123rd ACS Founder's Day

Past vs Present Games 2009

In keeping with tradition, this year’s Past vs Present Games Festival was held on 22 February, the last Sunday before Founder’s Day at ACS (Independent). A torrential downpour washed out the tennis programme and delayed the rugby matches by a good 90 minutes; however squash and badminton went on uninterrupted indoors. Football, which was played on the artificial pitch, was also not affected while water polo – the rain did not seem to dampen spirits at all.

Football

Owing to the laudable efforts of Raj and his fellow organizers, this was a carnival all by itself, with the old boys being organized into various teams to compete against the teams from the various ACS schools. Wives, girlfriends, kids were on hand to help out with the recording, time keeping and other admin details once the matches kicked off. It was indeed an enjoyable day filled with fun, friendly competition and catching up with old mates. The old boys came out tops this year.

Badminton

Under the stewardship of Colin and Yew Seng for the old boys and Samuel doing his usual bit for the present boys, badminton attracted one of its largest crowds in many years. All present were boosted on the courts by the presence of Ronald Susilo, one of our many illustrious badminton alumni and off the courts by Mrs Choo Hwee Lim, wife of the late Mr Choo, ex-ACS teacher who coached ACS’s badminton teams to the pinnacle of schoolboy badminton in the eighties. The old boys just managed to edge the present 10-9 this year.

Squash

The old boys repeated their victory this year with a rather emphatic 9-1 scoreline. The matches were played in an atmosphere of much camaraderie and fun, as it should be in these Games.

Water Polo

Ably marshalled by Jerome, the old boys handed the present boys another lesson that sometimes, there is just no substitute for experience and resolute determination, tired, ‘older’ bodies notwithstanding! A good time was had by one and all and here again, the old boys were convincing winners.

Rugby

In what turned out to be a somewhat unprecedented upset, the present boys outdid their older brothers by winning 2 out of the 3 matches played. The “younger” old boys were pipped by the A Div team of ACS I 19 - 17 in the first game before the “older” old boys exacted some measure of recovery by beating the C div team from ACS (Barker Road). With fatigue setting in, the fast tiring “older” old boys were out done by the C Div team from ACS (Independent) in the final match.

It has been quite a while since the present boys were able to record a victory over their older brothers in the Past vs Present series. Kudos to the present; this surely is testament to ACS Rugby’s rising prowess!

For the Past, time to rethink game strategy, among which must surely be to ensure that sufficient numbers turn up to give the present a decent fight. No more a stroll in the park, like in days gone by. The exhibition games (U11 and U13) between our young rugby talents from ACS (Primary) and ACS (Junior) were well supported, and based on the talent on display, ACS rugby is thriving and well.

In conclusion, thanks are due to Dr Ong Teck Chin for allowing the ACS OBA to host the games at ACS (Independent), to Mr Chan Chee Wei for handling all the logistics, food, souvenirs, medical aid, etc, and to Malaysia Dairy Industries for sponsoring the drinks (yet again). And to all participants, past and present, see you all next year. And for the tennis players, please don’t forget to pray for better weather next year!

Mr Cheo Chai Hong

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