Serial No: IAH004
Title: Coach Teh
You see, the facility here at Berapit is simple, no air-con, no modern equipment. To me, those things will not make you a great badminton player.
Teh Peng Huat 郑炳发, born 1938
What’s important is a person’s attitude.
Berapit, Bukit Mertajam
I was born in Bukit Mertajam town and spent my early years there. I started to play badminton when I was 16. At that time badminton was hot! You know, Eddy Choong? He was from Penang. He led the Malaysian team and won many international awards in the 1950s. He was our Penang hero, almost every kid of my age was inspired to become a badminton player. We learned to play by ourselves. We made our own court by erecting simple wooden fence on the ground. The net was made by wire mesh! Truly Kampung style (laugh).
I started coaching when I was 19 but soon, I had to stop for almost twenty years to make a living doing odd jobs. But I never gave up my passion for badminton. At the age of 30 I moved to Berapit new village and started to coach again. The turning point came when I was 50, that was when a boy was sent to train under me by his father. The boy was Lee Chong Wei, from Berapit too. You know the rest of the story; he became one of the best players in the world.
With Lee Chong Wei’s success, people from all over the world knew about me. I was offered several overseas coaching opportunities before, but after considerations I chose to stay back. If you are good, people will come to you. Over the years many people from different countries came to train under me. I have been coaching in this new village school hall for 50 years. You see, the facility here is simple, no air-con, no modern equipment. To me, those things will not make you a great badminton player. What’s important, is a person’s attitude. I am 82 years old, and I will continue coaching badminton as long as I can. I hope I will still be coaching at the age of 100!
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