Since picking up the sport as kids, Singapore silat exponents Sheik Ferdous and Sheik Farhan Sheik Alauddin have had one constant at every competition - the towering, watchful presence of their father Sheik Alauddin Yacoob Marican.
But as Ferdous, 28, and Farhan, 26, head into the World Pencak Silat Championships in Abu Dhabi from Dec 18 to 22, they will do so without their dad, a two-time world champion and four-time Coach of the Year who is synonymous with the sport here.
Last November, Sheik Alauddin was arrested for suspected criminal breach of trust and he is assisting the Commercial Affairs Department with investigations into "financial irregularities" in the Singapore Silat Federation (SSF).
He was the national sports association's chief executive at the time of his arrest and has served as national coach, technical director and assistant secretary at various times since retiring from the sport in 1999.
Ferdous, who was crowned world champion in 2018 on home soil, said: "I still remember that in 2018, shortly after I won, I went up on stage where my dad was busy playing the role of organiser, and we hugged. He told me: 'Congratulations son, you finally did it'."
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