It’s reassuringly wonderful and inspiring at the same time seeing elder citizens pick up sports and go on to sustain good longevity in life. It takes certain character and determination not only to exercise but to also stay active in life. Modern researchers concluded that successful aging is driven by social and psychological aspects. One would age well if they fulfilled these aspects on positive notes and for that, we should look no further for an example. At 65, Colonel Sanders started KFC before turning into a worldwide fast-food chain. Tun Mahathir is set to spearhead his party’s war in the local politic scene at the grand age of 90 and this veteran right here, known as Uncle Eddy, completes Powerman at the age of 72.
Uncle Eddy is everything you would expect from an uncle, except he is not ordinary at all. Listening to his story has propelled us into a valley of goosebumps. Which sparked a very important question to us; are the veterans in our generation being horridly underrated?
Born and bred in the capital city of Kedah, Alor Star, Eddy’s inclination towards sports has started from a very young age. He admitted to having been very active during that time and it has not been only in running – he tried everything from football to basketball.
“I remember when I was growing up, sports has always been my go-to avenue. It was a major form of escapism though there has not been very much to escape from really (laugh). My study was okay at that time so I had no problem in being active in sports. In fact, getting to do what I can do has been very helping in developing my own character.”
The young Eddy then pursued his secondary education at Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid (KSAH), one of the most prestigious all-boys schools in the country, located in Alor Setar. It is a school with an undeniable reputation of nurturing national heroes on many fronts. Almarhum Sultan Abdul Halim, former Kedah ruler, ex-Malaysian Prime Ministers Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Mahathir, ex-national athletes Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli and Rafdi Rashid (football) all nurtured their talents in that very school. Eddy Khor is not an exception though; it is there in the school where he played high school football at the highest level and known for his athletic prowess.
“To say that I’m an active person in school was an understatement. I tried to get myself involved in pretty much everything from academic to sports. So I understood pretty much everything about growing youngsters and that has been the key to my career decision which was to be a teacher.”
And being a teacher was indeed what Eddy did for a good 30 years in his life. He spent those times teaching Bahasa Melayu to primary school students of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Sin Min.
“I enjoyed my time there in school for a couple of different reasons. First is, of course, I like to teach and I like to teach Bahasa Melayu as well. Second, there are a lot of complexions in a career of a teacher that people can’t see. We don’t only teach in classes to get our messages and knowledge across the room, we try to aspire them. And on top of that, we can get involved in extracurricular activities too,” he said.
He added that during his time in school, he had taken responsibility to teach sports to his students too.
“I was keen on teaching football. I learned to be a proper coach and was a proud coaching badge holder. It was unfortunate of me that the school wasn’t that deep into football. But I was delighted that later on, I had the opportunity to coach the Kedah Chinese Youth Club team. I learned a lot from my stint coaching them especially on setting up the right drills for the right matches, man management and even motivating athletes so that they can perform at their best.”
Picking up sports post-retirement
The early 2000s marked the end of Eddy’s academic venture. He ended his teaching career on high, receiving plaudits from all end as one of the inspirational figures to all his students. Like any other retirees, he spent quite some time configuring his life.
“For a moment, it felt weird. The fact that I don’t have to put those smartly ironed shirts and slacks to school after waking up early in the morning was truly bizarre. It was understandable though. After more than three decades of the same routine, it’ll take you weeks, up to months, to reconfigure. During that time, I was reflecting a lot on my career and try to find something new to distract myself with. At last, I have time for some hobbies.”
Not like other sufferers of post-retirement depression, Eddy found out that he would want to keep being healthy and leveling up his self-care a gear higher was on his planning sheet. “For my birthday just a couple of years ago, I got a bicycle from my son as my birthday present. I was feeling very happy with and at the same time, mulling over how I can make full use of it.”
Soon after, Eddy was coaxed into the world of cycling and sweating himself out. It is becoming his addiction well before he knew it. “I always wake up early in the morning to do some stretches. Awhile after breakfast, I’ll head out to get on my bike and belts out a couple of kilometers around my neighborhood.”
Involvement in Powerman 2018
“After a while biking on my own, I joined a group of cyclists to make things more interesting and of course, to learn from people who might know better than I am about the sports. I ended up being friends with them and after that, I felt better and better. My progress in cycling is great but also a surprise to me because I never thought I could reach that limit.”
This steady progress he was having has been a result of hard work and it was also this progress that gave him the confidence to sign up for Powerman 2018. “I spoke to a couple of people regarding the possibility of doing it. I had an experience of journeying on a bicycle from Penang to Alor Setar, raising money for my ex-school. So I felt great and was in shape for it.”
But still, he’s got an issue. He was confident in his cycling ability but not his running ability. Instead of letting himself worry about it, Eddy dug the way out of the rut. “I signed up for Powerman early November 2017 and at that time, I already started to run. I remember clocking 11 minutes for one kilometer in my first session, it was that bad. But I trained hard and in five months, I have already run more than 300km.”
Came the race day, Eddy was the only one running in the 70-74 years old category. “A great feeling to be a champion though,” he joked. He finished strong, clocking 5:02:24, a feat deemed very impressive for a person his age.
Eddy Khor is the personification of embracing life as much as you can. He did not let the fear of growing old to surround him. He took it as a challenge and changed it into a life’s milestone. That is how we should all live, to not to have limits. Instead, we fly as high as we can.
