Syed Abdul Kadir (1948– ) Sportsman. Syed Abdul Kadir started boxing at St Andrew’s Primary School. By age 18, he was competing in the light flyweight division. He represented Singapore at the SEAP Games from 1969 to 1979, winning one gold and two silver medals. His greatest fight was in 1971 SEAP Games when he defeated Burma’s Vanlal Dowla, then the best boxer in Asia, in the final.

Syed also competed in the Asian Games in 1970 and 1974 and at the 1972 Olympic Games. At the Olympics, he won the first bout, but the second was stopped because of a cut on his eyebrow. In 1974 he gave Singapore its first Commonwealth Games boxing medal, in New Zealand. Syed was the most prolific of Singapore’s boxers from 1968 to 1976. He was named Singapore National Olympic Council’s Sportsman of the Year in 1974. He became the national coach after retiring from competition and was Coach of the Year in 1986. He set up Kadir’s Boxing School, continuing his 40- year association with the sport.

Photo credit: Singapore Press Holdings/ The Straits Times