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

Transcript and Resources

• Read the transcript: biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/chia-boon-leong-homegrown-football-olympian/transcript/
• Read the BiblioAsia article: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/vol-19/issue-4/jan-mar-2024/chia-boon-leong-football-soccer/

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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.