Patrick Comerford
When I took the lift up five storeys to the top of Everrise supermarket building on Padungan Street in Kuching recently to see the roof-top Ma Cho temple, I was rewarded with panoramic views of Jalan Padungan and out to the Waterfront and the Sarawak River.
It was an unexpected surprise too to see below me the Song Kheng Hai Rugby Field, home to Kuching Rugby Football Club (KRFC) and the Sarawak Rugby Union (SRU). It is a hidden green space in the heart of the city centre, nestled among both high-rise buildings and old, traditional Chinese shophouses.
The grounds are almost hidden from view from pedestrians, behind the shophouses lining Pagungan Street, but Rugby has been played there since 1959.
The rooftop temple on Padungan Street was once part of the family home of a philanthropic businessman Song Kheng Hai. When his house was sold and demolished to make way for the Everrise building, the temple was rebuilt on the roof.
Song Kheng Hai gave his name to the local primary school and donated the rugby field in 1929 to promote sports, cultural activities, and education and with the wish that it would remain free from commercial development.
Song had arrived from Fujian in China in 1888 as a destitute, frail and sickly child. He was given for adoption to a distant relative in Kuching. As an adult, his fortunes changed and he and his adoptive family became one of the richest families in Kuching. He became a close friend of the third Rajah of Sarawak, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, and he donated the 10-acre parcel of land in Padungan as a gift of love to the people of Kuching.
Rugby was introduced to the British colony of Malaya in the late 19th century, and has had a steady presence since the early 20th century, when the Malay Cup between Singapore and Malaya was established, making it one of the oldest rugby competitions in the world.
The first inter-club match was played in 1902 between Singapore Cricket Club and Royal Selangor Club. Royal Selangor Club has also hosted one of the oldest rugby sevens tournaments in Asia, the Jonah Jones Rugby Sevens Tournament.
Malaysia Rugby, formerly Malaysia Rugby Union, was founded as the Malaya Rugby Union in 1921 and in 1988 joined the International Rugby Football Board, later the International Rugby Board and now World Rugby, in 1988.
Malaysia Rugby organises the annual Malaysia Sevens tournament and Malaysia is an active participant in the Commonwealth Sevens. The 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur was the first Commonwealth Games to feature the sport.
There are 41,050 registered Rugby players in Malaysia, and the country is ranked 47th. In all, 16 unions, associations and councils are affiliated to the Malaysian Rugby Union, more than 300 clubs, and 600 schools play the game.
Kuching Rugby Football Club (KRFC) was founded by the Sarawak constabulary commissioner Datuk Peter Turnbull, in 1959 and is the oldest rugby club in Sarawak. The Sarawak Rugby Union was formed five years later on 9 October 1964, and celebrated its 60th anniversary last month.
From a playground hosting a variety of games, the Song Kheng Hai Rugby Field gradually developed into the first rugby pitch in Sarawak albeit a muddy pitch for many years. Two expatriates, Frank Burke Gaffney, who died in 2007, and Ian Nash, led the way and soon a clubhouse was built next to the recreational ground.
Both became presidents of the club, and Frank Burke Gaffney, who was manager of the Borneo Company, is remembered by the journalist James Ritchie as a 6ft 4in tall red-haired Irishman with a booming voice.
Kuching Rugby Football Club promotes Rugby throughout Sarawak. It takes part in the local Guinness League and hosts local, regional and international tournaments. The third edition of the Song Kheng Hai Sevens last month featured several teams, including Falcon Rugby Club, Mukah Rugby, Tambadau Rugby, and Asajaya Rugby.
Rugby is still not professional in Malaysia, unlike, say, badminton or tennis. But is entering a new dimension in central Sarawak and throughout the state. It found new popularity in Sibu in the 1990s thanks to the efforts of the Ting brothers – Jeffery, Michael and Anthony – who led the Sibu Division Rugby Union (SDRU) and revitalised the sport made popular in the 1970s by the Sacred Heart School principal Brother Albinus.
SRDU began in 1984 and Michael Ting became chief coach for Sarawak at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in 1992, when Sarawak unexpectedly won the rugby gold medal.
Only three teams – Kuching Division Rugby Club, SDRU and Miri Division Rugby Union – were active in Sarawak in the early 1990s. Bintulu Division Rugby Club joined the ranks in the early 2000s. Today, the clubs include Kuching Warrior Old Boys, Kuching Wolfpack, Miri Flying Nomads, Mukah Swiflets, Baram Rhinos and Miri Piranhas. Well-known women’s teams include the Lettho Rhinos and ATM ladies.
At a school level, SMK Sacred Heart is the pioneer while others like SMK Sedaya from Kanowit and several schools from Kuching are carving their names in the sport. SMK There are clubs too at third-level institutions such as UNIMAS, UiTM, Politeknik Kuching, Kolej Vokasional Sibu and Mukah Polytechnic.
The men’s and women’s Under-21 squads each won silver medals at the Perlis Royal Seven in 2019. ‘The two silver medals were unexpected. It was not only a welcoming news but was testimony that Sarawak is on its way to become a rugby powerhouse in the country,’ Michael Ting said at the time.
Rugby has come to unite people from diverse backgrounds in Sarawak. But it still has a long way to go in the interior parts of Sarawak and in reaching rural areas.
Song Kheng Hai’s grandson, Richard Song Swee Jin, is President of the Sarawak Rugby Union (SRU). He says the rugby field is part of the heritage of Kuching and a reminder of the rich cultural diversity found in Kuching. But he recognises its potential, with many hotels and a wide array of restaurants nearby, making it an ideal landmark for generations to come.
The SRU is committed to ensuring the field remains a green open space in Padungan and that the land does not fall into private hands. But it also has plans to develop the field to host international and regional rugby tournaments and as a venue for a premier international rugby sevens event, tapping into the potential offered by sports tourism and enhancing efforts to establish Sarawak as a sports powerhouse in Malaysia.
The club has a seating capacity for about 1,000 spectators and a friendly clubhouse. Its competitions include the Frank Gaffney Challenge Trophy. Song Kheng Hai Ground Food and Recreation Centre has shops and a food hall, with stalls catering for snacks, breakfast, lighter meals and lunch.
• Kuching Rugby Football Club is an open access club and welcomes anyone who wishes to play rugby or to just support the club. Training is at 5 pm every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, rain or shine.
