Malaysia's men and women failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Malaysian hockey seems devastated as though it has gone through a war. Believe me or not a " war" seems to be developing as to whether a free and fair election would be held.
The incumbents are clutching on to the straw and hanging for survival for their re-election. Their term has been very colourful for the wrong reasons. Most of the matters that they promised have not been fulfilled. It simply shows that the standard of hockey in Malaysia is at the doldrums.
In the words of the great scientist Einstein, " Insanity!!! Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." I wonder whether this is what has been happening in Malaysian hockey? The modus operandi and the resulting failures seem to be a mirror image of the happenings in Malaysian hockey.
Yet! The saddest aspect of all this is that the Affiliates have not come to realise it. There seems to be a "herd mentality" ie like a flock of sheep being led to the slaughterhouse. The fact that the Affiliates can tolerate the dismal state of affairs in Malaysian hockey, could also mean that they are sort of "accessories" to the whole scenario.
It would seem that the Affiliates have failed to be a check and balance of the President and his team. The Affiliates have failed to take responsibility and exercise the powers to continuously review the performance of the personalities that they selected to lead Malaysian hockey. This has given those who helm Malaysian hockey the freedom to do what they want including bringing the whole sport to such a pathetic state.
I raise this issue because it would seem the total disinterest is seen reflected in the way the nomination process for Office Bearers has been conducted. "Free and fair" must not be purely spoken words but rather must manifest in actions. When a process fails to have independent scrutinisers to conduct the process of nomination including vetting the forms, it can encourage uncalled-for events. When that happens the 1st wave of thinking would inevitably point fingers at the incumbents, especially if they are seeking re-election. Compounding the matter would be the storylines of unsavoury issues that have taken place prior to nomination. Rumours of free tickets and spending monies for Affiliates to attend the 2020 Olympic hockey qualifiers in London can be very troubling.
On Nomination itself, the forms for contestants for the various posts had to be filed. For both President and Deputy Presidents the pre-qualification is to have 3 nominations. After Malaysia's on the field disaster in London, there was a mood for change. There was no doubt the incumbent President was to be challenged by the prominent Entrepreneur who had with his main partner built one of the largest budget airlines in Asia over a 10 year period. A graduate of Actuarial Science with good Banking and Investment capital background with stints in assisting managing an English Football club, he offered himself as a candidate for President. He was coming in with a team of former internationals and hockey administrators.
David Seabury stated, " because of fear, life is a mockery and out of it comes despair". How adept this statement is in the current crisis in Malaysian hockey, considering that the only contestant against the incumbent President was disqualified. The official version was that he had only 2 nominations as opposed to the 3 that were required.
A very strange reasoning because the contestant believes he had 3 and on an investigation, a State Affiliate had provided his name after the endorsement of its Council which was a Constitutional requirement. However, mysteriously the President of the State Affiliate had later independently sent a letter nominating the incumbent. This is where the "mockery" begins.
The "despair" aspect relates to the disqualification of the Entrepreneur, thereby killing the element of free choice by the Affiliates. Rather than being magnanimous about it and permitting the nomination to remain until proper investigations have been undertaken and a decision made prior to the election date, an immediate "amputation" of the contestant was done. This thereby permits the incumbent President to return "uncontested", a position by whichever ways and reasons he would want to retain.
Is this the end of this developing saga? The whole episode is a mess and it is surprising that the Sports Authorities, namely the Sports Commissioner and Ministry of Sports, do not seem to have the sense to act upon urgently. First and foremost the whole election process must be suspended pending a full investigation by the Authorities. Meantime all incumbents must vacate their positions and allow a Working Committee appointed by the Authorities to conduct the basic affairs of Malaysian hockey for the interim period. Thereupon on completion of an investigation, conduct a fair and free election and hand over the helm to the new Committee.
If this is done, we are bringing back a sense of sanity to the Administration of Malaysian Hockey. Do not let fear be the father and mother of mockery and despair of Malaysian hockey. Malaysian hockey has to move forward. The game is bigger than the people who resist change.
V M Chandran
Nov 2019.
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