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February 1, 2007

SINGAPORE

Asean Football Championship: Singapore v Thailand

Match Day has arrived.

After my marathon session of eight consecutive classes, I wearily headed for the bus stop to meet my waiting friends and leave for the match. We took the MRT to a hawker center and ate Indian food before entering the stadium. Although I cannot remember the Hindi name, I had a kind of Indian chicken quesadilla that I cannot recommend enough should you have the chance to eat Indian food in the near future.

By the time of kick-off there were 55,000 screaming Singapore fans and a small contingent of police protected Thai fans. We had a friend who saved us front row seats (there was open seating at the stadium) and we took up three rows for our group of twenty. Singapore dominated the match from the outset with five Thai players being carried off on a stretcher in the first half alone. It was clear that the Singapore players knew what a big occasion this match was (it was the last to be played at the National Stadium before being torn down and rebuilt) and they had the Thais on their heels.

The football itself was far from the best in the world. There were many points where I felt confident that if I was a Singaporean national I could have stepped onto the pitch. The problem is not their skills but their size - for most Asian players the knee is the thickest part of the leg. Additionally, they do not have any of the natural upper body strength that is common to people of Germanic descent.

Singapore took the lead midway through the first half amid endless cheers of “Ole! Ole! Ole-ole-ole, Ole, Ole!” However, Thailand tied the match up in the second half and the crowd was stunned. The 700 or so Thai fans could be heard from across the stadium proudly cheering “Thailand! Thailand! Thailand!”

Such uncertainty with the match led to a severe increase in the harassment toward the Thai players. Whereas the first half was full of encouragement for Singapore, the second half was full of excessive jeering. The nature of Singapore with its dozens of integrated races results in a subtle discrimination, but I was still surprised to hear things like, “Go back to clean the toilets!” and “How’d the Thais get into Singapore?” and so forth. I know for a fact this kind of jeering goes on everywhere (and indeed it is often much uglier), but it was disappointing to hear nonetheless.

At around the 80^th minute there was the kind of drama one would only find in Southeast Asia – the Thai team walked off the field in protest and took the ball with them! A penalty was awarded when a Singapore player was pulled down, and although the call was very harsh toward Thailand, I have never heard of a professional team refusing to play as a result. The standoff lasted twenty uncertain minutes as the Thais simply refused to finish the game. It was very humorous for me as an outsider, but this event did nothing to pacify the tension in the stadium.

The Thais eventually retook the field only to be immediately punished as Singapore took advantage of their penalty and scored a goal. With only ten minutes to play, the stadium erupted in cheers. Singapore hung onto their lead for the rest of the match, and they left the stadium as winners. However, I cannot help feeling that between the injustice of the penalty and the crude jeers of the fans something more important than winning was lost.