Paramalingam (Param) attributed his “greatest glory” to Vias for “ all his training that gave me the privilege of playing for the country”.

The former national centre-forward and coach said Vias was responsible for inspiring him to love the game, and to love the challenges.

Both men had a special friendship that was built upon mutual respect, shared aspirations, self-discipline, commitment and triumphant moments.

If we talk about pivotal moments in the evolution of hockey in the country, both Vias and Param hold a defining place.

They played the game the right way, excelled on the biggest stage, and were leaders both on and off the pitch.

Param turned 89 on Nov 15, and his praise of Vias, who died last year, came in an interview ahead of the reunion of over 100 sporting legends on Dec 9 in Kuala Lumpur.

The event, under the Sports Flame banner, is supported by FMT and will be graced by the King and Queen.

Making of a hockey wizard

Sitiawan-born Param appeared for Perak as a 19-year-old schoolboy in 1954, and came into contact with Vias in the following year in Johor.

As a second-year technical college student on a field training course in Johor, he also met Aminullah Karim, who together with Vias represented Malaya in the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956.

Param wrote in mysportsflame.com that Vias selflessly showed him “a whole new world of how to play in an attacking position”.

Vias, a six-footer built like a bank vault, schooled him how to beat a defender like him, and how to deceive full-backs with a feint.

Param said he quickly absorbed several other techniques that Vias taught him such as positioning, running into space, and the wrist shot which came easily to a cricketer like him.

As a schoolboy cricketer, Param once scored a century playing for Anglo-Chinese School, Teluk Anson (now Teluk Intan).

Param said he had also benefitted from the tips Vias gave him on flat shot, slap shot, deflection shot, and on-the-run flick.

Param recalled: “In that single year I was in Johor, I had the greatest opportunity of being in the midst of this giant of a man.

“Every weekend I would follow him to play for Ceylon Sports Club in the Singapore League, and utilised all that I had learnt from him.”

Param said Vias was not only a great athlete but also one of the best fullbacks he had played with and against.

“I shall always cherish and remember Freddie, who was also my dear friend and a man with a big and generous heart,” said Param, a former quantity surveyor.

Param and his magic wand

In the late 50s and early 60s, Param was irreplaceable in the Selangor team, emerging quickly as the ideal striker for the new-era national team.

In one of his best matches for the country, Param displayed action-hero energy to net a hattrick in a 4-0 win over then arch-rivals Singapore in Kuala Lumpur.

Winger R Yogeswaran, who provided the assists for the goals from the left flank, recalled the headline in the then Straits Times, “Param and his magic wand”.

Yogeswaran said Param was the best striker at that time, constantly troubling the opposition defence with his slick stickwork, quality ball control and darting runs.

Those were the days when the game was spread open to the wings, from where fleet-footed wingers with silky stickwork would whack in crackling centres for the inner forwards to do the rest.

Param sparkled in this role at the Asian Games in 1958 (Tokyo), 1962 (Jakarta) and 1966 (Bangkok), and the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, the first and only time when Singapore competed as part of Malaysia.

In Jakarta, Malaya won bronze, the country’s first medal in men’s hockey in a major tournament.

Param went for his second Olympics at Los Angeles in 1984, and for his fourth Asian Games in New Delhi, as chief coach of the national men’s hockey team.

Param is the only Malaysian coach who has had the honour to coach the Asian All-Stars hockey team of 1989 in their Asian and European tour.

Star-maker

Like Vias, Param embodied the amateur spirit and put so much back into sport when his playing days were over.

In their own special way, they lifted the hockey careers of many, created stars and became supreme athlete mentors.
Param said the growth of Malaysian hockey hinged on clubs focusing sharply on junior development programmes, with the unswerving involvement of parents.

After he quit playing competitive hockey in 1968, he trained young players at the hockey stadium in Pandamaran, Klang, and shaped a development programme in the district.

Every year, teams vie for the C Paramalingam Trophy in honour of Klang’s most famous hockey player.

For his outstanding playing career and contribution to the sport, he received a national sports award from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 2007, and was inducted into the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s hall of fame seven years later.

Being in the company of Param will cause one to love the process, to love the sweat, to love the tears, but most of all to love sport.