Where's The Kallang Roar?

National Day Challenge 09: Singapore vs China

Date: 12 AUGUST 2009

Venue: NATIONAL STADIUM

Kickoff: 7:30PM


Singapore 1:1 China
China win 4-3 on penalties)
Noh Alam Shah (7m) | Yang Hao (27m)


Singapore Lions takes on China to launch new football event.

Singapore – In celebration of Singapore’s National Day, the Singapore National Team will play China to kick off a new annual football event – the National Day Challenge.

I catched the match with Siti, her sis and her friend to watch the lions go up against China. It's been some time since I catched a Singapore match. Like many, I was dissapointed with the turn out for the match with only about 12000 supporters , out of possible 40000, attending the match.

There could be some reasons to the low attendance. Weekday, $10 ticket price, a friendly match are possible reasons for these. To sum up, these are what Singaporean fans have to say.

I haven't seen a game in a very long time, so I came down to watch Singapore play and support them. The turnout is quite dissapointing but I think we should have got used to it after the Liverpool game. It's a bit sad. I think it's just the nature of Singaporeans to be more reserved

- Nicholas Han, 19, national serviceman, Singapore fan

I'm here to support my national team. That's why I'm wearing my jersey. I wish the Singapore fans would be as boisterous as China's fans. They're making much more noise than us.

- Roslan Din, 42, membership manager, Singapore fan

It was as though it was an away game for Team Singapore as the Chinese fans, although outnumbered, they out-cheered and out-waved the Singapore supporters. Chants of "Jia You" could be heard clearly through out the match. But honestly, I can't fault the Singapore supporters though. We don't have an encouraging or creative cheer for our Singapore National Team. Cheers of "S-I-N-G-A-P-O-R-E!!" and "Singapore, Go, Go, Go!!" are not encouraging enough. I think those cheers suit more for National Day rather than a football match. Even if I'm a Singapore player, honestly, I'm not motivated by those cheers at all. It was quite embarassing at the end of the match when the Singapore supporters used the Chinese chant of "Xin Jia Po, Jia You" (which in Mandarin means: Come on, Singapore). Clearly lack of creativity. The famous Kallang roar back in the 80s-90s which will intimidate many opponents are nowhere to be heard. Here are some cheers that I've found in Youtube. Although I don't consider them as cheers, more of intimidating and jeering the opponents rather than cheering the National Team, except for the "Ole Ole Ole" cheer.


"Ole Ole Ole.."


"Balik Kampong..(46sec onwards)"


"Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye!!:

And Last
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But Not Least
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"The infamous B*** Cheer"

Even the famous Kallang wave are nowhere to be seen except for a small portion of the stadium. Where's the Kallang Roar?


"Famous Kallang Wave"

Why no Kallang roar? Singaporeans generally don't like to lose. Thinking that the National Team might lose, maybe that could be another reason why there aren't many supporters on Wednesday. We'll come in crowd only when Singapore have a higher chance to win the game or tournament, against big teams or against our Arch-rival, Malaysia. We have the priviledge to catch European teams matches in tv and we tend to put high expectations on our National Team too. Here's an example.


"We want goal.."

The ball is round, anything can happen but we can't expect our national players to score a goal at every attacking opportunity. How do you think a player feel when hearing the high demands of the supporters to get the goal. What's the probability of any soccer team to do that. Very slim. You don't even hear these "We want Goal" cheers in England do you? What we need to do is to encourage the players. How? Number 1 golden rule is to be there for the Lions. As an amateur player myself, it feels motivated when the supporters cheer you on. You want to do your very best for them. Here's an famous example of how we as Singaporeans can rally the Lions to do their very best. By coming in numbers and cheering the team on. Let's look back in time. Singapore vs Pahang 1994, Malaysia Cup Final, Shah Alam Stadium.

David Lee
Kadir Yahya | Lim Tong Hai | Borhan Abu Samah | Saswadimata Dasuki
V. Selvaraj | Nazri Nasir | Malek Awab | Lee Man Hon
Fandi Ahmad | Abbas Saad


Abbas Saad scored (6m) Singapore 1:0 Pahang
Look at how Fandi Ahmad was really committed to rally his team on (6m 21s)
A blunder by Fandi Ahmad (6m 25s)


Abbas Saad scored (6m 30s)
Singapore 2:0 Pahang


Abbas Saad scored his hattrick (7s)
Fandi Ahmad (1m 20s)
Singapore 4:0 Pahang


Look at how it felt for Malek Awab to win a cup for Singapore

They are all behind us.. This is winning is all about.. Bring people together.. This team is just superb.. The way they fight, they run.. We have got alot of criticism.. I hope this shut all this people up..
- Abbas Saad

From the interview of Abbas Saad, it can sum up one thing. It takes two hands to clap. The supporters are the 12th man and the players need these 12th man to rally the team on. Every single individual who played during that match gave their 100% effort for the team, for the travelling fans and for Singapore. When Singaporeans come to watch in numbers, they'll complain that the players didn't gave their all. When the supporters are not there, players complain that the crowd is not there to rally them on. So it work both ways. To the supporters, come support the Lions in the future. And for the players, play your hearts out for your fellow Singaporeans. I hope the Kallang Roar will come back.


Singapore National Football Team Montage