Transcript
[Music playing]
Jimmy
Hi, everyone. My name is Jimmy Yap, and I’m the Editor-in-Chief of BiblioAsia,
a publication of the National Library of Singapore. When you mention the
sport of boxing today, you’ll probably think of people like Muhammad Ali
or even Mike Tyson. But when boxing came to Singapore in the 1920s, the
name on everyone’s lips was Tan Teng Kee. Battling Key, as he was known,
was a larger-than-life figure, handsome, well-dressed and oozing machismo.
He attracted crowds wherever he went, and, at his peak, his fights sold out venues. His story, though, has a tragic ending. With me to talk about the early days of boxing in Singapore and those early boxers is writer and researcher Abhishek Mehrotra. He’s a former Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow of the National Library of Singapore. And his works have been published in Mekong Review, Jom and of course, BiblioAsia.
Welcome back to BiblioAsia+, Abhishek. How have you been?
Abhishek
I’m good, Jimmy. Thanks for having me again.
Jimmy
It’s always a pleasure to have you and your beard. Tell us a bit about
boxing, you know, in Singapore. When and where and how did it come to Singapore?
Abhishek
Okay, so there are a few stories around it. I think they’ve just become
legend now. One of the most, I suppose, widely disseminated one is that
in the ’20s, Singapore was a burgeoning entertainment centre and there
were a lot of traveling circuses coming over from all over the region.
The Philippines, Indonesia, etc. So, the story goes that a set of circus
promoters, a set of brothers, brought a circus to Singapore.
And they were huge boxing fans. After the circus ended for the day, they [would] set up an impromptu ring and they [would get] two of their Filipino workers to just spar for a few rounds to see if there was any sort of interest. And turns out there was or, you know, apparently after a while, a crowd started to gather around the ring and then the two guys were fighting.
They started inviting people from the crowd who dared to sort of take them on. And that is, you know, the sort of the origin of boxing in Singapore. What I think is interesting is that boxing in the region actually has its roots in the Philippines, hence Filipino fighters were fighting in Singapore first.
And that itself has its roots in the fact that the Philippines, at the time in the early 20th century, was, of course, an American colony.
Jimmy
Colony.
Abhishek
Yes. So, [American] sailors were stationed in those stations, on ships
in across the Philippines. They started sparring first. Then the local
population, you know, took it up. And then from Philippines as well. And
it’s sort of like a wave of, you know, fighters spreading out across the
region and making it popular in our part of the world.
Jimmy
I’m fascinated by that because, of course, you have famous people like
Manny Pacquiao. Actually, Filipino boxing actually goes back that far back.
Abhishek
Yes. And even for me, it was a big discovery. I suppose it should be obvious
on hindsight, but I had no idea that, you know, Philippines is where it
all began for Southeast Asia at least. So, they have a very long pedigree
of producing very, very good fighters. In fact, some of them from the Philippines,
ended up going to the US and fighting for the world championships or whatever
they were called at the time.
So, yes, so the Philippines was where it all began.
Jimmy
It’s amazing. Why do you think boxing has this appeal for people, you
know, back then and now?
Abhishek
I mean, I’m not really a sociologist, but I have some theories.
Let’s consider the sports that were popular in Singapore at that time. You had tennis – confined to exclusive clubs. Then you had cricket. Very similar. Football was, of course, starting to take off at the time, but boxing really was, you know, the sport of the masses that was easily accessible.
You didn’t need a lot of equipment. You could just set up like a ring somewhere and just go a few rounds. So that’s one reason, which is why it became popular amongst, you know, your so-called not-so-upper class people.
Jimmy
The man in the street, the hoi polloi.
Abhishek
The hoi polloi. And at the time, as we know, there were these waves and
waves of migration to Singapore, from China especially. So, these were
people who were thirsting for some entertainment. In general, if you consider
boxing a sport, I think it speaks to something very primal within us and
we will speak about it in detail later. But Tan Teng Kee, Battling Key,
who you mentioned earlier, was at that time one of the most popular boxers
in Singapore. We fast forward to the late ’20s and when he’s challenged
by an up-and-coming boxer, he was beaten up very badly.
And there are reports at the time indicating that the crowd was like, there was a serious bloodlust happening. So, they called upon this younger guy to finish him off, like that was the chant going on, “Finish him off, finish him off.” So, I think that just sort of indicates that there is something a little more primal that sort of, you know, the primal parts of a brain are hooked onto a violent sport like boxing.
Jimmy
I think, I mean, I like the word you use, blood lust. And I think
that definitely goes back to like, you know, the Romans and the Colosseum.
Gladiators fight. Two people facing off. And with the prospect of blood.
So, at the time, you know, the people who attended the boxing matches and
in the ’20s who were they? I mean, so they were like the man in the street,
you were saying?
Abhishek
Yes, primarily. If an arena had about seating for 7,000, 8,000 people,
which was the case at the time, the vast majority, more than 80 percent,
85 percent would be your man-on-the-street or, you know, the people who
were.
Jimmy
Your blue collar.
Abhishek
Very blue-collar crowd. But at the same time, there was a small niche, so-called upper-class crowd as well, for example. And in one of the fights that Battling Key fought, the Sultan of Johor placed a $5,000 bet on him. But it’s not clear whether he placed on him or on his opponent. But yeah, he placed that sum of money.
Jimmy
That’s interesting that you mention the Sultan of Johor placing a $5,000
bet. So gambling is a big part of boxing as well.
Yes. Yeah. Thanks for reminding me. So again, if you sort of look back at accounts of the time, these are things that would not be considered politically correct today. The Chinese love for gambling and sticking, you know, serious on the outcomes of these sporting matches. So, boxing, again, really spoke to that instinct.
It allowed people to quickly place bets and I guess some of them became rich, but mostly I would assume they lost money. But that was a big, big pull towards the sport as well.
Jimmy
Okay. Tell me about Tan Teng Kee, you know, and the Battling Key. You
know how he got his nickname. What do we know about him?
Abhishek
So, he’s a very interesting character. And I mean, of course, as we talk
more that will become apparent. But he was from a fairly well-to-do Straits
Chinese family. Very established, from the old accounts. It seems like
his father was actually a sinseh [traditional Chinese medical doctor] and
if I’m not mistaken, there were three boys in the family and two girls.
I don’t remember the exact size of the family, but basically all of them went to Catholic institutions. And of course, the assumption was that they would all go into, you know, proper white-collar jobs, whether it’s in the government or private enterprise. But Teng Kee took a different route, which was quite shocking for his family.
So, when they tried to sort of dissuade him from taking up this rather violent sport, he was adamant that, you know, I love boxing so much that I’m just, you know, even if I die in the ring, it’s fine. But I’m going to stick to this. But we don’t know, unfortunately, the influences on him, because he really was the first boxing superstar in Singapore, and this was like in the 1920s.
So, we don’t know how he sort of came across the sport. Was it just the
circuses that were coming over and putting up these, you know, makeshift
rings, or was it some publication he came across? But yeah, by the 1920s,
21, he’s already like, you know, an up-and-comer. And within a couple of
years, he was like a household name.
Jimmy
Do we know anything about it? Like, how was he like, a tall guy? Was he
like a, you know, was he good-looking?
Abhishek
He was apparently very good-looking. So, interestingly, he also seems
to be one of the first sports people whose popularity transcended gender
as well. So, the women loved him. And apparently even when he would lose,
his female supporters would be weeping and crying, which was quite remarkable
for the time.
Very, very good-looking guy. Again, this is just going by, you know, the grainy photos that we have and had – he seems to have had a certain swagger about him, which, again, you know, appealed to, I suppose, to the men as well. Yeah. There are reports of people literally – of him stepping out of the house and people following him in the streets, which again seems like, you know, it just seems so fascinating for the time.
Jimmy
You know, one of the major matches that you talk about in your article in BiblioAsia is
his match with Yeo Choon Song [YC Song]. Who doesn’t seem to have a very
exciting nickname, unlike the Battling Key, but this is the first time
that you had, you know, the featherweight championship in Malaya where
they were like two Chinese guys fighting each other. Now, tell me about
that match.
Abhishek
So, when we talk about Yeo Choon Song and Battling Key, we can’t focus
on one match. It was like a trio of matches. And for a period of about
– I think it was about 18 months or so. And so, this happened in 1927.
And as I mentioned earlier, Battling Key came up in the early ’20s.
So, by the time he was 27, he was already a well-established figure. In fact, some reports say that he was already on his way down in terms of his boxing prowess. But in terms of his popularity he still remained one of the biggest draws, and of course, Singapore’s population being predominantly Chinese – everyone was hoping for a fellow Chinese challenger.
And that arrived in the form of, you know, YC Song. And the first match took place in, if I’m not mistaken, in March of 1927. And it was, of course, to an absolutely sold-out crowd at this big arena in Tanjong Pagar, Happy Valley. And the odds were in favour of the younger guy, who was YC Song, and the match sort of, you know, proceeded as had been anticipated in that you know it was YC Song who had the upper hand throughout and he was the one who was pummelling Battling Key. He got in a few punches, as you would expect. But Battling Key’s biggest sort of quality was the ability to absorb punishment. So, he’s just getting punched left, right and centre, but he’s not going down. Or if he goes down, he gets back up. And then in the seventh or eighth round, when it seems like, you know, Battling Key is done, he just lashes out with a punch and happens to catch YC Song over his left eye to the point where, you know, it’s a massive cut on his eye and this guy is just bleeding all over his face.
You can’t allow that to go on. So, despite the fact that it was YC Song who was leading, the referee was forced to call the fight to an end and award it to Battling Key.
Jimmy
Ah so, Battling Key won the first...
Abhishek
He won the first of their encounters.
Jimmy
Wow. Okay. I’m very excited now.
Abhishek
So were the crowds.
Jimmy
That sets it up for the next fight.
Abhishek
Yes. So, and that happens very quickly because, you know, we have to remember
that boxing was obviously a business – and there were people putting money
behind the entire, you know, organising the whole thing. So, when they
saw that, you know, there was a challenger and there was this established
guy and they’re both Chinese, obviously the crowd wanted more. Within,
I think four months or five months, a second fight had been set up. So
that took place in August of 1927. And this time, I suppose you could say
the bookies were right in that YC Song was the one who emerged victorious.
But again, it was not without its drama in that Song was still suffering
from the cut that he had received in the first fight. And Battling Key,
in a remarkable coincidence, had also been hit over the same [eye] – over
his left eye – and suffered a similar cut while training for this particular
fight.
So, I mean you just imagine: both these guys with plasters over their eyes, half swollen and just going like 10 rounds again at Happy Valley. It proceeds the way one would’ve expected, Song is the one who has the upper hand throughout – but again Battling Key just refuses to go down. This guy was a fighter literally and metaphorically, and he manages to again hit Song over the same eye – and opens up [a big gash] all over Song’s eye.
But this time the referee was different, and he allows the fight to go on. We don’t know the exact reasons why, but he allows it. And eventually it’s Song who prevails. So now we are tied at 1-1.
Jimmy
Wow. Okay, so you need a tiebreaker then?
Abhishek
Yep. And that happened. That took a while coming. We’re not sure of the
reasons why. Battling Key also used to travel a lot in the region, so perhaps
he just didn’t have the time to fight Song again. Nonetheless, it took
place about a year later, 14 months later at New World, which had opened
a few years earlier.
And this time there is no doubt about it. It’s just, you know, YC Song all the way. He is just punching Battling Key left right and centre and to the point where it just seems like Battling Key is punch drunk.
Jimmy
How many rounds does it go?
Abhishek
This was 10 rounds. By now, of course, Song has a solid following as well.
So, you have his supporters in full voice, you know, roaring for him to
finish off Battling Key. The interesting part also is that the two didn’t
really get along. YC Song and Battling Key. In the first fight the previous
year Song had complained about the gloves that Battling Key was wearing.
So, [Song] got punched once and he felt like there was something off with those gloves. Like there’s some, maybe he had hidden some material inside that made the punch more forceful. So, he actually complained to the referee about it. And the referee had examined [Battling Key’s] gloves and given them the all clear.
But obviously, this whole thing had not gone down well with the older guy. He was an established legend. And then all these youngsters, you know, accusing him of –
Jimmy
Cheating really.
Abhishek
Yeah. By the time you come to the third fight, there is some serious,
you know, bad blood between them. But Song is younger, fitter. He has not
had the punishment that Battling Key has had for the past six, seven years.
So eventually it is he who prevails and that sort of in a way brings down
the curtain on Battling Key as a premier name in Singapore.
Jimmy
So, Battling Key had a stage as Singapore’s premier fighter for like,
I don’t know, five years or so. And then, Song comes along, defeats him
in three very exciting bouts, and becomes the undisputed champion. Then
what happens to Song?
Abhishek
Yeah, so that’s the unfortunate part. From the reports at the time, it
seems like in one of his other fights, Song got a serious injury to his
left hand, which was his dominant hand, and he just could not recover from
that. So even though he beat Battling Key two or three times and you know,
it seemed like he was on the verge of becoming the best boxer or he was
the best boxer, but he just could not remain in place for very long because
his injuries sort of hampered him.
And it also appears that he didn’t have very good managers, and managers at the time, played very important roles in getting the right fights, the right kind of promotion, the right kind of arenas. So, when you look back, when you go through some of the retrospective articles that were written about YC Song, these are the two main reasons that come up as to why he really could not become the next Battling Key. He wins these fights and then he is around for another two, three years. He wins a few other big fights, but by the time he’s 25, which was in 1931, he’s already announced his retirement.
Jimmy
How old was Battling Key when YC Song beat him?
Abhishek
Battling Key would have been 29 the first time they met and then 30 the
last time they met.
Jimmy
All right.
Abhishek
So, there was an age gap of about seven years between them. Battling Key
was born in 1898 and Song in 1906 – 1905 or 06. So, in 1931, when he was
only in his mid-20s, which is not very old for a boxer at all, he announces
his retirement. He eventually, you know, rescinded that and came back to
fight a couple of years later. But he sort of, like, really disappears
from, you know, our sporting history.
Jimmy
And hangs up his gloves and becomes like a preacher or something.
Abhishek
So again, I think one of the reasons is that [Song] was not as colourful
a character, not larger-than-life compared to Battling Key, which perhaps
was why the promoters didn’t give him the chances that he might have otherwise
gotten.
Jimmy
Okay. Looking back, what do you think was the legacy of that particular
match or that period in time?
Abhishek
Yeah, I think the period in time has a bigger legacy than those matches.
Unfortunately, they were built up as this battle of, you know, the king
and the young contender for the throne. But like I said, Song really could
not sustain that. I must emphasise it was not just these fights.
These did play a major role, but other fights as well. They sort of helped in establishing a boxing ecosystem in Singapore, which really led to what, you know, writers decades later would consider the golden era of Singapore boxing, which was actually the 30s.
Jimmy
So, the 30s are known as the golden era for boxing.
Abhishek
Yeah. I mean it’s interesting because if you look at the reports from
that time, there are multiple articles talking about, mourning about how,
you know, boxing is no longer as popular, etc. But if you look at articles
written by old timers much, much later, they really consider the 1930s
to have been a time when boxing was flourishing not just in Singapore but
across the Straits and all of Malaya as well.
Jimmy
Without going into too much detail because we want everyone to read your
amazing article, tell us a little bit about Battling Key’s ending of his
career.
Abhishek
Yeah, it was a very sad ending even when you read about it 90 years later,
it really sort of breaks your heart.
Jimmy
It hits you.
Abhishek
Well said. Yes, it does. It does hit you because, you know, as I mentioned,
after his fight with YC Song, the impression that was created was that
this guy is over the hill now. And also, he really [couldn’t], you know,
pull in the same crowds but Battling Key was just very passionate about
the sport.
And it seems like this was the only life he had really known. So, he refused to retire or, you know, go do some white-collar stuff. He continued fighting. So, he was reduced eventually to literally wandering around the streets, trying to get access to various promoters and managers, showing them, his albums with his previous victories, etc.
But eventually, you know, he was forced to start fighting more and more outside Singapore in other parts of Malaya.
Jimmy
In presumably less prestigious, less well-paying venues.
Abhishek
Almost nothing. So just for comparison, in his heyday, he could command
$2,000. By the time we come to the end of his career, he was willing to
fight for $30.
Jimmy
Wow. Okay.
Abhishek
So, it was a big sort of downfall or decline for someone who was really
the first megastar.
Jimmy
You have to read Abhishek’s article to find out how it all ends, which
is quite tragic. Let’s pull back the camera a little bit and look at the
environment in which all these fights took place.
Abhishek
Right. And to be honest, I mean, that is almost as entertaining, if not
more entertaining than Battling Key and his fights with Yeo Choon Song,
because very quickly in the early ’20s, like I said, there was this ecosystem
of promoters, managers, syndicates that came together to organise different
sorts of fights. And also, I suppose in a happy coincidence, this was the
time when if you look at it economically, the mid-20s was the Roaring ’20s
for Singapore as well. Singapore and its population was making more money
than it ever had, which of course led to, you know, cash to spend on entertainment.
So, through the ’20s you had, like I have mentioned, circuses already, but you had – cabaret was coming up gradually, then you had other forms of entertainment and really the population was thirsting for it. So, the first major sort of venue that opened that I think our listeners would have heard of was New World – where City Square Residences and City Square Mall is today in Little India.
And this was in 1923 or ’24. And very quickly there were like [others] and then you had Great World, which opened in 1929. And then, of course, Happy World opened in the mid-to-late-30s. So, there was this entire ecosystem of entertainment venues, of promoters, managers going around, but having said that, it was not an easy business to crack into, boxing specifically.
You had to, if you were a promoter, then you had to put in a lot of money upfront, which went towards paying the boxers. If the boxer was coming from overseas, then you had to pay for the flight, accommodation, food, everything, even something as basic as renting chairs at the venue.
You had to pay for that as well. You paid for marketing material – and these are obviously just official expenses. And there was a lot of what you would consider as shady business going on as well.
Jimmy
Tell me about shady business. I’m always interested in shady businesses.
I’m trying to supplement my income with shady businesses as well. Hopefully
you can give me some ideas.
Abhishek
Then you will like this. The idea was to drum up hype around any given
fight. If one is a promoter, you just want to, you know, tell the crowd
that this is going to be the best fight of all time. Which is not so different
from today anyway, which at the time meant spending a lot of money on promotional
posters, which also meant spending a lot of money on the press to get wide
ranging and hopefully favourable coverage.
And it was not just money, it was various other types of, you know, temptations, through which you could get the press on your side, whether it was… whether it was –
Jimmy
Wine, women and song.
Abhishek
Yes. Thank you for filling in those blanks.
Jimmy
You’re such a prude, Abhishek.
Abhishek
I was searching for the right words. I’m not sure when the entertainment
tax was implemented in Singapore. I think it was sometime in the ‘30s as
well. But the promoters wanted to get around it as well so they would promise
they would have the fight sponsored in courts through a charity [as] charities
were exempt from entertainment tax.
Obviously then they would bribe the people heading the charity. If it’s the fighters what – $20,000? Then you just give $5,000 to the charity and tell them that, you know, you just stick to the story, that all of this money is coming to us. And yeah, then they pocket the rest. So those were the various work arounds you had in terms of the promoter side, from the other people who were involved in the industry, corruption went all the way up. Let’s say you have 200 posters to be plastered all over the city. Now who does this job? It’s some youngster on a bicycle going around. So, you hand over 200 posters and you also hand over a few hundred tickets to him to give to, you know, the people who you want coming to your fights.
So, what typically this youth would do would be to stick up 150 posters, dispose of 50, give 150 tickets out, keep 50 for himself to sell on the black market somewhere far away from the arena. So that is, you know, someone right at the bottom of the chain who’s doing all these things.
You had scalpers who would go put you as a ticket, get the multiple copies of the ticket printed and then again, not venture anywhere close to the arena, you know, but in the more far-flung areas of the island, really.
Jimmy
So, they were pirating the ticket? Wow.
Abhishek
Sadly, no mobile phones then for e-tickets. When you were going in with
your ticket and you’re handing it to the guy who’s collecting them, the
ticket collector is supposed to tear the stub and give it to you. Conveniently,
he would often forget to tear the stub, and keep the entire ticket for
himself. He would have one more accomplice who’d come, collect those tickets.
Pass it to another guy waiting outside. This guy would go a little further
afield and you know.
Jimmy
Set it off.
Abhishek
Set it off. So, there was this entire sort of, mini sort of mafia cartel,
auto, black market, whatever you want to call it, going on.
Jimmy
It sounds amazing.
Abhishek
It's fascinating.
Jimmy
A little too much work for me, though, personally. But, you know, if you
come across slightly easier ways of making money, Abhishek, let me know.
Last time you were in the studio with us, you were talking about tennis and how you know, going professional at the time was verboten. But boxing was very different.
Abhishek
Yes. And again, I just have theories about it. I suppose someone who’s
done, you know, more detailed research into this particular aspect would
know more. But I think it still goes back to the origins of boxing and
the kind of class amongst whom it was popular. So, if we compare it to
tennis or cricket, like I mentioned, these are so-called gentlemanly sports
where taking money is considered, you know, beneath one’s stature.
Boxing did not have the problem because, you know, it drew its support from the streets, which is, I think, the primary reason where it was not so looked down upon. Having said that, there was also a Singapore Amateur Boxing Association that was formed in 1929.
Jimmy
Okay. So, this is very different from the professionals.
Abhishek
Yes. So again, I can’t go into too much detail because I haven’t done
– my focus was primarily on professional boxing, but it seems like there
were a lot of boxing centres and a lot of competitions being held for amateur
boxers as well. But the primary impetus for the sport, from my reading,
at least in those early years, came from professional boxing.
Jimmy
And it makes a lot of sense. I mean, that’s where the money was. So presumably
that’s where all the best boxers would head for, right?
Abhishek
Absolutely. And it became like a bit of an aspirational sport for a lot
of these youngsters who maybe I mean, ironically, the two people we have
talked about are, you know, actually not from those classes. They are,
like I said, Tan Teng Kee was from a very well-established Chinese family,
but a lot of the boxers who followed, it does seem like their backgrounds
were more blue-collar.
So, it became like an aspiration for these youngsters to get into the ring, fight for a few years and because you also remember that it was a very short career. So, you get punched up and down over a period of years and you lose your abilities very quickly.
Jimmy
A way, somewhat, for a young working-class guy to, you know, rise up,
earn some money. Absolutely. And punch, beat people up for a living.
Abhishek
Absolutely. And get the adulation along the way.
Jimmy
Way to fame and fortune, right?
Abhishek
Absolutely. Yeah. It did tick all those boxes.
Jimmy
This is what I plan to do now. I’ve found my calling to be a boxer. Abhishek,
thank you for joining us. We’ve sort of come to the end of the meaty part
of the lead interview. Now we come to the less meaty but much more entertaining
part where we ask these stupid questions.
Abhishek
Looking forward to it.
Jimmy
Would you rather be a professional boxer or would you be a tennis player?
Abhishek
I think – I don’t have the chin to be a boxer. A strong chin is very important
in boxing. I have a tiny chin.
Jimmy
Hence the beard.
Abhishek
Exactly, so I think I will stick to a non-contact, gentlemanly sport like
tennis.
Jimmy
But if you had to pick a combat sport, and it doesn’t matter what it is,
what would your nickname be?
Abhishek
That’s a tough one.
Jimmy
The Bearded One.
Abhishek
Yeah. Well, since you mentioned the beard, let’s go with The Bearded Basher.
Jimmy
I like that. I like that. The Bearded Basher – I like that. Now, I’ll
say a word to you, and you respond. For example, fatherhood.
Abhishek
Anxiety mixed with a sprinkling of excitement.
Jimmy
For people who don’t know, Abhishek will soon be a father and he’s looking
forward to spending time with his daughter and being much, much poorer
because he no longer has any money.
Last question. Sports is…
Abhishek
A reflection of human nature.
Jimmy
Well, what does that mean?
Abhishek
I think it, like we discussed earlier in boxing, for example, it really
brings out some of our more primal instincts, instincts that have sort
of, you know, cowered under the garb of civilisation and civility. But
in especially in a contact sport like boxing and not just the participants,
but the viewers as well.
Jimmy
Okay, Abhishek, thank you for joining me on BiblioAsia+. To learn more
about boxing in Singapore, please do read Abhishek’s article on
BiblioAsia. Thank you for coming over and being our guest this afternoon.
Abhishek
Thank you so much, Jimmy.
Jimmy
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