{"id":1224,"date":"2020-08-02T11:20:45","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T03:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/?p=1224"},"modified":"2020-08-02T14:44:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T06:44:00","slug":"ah-mong-the-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"Ah Mong the Giant"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sylvia Ng
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\nI first got to know \u201dAh Mong\u201d, as he was always referred to that way, during our first MSSM (Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia or Malaysian Schools Sports Council) training camp in the late 1960s at the Specialists\u2019 Teachers Training Institute (STTI) in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Our first trip abroad together was to Tokyo for the Asian Schools Championships in 1968.<\/p>\n

During our badminton playing years, we remained good friends. Although we got together during centralized training, we hardly had time for socials or fun time because we were so focused on our own training regime.<\/p>\n

I had nicknamed him \u201dGiant\u201d because he was a huge guy with a loud voice and laughter. He didn\u2019t need a loud speaker.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tan Aik Mong (left) with Rosalind Singa Ang & Sylvia (right).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In recent times after he had retired from his career in the corporate world, he would call me up whenever time permitted for lunch or a cup of coffee. And he always jokingly referred to me as his \u201cgirlfriend\u201d.<\/p>\n

During the annual Chinese New Year gatherings organised by fellow badminton player Albert Goh Teong Hoe in Kuala Lumpur, \u201cGiant Mong\u201d would ring me up to offer me a ride in a chauffeure-driven car to the restaurant and send me back to my apartment. He was such a kind soul as he said my safety was a priority. He would always say aloud, \u201dWhat are friends for?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tan Aik Mong, a few months before his death<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAh Mong\u201d certainly held a special view of the recent MCO (Movement Control Order) imposed after the Covid-19 pandemic. He asked me what was the lesson or takeaway in the more than eight weeks of partial lockdown. He was of the view that it was like being a mother, especially before the 1970s, when many women didn\u2019t work outside but focused on the home for most of their lives after they got married.<\/p>\n

Women then, he said in a WhatsApp message to me on May 13 this year, were cleaners, baby-sitters, cooks, social workers and companions in the house. But he had one proviso to his statement \u2013 \u201cAlthough it does not apply to all wives but generally to all good mothers who dedicated their lives towards family needs and (upheld) the importance of (showing) loving kindness and responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lesson learnt (during the MCO) was what was it like to stay home most of the time. We (only) did it for eight weeks (or so) and almost all of us were crying out as if it was so terrible while mothers of the past looked upon it as an honour to be home and be responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s \u201cAh Mong\u201d for you.<\/p>\n

He will definitely be dearly missed by all of us who knew him. Let peace be with you, my dear friend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sylvia Ng I first got to know \u201dAh Mong\u201d, as he was always referred to that way, during our first MSSM (Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia or Malaysian Schools Sports Council) training camp in the late 1960s at the Specialists\u2019 Teachers Training Institute (STTI) in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Our first trip abroad together was to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-badminton-malaysia","category-malaysia"],"yoast_head":"\nAh Mong the Giant - My Sports Flame<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ah Mong the Giant - My Sports Flame\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Sylvia Ng I first got to know \u201dAh Mong\u201d, as he was always referred to that way, during our first MSSM (Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia or Malaysian Schools Sports Council) training camp in the late 1960s at the Specialists\u2019 Teachers Training Institute (STTI) in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Our first trip abroad together was to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"My Sports Flame\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-02T03:20:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-02T06:44:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Aik-Mong-1972.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"769\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1129\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sethu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sethu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sethu\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#\/schema\/person\/f36d37ccf25285d2fe0f6d1d5c1fd0a1\"},\"headline\":\"Ah Mong the Giant\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-02T03:20:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-02T06:44:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/\"},\"wordCount\":489,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Aik-Mong-1972.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"BADMINTON\",\"MALAYSIA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/\",\"name\":\"Ah Mong the Giant - My Sports Flame\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Aik-Mong-1972.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-02T03:20:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-02T06:44:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Aik-Mong-1972.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Aik-Mong-1972.jpg\",\"width\":769,\"height\":1129,\"caption\":\"A triumphant Aik Mong after beating Indonesia's Iie Sumirat at 1972 World Invitation Championship\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ah Mong the Giant\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/\",\"name\":\"My Sports Flame\",\"description\":\"We bring together sports heroes who have been glorified\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#organization\",\"name\":\"My Sports Flame\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/cropped-sorts-flame.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/cropped-sorts-flame.gif\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"My Sports Flame\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#\/schema\/person\/f36d37ccf25285d2fe0f6d1d5c1fd0a1\",\"name\":\"Sethu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e021dc4a07db77e2ffff41267c0fcf9e95aa306795bda10c8eb2ff8ecc0727e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e021dc4a07db77e2ffff41267c0fcf9e95aa306795bda10c8eb2ff8ecc0727e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sethu\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/author\/sethu\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ah Mong the Giant - My Sports Flame","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ah Mong the Giant - My Sports Flame","og_description":"By Sylvia Ng I first got to know \u201dAh Mong\u201d, as he was always referred to that way, during our first MSSM (Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia or Malaysian Schools Sports Council) training camp in the late 1960s at the Specialists\u2019 Teachers Training Institute (STTI) in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Our first trip abroad together was to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/","og_site_name":"My Sports Flame","article_published_time":"2020-08-02T03:20:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-02T06:44:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":769,"height":1129,"url":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Aik-Mong-1972.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sethu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sethu","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/"},"author":{"name":"Sethu","@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#\/schema\/person\/f36d37ccf25285d2fe0f6d1d5c1fd0a1"},"headline":"Ah Mong the Giant","datePublished":"2020-08-02T03:20:45+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-02T06:44:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/"},"wordCount":489,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Aik-Mong-1972.jpg","articleSection":["BADMINTON","MALAYSIA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/","url":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/","name":"Ah Mong the Giant - My Sports Flame","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Aik-Mong-1972.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-02T03:20:45+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-02T06:44:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Aik-Mong-1972.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Aik-Mong-1972.jpg","width":769,"height":1129,"caption":"A triumphant Aik Mong after beating Indonesia's Iie Sumirat at 1972 World Invitation Championship"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/2020\/08\/ah-mong-the-giant\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ah Mong the Giant"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/","name":"My Sports Flame","description":"We bring together sports heroes who have been glorified","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#organization","name":"My Sports Flame","url":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/cropped-sorts-flame.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/cropped-sorts-flame.gif","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"My Sports Flame"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#\/schema\/person\/f36d37ccf25285d2fe0f6d1d5c1fd0a1","name":"Sethu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e021dc4a07db77e2ffff41267c0fcf9e95aa306795bda10c8eb2ff8ecc0727e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e021dc4a07db77e2ffff41267c0fcf9e95aa306795bda10c8eb2ff8ecc0727e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sethu"},"url":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/author\/sethu\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1224"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1261,"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224\/revisions\/1261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}