When the rugby field fell silent

Posted on 4 November 2011 - 05:11am

Mohsin Abdullah - 

Mohsin Abdullah is an old boy of St John’s Institution Kuala Lumpur. Unlike his three sons, he never played rugby but loves the game nevertheless. And he is honoured and grateful to have known Coach Hang.

PASSION FOR RUGBY

HE would be on the field by 6.45am although training was supposed to start at eight. A case of the coach turning up well before the players.

Sharp 8am, training would start, ending some three hours later. While the players hit the showers and get ready for afternoon school, the coach would prepare for another training session – this time for boys who had attended morning school. The second training stint would end at 6pm. Only after all the players had left, would he take the route home, driving through the heavy after-office traffic. By the time he got back home in Sentul, it would be close to 8pm.

And the next day, all that would be repeated – a demanding routine even for the young. But not for Hang Kek Kang although he was already in his 60s. A former army man from Langkawi, who in his own words was “passionate over rugby”. Needless to say, he played the game during his schooldays in Kedah, when he was in the army, and even after retiring.

In 1991, Hang was sent by Cobra to reorganise rugby in Kuala Lumpur’s St John’s Institution. The school had a rich history in rugby but somehow the sport faded away in the 1980s.

Under the Cobra rugby development programme, Hang was to “sort things out” and return to Cobra for other assignments. But he stayed on as he felt all the “sorting out” would come to nought without a coach to see things through. So began his relationship with the school.

To say his responsibilities as coach were heavy is an understatement. Every year, there would be at least 50 boys of different ages, ability and knowledge of the game under his charge. Everything and everybody required his close attention. One coach for 50 boys – somehow the equation wasn’t right.

And the situation got worse when the different age teams played simultaneously in tournaments and Hang was expected to be with the players.

Rugby at St John’s took a lot of his time. And what he was paid was certainly not enough to compensate for the sacrifices. And when his teams were invited to tournaments, he would look high and low for support. So why do all this, I asked him once. “For me, as long as there are boys who play rugby, I would be happy. When I do this, there will always be boys taking up the game and rugby will be alive in this country”. That was his reply.

Hence, rain or shine, he would be on the field, planning game strategy, putting his boys through the paces, imparting the rules of the game. With his heavy Kedah Malay accent “mixed” with English, he could be heard from far giving out instructions.

But in April this year, he slowed down, literally. He coughed badly, and for weeks on end. He still ran training sessions and attended games. But he tired easily. Not too long after, training sessions were “suspended”. Hang had to go for treatment and was in and out of hospital. Tests confirmed that he was suffering from liver cancer.

He kept it from his family and his players. He didn’t want them to see them worried. Four days after Hari Raya, I visited him at his Taman Datuk Senu home, and my three sons came along. All three play rugby and it was Hang who had introduced them to the game.

We spoke about many things and of course rugby – the World Cup in New Zealand which was to kick off in a few days. But he couldn’t stop thinking of his team despite his illness. He was worried about who would take care of his boys especially the Under-15 team which was to play in the national championship later this year.

He said that if he wasn’t sick, he would have gone to the prime minister’s Hari Raya open house and “whisper to Najib to come up with a fund” for the St John’s rugby team. The money, he said, would enable the team to take part in tournaments all over the country.

He never knew the PM personally but Coach Hang wanted to make an appeal to Datuk Seri Najib Razak who was a former St John’s student. In 2005, Najib provided financial aid to the school’s rugby team for several sets of jerseys and other gear.

Ten days after meeting Coach Hang at his house, I received the sad news. He was 65. And on Wednesday, Sept 14, he was cremated.

There can never be another Coach Hang Kek Kang. You will be missed, my friend. We love you.

REST IN PEACE COACH HANG.!!

"Sergeant From The Top"

ENCIK LEONARD WONG SIANG HUME DALAM KENANGAN

(1941- 20 Ogos 2004)

Band Master gelaran baginya,

Orangnya pula peramah lagi berdedikasi,

Tujuh tahun berlalu sudah pemergiannya,

Legasi dan sumbangannya tetap bersemat di hati.

Perhimpunan sekolah tidak lengkap tanpa beliau,

Arahan "sergeant from the top" pemula bicara,

Senyuman manis Leonard cukup memukau,

Sentiasa dihormati di mana sahaja berada.

Tujuh tahun sudah anda meninggalkan kita,
Seolah-olah ia baharu berlaku semalaman,
Walau di mana sahaja anda berada,
Doakan kami sentiasa beroleh kejayaan.



Nukilan: MARKUS LIM, JOHANNIAN 1999

Brother Lawrence - Anda Tidak Akan Ku Lupakan!

BROTHER LAWRENCE -  ANDA SENTIASA DIINGATI

OLEH

MARCUS  LIM - JOHANNIAN  1999

SEMALAM, 18 Ogos 2011 merupakan ulangtahun kedua pemergian Brother Lawrence Spitzig. Saya berkesempatan untuk melawat pusara mendiang Brother Lawrence di Tanah Perkuburan Kristian Cheras. Hanya tangisan dan perasaan kesal mengiringi kedatangan saya ke lokasi berkenaan.

Saya menangis kerana saya kehilangan seorang mentor yang banyak mencorakkan hidup saya. Saya kesal kerana saya tidak dapat memberikan sesuatu yang bermakna kembali kepada mendiang ketika beliau masih hidup.

Tetapi saya percaya mendiang Brother Lawrence sudah pun diletakkan dalam kalangan mereka yang beriman. Mendiang barangkali sedang melihat kita dari atas. Harapan saya ialah mendiang akan terus memberkati kita, tenaga pendidik SJI untuk terus memberikan yang terbaik kepada sekolah yang kita cintai ini. Inilah satu-satunya sumbangan yang boleh kita berikan sebagai tanda penghargaan kita kepada mendiang.

Pemergian Bro Lawrence tidak bermakna usaha untuk memperkasakan kecemerlangan sekolah berakhir begitu sahaja. Sebaliknya usaha tersebut perlu diperhebat dari semasa ke semasa agar kecemerlangan sekolah ini dapat dinikmati oleh generasi pelajar akan datang.

Kepada Brother Lawrence, anda mungkin sudah tiada bersama dengan kami tetapi apa yang pasti, legasi anda tetap dalam kenangan! Anda tetap dekat dalam hati saya sampai ke akhir hayat! Hingga kita berjumpa lagi di dunia yang lain!

MARKUS LIM - JOHANNIAN Class of 99

BROTHER LAWRENCE SPITZIG DALAM KENANGAN..!!!

BROTHER LAWRENCE SPITZIG 
DALAM KENANGAN... 
BY NIZHAN FARAZ

Tanggal 18 Ogos menjelang lagi. Ramai mungkin tertanya, terutamanya generasi baru St. John, mengapa saya berbicara tentang tarikh ini? Pada tarikh ini, genap dua tahun yang lalu, sekolah kesayangan kita telah hilang sebutir permata yang sehingga hari ini tiada galang gantinya. Permata yang saya maksudkan - mendiang Rev. Bro. Datuk Tiburtius Lawrence Spitzig.

Soalan seterusnya, siapakah mendiang? Jika Johannian mengkaji sejarah sekolah kita, mendiang Bro. Lawrence merupakan satu-satunya Brother Director sekolah kita yang memegang jawatan itu untuk dua penggal, pertama kalinya pada 17 Mei 1955 sehingga akhir tahun 1961 dan kali kedua pada tahun 1979 hingga Februari 1983.

Mendiang berasal dari Toronto, Kanada dan telah menjejakkan kaki buat pertama kalinya di St. John pada tahun 1941 sebagai seorang guru. Apabila Perang Dunia Kedua meletus, beliau telah ditangkap oleh tentera Jepun dan ditahan di Penjara Changi, Singapura. Setelah perang tamat, beliau kembali menyambung tugas mengajar di St. John.

Pada 17 Mei 1955, Brother Director St. John pada masa itu, Rev. Bro. D'Joseph Brophy telah mengumumkan pertukaran beliau ke St. Xavier's Institution, Pulau Pinang dan Bro. Lawrence telah dilantik sebagai Brother Director yang baharu.

Tahukah Johannian semua, lirik lagu sekolah kita sebenarnya digubah oleh Bro. Lawrence? Juga bilik-bilik darjah di Heritage Block telah diubah suai menjadi saiznya sekarang pada tahun 1956 di bawah pentadbiran beliau? Tidak lupa juga tangga dan lantai konkrit di Heritage Block yang menggantikan tangga kayu merupakan hasil usaha beliau?

Sebenarnya, Bro. Lawrence telah banyak berjasa kepada sekolah kita. Kasih dan sayangnya kepada St. John tidak berbelah bahagi. Lantaran itu, beliau telah memutuskan untuk tinggal di Brothers' Quarters sekolah kita selepas bersara wajib pada Februari 1983.

Saya bersyukur kerana diberi peluang untuk mengenali mendiang Bro. Lawrence, walaupun hanya lima tahun di akhir hayatnya. Hanya mereka yang mengenali beliau sahaja yang tahu betapa baiknya hati beliau. Bro. Lawrence adalah seorang peminat muzik. Ketika di sekolah, saya ada meluangkan masa dengan beliau, pada masa yang sama menggunakan piano di chapel dengan izin beliau. Saya adalah seorang penggemar lagu lama, tiap kali saya datang untuk bermain piano, beliau akan berada di sisi saya, menghayati irama yang dimainkan. Selepas itu, beliau akan menceritakan kisah yang mengaitkan lagu yang dimainkan dengan diri beliau.

Sayangnya, semua itu hanya tinggal sebagai kenangan yang indah dalam diri saya. 18 Ogos 2009 telah menjadi saksi pemergian Bro. Lawrence buat selama-lamanya. Johannian, jika anda berada di St. John pada masa itu, anda akan berasa terharu dengan pelawat yang berduyun-duyun datang untuk memberi penghormatan terakhir kepada beliau, upacara yang sayu dan penuh istiadat, ucapan-ucapan yang diberi tentang beliau - suasana itu tidak dapat saya gambarkan dengan kata-kata.

Hari ini, genap dua tahun pemergian Bro. Lawrence. Namun, ingatan saya terhadap beliau masih tidak pudar, dan saya berharap ia tidak akan pudar selama-lamanya. Soalan saya, adakah anda masih ingat kepada mendiang Bro. Lawrence?

Program Kecergasan Rakan Muda Sekolah 1Malaysia SMK St. John SABTU 23/7/2011

Program Jati Diri Rakan 1 Malaysia - Pertandingan Kawad Kaki Kreatif
Johan : Pasukan Kadet Polis (353.67 mata)
Naib Johan : Pasukan St. John Ambulans (343.67 mata)
Tempat ke-3 : Pasukan Kadet Bersatu Malaysia (342.33 mata)
Komandan Pelapis Terbaik : 

Mohamad Shazriq Ashfaq bin Mohd Zaidi dari Pasukan Kadet Polis (96 mata)

Program Waja Diri Rakan 1Malaysia - Pertandingan Kawad Seni Kreatif
Johan : Pasukan Seni Silat (250.00 mata)
Naib Johan : Pasukan Taekwondo (241.50 mata)
Tempat ke-3 : Pasukan Lawan Pedang (240.00 mata)