Chia Boon Leong: The Homegrown Football Olympian BiblioAsia+

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.
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).
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
19:01 – 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
Read the transcript: biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/chia-boon-leong-homegrown-football-olympian/transcript/
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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.