Datuk Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The title of the wife of Datuk is Datin. Origin The oldes ...

Santokh Singh s/o Gurdial Singh ( pa, ਸੰਤੋਖ ਸਿੰਘ, Satōkha sigha; born 22 June 1952) is a retired

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n football player. His wife is Taljit Kaur and has 3 children, Kiran Kaur, Sukhveer Singh and Rajveer Singh.

Career Overview

Born in Setapak, Santokh played in the Selangor FA team from 1972 to 1985, winning 9 Malaysia Cups as captain of the team. Santokh was a player for

Malaysia national football team The Malaysia national football team () represents Malaysia in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team is recognised by FIFA as the successor of the defunct Malaya national footbal ...

in the 1970s and 1980s, and played alongside the late

Mokhtar Dahari Dato' Mohd Mokhtar bin Dahari (13 November 1953 – 11 July 1991) was a Malaysian football player from Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, he played for F.A. Selangor for most of his life. He is considered a legendary footballer in Malaysian football hi ...

, Soh Chin Aun and R. Arumugam. He participated in the team that qualified to the

1980 Moscow Olympic Games The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

, though he never featured in the finals of the tournament due to the Games' boycott by Malaysia. Santokh was part of Malaysia 1974 Asian Games bronze medalist in Tehran, but did not play in any of the matches due to injury before the start of the tournament. He also won the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

gold medal in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

. His partnership with Soh Chin Aun was said to be the most solid defence in the much-feared Malaysian team. In February 1999,

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly i ...

recognize Santokh achievement of representing the country 145 times (match including Olympic qualification, against national 'B' football team, club side and selection side), 119 caps is against full national team. Thus, Asian Football Confederation include him into the AFC Century Club in 1999. In 2004, he was inducted in

Olympic Council of Malaysia Olympic Council of Malaysia, or commonly OCM or MOM, ( ms, Majlis Olimpik Malaysia, IOC code: MAS) is the National Olympic Committee representing Malaysia. It is also the body responsible for Malaysia's representation at the Commonwealth Games. H ...

's Hall of Fame. On 17 September 2014,

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2. In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had ...

list him on their list of the top 25 Malaysian footballers of all time. In 2020, Goal.com had selected him on their list of The best Malaysia XI of all time.

Accolades and legacy

In 2011, Santokh was bestowed the honour of the Panglima Mahkota Wilayah by the Yang Dipertuan Agong of Malaysia, which bears the title

. during the occasion of

Federal Territory Day Federal Territory Day ( ms, Hari Wilayah Persekutuan) is a territorial public holiday observed annually on 1 February by the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya in Malaysia. The date marks the anniversary of the transfer ...

. In the same year, the Sultan of Selangor also honoured him with the Order of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, carrying the title Dato'. In 2016, he was the reference for one of the members of Team Malaysia in "

Ola Bola ''Ola Bola'' is a 2016 Malaysian sports football film directed by Chiu Keng Guan. The film was inspired by the glories of the Malaysia national football team which successfully entered the 1980 Summer Olympics. The film was released in Malaysian ...

Honours

Orders

* : ** Member of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace ...

(AMN) (1980) * : ** MY-FED Darjah Mahkota Wilayah - Knight Commander - PMW

Knight Commander of the

Order of the Territorial Crown Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(PMW) - Datuk (2011) * : ** MY-SEL Order of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah - lower classes - DSIS - SIS - AIS

Knight Companion of the Order of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (DSIS) - Dato' (2011)

References

External links