KLANG: He used to handle uppercuts and left-hooks like a professional in the armed forces.
Although the pint-sized yet burly Major (Rtd) Subramaniam Balasingam did himself pack a killer punch, he did not seriously pursue the sport as a competitive boxer.
Nevertheless, he carved a niche for himself as an international-class judge, referee and official in major military competitions and regional games, locally and abroad.
Subramaniam, who had turned 75 on Feb 16, was born in 1946, just a year after the end of World War 2.
He was also among the elite handful of army officers who had graduated from the Officer Cadet School at Eaton Hall, followed by the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, both in England.
Subramaniam's 'Intake 36' RMAS alumni includes the Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail, who later became an army captain and went on to serve as the 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong from Dec 13, 2001 to Dec 12, 2006.
Subramaniam went on to serve with the Royal Artillery Regiment (RAR) and saw active action fighting communist terrorists during the Emergency periods (1948-1960 and 1967-1989), the Confrontation with Indonesia (Jan 20, 1963–Aug 11, 1966).
Sadly, "Boxing Maniam" or "Appu", as he is fondly referred to by his close buddies, succumbed to cancer at 9.30am today, at his Teluk Pulai home in Klang.
His nephew Balakrishna Selvadurai, 48, told the New Straits Times that Subramaniam died of stage four cancer of the kidney.
"His funeral is planned for tomorrow at the Jalan Banting crematorium in Klang, after ceremonial prayers at home," he said.
Balakrishna added that his uncle was initially married to Dr Radha Menon before marrying his Filipina wife Luz M. Nabong, and the couple had no children.
Subramaniam is the eldest of five siblings – brothers Selvadurai, Rajadurai and Dr Sivalingam, and a sister Arulsothy.
Balakrishna said his uncle was initially admitted to the Sunway Medical Centre on June 8 to undergo treatment.
"As he was unable to cope with the medical expenses at the private specialist centre, he requested to be transferred to Kuala Lumpur Hospital on June 24, for further treatment.
"On June 30, he was discharged after his condition improved and was recuperating at home. He was supposed to return for follow-up treatment at HKL on July 14," he said.
He added that his uncle had joined Intake 8 of the Regular Service Commission cadets on Dec 9, 1963.
"He served 22 years with his last post as Staff Officer 2 (administration) at the 5th Brigade headquarters, before retiring on May 1, 1985," said Balakrishna.
During his prime, Subramaniam was the 1988 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games boxing team manager.
Since the 1990s, he had served as Kuala Lumpur Boxing Association deputy president, as a Malaysian Amateur Boxing Association committee member, and an Asian Boxing Confederation vice-president, executive bureau member and its competitions committee chairman.
He was at one time one of only 25 qualified international technical delegates in the boxing world.
One of Maniam's closest buddies, Brigadier-General (Rtd) Datuk Soon Lian Cheng said Subramaniam was a familiar face at the monthly Armed Forces Veterans Rendezvous at the Royale Chulan Hotel in Jalan Conlay, Kuala Lumpur.
"But he had not been well in recent years and we hardly got to see him. He was always a friendly chap with a ready smile, and had devoted much of his time to the sport of boxing.
"It is sad to hear of his demise," said Soon, who first met Subramaniam at the Sandhurst/Dartmouth/Cranwell inter-college games in 1964.
The games involved Malaysian officer cadets who had graduated from RMAS (Sandhurst) in Berskshire and Camberley; the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon; and the Royal Air Force College at RAF Cranwell, Linconshire – all in the United Kingdom.
"I recall Subramaniam and (another RMAS alumni) the present Raja of Perlis were representing Sandhurst in the games," said Soon.
Meanwhile, another prominent former artillery officer and army hockey player Raymond William Gostelow, also succumbed to illness recently.
Gostelow's close buddy and former sapper, A.R. Ramachandran, who like Gostelow retired as a major, reminisced on how closely-knit they were during their service days.
"We often called him El Grondo and always exclaimed 'Everybody loves Raymond' (after the popular Hollywood TV series).
"That was how cordial he was with everyone, no matter if he was loved or disliked by anyone," said "Rama" of Gostelow, who succumbed to Covid-19 at the National Heart Institute on July 4.
Gostelow joined the army on Dec 3, 1974 and served 21 years before retiring on April 3, 1996.
He later served as a security manager with various organisations before becoming a professional lecturer and trainer.
Gostelow, added Ramachandran, had earlier been treated for various reasons at HKL.
"Sadly, he succumbed to an unseen 'enemy' despite having survived many episodes of life-threatening situations in active service.
"He simply cheated death then. He was a fighter, survivor and one who rarely gave up. In the Artillery we say: 'End of mission, rounds complete'."
Ramachandran recalled how he first met Gostelow in 1976 in Taiping where the latter taught fellow soldiers to sing the once popular Malacca-Portuguese kristang song "Jing Geri Nona".
A gung-ho Gostelow was so adapt at improvising survival tactics, that he even escaped unscathed after falling 20ft from a high hovering helicopter during an abseiling drill.
"It happened during a young officer's tactics course for airmobile operations at the Army Training Centre in Port Dickson.
"I had succeeded in sliding down to the ground, complete with my backpack and firearms. As I looked up at the helicopter, Gostelow was on the rope sliding down.
"Somehow, the helicopter could not hold its hover and ascended, leaving Gostelow hanging for dear life, before falling 20ft," said Ramachandran.
When he hit the ground, Ramachandran thought Gostelow was a goner.
"As tough as he was, he got up, dusted himself off and ran forward. The backpack somehow cushioned his fall and he survived miraculously.
"I think he earned his airborne wings much later in service," said Ramachandran of their forays as artillery gun position officers during the active communist insurgency operations.
He added that the sappers, among others, were tasked with building roads, bridges and provide support services to other agencies, with heavy machinery during natural disasters.