Farewell, Twinkletoes: Singapore's only Olympic footballer Chia Boon Leong dies at 97

SINGAPORE – One of the Republic’s earliest sporting icons, Chia Boon Leong, died on Tuesday (Dec 20). The only Singaporean footballer to play at the Olympic Games, he was 97 and is survived by his wife Lily Lim and their three sons.

He was hospitalised at Changi General Hospital and according to second son Tony, died of pneumonia.

Nicknamed Twinkletoes for his deft footwork and ball control, Chia was one of the region’s most skilful players in the 1940s and 1950s, and played for China at the 1948 London Games in a 4-0 loss to Turkey.

Two other Singaporeans – defender Chua Boon Lay at Berlin 1936 and goalkeeper Chu Chee Seng at London 1948 – were part of the China team at the Olympics, but never played.

Chia’s son Tony 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 WC final was the first we missed since 1974.”

Born on Jan 1, 1925, Chia grew up in Pasir Panjang, where his father – philanthropist Chia Yew Siang – had a sprawling compound and a lane named after him. There, he started playing five-a-side games with a tennis ball on a sandy pitch.

He attended Pasir Panjang English School and then Raffles Institution, and was already a promising footballer, although he was often told he was too short at 1.6m.

But Chia ignored the critics and as a founding member of Pasir Panjang Rovers in 1938, he would grow with the team and help them win the Singapore Amateur Football Association League a decade later.

His Twinkletoes monicker actually came from Gothenburg’s coach John Mahon later on in 1951 when the Swedish team came to play friendly matches in Singapore.

He had told his team to “watch that little fellow with the twinkling feet, he works hard, dribbles hard, and is outstanding both in attack and defence”.

With the Singapore team, Chia won a hat-trick of Malaysia Cup finals from 1950 to 1952, 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.

His bonus for the first of their treble was “$10 and a celebratory dinner back in Singapore”.

But the most memorable moment of his football career came in 1947 when he played for the Lien Hwa – a Chinese selection side - that toured Asia for 42 days, played 23 games and won 16. Chia was the only player to feature in every match and finished as the top scorer.

He told the Singapore Olympics website in 2018 how he charmed the Chinese fans and possibly the Olympic selectors in Shanghai when Lien Hwa played its league champions Tung Hwa in the five deg C cold.

Scampering round the pitch to help out with attack and defence, and pulling off crowd-pleasing feints and dribbles, Chia had the majority of the 12,000-strong local fans at the now-demolished Canidrome eating out of his hand despite not scoring in the 5-3 win.

At least 100 people mobbed him as he walked to his team bus, and he required a police escort.

With a laugh, Chia regaled: “When the other players reached the crowd, they let them through. But when I reached them, they surrounded me. It took about 20 minutes for me to get on the bus. I was the last one on.

“What I remembered most was not so much the game, but the post-match reception by the crowd. They were so natural and spontaneous. I still flush with pride whenever I think of this incident. It was a once-in-a-lifetime feeling.”

Closer to home, he was also voted Malaya’s most popular footballer in a competition organised by drinks company Fraser and Neave, clinching over 1.3 million votes and was sent for a two-month stint in England, where he attended a four-week coaching course with the England Football Association, trained at Arsenal and played friendlies with amateur sides.

Chia hung up his boots at the relatively young age of 30 and worked as a senior financial executive with 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.

Off the pitch, Chia’s life was equally eventful as he lived through the Japanese Occupation.

In February, he told The Straits Times how he cheated death during Operation Sook Ching, when Chinese males between the ages of 18 and 50 were summoned to mass screening centres all over the island, and those suspected of being anti-Japanese were executed.

“Someone in Tiong Bahru (where he had moved to) said to report to an open area opposite the police station at the intersection of Keppel, Tanjong Pagar and Cantonment roads, so I went not knowing what was happening,” said Chia.

“As a schoolboy I just carried on and followed instructions. We lined up, one by one, to face a Japanese soldier and some were told to go to a lorry, I did not know why then.

“It was only some time later that we were told those on the lorries were taken somewhere else to be executed.”

Chia, who was 17 then, added that he later heard his half-brother, cousin, and a Pasir Panjang Rovers coach were taken away, and never seen again.

Following the ST interview, Chia had made a public appearance at Jalan Besar Stadium as recently as Aug 31 for the Roar: Football Legends of Singapore book launch. He was beaming pitch-side alongside his wife Lily as a plaster cast of his left foot was unveiled.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday night, Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law, paid tribute to Chia.

He wrote: “In an age where footballers are judged by their highlight reels on YouTube, the slick feints and dazzling dribbles of Chia Boon Leong can only be left to the imagination if you were not fortunate enough to have witnessed it. And many of us were not.

“While we will never get to witness the marauding dribbles Boon Leong made down the pitch whilst terrorising opponents – we can share his passion for football, and the contributions he has made to our football folklore.”

Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) president Tan Chuan-Jin recalled their last chat in April when International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach visited the Republic. He added: “He remained active in sports and often supported many events and occasions whenever possible... He will be missed by many.”

ALSO READ: Back-in-S'pore Samson still keen on golf

Registering its condolences to Chia’s family and loved ones, the FAS added that a minute of silence will be observed in his honour at the Asean Football Federation Championship Group B match between Singapore and Myanmar at Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday.

Veteran sports administrator and former SNOC vice-president Tan Eng Liang noted: “I’ve known Boon Leong since the late 40s as a family friend. My uncle Wee Eng was his teammate in the Pasir Panjang Rovers football team.

“His departure is a great loss for sports. Boon Leong epitomised the best of sportsmanship, he was friendly, likeable and helpful - always available and willing to lend a helping hand to Singapore sports.”

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.