In Malaysian women’s hockey during the 1970s, the name Mary Lim struck both fear and admiration into the hearts of opponents.
It was not just one star shining brightly in the national team but two distinct Mary Lims, both born in Melaka, 14 years apart.
Sharing a name but carving arresting legacies, one stood as an unyielding last line of defence; the other dazzled to deliver goals.
To avoid their identical names causing confusion, the goalkeeper decided to adopt her husband’s surname, becoming Mary Soo.
It was a simple yet moving act that honoured the individuality of both players and highlighted the depth of their camaraderie.
Newspaper headlines became easier, with the tenacious 157.4cm-tall goalie labelled “Soo-perwoman”.
The dynamic forward play of her namesake gained headings such as “Mary, Mary, so successfully contrary”.
Last Sunday, the two Marys came together with some of their teammates from the 1982 Asian Games to celebrate their induction into the Olympic Council of Malaysia Hall of Fame last month.
The reunion celebrated the triumphs of a team that brought pride to the nation when the stakes were measured not in money but in honour.
Tale of two Marys
Soo, the first woman hockey international from Melaka, was a wall of steel for the Malaysian team, said MP Haridas, a former national women’s U-23 coach.
Lim, he added, was the polar opposite in role but equal in impact, earning her a reputation as one of the most feared forwards of her era.
Internationally, they saw action at the Asian and SEA Games, Inter-Continental tournament, Asia Cup and other major championships.
Their contrasting roles on the pitch had curious beginnings, Soo becoming an accidental goalkeeper, and Lim switching from football to hockey.
At 13, Soo was playing fullback for the Methodist Girls School in Melaka when she was thrust between the goalposts after the regular keeper went missing.
Soo would go on to guard the goal with grit for 19 years at elite level, retiring from playing at the age of 37 in 1985.
She was the team manager of the national team for two years before finally calling it quits from the hockey scene.
Soo, 77, said: “Those were the happiest days of my life, an era when playing for the flag meant everything.”
Sadly, the timeless joy of representing the nation has been subdued over the past 25 years for the retired police sub-inspector.
The gutsy woman, renowned for her lightning reflexes and fearless dives, is partially paralysed on the right side.
Soo recalled she suffered a stroke in 2000 due to a blood clot in her head that resulted from an on-field incident in 1976.
She said the ball struck her on the head at a tournament in Hong Kong, and thought little of it.
Soo lamented that it was a period when goalkeepers did not wear protective gear, and players did not receive proper medical care.
Fate has been unkind to Soo as her husband, Poh Seng, too suffered a stroke in 1990, and died in 2015.
She said some joy comes her way these days through her two grandsons who are emerging talents in hockey as goalkeeper and defender, respectively.
From deadly striker to “Mother Mary”
Sports Mirror reporter, A Subramaniam, wrote in 1981 that Lim, then 19, could well be to women’s hockey what Poon Fook Loke in his heyday was to the men.
He based that on Lim’s diligence and natural talent, and her style of play that had “little of the feminine touch which most girls tend to cling to.”
Lim represented Melaka in women’s football as a teenager before embracing hockey.
The Holy Infant Jesus Convent student had the good fortune of training with the state men’s Razak Cup side under coach Sulaiman Saibot.
When she joined the National Electricity Board in Kuala Lumpur in 1979, her hockey career came under the guidance of men once again.
She trained almost daily with the Kilat team, laden with national and state stars, and coach Mohamed Sidek helped sharpen her skills even further.
Lim, who is the 13th of 15 siblings, said she also has her brothers to thank for her success.
The Lim family has produced national footballers in midfielders Seng Koon, Kim Chon, Teong Kim and goalkeepers Chuan Chin and Hong Guan.
After representing Melaka for four years from 1974, Lim played hockey for Malaysia, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur from 1979 to 1989.
Lim, 63, said while she might have been a deadly striker, her staff called her “Mother Mary” during her time as manager of Maybank premier centre from 2001 until 2009.
“I coached the young relationship managers, who called me ‘Mother Mary’ for being motherly and firm,” she reflected.
Made for each other
The 1982 team, captained by Soo, won the bronze medal at the Asian Games in New Delhi, the only Malaysia women’s hockey team to make the podium at the Asiad.
The other trailblazers at the recent reunion were vice-captain Maheswari Kanniah, Asma Amin, Lum Sau Foong, Norizan Majid, Elizabeth Gomez, Halimahton Yaacob and Yuen Lai Heng.
Absent were Teh Siew Bee, Annie Yew, Rawiyah Rawi, Christina Chin and Noorlaila Senawi.
Those who had passed away were Daphne Boudville and Goh Joo Phaik, coaches Lawrence van Huizen, his brother Peter and William Fidelis, and team manager Teh Gin Sooi.
Joining the ladies in the knockabout fun were Haridas and former sportswriters Lazarus Rokk and Johnson Fernandez.
Haridas coached all the players for various U-23 tournaments but was not in the coaching set-up for the 1982 Asian Games because of his regular duties as national sports council field officer.
He said it was a talented and motivated squad that was built on athletic prowess, resilience, and the bonds forged on and off the field.
“Our unshakable bond speaks volumes about what it meant to be a team glued by unity and pride,” gushed Asma, while Gomez said their love for the sport and the nation far outweighed monetary rewards.
For Maheswari, it was a celebration that added yet another emotional element to their lives. “We were made for each other.”
