The year was 1974, the month, December approaching Christmas. I had just turned 14 years of age. This trip was the reward for all the training we had the whole year, and to compete in a regional meet was the highlight for all of us teenagers.
We were all decked out in the nice tracksuits of our Singapore Swimming Club. I had just been nominated as the Boys Swimming Captain, by our Head Manager, Mr. Henry Chan.
Those days we felt invincible, and we wanted to see how we ranked regionally. I believe this was the first time many of us had taken a flight overseas (I was fortunate to travel I believe 2 times before to Europe (June 1974) and (possibly) Hong Kong (June 1975).
All in all, when I was a Club Swimmer, we had taken part in 4 regional Sanya Samaki tournaments to (if my memory serves me correctly) :
a) Penang - 1974
b) Bangkok - 1975
c) Manila - 1976
d) Jakarta - 1977
From left : Kelvin Wee, Carl Chan, Yours Truly, Boatman
The cammaderie amongst us swimmers and non-swimmers was great. We had loads of fun, and these memories I will take all the way to the end of my days.
There was the competition, then the evening dinners, the friendships made, (we exchanged addresses, and promised to write to our new found Filipino friends) and all the wonderful memories singing campfire songs and just being boisterous kids out of the country creating all kinds of havoc.
Our generous hosts were the Manila Polo Club (Swim Section), so we handily beat them as we were and still are the premier Swim Club in Singapore.
Bangkok Story 2 (1975)
I was just 13, and a playful teenager. We had travelled by bus to Bangkok all the way from Singapore to swim against the Bangkok Sports Club. The bus ride from Singapore to Bangkok took 2 full days, and we had an overnight stop at Hat Yai.
At the Hat Yai Hotel, once we finished our dinner, we headed back into our rooms to play and chat with our swim mates.
All of a sudden, we heard what sounded like huge metal cabinets falling over
"Bam Bam Bam"
We were all frightened and stayed in our rooms while my Mum the chaperon went down to investigate.
She came up ashen faced, and said there had been a gun fight, and one businessman pulled out his revolver and fired at somebody.
The next day, down at the lobby we saw 3 bullet holes.
Till this day, I do not know if any one had been killed or injured from those shots.
It just goes to show, we had no idea how 'cowboy' other countries were in the 1970s.
Carpe Diem
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