Part 1: A look at Amateur & Pro Boxing in the early days of Singapore

Reading Straits Times' 13th January article about the upcoming boxing event - The Roar of Singapore - got me intrigued, especially by this line uttered by Mr Syed Kadir, President of the Singapore Amateur Boxing Association (SABA):

"Singapore used to be a Mecca for boxing in the 1950s & 60s, when boxers from across Asia came to Singapore to fight, and events at venues like the Gay World Stadium were held every month..."

Naturally, this got me excited about SABA and I went through my treasure trove of material/memorabilia and dug deeper.

Coupled with some research at the National Library and with the book "Singapore Olympians, as a basis to start on, I began writing and here is what I have so far...

P.S: Those keen to read and know about the Feb 17 boxing event, read the full ST article here: http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/new-boxing-event-aims-to-bring-back-the-roar

Singapore - A "Mecca" of Boxing

Thanks to British rule from 1819 to 1959, Singapore is blessed in many ways. Indeed we have the Brits and their love of sport, to thank for introducing us, the local population, to football, rugby, cricket, hockey and boxing.

Boxing first emerged in Singapore, during the post World War I period, in the 1920s, with SABA - the national controlling body for amateur boxing - being founded in 1927.

The original crest of SABA

A SABA Score Sheet from the 1960s

Canon R.K.S. Adams - then Principal of St Andrew's School - was the main proponent of the "gentleman's" sport and encouraged the Saints (students of SAS) to take up boxing for "discipline and manliness".

The school crest of 

St Andrew's School, Singapore

Principal R.K.S Adams circa 1960s

The jovial Australian was a big believer of sports and was known in local sporting circles as the "fighting padre", for his penchant for boxing.

Principal Adams lead the charge to set up an amateur inter-school boxing championships in the 1930s, which allowed for an avenue for the student boxers to pit their skills against one another.

All this, despite the hullabaloo that boxing  was considered a "dangerous" sport by many parents and some officials from the Ministry.

Truthfully, there were no injuries reported by the Medical Officers in charge of the inter-school tournaments, not of any kind during the 30 years of inter-school competions from the late 30s to the early 70s.

Professional Boxing in Singapore

Professional boxing attracted much fanfare in the 1930s and in the period after World War II.

Happy World Stadium (renamed Gay World in 1965) hosted many bouts with winners walking away with $35 per win (a big sum then, considering a bowl of noodles was between 3 to 5 cents)

The front gate of Happy World Stadium. Notice the Boxing tickets booth on the left.

A triumphant boxer at Gay World

Pre-bout photographs

1965 Tournament programme for 

bouts held at Gay World Stadium

However, professional boxing bouts began to die down by the mid to late 50s but the amateur bouts (contested by schools, the Uniformed Services and community clubs) continued strongly. In fact, students and alumni of SJI and Marist Stella High regularly vied with St Andrew's for the various boxing crowns on offer by the many amateur competitions.

Stay tuned for my next post on boxing where I throw the SPORTLIGHT on our boxing luminaries, including 3 Olympian Boxers!

Basketball Association of Singapore and the Olympic & Asian Games

Singapore's 1956 Men's basketball team remains one of two team sports (the other being Waterpolo) that has ever represented the Republic at the highest level of sports - the Olympic Games.

The Singapore Amateur Basketball Federation (SABF) Men's team represented the colony state at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Although it would not be three years till self-government and 9 years before Singapore's full independence, the cagers proudly played their hearts out for the Colony of Singapore.

Singapore contingent pin

for the 1956 Melbourne Games

Grouped with France, USSR & Canada, the Singaporeans lost all three games, getting no closer than 27 points to the winning sides, in each game.

With these losses, Singapore entered the quarter-final round amongst the lower seven teams - Republic of China, Australia & Thailand. Of these, the cagers could only beat Thailand 62-50. Afterwards, they went up against South Korea and triumphed 92-79, to be placed 13th overall.

Unfortunately, it was to be Singapore's first and last basketball appearance at an Olympic Games.

At the Asian Games, Singapore Basketball has fared better, with the cagers qualifying for the 1954, 1958, 1962 & 1970 Asian Games, with a best position of 5th overall, achieved in 1958.

Headshot of the 1970 Team Asst Coach

1970 Asian Games Basketball 

Team Souvenir Programme, Commemorative Medal &

Ribbon pin belonging to 

Asst. Coach Ong Ting Shayn

Closeup of the Ribbon pin

Domestically, with governent support and Goh Chye Hin's SCAAF leading the charge, basketball was actively played at the annual "Pesta Sukan" or "Festival of Sports" that was instituted, to build inter-community bonds between the various racial groups, in the wake of the deadly 1964 Racial Riots in Singapore.

Basketball Memorabilia from the 1960s

By then, the SABF was renamed Basketball Association of Singapore (BAS) and even though Goh Chye Hin had stepped down, he remained Patron of the Association, dishing out advice and guidance to the ExCo.

1970, saw direct government involvement in BAS, when Minister Jek Yuen Thong was elected President of the Association. This direct involvement by the government has largely continued till present day, with current BAS President, being a former Member of Parliament.

Basketball in Singapore enjoys tremendous support from the Chinese community, with a smattering of Indians playing the sport as well.

However, there is very few Malay representation in the sport, which is a pity as 17% of the population of Singapore is made up of the Malay community. This represents an untapped resource, given Singapore's small population.