OBITUARY The last few months were a period of prayers, with regular reports on the legendary Punch Gunalan from a good friend, Ron Jayanathan,. It was a period of anxiety for his family and friends.

This King George V schoolboy hero from Seremban in the late 50s went on to be a top badminton figure, both as a player and an official.

NONE I have many pleasant memories of having been associated with him as an MSSM Technical Committee official when he explained how a Chinese badminton enthusiast in Seremban helped, buying him rackets and giving him the moral boost and encouragement during his early days as a player.

Gunalan then went on to be both single and doubles champion and peaked his game together with another great legend, Ng Boon Bee, as the world number one doubles pair for a few years. It is a rare achievement for one to be acclaimed twice as Sportsman of the Year and it was none other than Punch Gunalan!

With the formation of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in 1974, it was inevitable that by 1980 many FT state sports associations were formed. As the secretary-general of MSS Selangor during that period, I had the sad duty of assisting in the smooth split up and hand over of management by the respective Selangor state to the FT-based sports bodies.

Persuaded mayor to build great facilities

Gunalan then teamed up with the then mayor of Kuala Lumpur Elyas Omar to build the Federal Territory Bandminton Association as a strong body. He was also able persuade the mayor to build some of the best badminton facilities in Kuala Lumpur.

He then went on to team up with Elyas who became the new president of BAM and during that period the Thomas Cup was won once! Gunalan went on to hold some important posts in the International Badminton Federation (IBF) as well. I believe, together with many others he played his part in making badminton an Olympic sports.

Punch Gunalan had during his term as an official and coach helped many players and officials in their rise to being great players and officials. He was a person always with a smile and took his challenges facing them positively.

His experiences and achievements make for an excellent example for many to take note of in their struggles to be a player or official in sports.

His demise is a loss not only to the family but also to the nation.

May the Almighty God bless his soul.

A VAITHILINGAM is a former president of the Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism and the Malaysia Hindu Sangam.