Beyond the medals, there was Aunty Chow

The lanes at Federal Bowl in Kuala Lumpur have been silent since the centre closed in 2006, but the champions who made them their hunting ground remain part of Malaysian sporting history.

Shirley Chow Chew Chun was among them. She belonged to a generation that helped establish tenpin bowling as a force in Malaysian sport, earning national honours and winning medals on the international stage.

Yet the woman remembered for her achievements on the lanes had another identity, one that meant just as much to those who knew her.

To generations of young bowlers, she was Aunty Chow.

Chow died on Sunday, aged 76, after battling lung cancer. Her passing leaves Malaysian bowling without one of its most respected pioneers, but her influence lives on in the athletes she coached and the lessons she passed down.

She reached the pinnacle of national recognition in 1979 when she became Malaysia’s Sportswoman of the Year. That same year, bowler JB Koo won the corresponding men’s award, a remarkable double for the sport.

It was an era when Malaysian bowling was making its mark beyond the country’s shores. Koo, Allan Hooi and Edward Lim had captured the men’s trios title at the World Tenpin Bowling Championships in Manila, putting Malaysia among the sport’s international contenders.

Chow helped sustain that reputation over the years that followed.

At the 1989 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, she won silver medals in the women’s doubles with Pearly Chong and the trios with Chong and Lily Chua.

Two years later in Manila, she took silver in the singles and gold in the doubles with Lisa Kwan.

Her achievements continued at the 1993 SEA Games in Singapore, where she won gold in the trios with Shalin Zulkifli and Kwan, gold in the team event and the all-events title, along with silver in the singles.

At the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan, Chow added another major achievement, winning gold in the women’s trios with Lydia Kwah and Shalin, and silver in the doubles with Kwah.

These were more than individual triumphs. They helped establish Malaysian women’s bowling as a serious force in regional competition.

Remembering Aunty Chow

For Chow’s son Kelvin Yew, her legacy extended well beyond her medals.

He represented Perak at Sukma 2000 in Penang, where his mother coached the state bowling team. He saw firsthand the standards she demanded and the commitment she expected from her bowlers.

Chow instilled patriotism, discipline and a winning mentality in her charges. When their performances fell short, she motivated them to do better. When they struggled, she remained a source of encouragement.

But there was a motherly side to the demanding coach.

Her bowlers affectionately called her Aunty Chow, a name that reflected the bond she built with the young athletes under her care.

For them, she was more than someone who taught them to bowl. She was a guiding presence who wanted them to do their best, take pride in representing Perak and country, and carry themselves with discipline.

That influence did not end when her athletes left the lanes. It continued through the values she instilled and the example she set.

Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) secretary-general Maradona Chok said Chow’s passing was a great loss to the sport.

“She is a legend that paved the way for our future,” he said, recalling how her 1979 national honour brought bowling to the forefront of Malaysian sport.

Chok also highlighted her work as a coach long after her competitive career ended. Chow continued guiding young bowlers in Perak until 2023, helping successive generations develop their skills.

One of them, Chong Yew Jin, visited her with his Sukma medal, a gesture that spoke of the respect he continued to hold for his former coach.

Recognition, at last

Last October brought Chow a moment that had been decades in coming.

At a dinner in Ipoh, the MTBC presented her with the RM5,000 cash prize promised when she was named Sportswoman of the Year in 1979.

The money had never been paid, part of a long-standing failure, revealed by an FMT investigation, to honour awards promised to Malaysia’s sportsmen and sportswomen between 1966 and 1982.

Chow had never demanded the prize. When she finally received it, she reflected on what the recognition meant after so many years.

“It’s heartening to see that people still remember,” she said. “I bowled because I loved the game, not for rewards. But this means a lot.”

The moment offered a fitting acknowledgement of a career that had brought pride to Malaysian sport and inspired those who followed her.

By then, the former champion had spent years giving back to the game, sharing her experience with young bowlers who might one day achieve what she had.

The recognition was overdue, but the respect she commanded had endured.

For Chow, the lanes were never just a place to win medals. They were where she built friendships, shaped young athletes and helped a sport grow.

Federal Bowl, once known as the “Home of Champions”, has long since given way to development. The generation that filled its lanes has also moved on, leaving behind memories of a formative era in Malaysian bowling.

Chow’s story, however, reaches beyond nostalgia. Her medals record what she achieved. The bowlers she guided offer another measure of her contribution.

To Malaysian sport, she was a champion. To those she coached, she was Aunty Chow — a mentor who demanded the best of them and encouraged them to believe they could deliver it.

The wake will be held at 68, Jalan Lim Tee Ee, Taman Boon Bak, Pasir Puteh, Ipoh, from today until Thursday. The cortege will leave at 10am on Thursday for cremation at Kek Look Seah Crematorium in Bercham.

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.