IN FOCUS: No one wants to host the Commonwealth Games. 'Time to let it go', along with its colonial past?

SINGAPORE: Former national sprinter C Kunalan, 81, has conflicted feelings about the Commonwealth Games. 

The Singaporean track icon’s first shot at the quadrennial sporting event was in 1966, when it was still called the British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Then 24 years old, his long journey to Jamaica culminated in his elimination in the first round.

“(But) the nice thing was wow, there were so many countries … I remember going down every day to the competition venue to watch everything,” he told CNA.

Mr Kunalan’s experience at the next edition in 1970 was more dramatic.

Already battling a heel injury in the lead-up, his Achilles tendon started to hurt upon arrival in Edinburgh. He eventually pulled a hamstring during his race.

One of his country’s most well-known athletes, Mr Kunalan represented Malaysia at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and post-independence Singapore at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. There, his time of 10.38 seconds in the 100m race became a national record that stood for 33 years. 

Mr Kunalan also brought home multiple medals at the Asian Games and other regional meets before retiring in 1979.

While in his 20s, competing at the Commonwealth Games felt like a big deal, he said. 

“But as time went on, I feel that it is no longer useful because there is enough competitions for all the countries to take part in,” he added. 

“I don’t feel any sadness if it goes … I think it’s time to let it go.”

Critics have called the Commonwealth Games a colonial relic – and it’s not hard to see why.

The event is contested by athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which comprises mostly former British colonies among 56 member countries. 

The organisation was first discussed in the 1880s, then officially created in the 1920s,