Former Perak FA president and the Asian Football Confederation secretary general Datuk Teoh Chye Hin passed away in Ipoh hours ago.
An accountant by profession, he will be remembered as a true servant of the game. He was 94.
Datuk Teoh served as Perak FA president for 15 years from 1957. He was the FAM treasurer from 1962 to 1978.
His involvement with AFC began on July 1, 1969, when he took over as acting treasurer from H.M Lee, who died in a car accident in June that year.
He replaced fellow Malaysian Koe Ewe Teik as the AFC secretary general in October 1974 and served in that capacity until Datuk Peter Velappan succeeded him in 1978.
Tunku Abdul Rahman Al-haj, who was elected as the governing body's fourth president in their first Congress in Tokyo in 1958, recounted in his book Lest We Forget (1983):
"When I was elected the president of AFC during the Asian Games in Tokyo 1958, Lee Wai Tong, a famous footballer in his days, was the secretary.
"The trouble then was that Asian football had no money and no proper organisation.
"When I took over, Koe Ewe Teik became the secretary-general. Things started moving and Asian football gained strength and repute, so with the others such as, to name a few, the late Datuk Kwok Kin Keng, Lim Kee Seong and Datuk Teoh Chye Hin, AFC took their place among the leading football associations in the world.
"When Chye Hin took over as secretary-general, Ewe Teik became the treasurer. We all left the AFC together (1978) but by then we had accumulated RM1 million for the confederation."
A little under three decades later, AFC have emerged as an integral partner to FIFA and the game at large.
Asia have the first World Cup of the millennium to their credit, elevating the image of the continent to a new perspective.
While torn between idealistic values and commercial interests, AFC continue to lay down the foundations, improving on the youth championships - a brainchild of the Tunku - as a platform for Asia's top youth to showcase their talent in addition to remodelling the Asian Club
Championships into Asia's version of the glamorous UEFA Champions League.
During Datuk Teoh's leadership, Perak won the inaugural Malaysia Cup in `67, and also in `70 and `72, the FAM Cup in `59, `64 ,and `65, and also had a large number of their players selected by the national body for international duty.
Datuk Teoh also served as an independent FAM council member until 2004 when he declined the appointment due to poor health.
8 comments:
The passing away and the loss of an outstanding sports administrator/leader must surely be deeply felt by all the football officials throughout Malaysia and Asia.How I wish more of our sports leaders are like him, honest,dedicated and sincere with no thought of personal gain in whatever he did for football. May he rest in peace.
Is this you, Tan Sri?
It's true leaders like Datuk Teoh are a scarce commodity these days.
Tq for visiting.
Malaysia was fortunate to have reliable servants to football in those golden years, those named by the Tunku and those unnamed as well.
Dedication, accountability and transparency were their hallmarks. We need people of that ilk for the revival of most of Malaysian sports, not just football.
Is there just too much government involvement nowadays or is it the Baby Boomer generation or Gen X / Gen Y mentalities ?
purple haze,
i think its societal.
we always expect something in return for our services.
Thank you for your kind words for my late father. As his eldest child, although a girl, I used to follow him everywhere: matches, training, even when he went to watch local league matches to talent-spot. He was involved in many organisations, but football was his main love. When politics infiltrated football management, he was very sad. But he was lucky to have good friends in the FAM, who retained him as a Council member for many years. Eventually he had to give up, because of his failing health.
Just last month, I managed to round up some of Perak's football greats of the golden 60s to have dinner with him. It was a wonderful occasion for him. We intended to have another one , with the national players, but unfortunately, he couldnt wait.
My most grateful thanks to all his friends who have helped to make his life so happy. We miss him so.
Dear Rizal, you are somebody I have been eyeing for a long long time and I think its time I share a bit about what I know from this golden period of Perak and Malaysian period. My father K. Kasi was a perak football official during Datuk Teoh's tenure until a whole new batch of officials took over in maybe 1976/77.I was born in 63 Rizal and maybe when I was 6 I remember sitting in the players bench during Malaysia cup matches. My father turned me into a football freak and I never looked back. My father and I used to travel with Datuk and Darin Teoh to away matches, specifically Alor Setar and Kangar. This would be maybe 1972 till 74. The stories Datuk and my father used to chat about are sacred. Datin also knew a lot. She had met the cream of AFC and FIFA too. I used to call them uncle auntie but my dad always Datuk and datin. Bukan bodek Pasal tapi total respect. I miss those days.
I want to connect with you now. There is only one reason for me to do this. I hope I impress you with my reason. KUNISHIGE KAMAMOTO SAN. The picture of you and him made me very happy and made me want to know more about your football journey. Rizal, I am no fraud. I know in my heart that you and I could have a football discussion like no other. Haha.
Datuk punya masa when he was Perak president was a golden era indeed. My dad was in charge of stadium board. We had Datuk Chong the treasurer. We had Datuk Ooi poh hwa who was a fifa ref. I had Syed Ahmad, Salleh Ibrahim, Wong kam fook in the bus for so many away matches. I can tell u stories which i rasa will make your hair stand. I was in their company for so many Msia cup finals, their journey to the 71 pre Olympic qualifying round in Seoul, eventually Munich Olympics and most happiest of all I saw them win the bronze medal in Teheran. I can further Rizal, the whole merdeka tournament in Perak whilst merdeka stadium was under renovation. My father got me an official card with my photo inside signed by brigadier General Zain Hashim. Do u want to know what my father did as stadium board head for the World cup hockey matches in 1975. I was seated in the VIP stand and that old man Rene Frank from Belgium gave me about 10-12 FIH pins. Lots more coming Rizal.
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