colosseum

watching all the games in the golden age of 1994 msia cup and league on tv. addictive. i am also very fortunate to be able to watch the 2005 and 2007 asean cups. TV coverage of the stadium’s roars is muffled coz they do not have mics all over the pitch like those overseas stadiums.

there was one match, spore vs bahrain i watched with jansen. against a superior opposition who were cowed by the kallang roar into play acting and wasting time. the half filled stadium stood and swore profanities, screaming for the ref to “fuck off” (seriously, 30000 pple shouting fuck off is quite a spectacle with concert like synchronisation of hands pumping). AFC promptly fined spore for that. but nothing beats the spontaneous self righteousness of a little nation that night.

really, no matter wat pple might say, nothing beats kallang roaring out majulah spore, not even national day. throwing toilet rolls as streamers. torn newspapers as confetti. kallang wave. referee kayu. singing ole ole all the way home on mrt. cheering hardcore gangsters running in to fight overseas gangsters.

football is passion, and at the very core, the very epitome of the national spirit that pple condensed into 90 mins. and spore teams throughout the yrs live for that moment for the full house, living their lives dedicating to trying their best in spite of a seasonal bandwagon crowd.

i can only hope the crowd that pays 16 dollar a ticket are not prim and proper ah sia giahs who suddenly got a nostalgic attack and start dreaming they had once been part of history. i only hope the mild and chirpy malay aunties in their tudong who turn into fervent fans do turn out too. and teach the impressionable kids over there the real meaning behind the kallang roar.