Late But Not Last

An Interview with Mr Canagasabai Kunalanby Geneieve Tang

What is an interview?An interview is a formal conversation with a person to ask questions and get information. The interview could be about a current event or it could highlight something important the person has done through the years.

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In the following interview, find out about the achievements of Mr Canagasabai Kunalan, a Singaporean athlete who has made a great contribution to athletics, specifically in track and field.

Late but not Last:

Mr Kunalan as a young athlete

1Text © 2010 Curriculum Planning & Development Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore

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Reporter: Good afternoon, sir. Thank you for agreeing to this interview. First, when did you become interested in athletics?

Mr Kunalan: I was more serious about it only when I was in my twenties. As a young boy, I didn’t think that I would become an athlete. I was happy to explore fruit farms and plantations around my home. I enjoyed playing games like ‘catching’, ‘police and thief’ and soccer with my friends.

Reporter: How did you know that you could run fast?

Mr Kunalan: Some of my friends were quite happy I was in their team. One moment they would see me and the next, I would vanish quickly. I had a feeling I was fast. Moreover, when I went to the fruit farm near my house to buy fruits in season, I had to brave the dogs by running away faster from them.

Reporter: When did you run your first individual race?

Mr Kunalan: In secondary school. I was always excited about Sports Day. But I was never chosen for any event because I was always the smallest and very skinny. It was in Secondary Three that my sports housemaster, Mr Retnam, took pity on me. It was called the Mile Open. That’s about five rounds of the school track drawn on the field. Anyone could run in that race and he encouraged me. I came in third. The following year, I was first.


Reporter: When did you begin formal training in athletics?

Mr Kunalan: At first, I didn’t because soccer was my first love. When I was training to be a teacher at the Teachers’ Training College, I was already 20 years old. I played for the teachers’ soccer team. Mr Tan Eng Yoon, a PE lecturer and my coach, told me I was very agile and sometimes ran faster than the ball. He persuaded me to switch to track and field.

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Mr Kunalan in a race

Reporter: Where did you train and how was the training?

Mr Kunalan: I trained at the track in Farrer Park. The track was made of cinder. On rainy days, I could feel my feet squishing on the muddy track. As I often ran barefoot, which not many people did, someone gave me my first pair of spike shoes.

It made a difference. But training was often after a long day’s work with short breaks. My teammates and I didn’t mind because we felt encouraged. Our coach saw improvements in us and he took care of us like his own family.

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Reporter: Did you feel nervous before a race and how did you overcome it?

Mr Kunalan: Yes, I did feel nervous before a race, regardless of its importance. To me, every race is important because so many people have been responsible for it – from my family, to coach, to fans, to spectators, to journalists, to my opponents.

I remember my mouth getting dry on several occasions. Sometimes I won’t have any water to wet my mouth. When my heart beats very fast, I take deep breaths and calm myself down a bit or I think of the action I have to take on hearing the gun.

Reporter: What was it like representing Singapore at the

Olympics?

Mr Kunalan: I was amazed to meet the top athletes of the world. They were so much bigger and their running times were so much faster. But I was happy to make it to the quarter finals for Singapore in the 100-metre race in the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

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Mr Kunalan at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics


Reporter: Which was the most important race to you?

Mr Kunalan: The Asian Games silver in 1966 – it was such a close race between Jega and me. He won by 0.01 second and the judges took a long time to make the decision.

Reporter: I read about you and Dr Jega being training partners and friends. How did you feel running against him?

Mr Kunalan: He said in a newspaper interview that we shared a very strong rivalry during our competitive days but that we were friends off the track. I respected Dr Jega and kind of admired him although he was one year younger than me. He went to the Rome Olympics when he was in Secondary Four! I only started competitive running when I was 21. We remain good friends till this day.

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Mr Kunalan and Dr Jega in 2009


Reporter: How did it feel when you didn’t win?

Mr Kunalan: Winning in competition is important. But what do you think about when you are not winning? And what are you thinking about after you have won? Sportsmanship is about the ‘right’ things you think about and do before, during and after the competition.

Reporter: Why did you stop running?

Mr Kunalan: I stopped because of my heel injury. I was at the peak of my career in my late twenties. Although I was more experienced and knew I could do even better, I had to pull out. However, I’m glad I can still teach and coach and encourage young people through my talks in schools.

Reporter: Thank you, Mr Kunalan.

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Sticky Note

The defenition of Sportsmanship, based on Mr Kunalan.

Some of Mr Kunalan’s achievements during the seven years, from age 21 to age 28: • Won5AsianGamesmedals–

1 silver and 4 bronzes

• Won15SEA(SoutheastAsian)/SEAP(SoutheastAsianPeninsular)Gamesmedals – 4 golds and the rest silvers and bronzes

• 1963–atage21andwithonlyfour months of training, competed in 100- metre, 200-metre and 4 x 100-metre relay and became the record holder

• 1964–representedSingapore/Malaysia at the 18th Olympics in Tokyo, Japan; ran the 4 x 100-metre relay

•1968–representedSingaporeat the 19th Olympics in the1968 Mexico Games in Mexico City, clocking 10.38 seconds in the 100-metre Quarter-Finals, the national record for 33 years

•1968,1969–wontheSportsman of the Year award in Singapore

Mr Kunalan takes gold at the 5th SEAP Games at Rangoon

in 1969

Mr Kunalan awarded Sportsman of the Year for 1968


What Mr Kunalan liked to do in Primary School:

What Mr Kunalan does now:

• AssistantProfessorattheNationalInstituteofEducationinthePhysical Education & Sports Science Academic Group, teaching Exercise Physiology, Fitness and Conditioning and Track and Field.

• MemberoftheSingaporeYouthOlympicGamesOrganisingCommittee.

• Secretary,SingaporeOlympicAcademy and Singapore Olympians Association.

• Givestalksatschoolsonhisexperiences to build young people’s confidence. He also encourages them to pursue their talents with passion and perseverance.

Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Mr Kunalan for providing all the photographs used.

Mr Kunalan receiving a teaching award in 2008

Mr Kunalan as a student

Hobbies: Reading adventure and history books and sports news

Favourite activities: Climbing coconut trees, catching spiders and guppies, catapulting

Games: Soccer, rounders and other running games


Late But Not Last

Education

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