'My wife says I'm mad': The 75-year-old gunning for a medal at his first SEA Games

When I first speak to Mr Tan Kok Tiong, he tells me he has never given a media interview and has no clue about what he's supposed to do or say.

That makes two of us being clueless because, before this interview, I had never heard of the sport he is playing: woodball. 

I soon found out that it is a serious sport with a thriving community of players in Singapore who are mostly seniors, with clubs all over the island from Yishun to Clementi. In fact, it's serious enough to be making its debut in this year's SEA Games.

Indeed, all six players on the men's team headed to Chonburi, Thailand in December are between63 and 75. 

On the women's team, five of the six players are aged above 60. The sixth is 17-year-old Gwenifer Mak, an ITE College Central student.

Woodball is clearly favoured by older people rather than younger, but more on that later. 

First, how did Mr Tan, a 75-year-old father of two and grandfather of four aged 15 to 22, go from being a curious onlooker to part of the country’s official sports contingent? 

It started with a move to Bishan 25 years ago, when he had already semi-retired. 

"I noticed there's a field and people playing this game. It looked like golf but seemed quite easy. I asked them what it was about and they said, 'just come join us'."

In the beginning, he said he was just a "ball picker" gathering other players' balls – but the more time he spent on the green, the stronger his curiosity grew. 

"The first time I played, the ball went everywhere. But I didn't care, I just learn. Slowly, I got better," said Mr Tan who worked as a stock broker for a trading firm until the late 1980s and then dabbled in private investing until he retired in his early 50s.

Having spent many years playing golf,