Two of our very own Cempakans were selected recently to represent Malaysia in Water Polo for the Betawi Cup held in Jakarta on the 26th of June – 1st of July recently. Glenn Chan Wei Hao of Form 5 Commerce and Ng Yew Engw Eng of Form 5 Science3 certainly did us proud by emerging fourth place in the competition, playing against more experienced teams from Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

I sat down with the two boys that made both our country and school proud and attempted to find out more about their experience playing water polo in a different country and on such a big scale.

YJC: First of all guys, congratulations on your great achievement. You certainly made us all proud.

Glenn & Yew Eng: Thank you.

YJC: Could you tell us the process on getting selected to the National team?

Yew Eng: Well, there is this group called FINA and basically they are the people that are in charge of all aquatic activities around the world. In Malaysia, there are only 3 FINA approved referees, and they are the ones who select us to enter the Malaysian team. The boy’s squad was selected following a three-day competition called the National Age Group Championship which was held in Penang in June.

Glenn: From that competition, they picked the top 20 players and we had to undergo a centralized training in Bukit Jalil. From there they picked the best 13 to represent Malaysia.

YJC: How did it feel like when you found out you had made it into the team?

Yew Eng: Pretty happy and satisfied.

Glenn: About the same as Yew Eng.

YJC: Who did you feel was your biggest competitor entering the competition?

Glenn & Yew Eng (simultaneously): Hong Kong. (Laughs)

YJC: Really? Why Hong Kong?

Yew Eng: They were the only squad that did not play according to the conventional set up. They only had 10 players in the team!

YJC: So was playing against Hong Kong your toughest match through out the whole competition?

Glenn: Playing against Hong Kong was tough but I think our match against Singapore was our toughest match.

Yew Eng: Well, half the players in the Singapore squad are S.E.A Games players so naturally their standard is of a different league from ours. To sum up our match against Singapore, I would say it was like playing with a bunch of men in a boys’ tournament.

YJC: What were the team’s expectations going into the competition?

Glenn: To do as well or even better than what the team achieved last year, which was getting third place.

YJC: What were your personal expectations then?

Glenn: I was aiming for Gold, but I expected a bronze medal.

Yew Eng: I expected a bronze medal at the least.

YJC: So would you say you were disappointed by the overall outcome?

Glenn: We got fourth place so yes, it was a huge blow to our team’s esteem as we had trained hard and expected to go the extra mile this year.

YJC: How different is it playing at such a big scale and competitive level compared to playing in state competitions such as MSSM and MSSKL?

Yew Eng: When you’re playing during MSSKL, you can score from a half line but during the Betawi Cup, it’s quite impossible to do such a thing. Plus, the teams playing in the Betawi Cup were much faster, stronger and even smarter than us.

YJC: Any particular moments that stood out for you during your whole trip in Jakarta?

Yew Eng: My wallet and hand phone got stolen so that definitely stood out for me!

Glenn: Not really, we just did a lot of sightseeing and resting in between games.

YJC: What was your favourite thing to do while you were in Jakarta?

(Both look at each other and burst out laughing).

YJC: Tell us about your pre-game ritual.

Glenn: Well, we warm up first and we do a lot of cheers to pump out our team spirit.

YJC: Lastly, what are your water polo plans in the future?

Glenn: Hopefully I’ll get selected to play for the next SEA Games.

Yew Eng: Coaching.

Glenn: Really?

Yew Eng: (Laughs)

Once again, we would like to wish the both of them our heartiest congratulations for representing Malaysia and making us all proud with their accomplishments. We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors and hope that they will continue to strive for better achievements, as well as inspire the younger students to follow in their footsteps one day.