A Chance Encounter with an Old University Friend - Darshan

After the opening of the multi-storey car park and market in Foh Sang at the beginning of 2025, we have occasionally visited the market to buy vegetables and other foodstuffs. Our visits were usually in the late morning. So, our visit to the market at 7am on Saturday, 5 September, was a first for us.

The market was already vibrant and bustling at that early hour. We met quite a number of familiar faces, as well as one gentleman who recognised me even though, embarrassingly, I could not recall his name.

But the most remarkable and unexpected encounter came after breakfast, when we bumped into Darshan Singh at one of the eateries.

Darshan and I were both former students of the University of Malaya. I remember meeting him occasionally in the UM campus in the 1970s, particularly when the Sabah Students' Group organised social activities and gatherings. To see him again after more than half a century was truly amazing and brought back a flood of memories from our university days.

One noticeable change was that Darshan did not wear a turban during our university days, whereas he does today.

Although I had not seen him in person since our university days, I had not completely lost touch with his name. He has appeared in the local newspapers over the years, most notably for his courageous stand in publicly opposing the handing over of Labuan to the Federal Government to become a Federal Territory in 1984. According to reports, he was subsequently detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for two years. He later spoke publicly about his detention during a 2013 debate involving two former Sabah Chief Ministers (Read here).

Darshan's legacy will perhaps be his willingness to stand up for what he believed was right, despite knowing the risks and personal consequences he might face.

Our conversation also gave me an opportunity to catch up on what he has been doing in recent years. Darshan told me that he is currently serving as the Secretary General of the Sabah Boxing Association (Read here). He also shared proudly that one of his sons, Sachev Singh, is a cruiserweight boxer representing Sabah and has won a silver medal in the Malaysia Cup (Read here).

The encounter with an old university friend after breakfast was certainly not something we expected when we set out for the market that morning. But that unexpected reunion with Darshan, after more than fifty years, made it a particularly memorable Saturday morning.

An old 1973 group photo of MU Sabah Sudents' Group.
Taken at an open field in MU Campus.

Colourized photo.
Sitting from left: Wilfred Bumburing, Awang Bakar,
Late Helen Richard (Later became Mrs. Mark Koding).
Standing from left: Late Mark Koding, Me,
Felix Madan, (?), Late Vincent Gadalon,
Darshan Singh and (?). 

Another old 1973 photo of the larger group of the
MU Sabah Students' Group.

Colourized photo.
Darshan is at front row sitting at right.
Me at third row standing at right.