Pictures by: Mohd Firdaus Abdul
Latif
If you were a resident of the Jalan Duta-Segambut areas in Kuala Lumpur
from mid-1970s through to the early 1990s, and if you happened to be up and
about rather early, chances are you would have encountered a lone determined
figure, wreaked in perspiration,walking briskly by the side of the road heading
towards Jalan Duta.
The early morning ritual of national walker V. Subramaniam would have
begun at around 4.30am from his home in Batu Caves to Jalan Duta where the
Examination Syndicate was located in the days when the area was a secluded forested
stretch where even a waterfall existed punctuated a few government buildings.
The monotonous regularity of ritual – absent only when it rained
torrents which was seldom – the obvious determination of its performer, and the
harvest of medals it brought him, established Subramaniam as the national athlete
with a peerless work ethic.
Which is why these days you would be surprised to see the man taking
your order for Western food and serving you at a food court in Taman Mewah in
Ampang.
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| Subra preparing before he opens his stall |
Sadly, the 67-year-old for
international walker, has fallen into bad times after he lost his job as
national walks coach of eleven years with the National Sports Council last
August.
The Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) took a bold move to remove old
and experienced coaches in their revamp of the coaching set up in preparation
for the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Sea Games.
Subramaniam tried to get a job as a coach with States AAs like Federal
Territory and Terengganu, but in vain.
Although KLFTAA promised to use him for walking clinics, it is still in
the planning stages.
“I had to make ends meet because there was little I could do with my
RM320 pension I get from my eleven years’ service with Telekoms although I worked
there for 30 years as they were privatised after that,” said Subra, as he was
more popularly known, when met at his stall at the food court. |
| Subra at his stall at the food court in Taman Mewah, Ampang |
“Although my children are all grown up and do support me a little, but I
have eight grandchildren and want to be independent to be able to buy a few
things for them and also for my daily expenditure,” added Subra whose wife
Krishnaveny (64) who had passed away last November.
Sadly, life has been a struggle for Subra all his life.
He had won his first walking race in 1969 in a 10km race and went on to
finish second in two others.
But working with a private company, he was not giving time-off for
training or competition and had to put his ambition to be a national athlete on
hold.
It was only ten years later at the ripe age of 26, when he found
employment with Telekoms Malaysia in 1975, with whom he retired after 30 years
that his athletics career finally took off.
With support from his employers, Subra saw his 14 years walking career
take off with wins in almost all walking tournaments like the Malay Mail Big
Walk, State meets and a walking circuit organised by a private company, Wings, before competing in his first
international competition – in the 1977 Sea Games in Kuala Lumpur where he won
the 10km gold medal and 20km silver medal.
He went to win a total six gold medals and five silvers in five Sea
Games, qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics Games, but had to skip it because
of the boycott by Malaysia, in the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games won the silver
medal and 1982 Games finishing fourth and won two bronze medals from the Asian
Track and Field in 1979 and 1981. He was named Selangor Sportsman for two
consecutive years – 1978 and 1979 – and was also named the National Sportsman
of the Year in 1978.
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| Happier times when Subra (second from left) was named Sportsman of The Year in 1978 with Sportswoman of The Year Slyvia Ng and then - Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union president the late Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie (left), and then Badminton Association of Malaysia president, the late Tan Sri Khir Johari. |
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| Datuk Seri Najib (right), who was then Culture, Youth and Sports Minister, and other supporters cheer Subramaniam during the 20km walk at the 1989 KL SEA Games. Subramaniam went to win the race. |
But every step of his walk he had to make sacrifices and anyone else in
his shoes would have long ago given up.
But not the father of three boys - late Saravanan, Rajinikanth (41) and
Sundhar (38) and two girls Uma Sunthary (41) and Shanti (39).
Even the death of his oldest 21-year-old son Saravanan in 1992 after a
motorcycle accident, did not see Subra hang up his walking shoes.
Subra said that it was former walker B.Thirukumar, who told him about
the stall available in the Ampang area and knew a lady who cooked western food
who was looking for an opportunity to do business.
“I managed to find this stall and got the lady (Siti Zubaidi) who had
worked with a Chinese stall owner for nearly ten years assisting in preparing
western food to team up with me,” said Subra who has been operating the stall
since last October.
He initially was operating the stall from morning to night and paid a
rent of RM800 a month and business was good for starters.
“But off late, it has been bad and since last month I decided to operate
only in the evenings from 4pm to 10pm and pay a reduced rent of RM540.”
Subra had to come up with a start-up capital of RM7,000 and spends
anything between RM50 to RM200 a day to buy meat and grocery for his business.
“These days I make about RM1,200 a month after deducting expenses and
share it 50-50 with Siti.
“It is not much, but I rather being doing something instead of just sitting at home,” said Subra who still continues to walk daily for at least an hour.
Subra who was a familiar figure at the Lake Gardens training walkers,
has not been training anyone since January.
“I am looking forward to getting back to coaching and will be going to
the National championships this weekend at the University Malaya to approach a
few States including Selangor. Hopefully, I will land a job soon as I am
yearning to get back to coaching especially in developing a few walkers to
become top notch athletes.”
Indeed a sad state of affairs for such a decorated athlete who has brought
so many honours to the country including winning the Sportsman Award of the
Year besides having trained so many national walkers to glory.
Among the walkers whom he had nurtured include Annastasia Karen Raj, Mohd Shahrulhaizy Abdul Rahman, Narinder Singh, Loo Choon Sieng, and 2015 Sea Games
bronze medallist Khairul Harith Harun to name a few.
Apparently, the fighter in Subra will not yield in the face of life’s
vicissitudes.
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