It is to your eternal misfortune that you would have been so deprived. Pity you for not having the pleasure of being musically nurtured by tunes courtesy of those four fabulous Liverpudlian popsters.
But what is more of a shame is – you most certainly would have missed the exploits of the man the sporting world addresses simply as; The Thing.
Knowing a `Thing’ or two however, is not a problem for 30 boys and girls who embarked on their baby steps towards one day, making badminton their sporting profession of choice. Aged between 10-to-12 years-old, Awani cameraman Mat Ruzi Mat Saman and I were in the group of well-wishers to bid them `bon voyage’ for their pre-dawn check-in for the flight to Guandong on Sunday morning.
When I asked around if anyone amongst them knew who `The Thing’ was, one bright spark eagerly said; “Tang Xiang Hu!”.
He was 12-year-old Wah Jia Wei; a pupil of the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Kwng Hwa in Butterworth. “Saya tahu dia pemain yang sungguh bagus;” (I know he was a very good player) he told me earnestly.
Tang the `Thing’ comes with a much-storied history.
'Meet Tang The Thing'
He was born back in 1941, to Chinese parents who were first generation immigrants, in of all places; Indonesia. He must have been awarded an Indonesian name, born as he was during the Soekarno era. (Remember Rudy Hartono and His Sino roots and you get a feel for that era of Indonesian nationalism).
The game of badminton was already big internationally with the Indonesians, Danes, Canadians and the then Malaya its leading exponents. China under Mao was at that time hermetically communist, and therefore excluded from the international sporting stage.
So the Jakarta-born and bred Tang was suckled on the milk of the Indonesian badminton club production line that gave the sport so many leading exponents in the game during its heyday of the 1970s and 1980s.
Tang however returned to Fujian province to his Chinese roots and played for the Communist state for the rest of his sporting career.
It was then that he displayed his considerable badminton prowess, mesmerising the watching world at his trademark toying with opponents lobbing high to the back court, nifty net lifts before finishing them off with a jumping smash for the winning point.
Back to the kids.
They are the second batch of kids taken under the wing of the Kem Badminton Astro (KBA) programme under the auspices of Astro Kasih – the Astro Group employees body that carries out community programmes.
After a series of talent unearthing programmes through a series of nationwide selection roadshows, the group was whittled down to this final band of 30 boys and girls.
'China Prize'
Their prize? A trip to the Li Yongbo Badminton School in Dongguan, China.
And there, waiting for them will be Thing Tang himself.
Tang is on the panel of eminent former badminton stars who will impart advice and tips to the kids at some point of their stint during the programme.
For some of the kids, this is the first time ever they would be away for 10 whole days from squabbling siblings; doting mums and fawning fathers.
This would be the first time some of them would have had to obtain a passport; and fly on an airplane for five long hours.
In the event, the mental and physical exhaustion took its toll as one female participant broke down at the airport just as the group completed the laborious check-in process.
Her parents wisely pulled her out of the programme there and then – and then there were 29!
At the point of writing, the kids apparently are coping quite well with the playing and training programme arranged for them. Adjusting to the food and cooler climate is proving a big challenge for some more than others.
But then, this adjustment is something their sifu – The Thing – will be more than well-placed to impart to his eager gaggle.
Perhaps one day when a world beater emerges from this group, Malaysian badminton would have one good reason to thank ‘Thing!’
