One of the boys could speak English while the other only spoke Tamil.

The clerk, Francis Xavier D’Cruz, had gone to the football field in Siliau Estate, near Seremban, to watch his son, Leonard Eliston, play.

He met mandore Palaniappan who was there to see his son, Velappan, in action.

Palaniappan was excited when D’Cruz told him he was going to enrol Leonard in St. Paul’s Institution (SPI) primary, Seremban, the next day and asked if his son could go to the same school.

Sadly, only Leonard was accepted because it was a missionary school and preference then was given to Catholic children.

However, D’Cruz helped Velappan, a Hindu, gain admission to the Anglo-Chinese School.

D’Cruz died in 1969, but he had the pleasure of seeing the estate boys become formidable spearheads in education and sports after returning as teachers from the UK to the same schools they had their primary education.

A renowned educator, Leonard, who was a teacher at SPI primary and secondary schools for 33 years, died yesterday. He was 87.

Leonard – better known as Lenny or Eliston – passed in his home at Jalan Rasah here after a fall.

Velappan, who the nation came to know as Peter Velappan, a top administrator in world football, died in 2018. He is the author of “Beyond Dreams”.

In paying tribute to Leonard, who began teaching in 1956, past students described him as one of the great teachers who contributed richly to the tradition that made SPI known for the quality of its teaching and sporting heroism.

Old Paulians’ Association president, Steven Chan, said: “We salute an illustrious, exemplary, valiant, and true Paulian.”

Titus Gladwyn Gomez, from the class of ’71, said: “Thousands, including people who were in high positions or who are currently in various positions, owe much to the exceptional influence of Master Lenny.

“Love to him comes totally without reservation, without charade or nonsense, a sensation that makes dreams of the young an ultimate destination.”

Former national athlete, S Sathasivam, said Leonard’s leadership and tough discipline were admirable whether it was in the classroom, the Cadet Corp that he led with bulldog determination or in the sports field where he excelled as an athlete and coach.

Leonard’s son, Dr Ramesh, said: “He was a keen listener and lifelong learner and everyone who knew him was dazzled by his unbounded intellectual curiosity.

“My family learned early from him how much more interesting it is to find out about the interests and experiences of others than it is to speak about oneself,” he said by phone from Perth, Australia.

Veteran storyteller Tony Mariadass commented after an interview with Leonard in 2015: “When you talk to him, he makes you feel as if you were the most important person in the room or in the conversation, even though you know otherwise.”

“He’s a typical teacher from the past whose stories show how he has linked generations of students to carry the virtues of life to another station.”

In the interview, Leonard said: “I get invited to many reunions and although I cannot recognise many of my ex-students, it brings a tear to my eyes each time someone thanks me for charting his life.

Leonard continued teaching in a private college from 1990 to 2005 and taught underprivileged and migrant kids for free after his retirement as headmaster of SPI primary in 1989.

He was also a keeper of the Malayali community’s storied history in Malaysia.

Among his stories were his early life in the birthplace of his parents in Cheriyathura, Trivandrum, where he first went at the age of six.

While his mother, Mary Elizabeth, returned to Malaya during the Japanese Occupation between 1941 and 1945 to be with her husband, he continued schooling in India.

In 1946, he returned to Malaya with several bright lads from Cheriyathura who went on to make a mark in education, sports, and entertainment in the country.

They included the late Edwin Abraham, a celebrated national athletics coach, and the late Bosco D’Cruz, who was a TV and radio personality and theatre star.

He once said: “It’s such a good feeling to give and it’s so important to do it when you are a teacher.”

Leonard, whose teacher wife, Helen Visalakshi Nair, died several years ago is survived by his son, Ramesh, his wife Adeline and their children, Ashwin, Nisha and Rushil.