Ola Bola - Fine Movie!

Arumugam, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Khalid Ali, Shukor Salleh, Bakri Ibni, Jamal Nasir, Abdul Jali, Yunos Alif, Abdullah Ali, Hassan Sani and James Wong – These are the players of the 1980  Malaysian football Olympic team that inspired the whole nation to believe. Indeed, it was nostalgic and heart-warming when memories of that era was made possible with the movie “Ola Bola”.  Never mind if the names were changed but the essence of who they were was unmistaken indeed. These were household names in those days and who could forget such individuals.

I guess, SYuen would never know who these people were but to me and Soon Ling, we knew who these people were. I guess, “Ola Bola” does make you want to believe that we can rise up again in the game of football and Malaysia as a whole if we are united, focused and determined. Mind you, I was 15 years old at that time and football fever started early in my life as Dad was a football fan.

Though Dad was uneducated, he knew that when his “bird” team plays, he would somehow make an excuse to get something from the shop and we would end up watching the match accompanied by a cup of kopi-O shared by two! Yeah! Dad was a diehard fan of his “bird” team – Liverpool. What a time then! He was also a diehard fan of the Melaka football team. Those were the days then!

As history would have it, the 1980 Malaysian football team wasn’t impressive in their friendly matches and so on. So, there was a lot of flak on the boys too. Everyone seemed to “lose” hope on the national team then but you could always remember the names being mentioned each time. Remembered well that the team had a new German coach in Karl Weigang at that time who whipped the football boys into what they are. I remembered that day well when the whole family sat down in the living hall and watched that match on a B&W TV, man. It was a packed house as neighbours came by to watch the match. Biscuits and kopi-O were replenished while everyone of us was hoping for Malaysia to qualify for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Tension, drama and more drama gripped our hearts right till the end and when James Wong scored that winning goal, euphoria of cheers, relief, shouts of joy and shouts of “Yah” could be heard all over our taman and kampongs. It was about a nation winning…..it wasn’t about Ali, Ah Kau nor Ramasamy’s status, colour or creed; it was a Malaysian success story. That is the beauty of that 1980 significance. Well, that is how I remember it as far as I know.  

Coming back to the move “Ola Bola”, I must say it invoked a lot of fond memories and definitely captured the attention of the audience. The storyline, the sceneries, the passion and the emotions of it all captures the audience imagination. I remembered one scene when Muthu saved the resultant penalty kick, the cinemagoers erupted in hand clapping and loud cheers. Soon Ling and I were indeed very surprised but I guess, they were so absorbed of the movie that they spontaneously did what was the natural thing to do – clapped their hands and cheered loudly. It is definitely not just a football movie but it captures the emotions, the moral side of life  and the simpler things about life then. It was just a movie that everyone could relate to and some sceneries were awesomely nice and wonderful. I guess, footballers were dedicated then and without having much money in their hands, they played their hearts out and the spirit of togetherness was awesome. I really could not remember having watch the recent Malaysian football team without some flowery words escaping my lips and sometimes to the point of frustration. Guess, the only time I got excited was when K.Rajagopal team won the AFF Suzuki Cup. That was the closest thing to the 1980 Olympics team. But yeah, how I wished that one day Malaysia would make it to the Olympics and even the World Cup! Fat hopes, some will say but I dare say that minus the money lure, they may make it but fat hopes anyway because I believe these present set of players are about money. Maybe, it would be harsh to judge them that way but they really lack the spirit and the fighting back tenacity. I just wished the present footballers could be fitter, stronger and play to their last breath like it's the end of their life. But sadly so, they aren't like that. Somehow they lacked that "uuummpph" punch. They gave up too easily!

Look at the South Korean, Japanese and even the Saudi Arabia team. Malaysia was their bogey team because we were that good. Sure , we do lose to them but we gave them a fight of their life and a run of their money literally. Today, they are at the World Cup level while we are still languishing to the doodlums even losing to Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Phillipines and Nepal for that matter. Debacle after debacle of disgraceful results and loses.

I remembered watching the Malaysian league with Dad at Kubu Stadium those days. We were proud of our team, the Melaka team. Names like Soh Chin Aun, Wong Kow Fu, G.Torairaju, Letchumanan, Ramli Junid, Mahathir Taha and several others made us alive at Kubu Stadium. Sure, Dad and I would be sneaking in as usual but it was always good to support our team. I saw football greats like Mokhtar Dahari, Santokh Singh, Wong Hung Nung, Peter Rajah, James Wong , Hassan Sani, Ali Bakar , Isa Bakar, Wong Choon Wah, Mohd Shah Norbit, Khalid Ali, Zainal Abidin Hassan, Yahya Jusoh, Bakri Ibni ,Shukor Salleh, Yunos Alif and many many great players gracing the Kubu Stadium with their skills. The crowd at Kubu Stadium would heckled our opponents and cheered the Melaka boys each time we host the other teams. But you know what, they are professionals in their own right. Good set of players with great sportsmanship on the field and off the field.  

When these great players donned the Malaysian jersey, you could see their professionalism, pride and honour representing the country. That is what I saw in these players through the eyes of a young man a long time ago. Every PJ lesson or when we are having football as recreation, names like these would flow out easily among the lips of the young ones. That was how they impacted the lives of young people in Malaysia those days. Everyone wanted to be a Chin Aun or a Santokh, a Shukor Salleh, an Arumugam or even a Mokhtar Dahari. Yeah, I remembered that long after an international match or even a Melaka team game, coffeeshops and stalls will still be talking of the great footballers, their skills and the game they played.

Yes, "Ola Bola" gave me that sense of happiness again after all these years. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who would want to catch a movie of such passion. I love the movie! It appeals to both the young and very much to the older folks who had gone through that era or phase of life at one time. Nothing beats re-living the good ol' days of national pride, glory and excitement. Yup, make a date with "Ola Bola" people.....sure beat slumping yourself on the couch and letting the belly hang out!

Cheers to "Ola Bola" and cheers to you! Go watch the movie, will ya? Hopefully, we will "believe" in the present Malaysian football team!