Chia Boon Leong: The Homegrown Football Olympian

Nicknamed “Twinkle Toes” for his agility, Chia Boon Leong (1925–2022) is widely regarded as one of Singapore‘s most talented football players. Academic and sports historian Nick Aplin talks about the footballer’s sporting achievements, his character and their friendship.

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What Nick Talked About

02:04 – How Boon Leong got his nickname, Twinkle Toes
06:32 – How Boon Leong ended up in the Olympics playing for China
08:23 – Nick's meeting with Boon Leong, and their friendship
12:28 – Nick's research process and his start in writing about local athletes
15:58 – How Nick's first meeting with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam went
19:03 – Nick's book launch with the president as the guest of honour
22:31 – How chess and sport are similar
25:53 – What sport and history are to Nick

About the Guest

Dr Nick Aplin is Deputy Director (Sport Heritage) at Sport Singapore. He is the author of the Sport in Singapore series: The Colonial Legacy (2019), The Rocky Road to Kallang Park(2023) and Visions for Change (2023).

Resources

Nick Aplin, “Chia Boon Leong: The Twinkle-Toed Olympian,” BiblioAsia 19, no. 4 (Jan–Mar 2024).

Nick Aplin, Sport in Singapore: The Colonial Legacy (Singapore: Sport Singapore, 2019).

Nick Aplin, Sport in Singapore: The Rocky Road to Kallang Park (Singapore: Sport Singapore, 2023).

Nick Aplin, Sport in Singapore: Visions for Change: 50 Years of the Singapore Sports Council 1973–2023 (Singapore: Sport Singapore, 2023).

 “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star…,” New Nation, 18 April 1975, 10–11. (From NewspaperSG) 

Sonny Yap, “The Match of His Career…,” New Nation, 18 April 1975, 10–11. (From NewspaperSG) 

Credits

This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by One Dash. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Nick for coming on the show.

BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.