As a football fan, Siva Kumar raved about the atmosphere of the Malaysia Cup when watching the matches at the stadium, citing the unity from virtual strangers & how the fans treated everyone just like a brother, giving high- five to each other. Regardless of where they came from, the Singapore fans had a common goal & understanding,going all out to support the Lions.
As for himself,he still remembered how he wore an original Lions jersey with its full red & white stripes,which he managed to get hold of through one of his friends.
The match & the team bore a special meaning to him as it was a good team,which had a good combination of players including Fandi Ahmad,Malek Awab, Sundram,Abbas Saad, Alistair Edwards & Jang Jung among its players.It was ideally The Dream Team.
During that fateful final match of Singapore versus Pahang, he was equally confident that Singapore would win the Cup. Not wanting to miss the chance of catching this historic moment in Singapore sporting scene, he took off to Malaysia along with his friend to catch the final match. Eventhough the tickets had been allocated fairly to accomodate both sides of the fans, the stadium was eventually filled by two thirds of Singapore fans. He was one of those who got his tickets from the black market/unofficial ticketing agency.
That was also the first time that a football match was played at the Shah Alam Stadium in Malaysia,it being a new stadium that had just been built then. To Siva, he would be happy enough if the lions managed to win with a 1-0 score but the fact that Singapore walked away with 4-0 just sent the Singapore fans into ecstasy.
For now,as a staff member of FAS, his stance & feelings towards Malaysia Cup have changed as he is more interested about knowing the road maps including the plans that FAS had set for the young lions. Based on the recent match where Singapore had a draw following a win over Malaysia during the qualifying rounds for the World Cup, Siva is hopeful that the current team is capable of bringing back the spirit of Kallang Roar as the team looks promising.
Eventhough naysayers have questioned the loyalty of Singapore fans especially in todays' context, Siva is certain that it all lies in the individual team support that each era of fans brings along with it, citing that even the 70s football fans were different from the 80s & 90s fans. His recent experience watching the matches involving the Lions during the World Cup qualifying rounds have proven that while fans may not be physically at the stadium,they are in fact still united, supporting the team, watching the match through various means with the help of the television,internet, facebook & twitter, which also gives a larger demographic of people watching the match beyond its physical space.
