It's mind over matter for badminton legend<\/p>\n
Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Meeting Tan Joe Hok for the first time may lead some to
\nsuspect that a horribly decaying portrait lies tucked away in a
\ndark corner of his home in Kuningan, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
While other sporting legends descend into stooped, sagging
\nshadows of their once active selves, the country's first winner
\nof the All England badminton men's singles title -- way back in
\n1959 -- looks suspiciously well preserved.<\/p>\n
At 68, his vigorous bearing is not due to some Wildean pact
\nwith the devil, but his concerted approach to warding off the
\nravages of the aging process, what he terms "integrated life
\nmanagement".<\/p>\n
Although he does not play badminton anymore, he takes early
\nmorning walks, works out in the small gym in his home and has
\nbeen basically vegetarian for the past 10 years.<\/p>\n
And there is also his enduring philosophy -- dating back to
\nhis playing days -- of the power of mind over matter.<\/p>\n
As with everything in his life, from working hard to become
\nthe best in the world by the age of 22, only to hang up his
\nracket for university study, the decision to stay fit was one
\nmade with careful, calculated consideration.<\/p>\n
Like the scientist he is (he majored in chemistry and biology
\nat Baylor University in Texas), he sizes up the problems of life,
\nstudiously considering all the attendant variables before
\nembarking on a plan of action.<\/p>\n
Never one to make rash decisions or to take risks, he returns
\ntime and again to his life motto of "the future belongs to those
\nwho are prepared".<\/p>\n
Of course, his scientific training has contributed to his
\nviewpoint, but it seems that other factors, gleaned from personal
\nexperience, have also been at play.<\/p>\n
Not least among them was growing up at the tail end of the
\nDepression, followed by the difficult Japanese occupation during
\nWorld War II. Also among them is the persistent insecurity of
\nbeing of ethnic Chinese descent, even if one was a world beater
\nproudly bearing the name of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Born in Bandung, Tan moved around West Java with his family
\nduring the tough times of the late 1930s and early '40s,
\neventually returning to settle in the province's capital.<\/p>\n
His father was from a wealthy family, but, Tan said, "he
\ndidn't like to work, he was what we call badung (reckless)".<\/p>\n
As a child, he would watch his mother play badminton in their
\nyard. "I was a born athlete. I could turn my hand to anything."<\/p>\n
From the young standout in his neighborhood, he became
\nchampion of Bandung by the age of 15; at 17, he won a famous
\nvictory over top player Nyoo Kiem Bie in Surabaya.<\/p>\n
Two years later, Tan took the Indonesian Open singles and
\nmen's doubles titles in his hometown.<\/p>\n
He nursed ambitions to leave Indonesia and conquer foreign
\nshores.<\/p>\n
"I would read in the newspaper about Finn Kobbero and Eddy
\nChoong, and I wanted to become number one like them," he said of
\nthe Danish and Malaysian players.<\/p>\n
"I worked hard and prepared myself mentally. I would wake up
\nat 5 a.m., without needing an alarm clock, and bike to a running
\ntrack, but still be at school before the gates closed at 7 a.m."<\/p>\n
In 1956, his dream came true with a trip to Singapore. He won
\nthe tournament, but the experience also provided the sobering
\nrealization that he could not earn a living from the sport.<\/p>\n
He stayed during the tournament with Ismail bin Marjan, a
\ndoubles player who had been a runner up at the 1951 All England
\nwhen Singapore was still part of Malaysia.<\/p>\n
"Singapore wasn't like it is today. He still lived in a
\nkampong where you had to walk outside along a plank to go to the
\ntoilet ... I cried in my heart seeing it."<\/p>\n
Marjan supported his family by working as a night watchman.<\/p>\n
"I decided then and there that I would become number one in
\nthe world, beat everybody, and then say goodbye."<\/p>\n
He did just that in a charmed season in 1959. He rallied to
\ndefeat the legendary Kobbero in their first meeting, and took the
\nAll England by beating compatriot Ferry Sonneville, one of his
\nteammates in the victorious, history-making Thomas Cup campaign a
\nyear earlier.<\/p>\n
He also won the Canada Open and All America Open; Sports
\nIllustrated, not known for its coverage of a sport considered
\nmore of a backyard pastime in the U.S., devoted a two-page story
\nto Tan in April 1959, quaintly described as one of "... the young
\nbrown men who know very little of highballs and hamburgers".<\/p>\n
True to his word, he quit when he was on top, heading to
\nBaylor with his wife to study (he returned to win two golds in
\nthe 1962 Asian Games and was on the team that took the Thomas Cup
\nagain in 1964).<\/p>\n
His wife, herself a former player, did not like the U.S., so
\nthe family took on coaching stints in Mexico and Hong Kong. They
\nreturned home in the early 1970s, with Tan working in several
\nventures.<\/p>\n
It was then, under the fledgling New Order government, that
\ndiscrimination became infuriatingly apparent to him. It ranged
\nfrom the bureaucratic runaround about his citizenship papers, to
\nhaving his two children rejected from entering the neighborhood
\nschool. It also included being told, as the coach of the
\nsuccessful 1984 Thomas Cup team, to replace an ethnic Chinese
\nplayer with a Javanese because, some griped, the team did not
\nlook Indonesian enough.<\/p>\n
He still smarts at the injustice.<\/p>\n
"I am a nationalist, a product of Sukarno. He gave us a sense
\nof pride and a sense of nationalism, regardless of who you
\nwere ... Why should I be treated like a stepchild by my own
\ncountry? It's crazy."<\/p>\n
By 1997, he had had enough, and applied to emigrate to
\nAustralia. However, his wife died suddenly in February 1998, and
\nthen came the May riots, in which Chinese-Indonesians were
\ntargeted.<\/p>\n
The memory of the latter is still so painful that he breaks
\ndown as he talks about it. But age has also given him license to
\nspeak his mind.<\/p>\n
He is grateful the Chinese New Year has been made an official
\nholiday, but he still considers it "peanuts ... If there is real
\npolitical will, it's easy for the government to state the rights
\nand responsibilities of all its citizens ... Is there any
\nguarantee it (anti-Chinese violence) won't happen again?"<\/p>\n
It has taken him him several years to get over the trauma of
\n1998, but now he is back helping the sport once again. He is the
\nhead of research and development for the Badminton Association of
\nIndonesia (PBSI), with plans to improve the training facilities
\nand living conditions of the players.<\/p>\n
Sports psychology, not surprisingly, is also a big part of his
\nplans. "Everything is given to the players, but we must work on
\ntheir mentality, to make them hungry ... If a coach says that a
\ntarget is to reach the semifinals, then there should be a big
\nquestion mark."<\/p>\n
If the players and coaches are not receptive to his input, he
\nwill move on to other things, or spend a quiet retirement -- "I'm
\na loner, as a Leo, it's in my character" -- with his two dogs and
\nhis large library of books, many devoted to psychology and sports
\nnutrition.<\/p>\n
He is not slavishly devoted to memories of his heyday -- his
\ntrophies are kept in a cabinet on the second floor -- but he
\nstill takes satisfaction in what he accomplished.<\/p>\n
"What is past is past. It's only sometimes that I cherish the
\nthings I did all those years ago. Nobody knew Indonesia before
\nthere was me and my friends. I am happy to say I was a pioneer."<\/p>",
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