A few years ago Eric Koh had two dreams: the first was to fly planes all over the world; the second was to umpire at the two flagship events for hockey – the Olympic Games and the World Cup.
Proudly wearing his pilot’s stripes on his shoulder, Koh has achieved the first of those dreams and, after a successful umpiring stint at the Hockey World League Semi-Finals in Antwerp, Belgium, he is a step closer to achieving the second.
The 29-year-old Malaysian, who is currently a Grade One International Umpire, cites renowned international umpire Amarjit Singh as his role model and inspiration.
Singh has umpired more than 150 international matches, including four World Cups and three Olympic Games and was the first umpire from Malaysia to receive the FIH Golden Whistle for 100 senior international matches.
“Every umpire in Malaysia wants to emulate Amarjit and I am now two steps away from reaching the highest level in umpiring, the FIH World Panel,” says Koh, in an interview with Malaysia’s national online news service, Mail Online.
The ability to travel the world has driven him in both his career choice and his umpiring ambitions. Koh played hockey as a youngster, representing the state team at various junior levels.
His moment of hockey playing glory came in 2003 when he was selected for the national under-18 team, but the SARS virus meant the upcoming international tournament was cancelled.
This was a watershed moment for Koh as he realised that to make it to the very top in hockey, he needed to take a different route. He took up umpiring in 2002 and first umpired overseas in Canberra, Australia in 2009.
It was a similar story with his piloting career. Koh first applied to be a cadet with Malaysia Airlines but wasn’t accepted on the course. He took another route, successfully applying for a degree course in civil engineering, from where he transferred to become a pilot.
He graduated with top marks, winning the Best Overall Cadet award. He joined Malaysia Airlines in 2009 and then joined Etihad Airways – the United Arab air service based in Dubai – in August 2014. He now flies Boeing 777 aircraft.
Koh laughs when asked about balancing his life and keeping his feet on the ground. “Yes, balancing has always been a challenge. My department has been quite supportive and always tries its best to accommodate my requests for annual leave and days off. Also, the Malaysian Hockey Confederation has been quite understanding when I had to turn town certain appointments due to my work. But the biggest sacrifice is spending most weekends, annual leave and days off umpiring, not with family and friends.”
With both his flying and umpiring career taking off, Koh has been living his dream of travelling the world. Among his international umpiring appointments in the past three years have been: the South Asian Games, Dhaka 2010; World League Round One, Singapore 2012; EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy, Lille 2012; World League Round Three, Johor 2013; the Junior World Cup in Delhi in 2013; and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
In Antwerp, at the Hockey World League Semi-Finals, Koh umpired the third place match between India and Great Britain. His performance in that game was more than enough to suggest that this is a young man with the world at his feet.
Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com
