A game for all nationalities

Foreign players make up more than half of this year's NTU IVP sepak takraw team

My Chuong. Vilayvong. Zaw Tun. With the assortment of foreign names on this NTU team's squad list, one would be hard-pressed to identify the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) sport that they represent the school in.

The sport in question here is none other than sepak takraw, a game often closely associated with Malay culture. NTU's teamsheet this year saw eight out of 14 players hailing from Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

"They couldn't pronounce some of the names when they had to call the lineups before the games," she recalls with a chuckle.

Vilayvong Khonesavanh, 20, was perhaps one of those who contributed to the officials' problems with pronunciation. The first-year Computer Engineering student from Laos first picked up the sport in primary school and has been hooked on it ever since.

"In Laos it's quite a popular sport. Many people play it not only for competitions but to keep fit as well," said the 20-year-old.

However, the third-year Electrical and Electronic Engineering student added that the current squad had been together for at least six months and any initial difficulties had long since been overcome.

Lieu My Chuong, a first-year Common Engineering student, had another theory regarding communication problems between the foreign players and the rest of the team, who are all Malay.

"I think if they speak in Malay there's something they don't want us to hear!" the 19-year old Vietnamese laughed. But he quickly dispelled any ideas of a conspiracy against foreign students: "I feel very welcome here, they are all very friendly."

This is partly due to the approach that captain Rizal Zulkarnain Taha, 24, takes when dealing with his foreign teammates. The final-year Civil and Environmental Engineering student said he always tried to make them feel like part of the team by treating all of his players in the same manner.

His efforts to instil a sense of squad unity certainly reaped dividends in this year's IVP tournament held from March 12 to 26 at Singapore Polytechnic. NTU put up a spirited performance and finished fifth, just as it had for the previous two years.
Despite once again being unable to break into the top four, Rizal expressed delight at the team's displays this season.

"We have performed much better than the past three years," he said, referring to the way NTU took the game to every one of their opponents.

And with the appointment of Than Tun Naing, 26, as next year's captain, the squad will reach another milestone in its 24-year history. Than, a third-year Mechanical and Production Engineering student from Myanmar, will become the first foreign captain the team has had.
As Thant succinctly puts it: "It's not a Malay game… it's for everyone."

This article was taken from The Nanyang Chronical, March 31 2003, Vol 9 No 10.

A leap of faith: Despite cultural differences and language barriers, the NTU sepak tekraw team finds unity in diversity and performs up to expectations.--KENNETH CHOO