30th June 2007 marks the final time we step foot into the 34 year old monument of Singapore's history.
The plan was simple. Grab a few good men, reach there early, grab a few (good) shots, wait for the late-comers, grab a few good seats, endure the heat, hope for a few good goals, then take our last steps out.
Things went more or less according to my divine plan.
Tickets were bought way in advance. I'm surprised it wasn't sold out, and what a shame. I reached there on the dot at 4.30pm with Weiwei; Zijing arrived, and I took some farewell shots.
Alex fulfilled his part of the plan by being late. We then grabbed semi-decent seats near the cauldron at the Eastern gallery, gate 32B. We chose to ignore the 32C or 32D that night. They sound wonderful, but alphabets can be misleading in this case, especially since it wasn't really a Cup final. Football had to take priority.
The humidity was manageable. Whoever wasn't sticky with sweat that night did not experience Kallang.
Then
Sundram scored.
V. Sundramoorthy, the wayward hero of my childhood, rolled back his years to score with an exquisite chip from the corner of the box for the Ex-Internationals. I doubt anyone in the current national team could have conjured that in his mind, much less finished it. That piece of magic made the night all worth it for me.oh damn it, it was R Suriamurthi who scored, not Sundram. The bloody commentator misleaded me.In the other more serious match that night, Singapore kicked the Australian asses 0-3 and the players gave a good account of themselves. Yeah the Socceroos did all the scoring but who cares. We kicked their asses nonetheless.
And so with that, the story of the beloved National Stadium drew to a close. We took our last steps from the concrete drabbed in gray, keeping with us the yesteryears of Red and White, till the next Kallang roar comes along.
