National Stadium grass open for public to collect ahead of returf

KUALA LUMPUR - A large group of people did not miss the opportunity to turn a turf of cow grass from the Bukit Jalil National Stadium field here today into a memorable memento in their backyard or football field.

The novel chance surfaced after the Malaysian Stadium Corporation (PSM) gave permission to any interested parties to bring home the 'cow grass' for free today.

The grass at the hallowed turf of the national football team was also the venue for the Harimau Malaya squad to qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup on merit, ending a wait of more than four decades last June, in addition to other sports and entertainment events.

A clod of earth and grass measuring one square foot (1x1) was offered to the public in conjunction with the work of replacing the football pitch with the 'zeon zoysia' variety, with work expected to start tomorrow (April 1) in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the Kuala Lumpur Sports City (KLSC).

During a Bernama survey this morning, football fans and the general public did not want to miss the golden opportunity, not to mention that it was the same grass the Harimau Malaya squad had been playing on since 2015.

One of the football faithful who turned up for a piece of football history, Erik Tan, 47, said he will keep the grass at home for precious memory by re-planting the turf in his yard.

"This grass is the revered pitch that our team played on in various tournaments and qualified for the Asia Cup, besides (the opening ceremony and athletics events) the SEA Games was also held here.

"I want to bring it back, break it into pieces and plant it in the yard.... Later I can tell the children that this is the grass that our players used to play on at the National Stadium,” he said.

Malaysia ended a wait of more than four decades to go to the Asian Cup after claiming second place in Group E of the final round of the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the National Stadium last June.

The last time Malaysia made an appearance at the Asian Cup was in the 2007 edition when it was the co-host, but the last time it qualified on merit was in the 1980 edition in Kuwait.

Meanwhile, the grass will also mean greener pastures for former addicts in sports and leisure at the Sungai Besi Narcotic Addiction Rehabilitation Centre (PUSPEN) field.

An officer from the rehabilitation centre, Wan Donne Khalid Wan Abdullah, 45, who was present with his colleagues, expressed his appreciation to PSM as the cost of a 1x1 foot plot of grass is approximately RM4 to RM5.

"Naturally, we hold sports and leisure activities for rehab trainees in the evenings, such as football. This grass can help us replace some of the damaged parts of the field.

"Sports activities are one of the important therapies because former addicts were preoccupied with drugs instead of dabbling in sports. On their entry to the rehabilitation centre, we make sports and leisure activities one of the important components for a healthy lifestyle,” he said.

The National Stadium pitch previously used Bermuda Greenless Park grass from 1998-2005, Marimo Seashore Paspalum with Zoysia Material (2005-2013) and Bermuda Mountain Green with Princess (2013-2015). - BERNAMA