they got it, how much they have spend for it, what they have in their collections and their plans for their collections. Their collections consist of football jerseys, football match books, football souvenirs, football match pennants, football emblems, flags, football medals and football photos dated as early as 1930's. They collect all these because of their passions and loved on Malaysia football history and its glorious era. It keeps on growing and without a person like them, we never knew and learn about Malaysia football heritage. Its a great job to keep the heritage preserved and known by nowadays generation. Keep it up !!!

The two collectors were in live interview.

Faiz, one of the collector.

Sahrin, one of the collector.

The two collectors together with the television hosts and the collections memoralibia.

The first Merdeka Football Festival match book, part of the collection.

HMS Malaya Cup match book, part of the collection.

Football Association of Malaya emblem, part of the collection.

Football players Pesta Bola Merdeka Tournament bag and also a match book, part of the collection.

Selangor Rangers vs Malacca Chinese match photo, part of the collection.

Football jerseys, part of the collection.

Two of the hosts holding Mokhtar Dahari jerseys.

Pesta Bola Merdeka tournament souvenir, part of the collection.

*Reminder: Anyone who wants to contribute their sources/artifacts to be review in this blog, do not hesitate to contact Aizusan the curator through this blog comment.

Malaysian Football Heritage Collections Exhibition Visited By Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

During weekend, as usual, Kelab Jersi Kita held a Malaysian Football Heritage Collections Exhibition and it was visited by jersey collectors and surprisingly by former Malaysia Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. It was a precious moment when Tun Dr Mahathir proudly holding the Kedah Malaysia Cup 1993 Champion Jersey as he came from Kedah. Tun Dr Mahathir was a fan of Kedah football team. However, what is important during the exhibition is that we can share knowledge and information among public about our Malaysian football heritage. We are proud of our football heritage. Its all about passion and sharing is caring. Below are the photos during the exhibition:-

  The Malaysian football collections. On the left was a Malaya flag.

Precious Malaysian football collections.

Various kinds of Malaysian football collections dated back 1933.

The match/programme books.

Precious jerseys from Malaysian football scene.

Apart from jerseys, there were match pennants.

Tun Dr Mahathir interested in Kedah jersey as he was a fan of Kedah.

Tun Dr Mahathir taking photo together with the jersey collectors, holding the Kedah Malaysia Cup 1993 Champion jersey. 

The jersey collectors together with the heir.

Pesta Bola Merdeka Yang Pertama Tahun 1957

    Buat julung kalinya, Tuanku Abdul Rahman selaku Presiden Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaya yang berjiwa sukan telah menganjurkan suatu pertandingan bola sepak berprestij yang dinamakan Pesta Bola Merdeka sempena menyambut kemerdekaan Malaya pada tanggal 31 Ogos 1957 di Stadium Merdeka. Ini adalah pertandingan Pesta Bola Merdeka yang pertama di dalam sejarah Malaysia. Pertandingan ini merangkumi beberapa buah negara serta tanah jajahan British di Asia seperti Malaya, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapura, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam Selatan dan Hong Kong. Pesta Bola Merdeka ini diadakan pada 31 Ogos 1957 sehinggalah pada 7 September 1957 bertempat di Stadium Merdeka. Pasukan Malaya memulakan latihan pada 25 Ogos 1957 dan para pemainnya terdiri daripada pemain pasukan Selangor (Ng Mun Keai, Edwin Dutton, Abdul Ghani Minhat, S.Lourdes, Joe Soosay, Govindarajoo, Narayanasamy, Tang Cheok Foo), pemain pasukan Negeri Sembilan (Mok Wai Kin, Mok Wai Hong, Rahim Omar), pemain pasukan Perak (Wong Kong Leong, Liew Fee Yuen), pemain pasukan Johor (Ong Kim Hock, Yip Chong Yin, Voon Shin), pemain pasukan Melaka (Tan Ban Chuan) dan pemain pasukan Pulau Pinang (Pang Siang Hock, Aziz Ahmad, Chua Poh Aun). Arthur Manuel dilantik sebagai pengurus pasukan Malaya dan Neoh Boon Hean pula sebagai jurulatih pasukan Malaya.

Pesta Bola Merdeka 1957

Pasukan Malaya

    Perasmian Pesta Bola Merdeka ini dirasmikan oleh Tuanku Abdul Rahman pada jam 5:30 petang pada 31 Ogos 1957 disertai dengan perbarisan masuk lapan pasukan yang bertanding di pertandingan Pesta Bola Merdeka ini. Piala kemenangan bagi juara Pesta Bola Merdeka ini dinamakan sebagai Piala Perdana Menteri dan pembuatannya menelan belanja Dollar Malaya 1,400.00. 

Piala Perdana Menteri

    Pada pusingan pertama, pasukan Malaya berjaya mengalahkan Burma dengan jaringan 5-2. Pasukan Malaya mara ke pusingan kedua. Di pusingan kedua, pasukan Malaya dikalahkan oleh pasukan Vietnam Selatan dengan jaringan 1-4. Kemudian pasukan Malaya bertemu dengan pasukan Hong Kong dan terikat dengan jaringan 3-3. Akhirnya pasukan Malaya mara ke pusingan penentuan tempat ketiga. Dukacitanya, pasukan Malaya kalah kepada pasukan Indonesia dengan jaringan 2-4. Pasukan Indonesia berjaya mendapat tempat ketiga. Manakala di pusingan akhir, pasukan Hong Kong muncul juara bagi Pesta Bola Merdeka 1957 dengan kemenangan mengalahkan pasukan Vietnam Selatan dengan jaringan 3-1. 

Pasukan Malaya bertemu pasukan Burma.

    Namun demikian, kemenangan pasukan Hong Kong sebagai juara Pesta Bola Merdeka 1957 adalah suatu tamparan hebat buat Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaya dan juga kesemua pasukan kebangsaan yang bertanding di Pesta Bola Merdeka 1957 kerana pasukan Hong Kong yang menjuarai Pesta Bola Merdeka ini adalah bukan daripada pasukan bola sepak kebangsaan Hong Kong, tetapi adalah daripada pasukan Kelab Bola Sepak Eastern Athletic Association di Hong Kong. Punca utama Persatuan Bola Sepak Hong Kong menghantar pasukan bola sepaknya yang bertaraf kelab ke Pesta Bola Merdeka ini adalah kerana Persatuan Bola Sepak Hong Kong menganggap Pesta Bola Merdeka ini adalah kejohanan bola sepak yang tidak rasmi di rantau Asia Tenggara. Ini adalah suatu cabaran hebat buat Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaya untuk mengangkat Pesta Bola Merdeka sebagai suatu kejohanan bola sepak yang rasmi dan berprestij di rantau Asia Tenggara. Kemudian, usaha Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaya berjaya membuahkan hasil apabila Pesta Bola Merdeka ini bukan sahaja menjadi suatu kejohanan bola sepak yang rasmi dan berprestij di rantau Asia Tenggara, tetapi ianya juga menjadi tumpuan utama pasukan bola sepak dari rantau lain seperti Jepun serta Korea Selatan untuk bertanding dan meningkatkan mutu bola sepak negara masing-masing. Walau bagaimanapun, kini Pesta Bola Merdeka sudah tidak semeriah dahulu kerana telah kehilangan taringnya yang suatu ketika dahulu sentiasa digegarkan oleh pasukan Harimau Malaya. Suatu usaha yang padu perlu dibuat oleh Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia untuk mengembalikan zaman kegemilangan Pesta Bola Merdeka yang penuh bersejarah ini.