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Lydia de Vega’s little-known heartwarming love story

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The decorated Filipina athlete and former Singaporean long-distance champion Jacter Singh were in a relationship for almost 20 years.

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Free Malaysia Today
Lydia de Vega (right) and Jacter Singh during a shopping trip in Singapore in 2017. (Jacter Singh pic)

PETALING JAYA:
In 1979, an 18-year-old turbaned Singaporean long-distance runner saw a stunning 15-year-old Filipina sprinter at an athletics meet and just wanted to say hello to her.

Jacter Singh froze when the elegant, long-limbed girl, Lydia de Vega, invited him for a chat. “Why me?” he pondered.

Their tete-a-tete was the beginning of a touching bond of two unlikely “sweethearts”, one, an athlete with grace and beauty, and the other, a lad from a conservative Sikh family.

“I guess we were destined to meet and forge a long relationship,” said Jacter, who considers himself as de Vega’s first boyfriend.

Jacter, 61, said de Vega, who died on Wednesday, aged 57, after a four-year battle with breast cancer, was his partner and “pillar of strength” for the past 19 years.

They had rekindled their relationship in 2003 after their respective marriages had collapsed.

“My relationship with Lydia was never a secret and was known to both our families and friends,” said Jacter, a former long-distance running champion from Singapore.

“She was a spectacular woman who was adored by many for her giving and caring nature.”

Free Malaysia Today
The first photograph of teenagers Lydia de Vega and Jacter Singh taken during the Asean Schools Track and Field Championships in Singapore in 1979.

He said they first became a couple after they met as teenage athletes at the Asean Schools Track and Field Championships in Singapore in 1979.

“Every guy dreamt of having her as his girlfriend but somehow I was the lucky one who got invited by her for a chat at the hotel where the athletes were staying,” he said.

They went on to have a long-distance friendship and their closeness developed as they met each other at various regional athletics championships.

After they married other people, they kept in touch with each other and when their respective marriages broke down, de Vega joined Jacter in Singapore.

Free Malaysia Today
Jacter Singh with Lydia de Vega after she had won the 200m at the 1981 Sea Games in Manila.

It was around that time that he changed his legal name, Jagtar, to Jacter as he believed that according to the ancient Chinese art, feng shui, his new name would improve his prospects in every aspect of his life, from health and romance to finances.

After they had reunited, de Vega coached at Jacter’s JS Athletics Academy and both of them made regular trips to the Philippines to visit her family.

Jacter said de Vega had left Singapore for the Philippines in April and could not return because her condition had worsened.

He said it was heart wrenching to see her on the hospital bed with many tubes around her when he saw her for the last time two weeks ago.

“I wish I knew what was on her mind when she opened her eyes on two occasions,” said Jacter, who left for the Philippines this morning ahead of de Vega’s burial on Tuesday.

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