LETTERS: Datuk Muthuveeran Chandran or M. Chandran, a football legend in the 1960s and 1970s, is one of the best defenders Malaysia has ever produced.
He was selected to be on the prestigious Asian All Stars football team in 1968 to play against English Premier League team, Arsenal.
He captained the football team that qualified and played in the Olympics in 1972 (Malaysia qualified again in 1980 but boycotted the games).
He achieved great heights in the football scene as a player, coach and an administrator. He won numerous Malaysia Cup medals as a player and coach. I doubt there is anyone equal to him up to this day.
Chandran was born in Sungei Siput, Perak, on May 4,1942. His father was employed in the Malayan Railways and the family lived in a railway quarters there before moving to the quarters in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.
His phenomenal rise to fame began in 1961 when he was selected to the national youth team.
In 1963, he was on the Selangor football team with such great players like Teh Cheng Lee, Abdullah Noordin, Edwin Dutton, Stanley Gabrielle, Arthur Koh, Abdul Ghani Minhat, M. Govindarajoo and others. Chandran was the youngest member of the team then.
From 1968 to 1974, which was a golden era for Malaysian football, Chandran played a pivotal role as a pillar of strength in the heart of our defence.
Under Chandran's captaincy, we emerged as the Merdeka tournament champion in 1968, qualified for the Olympics in 1972 and won a bronze medal in the 1974 Asian Games in Teheran, the highest award our football team had achieved since.
He also led the Malaysian team to podium finishes in the 1969, 1971 and 1973 SEAP Games.
Chandran passed away on Sept 28, 2019 at age 77, after a brave 17-year battle with motor neuron disease.
Up to 2016, he was very active as the president of the Ex-State & Ex-National Footballers Association of Malaysia.
It will be a fitting tribute to this great man, who had brought joy and pride to all Malaysians with his exploits on the football pitch, as well after his playing days as coach and administrator, to consider a road in Selangor after his name.
Legendary Malaysian football players after him have been fittingly recognised through the Mokhtar Dahari Football Academy in Pahang, Datuk R. Arumugam Mini Stadium in Klang and Jalan Datuk R. Arumugam.
Very recently, the Penang government recognised the success and contribution of one of their local heroes, Datuk M. Kuppan, by naming a road in Penang Jalan M. Kuppan.
It will be a great honour, therefore, to Chandran and his family if the Selangor government recognises Chandran's incomparable sacrifices, contributions and achievements for the state and the nation by naming a road, a stadium, a field or a football academy after him.
THOMAS SAMUEL
Honorary secretary, Ex-State and Ex-National Footballers Association Malaysia
Heading: Name a road after this legend