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Rajkumar believes in finishing what he has started, and he’s not done yet.KUALA KUBU BHARU: From middle-distance running great to businessman, B Rajkumar is probably the most successful Malaysian athlete turned entrepreneur.
Having been a competitive athlete, he has taken his relentless pursuit of success from the track into the business realm.
As a 20-year-old Rajkumar set the 800m national record of 1min 47.37s at the Asian Track and Field championships in Jakarta in 1985. The record still stands.
Today, 35 years later, the small-town boy from Kuala Kubu Bharu is setting personal records in business. He has a variety of interests that includes a budget hotel, an orchard, an animal farm, chalets at his Gaharu Plantation and a real estate company.
He continues to develop projects in his hometown in Hulu Selangor, such as ecotourism, oil and gas tools and wagon and train depot equipment.
Rajkumar said his involvement in a diversity of businesses is a result of heeding the advice of his late father, Batumalai, to keep fighting until he knocked out any obstacles in the way of success.
As a child, the only way he could get his hands on any spending money was to go out and earn it.
Even so, his first pair of spikes was paid for by A Vaithilingam, then Selangor Schools Sports Council secretary.
It happened when Rajkumar, as a 15-year-old, made his first bus trip to Kuala Lumpur to compete in the Selangor schools athletics meet at Merdeka Stadium in 1980.
As the Hulu Selangor district champion in the 800m and 1500m, he won both the events and was selected to attend the Selangor ‘Kem Bakat’ under schoolteacher and head coach, Rennie Martin.
The boy wonder from SMK Haji Kamaruddin went on to break two Selangor records at Merdeka Stadium.
Rennie knew he had a gem of an athlete and phoned me that day, April 21, to witness the prowess of a schoolboy who, he said, was set to “make middle distance running special”.
Rajkumar had been discovered and trained by former national middle-distance coach A Trapadi. He was on a winning streak, taking the 800m gold medal at the ATF championships and setting a new Asian and national record, breaking Sri Ram Singh of India’s long-standing record of 1:47.5.
His showing in Jakarta won him a chance to represent Asia at the World Cup in Canberra and the Five Nations Championships in Tokyo where he performed creditably.
At the 1983 Singapore Sea Games, Rajkumar won the 800m and 1,500m while in the two-lap race at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, he rubbed shoulders with the eventual gold medallist Joaquim Cruz of Brazil and England’s 1980 gold medallist Steve Ovett.
He was strongly tipped to win the 1985 Malaysian Sportsman of the Year award but lost out to cyclist Rosman Alwi. It was speculated that Rajkumar did not get the award because he was tagged the ‘bad boy of athletics.’
He admits KL’s bright city lights got the better of him, forcing him to end his short athletics career at 22.
“Coming from a small town and suddenly being exposed to the bright city lights of KL had its challenges and temptations,” he says.
“As a youngster, I was blinded at times and with success came popularity too. I wish I was given better guidance, financial aid and was looked after by the association and sports officials.
“I achieved something significant in a short time and I am proud of that. It did not come easy. I worked hard for it,’ he said.
He returned to the “peace and serenity of my hometown,” to start life anew, taking various jobs and venturing into business in 1995.
He still holds athletics close to his heart and wants to give back to the sport. He initiated the KKB 21km Road Relay four years ago and plans to set up an athletics academy for middle distance runners.
“I will do anything to produce an athlete to erase my 35-year-old 800m national record,” said Rakumar, now an avid golfer who also organises golf tournaments and clinics.
Rajkumar said that he is extremely happy with the way his life has turned out. “I hope my story will inspire others to follow suit and believe that there is life in small towns after all,” he said.
BLOG STORY
By Tony Mariadass
THE success story of former
Asian athletics champion Batumalai Rajakumar is all the more impressive seeing
he is the product of a small and sleepy town like Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB) but
nonetheless enjoyed a short but glittering track career after he had to
struggle from day one to overcome the odds on the track and today is a
successful entrepreneur.
Fondly known as Rajkumar, he is now a successful property consultant and real estate agent, owns a budget hotel (Evergreen Budget Hotel), has an orchard, an animal farm and has chalets at his Gaharu Plantation. If that's not enough, he also handles Eco tourism, is sole proprietor of (Ecogreen JR Resources), is the distributor of Super Ego Tools for oil and gas from Spain and is corporate communication director of Trendline Wagon which deals in manufacturing wagon and train depot equipment - all situated in or around KKB.
Rajkumar, who turns 56 on Dec 10, recollects fondly is first ever trip to Kuala Lumpur as a 15-year-old to compete in the Selangor Schools athletics meet at Merdeka Stadium in 1980, as the Hulu Selangor district champion in the 800m and 1,500m.
"I took the stage bus for my first trip to KL and was met by Mr A. Vaithilingam (the Selangor Schools Sports Council secretary general with the Selangor Education Department), and the first thing he did was take me by my hands (literally) to the Pertama Complex where he bought me my very first pair of spikes,” recalls Rajkumar with a smile.
His outing at that
1980 meet was a stepping stone to a glittering track career. It opened up a
whole new world for this middle distance runner who went on to sweep all
before him including a historic win in the men's 800m in the Asia Track and
Field (ATF) championship in Jakarta in 1985.
At the 1980 Selangor schools he clinched gold medals in the 800m and 1,500m and was selected to attend a ‘Kem Bakat’ under school teacher and head coach, Rennie Martin.
At the Selangor Kem Bakat athletics trials after attending the ‘Kem Bakat’ Rajkumar, who attended SMK Hj Kamaruddin, went on to break two Selangor state records on that April 21 morning.
In the 800m (Class Two) he clocked 2:03.4 which was four-tenths of a second faster than his national schools record which he did a year-earlier when he set the first record. He also won the 1,500m in 4:16.1 beating the time 4:17.7 set by Penang’s M. Subramaniam a year earlier. (I was lucky enough to witness this race as Rennie had called me at home early that Monday morning and told me to get to the Merdeka Stadium immediately as a schoolboy was going to break Selangor state records at Selangor Kem Bakat athletics trials).
Rajkumar, discovered and coached by former national middle distance coach A. Trapadi who is also from Kuala Kubu Baru, claims that the highlight of his career was winning the 800m at the ATF championship in a new Asian record of 1:47.37s at the Madya Stadium, breaking India’s Sri Ram Singh long standing record of 1:47.5.
His record for the 800m still stands as the national record after 35 years!
As part of his preparation for the ATF, he did conditioning training in Perth, Australia and also in Germany. He competed on the European circuit between 1982 and 1985 whenever he could.
His showing in Jakarta won him a chance to represent Asia in the World Cup in Canberra and the Five-Nation Championships in Tokyo, where he qualified for the finals in the 800m.
In the 1983 Singapore Sea Games, Rajkumar won the 800m and 1,500m. He also competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics clocking 1:48.19s for the 800m and rubbed shoulders with eventual gold medallist Joaquim Cruz of Brazil and England's 1980 gold medallist Steve Ovett.
He was strongly tipped to win the 1985 Sportsman of the Year award but lost out to cyclist Rosman Alwi. It was rumoured that Rajkumar did not get the award because he was tagged the ‘bad boy of athletics.’
In the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, Rajakumar qualified for the 800m final but fared miserably when it mattered. “I really did not know what happened. I just went blank in the race and finished second last. Maybe there were too many things on my mind," he claims.
But KL's bright city lights soon got the better of this talented track star and his short athletics career ended when he was only 22.
“It was then that I said to myself enough is enough and decided to return to the peace and serenity of my hometown,” added Rajkumar, who married to his neighbour’s daughter U. Sarojah when he was 30 and the couple now have two children – daughter Krithika (21) and son Yuvan( 17).
“I had achieved something significant in a short time and I am proud of that. It did not come easy. I worked hard for it,' he said.
"But coming from a small town and then suddenly being exposed to the bright city lights of KL had its challenges and temptations. As a youngster, naturally I was blinded at times and with success came popularity too. I just wished we had better guidance, financial aid and looked after by the association and sports officials.
"But I am not blaming anyone,” said Rajkumar, who after short working stints with Maybank and CIMB when still active as an athlete, went to work with several sports equipment companies - Schwarzenbach, Adidas and Puma - as a marketing and promotion executive for 10 years.
He then joined M.K Land for three years under property sale.
It was only in 1995 that he decided to return to KKB for good and start his own business. Earlier, while working in KL he still stayed in KKB and travelled to and fro daily, except the last three years when he was with MK Land.
“It was not easy starting out on my own and it was a struggle in the beginning. But I put to good use all the experiences I had gained while I had worked in KL but I still have to thank my wife, my eldest brother (Jegan) and youngest brother (Paramsivam) for all their encouragement, support and guidance” said Rajkumar, the seventh in a family of nine – eight boys and a girl.
“I also have my late father to thank for instilling in all of us that ambition was important in life because it will chart your own identity as an adult and to work hard and smart, to achieve your ambition.
“My father also told me that it was important to make sure that I complete whatever I started and to believe in my capabilities,” said Rajkumar echoing his father’s last words before he passed away in his arms at the hospital bed after he met with an accident at the age of 50.
“My father was an ambitious man himself and had studied telecommunications and satellites broadcasting in India. His studies were partly sponsored by Phillips and when he graduated, he was offered a high paying job in Borneo as a broadcasting manager but his father (my paternal grandfather) did not allow him to go and he ended up as a Drug Warden in the Government hospital in KKB when he returned from India.
“Maybe because he could not fulfil his dreams, so he urged us all to achieve our goals.”
But the ever humble Rajkumar, despite success, still holds athletics close to his heart and although it was a short stint of fame for him, he wants to give back to the sport.
He initiated the KKB 21 KM Road Relay four years ago which has been a huge success for two consecutive years. After two years of postponement after that because of unforeseen circumstances, Rajkumar was ready to revive it this year in September, but Covid-19 has forced it to be postponed yet again.
He also plans to set up an athletics academy for middle distance runners in the near future. His plea to athletics authorities to assist and endorse the project has fallen on deaf ears.
"If I have to do it myself and look for sponsors, I will do it. I have the budget hotel which I intend to convert to a hostel and facilities are in abundance in KKB. The place is a haven for middle distance training,” said an enthusiastic Rajkumar.
"If I have produce an athlete to erase my own long standing record, I will do it. I have my coach Trapadi and a two IAAF qualified coaches in KKB to assist me,” said Rajkumar, a former single handicapper who now plays 16 and also organises golf tournaments and clinics.
Rajkumar said that he is extremely happy with the way his life had turned out.
"I come from an average family and grew up eating rice and curry, nothing else,” said Rajkumar recalling his growing days.
“I hope my story will inspire others to follow suit and believe that there is life in small towns after all.”
Ends.
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