COMMENT By Jugjet Singh
THE don’t make teachers like V. Sivapathasundram any more.
Cikgu Siva, as he was fondly called, died on Sunday at the age of 68, leaving behind a hockey legacy which will be hard to match by others in Tunku Besar Secondary School (TBSS) in Tampin, Negri Sembilan.
I know it for a fact, as I played for him in the Under-15 and Under-18 squads in TBSS, where I studied from 1981 to 1987.
Siva joined TBSS in 1963, after graduating from Brinsford in the United Kingdom, and stayed put for the next 32 years until his retirement, making the store-room next to the school field as his second home.
His ‘room’ only had a squeaky fan, an old type-writer and a can full of cigarettes which he chain-smoked behind the closed door, and plotted the downfall of two Seremban hockey powerhouses.
St Paul’s Institution, who had hockey Gurus Lawrence Van Huizen and William Fidelis, and the late Datuk Ho Koh Chye in King George the Fifth (KGV) was just the right tonic that Negri Sembilan needed in those days to spur the growth of hockey.
The rivalry among the three schools was so intense, that the Seremban Town Field used to be packed to the brim, with even the sidelines encroached, when there was a match between TBSS and either KGV or SPI.
His first success in hockey was N. Palanisamy, who played in the 1971 and 1975 World Cups, and also the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
There were many others after that who were coached to become the best in the country, with the likes of brothers Lee Sien Lam and Lee Sien Hock, his son Dr Brian Jayhan Siva, Nishel Kumar; and 1982 Junior World Cup goalkeepers Azhar Epi and Mohamed Fadzil so name some.
His last product is current national No 1, and among the best in the world, goalkeeper S. Kumar.
Siva has also worked his magic as assistant secretary to S. Satgunam in the Malaysian Hockey Federation, the MHF Umpires Board Chairman, Secretary of the Negri Sembilan HA, and various positions in the Tampin District HA with the last being its deputy president.
He was also the hockey team manager for the 1995 Chiangmai Sea Games team, which was skippered by current national coach tai Beng Hai.
The list of umpires an hockey officials produced under his administration in Negri Sembilan is also impressive, and many were touched by his demise.
Siva made it a culture for hockey players in TBSS to have a stick with them at all limes, as the sport was played during Physical Education periods, and in the evenings from 4pm to 6pm.
He was also a visionary who saw the need to build a miniature cement hockey pitch in TBSS in the early 80s, so that his boys could train in an artificial pitch like atmosphere, and not be left out when they headed to Kuala Lumpur to play in tournaments.
After his retirement, TBSS took a beating from schools which they used to hammer earlier, and Datuk Taha of Gemencheh, rose to become the best school in the State after they received half an artificial pitch from the National Sports Council.
However, TBSS crawled back in the last few years, when a full artificial pitch was laid in the school and Siva’s former students returned to their alma matter to coach.
Siva was actively involved in developing youth in Tampin as recent as two months ago, but stopped when his health took a turn for the worse. A true coach until the end.
Hockey lost a great man, who worked in the shadows to elevate its standard without expecting to be rewarded, and he was never rewarded when he was alive, but received brickbats for being a disciplinarian.
He is also the reason why the MHF started Yayasan Hoki to help players who wanted to further their studies.
It came about when his son Brian scored straight As and wanted to pursue his ambition to become a doctor but scholarships were scarce.
Siva approached the then MHF Deputy President Tan Sri P. Alagendra for a solution, and in Alagendra’s own words: “If not for Siva, we would not have started Yayasan Hoki with Brian as its first recipient.”
After that, Yayasan Hoki came to the aid of many players who now hold degrees in numerous fields.
They don’t make teachers like Siva anymore, as he gave more than he took from everyone that he knew.
