Perumal Allagapa, Grounds Keeper
Bill Schenley
http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/MM/Sunday/Sport/20030209104937
Perumal Allagapa, who died on Tuesday, aged 80, was
one such person.
He was the man responsible for the upkeep of Stadium
Merdeka and Stadium Negara from the late 1950s.
Born on Jan 23, 1923 in Kuala Lumpur, Perumal started
his working life with the Public Works Department (PWD)
while he was attached to the Indian National Army under
the command of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.
It is hard for those not around during that period or not as
involved in sports to understand Perumal's extraordinary
presence and influence at the two stadiums.
It was the time when Merdeka Stadium, the symbol of
Malaysian independence and sporting excellence, was the
nursery to the national soccer team taking their first
hesitant steps internationally.
He was part of the Merdeka soccer tournament since its
inaugural series in 1957 - which brought in teams from
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
Other than preparing the Merdeka Stadium for the annual
showpiece, the Merdeka soccer tournament, Perumal took
great pride in preparing the stadium for the third World Cup
hockey tournament and the Muhammad Ali-Joe-Bugner
world heavyweight boxing title fight - both in 1975.
He was credited to a large extent with the near-perfect hockey
pitch coaxed from a normally bumpy soccer patch.
But the boxing match brought him pain.
This was when a large concrete block was embeded in the
ground to provide a base for the main boxing ring.
"I feel a deep pain inside, like a stab in the heart," he told me
the morning after the slab was lowered into the ground.
After spending hours on the upkeep of the Merdeka Stadium
turf under the blazing sun or at Stadium Negara in his shorts
and wide-brimmed straw hat, Perumal often turned-up in a
batik outfit to cheer on the Malaysian teams.
Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) founder president
and Malaysia's first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman
always found time to draw Perumal into the VIP lounge for
refreshments during the halftime break of Merdeka soccer
matches.
He was just as popular with almost every Malaysian
sportsman to grace the stadiums. Most of them went out of
their way to acknowledge "Uncle Perumal" as he was
affectionally known to them.
Perumal was equally comfortable in the company of former
Malaysian soccer greats M. Chandran, Soh Chin Aun,
Mokhtar Dahari and their teammates. He was also happy in the
company of badminton stars Tan Aik Huang, his younger
brother Aik Mong, Punch Gunalan and Yew Cheng Hoe.
Representing a cross-section of the sportsmen who turned up
to bid him farewell on Thursday were Dr Mani Jegathesan,
Nelson Chandran, K. Karu Selvaratnam, R. Yogeswaran and S.
Vegiyathuman.
Perumal took pride in preparing the Merdeka Stadium for
athletics. He was often seen near the finishing line with a
stopwatch hanging down his neck. This was before the
advent of electronic timing - when time-keepers cascaded
down a flight of steps by the side of the finish line.
Today, Perumal's era seems to belong to a different world.
He was known to all and sundry including visiting world stars
like Swedish tennis ace Bjorn Borg and British soccer star
Kevin Keegan among the many whom he rubbed shoulders
with.
With his trademark bushy white moustache, Perumal had a
magnetic capacity for attracting friends visiting the stadiums
and showing them around.
For as early as 8am he would be at Stadium Merdeka, driving
either one of the two tractors or heavy rollers around in the
company of his supporting ground crew.
And like a professional golfer he would squat on the field,
studying the blades of grass on a particular stretch before
deciding on its next course of treatment.
True to his sporting spirit, he was always an early entrant for
the famous Malay Mail Big Walk. Perumal was health
conscious, keeping to a strict diet and walked some 5km every
day after retiring in 1982.
Says son Chandran, 48, the eldest of his eight children: "Papa
taught us the pride and dignity of hard work, no matter what.
We are richer for that."