PERSONALITY: Khaw Hock Seang
By Tony Mariadass
Pictures by Azneal Ishak
Former national juniors’ hockey
goalkeeper Khaw Hock Seang from stopping goals from hitting the net, is these days
putting fishes to his net.
The relationship manager with RHB in
Klang who turned 52 on Oct 8 was a former Selangor player who turned out for
the National Junior World Cup Oceania qualifying squad in 1984.
Khaw who hails from Penang, but
studied at St Michael’s Institution in Ipoh, plied his hockey trade in Perak
for a short period before moving to play for Selangor and now resides in Klang.
Since he quit playing hockey ending
his career for his employers UMBC in 1991, he has turned to fishing for his ‘kicks’
– a hobby which he has had since his schooldays.
Khaw who once was stopping goals from
getting past him into nets, was a member of the Selangor Razak Cup champion
squad in 1984 and Hussein Onn Cup champion in 1987.
What started off as a weekend pastime,
fishing has now become an obsession for him having to head out to fish every
Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
His favourite place is at the Fly
Fishing & Lure Casting, at Empangan Sungei Air Kuning at the Taman Botani
Negara in Shah Alam Seksyen 8, while on long weekend holidays he travels to
Thailand to fish at Bungsamaran.
“I am only into lake fishing and most
of the time put back the fish into the lakes,” said Khaw who surprisingly does
not eat fish.
At Fly Fishing & Lure Casting, it
is a rule that all fish caught must be released back into the former dam.
“At places where I can take back the
fish, I either give it away or sell it off,” said Khaw.
“I don’t eat fish because I cannot
bear to eat my catch. I do fishing for leisure and relaxation and I feel it is
not right for me to eat my catch.”
Khaw said the thrill of catching a
fish was something once someone experiences, will immediately get hooked to the
sport.
Indeed it is was Mailsport cameraman Azneal Ishak tried his hand at the request of
Khaw and immediately reeled in a fish and said that the experience was ‘out of
the world’ and vowed to return.
“Besides fishing is a great way to get
away from stress, have peace and a great form of relaxation. Patience is a
vital ingredient in fishing and this helps calm oneself and builds character,”
said Khaw a musician too.
Khaw said over the years, he would
have easily spend about RM30,000 on equipment for fishing.
“The good fishing rods and equipment
can be expensive but once one gets hooked onto fishing, you will settle for
nothing less than the best equipment.”
Among the expensive brands Khaw has
in his collection include Shimano, G. Loomis and Abu Gracia Sweden which easily
cost anything between RM1,000 to RM2,000.
Khaw said that his biggest thrill was
when he reeled in a 60kg catfish in Thailand.
“But whether it is a big fish or
small fish, the difficulty to reel them in after they bite the bait is a
challenge and thrill by itself. It is indeed a battle as the fish will try all
ways to get off the bait and sometimes the stronger ones with snap the line to
escape,” said the father of two daughters - Sheela and Gautamaraj.
Khaw said that the Fly Fishing &
Lure Casting Centre is ideal spot for city folks in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor
who are into fishing.
“It is a centre right in the middle
of the hustle and bustle of the city and a great get away which is only minutes
away,” said Khaw.
“When I am here, I feel like I am on
a different planet with the cool serenity, quietness and peacefulness.”
The centre is run by Nik Mohd Rahimi
Mohd Kamaluddin, an engineer, who like Khaw loves fishing and the peaceful
surrounding.
He manages the former dam for the
Taman Botani Negara and charges very reasonable rates.
He charges RM30 for a full day of
fishing from 7.30am to 6.30pm. Operates six days a week and is closed on
Tuesday and opened on public holidays and school holidays. The centre also has
an archery centre to make a family outing site. For archery, Nik charges RM10
for 20 arrows which includes coaching if requires as Nik is an ardent archer.
“We get a lot students coming for a
day outing during weekends and especially school holidays. Otherwise, we have
our regular anglers who love the peaceful surrounding and not to mention the
bountiful of fishes available to be fished.”
Among the fish in the lake include
talipa, pacu, patin amazon red tail, baung, toman, catfish, jelawat and haruan
to name a few.
As an added attraction the centre has
the friendly monkey – Jackie – who was given to Nik by a friend.
It has a special attachment with Khaw
and would even sit with him to fish at times and sometime in his mischief will
even try to fish by itself.
“Jackie is my fishing buddy here. He
is a delight to be with and I look forward to every weekend to be here not only
to fish but bond with Jackie,” said Khaw.
Khaw said many friends have asked him
to take them fishing with him, but more often than not declines.
“Not that I do not want my friend to
fish, but I am afraid of my friends’ wife or girlfriends accusing me of taking
them away from them, said Khaw with grin.
“One can easily get hooked with
fishing and from some of my bad experiences previously with my friends, I have
vowed to fish on my own or fishing enthusiast who are already fishing.
“I am happy fishing alone and enjoy
it very much. Besides I have friends like Nik and Jackie to keep me company.”
Indeed, Khaw is fast been known as “Man
with rod will travel.”
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