All for the love of sport
IT has been 52 years since Shaharuddin Jaafar won the country’s first cycling gold in the 1965 SEAP Games at the Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, but his passion for the sport has not diminished at all. StarSport’s RAJES PAUL took a walk down memory lane
SO, this was what sports used to be like back in the good old days.
Shaharuddin Jaafar rode his way to Malaysia’s first cycling gold medal at the 1965 SEAP Games in Kuala Lumpur without a coach and full-time training.
“My mother was there at the finish line. Besides being the first Malaysian to win the cycling gold medal, all I got from my mum were some biscuits and a cup of coffee,” recalled the 77-year-old.
“But that was more than enough for me. It was satisfying to see the smile on her face. It felt good to make Malaysia proud on the international stage.”
The Setiawan-born Shaharuddin won gold in the 800m sprint and silver in 1,600m sprint and both medals are beautifully polished and tucked safely inside a glass cabinet at his home.
He, however, could only finish fourth at the 1967 Bangkok SEAP Games.
“I was in the final but couldn’t focus. My mind was on my wife (Hasmah Ibrahim). She delivered our first child that day, so it was still a joyous occasion,” said Shaharuddin.
“We used aluminium bicycles back then. No one funded us. We didn’t have a velodrome those days and raced on bitumen track instead. So, we focused on road races.
“It was great having a good bicycle, but what’s more important is the power in your legs and determination in your heart and mind. Those are the virtues that will take a cyclist far in his or her pursuit of excellence.
Shaharuddin then went on to represent Malaysia at the 1969 Rangoon Games. Again, he and his team-mates flopped and that led to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) deciding to drop cycling from the 1971 KL Games.
Unhappy, Shaharuddin gave up riding competitively to become secretary of the Malaysian Cycling Federation (MCF) in 1970 in a bid to revive the sport. (MCF have since been renamed the Malaysian National Cycling Federation in 1980).
It was tough for Shaharuddin as MCF had only RM44.60 in their kitty when he took over. But that did not stop him from turning things around.
“We had an invitation to take part in the Tour de Jawa for the Suharto Cup in Indonesia. I confidently said yes. But how to go to Jakarta with only RM44.60?”
He then appealed to OCM, who covered 50% of their RM10,000 expenses for 11 cyclists.
Aware that the amount was insufficient, Shaharuddin did the unexpected by housing the 11 cyclists at his home in Melaka for centralised training.
His wife Hasmah also did her part, pawning some of her jewellery to feed the cyclists.
“We had to feed 11 mouths for three weeks of centralised training. My salary as a government staff wasn’t enough. My wife had some jewellery and she decided to pawn it at the shop. Even our wedding ring was pawned,” he recalled.
“She did it out of her love for me. She even cooked for the cyclists and they trained hard. We owed money to the provision shop. Sometimes, we only had salted fish and rice.
“But all the sacrifices were worth it when our cyclists won the Suharto Cup in August 1970. Four months later, Ng Joo Ngan and the late Daud Ibrahim won gold medals at the Bangkok Asian Games.
“I’m not boasting, just sharing the kind of passion the athletes and officials during my era had for the sport.”
Their good showing at the Bangkok Asiad led OCM to reinstate cycling in the 1971 KL SEA Games, where Malaysia dominated the road races.
The cyclists managed to do well in the 1975 and 1977 editions of the regional Games.
Shaharuddin left the scene in 1984 as he felt that he could no longer tolerate the politicking within the association.
He continued his job as sports promotion officer with the Youth and Sports Ministry until he retired in 1994.
But cycling is in his blood. So, it was only natural that he formed Masters Cycling Association and he continued to promote the sport among the community at the lower levels.
Shaharuddin was inducted into the OCM Hall of Fame in 2008 and appeared as the special guest – together with world keirin champion Azizulhasni Awang – when Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin officially opened the National Velodrome in Nilai last month.
Although happy with Azizul’s success in track, Shaharuddin could not hide his disappointment over the lack of stars in road races.
“Azizul reminds me of the late Daud. Both are short but full of fighting spirit. In cycling, one must be courageous,” he said.
“I hope there will be equal attention given to both track and road races. I’m sad that we don’t have world-class road racers like before. I hold the national and state bodies responsible for this.
“Hopefully, I will get to see some local stars in road racing at the KL Games in August. That will make our home Games really special.”