A thanksgiving service on Saturday 30, December, 2017 at Sky Lounge located at the new wing of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) is Ipoh was held to highlight the opening of the Moses Tay Lawn Tennis Arena named after Moses Tay, a tennis icon who represented Perak for 22 years, held the state singles title for 11 years and played for Malaysia in the Davis Cup and the then SEAP Games.
The service began with Songs of Praise by Samuel Zane – a well-recognised figure among the local Christian community – and his team followed by several speeches. Refreshments were provided by Maria’s Cafe.
“The Moses Tay Lawn Tennis Arena is the only lawn and grass tennis court in Perak,” said Dato’ Daniel Tay, president of YMCA Ipoh and son of Moses Tay. “It’s also an opportunity for me to do something for my father’s name and to honour his contributions to Malaysia.”
In a response to Ipoh Echo’s query on the differences between playing on grass and hard courts, Daniel Tay replied, “On grass court you can’t slide to reach the ball compared to clay and hard courts.”
The world’s four biggest tennis tournaments are different from one another. The Australian Open and US Open are played on hard courts, French Open on clay and Wimbledon on grass.
“For people my age, it’s much better to play on grass because it creates less impact on the knees and body,” he added.
YMCA is a welfare movement found across the globe. It was established by George Williams in London on June 6, 1844. Malaysia have a fair number of the association’s branches. YMCA Ipoh was formed over a century ago with the objective of caring for Ipoh’s youths.
Readers wishing to know more about the newly-opened tennis arena can contact YMCA at 05 254 0809 or 05 253 9464. The association is located at 211 Jalan Raja Musa Aziz, 30300 Ipoh.
Jack Foo
