A Tale Of Perseverance: Karamjit Singh’s Rally Story To Be Immortalised In “Terbang” Movie
Karamjit Singh was Malaysia’s legendary rally racer and the movie charts his extraordinary journey in becoming one of the greatest behind the wheel.
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Malaysians of all ages will soon discover the story of motorsport legend Karamjit Singh in Terbang, a new film from Astro Shaw and Woohoo Pictures.
Popularly known as the Flying Sikh, Karamjit is known for his speed and the movie will immortalise the highs and lows of his career.
The film directed by Chiu Keng Guan, known for his blockbusters The Journey (2014) and Ola Bola (2016), is set to reignite a sense of patriotism and pride, and also revive memories of Malaysia’s rallying heyday in the 1980s and 1990s.
Chiu shared that the film is not a biopic, but inspired by real events and in a similar vein to the story in Ola Bola.
Karamjit said 60% of the story is adapted from his real life experience and is proud of the film. He also endorsed actor Irfan Zaini for playing the titular role of Ajeet, a character based on Karamjit himself.
First of all, he is a nice guy. He is humble, handsome, and has the right look. He is the perfect choice.
Karamjit Singh
Terbang has a stellar cast line-up which includes Jack Tan, Zizan Razak, Nam Ron, Shweta Sekhon, Diana Danielle, and Aeril Zafrel.
Overall, Karamjit hopes the movie Terbang will bring local rallying back into the spotlight and wants the audience to see it as a powerful story of perseverance.
I would say it’s a movie about self-belief and patriotism. It shows how we Malaysians went out there, conquered the world, and came back.
Karamjit Singh
Terbang is scheduled for release this year.
Who is Karamjit Singh?
Karamjit Singh is a Malaysian rally driver and has been rallying professionally since 1985.
Most notably, he was the first Asian driver to win the Federation Internationale del’Automobile (FIA) Production Car World Championship for Drivers. He won on his first try too!
He has won in various championships such as the 2001 Asia Pacific Rally Championship for Drivers, the 2002 FIA Production Car World Championship for Drivers, and the 2002 and 2004 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship for Drivers.
He has also professionally raced for the Petronas EON Racing Team and Team Proton Pert Malaysia using Proton 4WD rally cars.
Over the years, he has worked with three co-drivers, in chronological order: Ron Teoh, Allen Oh, and John Bennie.
Unfortunately, Karamjit ran into sponsorship issues in 2005. Rallying is expensive and required large sponsorships to cover travel and logistics costs and more.
Due to this, he was unable to participate in half of the eight rounds in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship. His team also struggled to have enough funds to pay for mechanics and vehicle maintenance.
FIA slapped him with a fine of RM46,000 (10,000 Euro) due to his numerous absence from championship rounds. To add on to the problem, he didn’t have the funds to ship back his vehicle to Malaysia from New Zealand, which would cost about RM57,000. The situation was so dire that he was in the process of selling off his apartment to pay his fine and ship his car home.
At the time, Karamjit refused the possibility of receiving public or government assistance, believing he could find enough corporate sponsors and not burden the public. He also considered the possibility of racing for another country the year after.
Malay Mail’s story on Karamjit’s funding issues reached the cabinet and prompted the then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to question why corporate sponsors failed to help their own countryman.
If Karamjit is a Malaysian and has been producing results and bringing honour to the country, why has support not been accorded to him?
The then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Reflecting on his rallying journey, Karamjit shared that the rally scene died down around fifteen years ago due to a lack of sponsorship.
The decline is apparent; local rallies competitions was once held six times a year, but now only taking place twice.
Talking to Malay Mail, Karamjit said there’ll hopefully be four competitions this year and gradually return to six a year ‘’like a proper championship.’’ He added that support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports is crucial to help organisers secure funding from large corporations.
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