After all, she didn’t want Chow’s funeral to be a sad occasion. Chow passed away on Wednesday morning from septicaemia. He was 69.
“We want to celebrate his life,” she told a crowd of over 50 mourners, which included fellow football greats such as Soh Chin Aun and N Thanabalan, when delivering a short eulogy earlier at the Nirvana Memorial Centre here.
And there were many who had indeed celebrated Chow’s achievements, with Kwok noting the tributes that flooded social media following his passing.
That, and two hand-written letters she had with her, one of which was from Uma Sambanthan, wife of the late VT Sambanthan who was among Malaysia’s founding fathers.
Uma had in her letter, described Chow as a great man who enriched not only football, “but the country and the whole world”, and how he will forever remain a unique example for the younger generation.
“It’s from an amazing woman whom we don’t know personally, but she wrote a really nice note,” Kwok said of the letter.
The other was from former sports writer George Das who paid tribute to Chow’s tenacity, describing his “fight to the finish” a trademark feature the goalie had.
“This rings true for all of us,” Kwok said, her voice cracking a little.
Former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) secretary-general Peter Velappan meanwhile touched on Chow’s humility, another trait that many who had known the latter would recognise.
“He could have gone around town saying he was the best keeper in the world, but he never boasted about his talent. He just showed it on the field.”
Velappan also credited matches Malaysia won to Chow being “in goal”.
“When a person is no longer with us, we look at the best qualities he has.
“Christina, Adrian you can be very proud. Not only was he a great husband, a great father but he was also a true Malaysian,” Vellapan said.
Chow made his international debut at the tender age of 15 in the mid-1960s, playing alongside the likes of M Chandran, Thanabalan and the Quah brothers, Kim Siak and Kim Swee.
In 1968, he attracted the attention of many Hong Kong clubs when playing for the Malaysian Chinese team, and joined Hong Kong Rangers FC for three guest matches.
He later signed up with Jardine FC for a then record salary of HK$2,500 a month.
Nicknamed “Asian Stainless Steel Gate”, Chow even attracted interest from Cruzeiro after the Brazilian club played a friendly in Hong Kong.
Chow, who was voted Asia’s best by the AFC five times in a row between 1966 and 1970, became a professional golfer after retiring from football. Until his death, he was teaching golf.