MHF BGM

Results

Deputy : Nur Azmi

VP - Dato Che Khalib, Dato Rahim, Gobi, Manjit Majid

Keep following the site for updates on the MHF Election.

1130- Meeting commences

1135- Speech by Tengku Mahkota, President of MHF as below.

Admin - have always kept an eye and provided advice to improve administration. We have only five staff and not easy for such an organization and understrength.

13 management meetings and seven council meetings, met often enough. We were rated and 63 percent by OCM, and were rated A by the Sports Comm Office.

We have weakness with regards to the performance of national team, sadly we did not perform well but not that bad either. We are stagnant and need to do something.

Look in depth and give national team a chance. Am trying the best to beef up team and on learning curve. Have some ideas to improve team but need constructive ideas from affiliates.

With regards to the constitution that we need to improvise with obsolete clauses. I welcome views towards improving our constitution towards the betterment of the sport. Secretary and Treasurer appointed to avoid any conflict and avoid politics. The reason for the increase of term to four years is to meet key performance index, so we need to give this a try and see how it works.

Elections, many are keen and was surprised I was not challenged. Democracy is still alive within MHF.

We have to respect the views of writers and bloggers as they too have a view.

I want all the candidates to work together and do not want a split MHF as I can always exit if I find continued split within MHF.

Moving forward, on development we have the 1MAS program and hope it works well. Do not want it to be mere program and it should not fail. Will go to visit personally. The PM will launch it on December 13. This if done well we will get more corporate sponsors and we even are looking to outsource it.

Thank the PM and every ringgit spent is accountable and wisely spent on players and not officials. Thank Dato Zolkples the NSC DG for monitoring the program.

National team at Commonwealth did not do well. We approved the request by coaches to send full team. But against India it showed we can perform but after that we just went down. We need to improve and result was not acceptable and it's China we target now towards the road to Olympics. If we fail at Asian Games then we have to look at the qualifiers.

Not only are we looking at Nat Team, but I feel we should have two national teams and two junior teams. We lack a big base.

We have Nat Team, a 2013 team and another a 2017 team. We are short of quality players.

All other countries depend on younger players and Pakistan even had a 15 year old in New Delhi. Therefore 1 MAS must deliver.

The 2013 team have performed well and behave well as well.

As for 2017, we need to give them time and will provide exposure and will appoint a consultant for this. We will have a database and will be launched next year.

States will have to play a major role and not compete but complement the efforts of the national body.

Also wish to thank the Competition Committee for a job well done to carry out the various tournaments over the period in office.

We should target the title for the Azlan Shah Cup as it's the 20th edition.

As for finance, we will increase the prize money by 30 per cent in the next MHL so as to make it more prestigious.

We also increased the organizational cost for states playing hosts from RM25,000 to RM30,000. We are sensitive to needs of states.

An incentive scheme to organize the Under 18 league, we will provide RM3,000 to RM15,000 as a grant to encourage youth program to help develop more players.

We have until June 2010 paid off all our debtors totaling RM1.4 million and thank all those who have helped me.

We have a surplus at the moment if RM3.2 million including the RM2 million from the federal government, and maybe even NSC do not know.

The PM has set us a target to be in the top 10 and I have set that as our goal.

Personally I hope we will continue to improve.

Wish to thank the PM and all those who sponsored MHF and we pray they continue to do so in the coming years.

12.15- speech of President ends

12.20- minutes of last AGM, annual report, accounts are approved.

12.25- election of office bearers commences.

Tengku Abdullah opts not to vote in the elections so there will only be 36 votes to decide positions.

1245- Voting for Deputy Presidents position completed and Vice Presidents votes are being cast.

In 40 rests the fate of Malaysian hockey

Time and again, Malaysian sport has been betrayed by the very men entrusted with the task of keeping the flame of the game burning bright.

It is a sacred duty these men are sworn implicitly to perform the moment they offer themselves for office.

But that is rarely the case in this country where self-interest and bigotry outweigh all other moral considerations.

The fate of Malaysian hockey once again rests in the hands of the 40 delegates from the states and affiliates who will, together with the outgoing council members entitled to vote, elect those who will govern the sport for the next term.

The 40 have a heavy responsibility as it is their choice of officials which will ultimately determine whether the rot continues or if hockey has even a chance of making a recovery.

As it is, they have a rather poor record in their choice of candidates as the decrepit state of the game clearly shows.

Because their decisions have often been dictated by sentiment and prejudice rather than good sense, the men they picked have often lacked the quality and
ability to do the job.

To put it bluntly, they have been duds - jesters and eunuchs who put hockey to the sword through their incompetence and indifference.

For far too long have the delegates failed in their moral obligation to ensure that only the qualified lead the association.

For far too long has the game suffered at the hands of mediocrity and less.

That has been a gross dereliction of responsibility on the part of the delegates. An injustice to the game. A betrayal of the trust of the fans, the people, the state and the nation.

Of course these delegates don't see it that way. Not when the prevailing culture and thinking is warped by the politics of greed, venality, hate and spite.

It is time to change all that. The decisions we make determine our futures. The onus is on the delegates to take responsibility for their vote and elect the right men.

Perhaps then hockey will have a chance. Perhaps then the sport will draw genuine talent, men and women of true calibre who will be encouraged by the knowledge that there will always be fairplay in the MHF.

It is time for the delegates to search their souls, do the honorable thing and commit their votes to the future of the sport. Or, forever be damned for making the wrong choices - again.

Malaysians will know just who to blame if the game continues to suffer at the hands of the incompetent.

It will be the 40 who chose to put them in charge... or not.

Save the game: Give the cheats and the dolts the stick

That there are those of influence trying to profit from the MHF elections is not only a crying shame but a blight on the game.

The allegation that a contender for a senior position is offering to prejudice the outcome of the voting in return for gratification needs immediate action.

For far too long has the MHF, like other sports associations in the country, been allowed to be run by a cohort of unscrupulous men who are only in it for personal gain. Not the sport, not the players, not the nation.

The MHF has, in recent years, become a byword for such blatant misconduct, incompetence and inefficiency. These are just some examples of that:

VOTE BUYING: The said powerbroker is determined to place people of his choice, or those who are willing to pay for it, in the council. This is probably not the first time this is happening in the MHF of course. That the delegates are willing to sell their honour and votes for a song is the greater tragedy.

THE SURJIT MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT IN JALANDHAR: Despite knowing about the tourney months in advance, MHF did nothing to prepare for the trip. When the National Sports Council rejected funding as MHF had exceeded their budget, there was a last minute scramble and MHF ended up with Air Asia as the sponsors despite having to pay for the tickets, albeit at a discount.

MISSING MONEY: RM25,000 "disappeared" some two years ago but only now has MHF realised it. So much for keeping proper accounts and accountability. How are we to know that this is not the first time monies have been unaccounted for in the MHF?

IGNORANCE: The national team was put in an embarrassing position at the Delhi Commonwealth Games because of yet another screwup by ignorant officials. The regulations in multi-sports events are quite clear on no advertising being allowed on jerseys. Because an official was ignorant, or simply failed to understand the rules, the team had to cover the sponsors name on the jerseys before taking to the field.

There are many more such instances of imbecility which have made Malaysian hockey a laughing stock at home and abroad. So why we continue to suffer fools who give the game a bad name is anybody's guess.

The delegates have to realise that they are culpable for voting in these people in the first place. Like it or not, they are accomplices after the fact for all the misdeeds and blunders for endorsing the corrupt and the incompetent. This is what happens when they sell their votes or are driven by petty peeves rather than voting for the best candidate.

Where prejudices, bias and bigotry triumph over reason, merit and true capability. That is what the MHF is today - a sordid hotbed of hypocrisy and duplicity, never mind the game.

The delegates must realise that they are morally obliged to vote for the best candidate. That a major hockey revival will profit all concerned. That hockey need not go begging bowl in hand for funds if it were a success. That sponsors would be falling over each other to be part of the sport if it regained its preeminence.

For that to happen the president needs men of calibre around him. Men who can help reshape and remake Malaysian hockey and relaunch it into the stratosphere. They must be able to take a purely commercial approach to make hockey both viable and appealing to the masses again.

  

MHF must become Malaysian Hockey Inc, answerable to the primary stakeholders - the Malaysian people. That can only happen if the delegates put all differences aside and vote for the greater glory of the sport. That means giving the venal manipulators and the incompetent the stick.

If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal

More than anything else, the Malaysian Hockey Federation is in dire need of a change IN men rather than just a change OF men.

Malaysian hockey is crying for new inspiration and motivation which can only be provided by fresh faces with the moral fibre and strength of character to force the necessary changes. The revolution has to be in the new ideas and commitment these men bring, not returning to office or voting in those who promise more of the same indifference and ineptiude. 

There is no need to belabour the plight hockey is in. It is there for all, except the blinkered men who run MHF, to see.  The humiliation in New Delhi will be repeated in Guangzhou next month and we will be fed the usual ration of bull by the MHF fat cats.

How much longer must Malaysians put up with this nonsense as the country slips further into obscurity. The current state of hockey is an insult to former MHF leaders like Tun Abdul Razak, Sultan Azlan Shah and others. It is an insult to former greats like A. Francis, Yang Siow Meng, Razak Leman, Poon Fook Loke, M. Mahendran, C. Paramalingam, the late Ho Koh Chye and Dato Yoges, who took the national team to such great heights. 

Most of all, it is an insult to all Malaysians.

But do the present MHF officials care? Do they share the same humiliation? Do they even have a sense of shame or responsibilty? Or are they so secure in their hide-bound exo-skeletons that they simply don't care? After all, their positions, won by whatever artifice possible, are secure.

Their indifference is nothing short of scandalous. Their ignorance even more so. It is the nation's pride at stake for heaven's sake.

But then again you only sow what you reap and the fault very much lies with those who voted these men into office, time and again, in the first place. Unkept pledges, promoting their henchmen, making decisions that will further damage the sport seem to be the key performance indicator as votes are being sought by dubious means.

Truth be told, like everything else in the country, politics has taken precedence over good governance. Every single day is spent backstabbing and maligning and sabotaging the efforts of rivals to the extent that the sport takes a backseat.

If only they expanded all that energy running the sport as they are supposed to. But then again, do they even know what needs to be done?

Allegations of vote-buying, threats, poison text messages, missing money from the coffers of MHF, seeking positions in companies as a trade off for support,  and other dirty tricks are rife as election day nears. You would think these candidates were vying for seats in the state assembly or parliament. It is downright unhealthy and revolting the lengths these people will go to. That alone should disqualify them from office.

That is why it is imperative that the delegates forget petty rivalries and vote for the most capable candidates this Sunday. Some of the officials have been around in hockey for so long that they have virtually become part of the furniture and just as inanimate.

But it takes courage to change and that is one commodity that Malaysian sport lacks.

Cronyism and patronage override all other considerations and the sport suffers. The quality of the national teams and the results are a damning indictment of the incumbents' bungling attempts at running MHF, yet they remain in office, hanging on to the President, even claiming that Tengku Abdullah's state by virtue of nominating them means an endorsement of their candidancy by the President himself.

More than the driftwood and deadwood, hockey needs men capable of doing the job. It is good that some former internationals have decided to join the fray. One or two of them should be given a chance to serve as MHF badly needs an infusion of fresh blood and ideas.

Most of the incumbents have had more than their share of chances and have been found wanting. Give the new candidates the opportunity to revive the sport. That is how things work in a fair and just society where failed officials are voted out for the greater good.

As elected guardians of hockey, the delegates are dutybound to put the sport above self and vote for the right candidates. They must remember that the sport's failure is their failure.

The hardest thing about any election campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.

Let us hope they don't let their states and the nation down again.

MHFGATE

A candidate for the post of Deputy President for the forthcoming Malaysian Hockey Federation elections is making deals for himself while intimidating candidates for the vice presidents positions.

Not only did he try to talk one candidate for vice president to withdraw from the race, he promised the other that he will be one of the four candidates that will be voted in provided he was given a directorship in one of the candidates companies.

Talk is rife thar RM5,000 for the votes is being offered and it's high time the MHF President takes a long hard look at the quality and ethics of the candidates.

CHANGE, MHF MUST

If the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) were a business entity it would have been declared bankrupt and the officials unceremoniously sacked a long time ago.

But because this is Malaysia, where accountability is meaningless, failed officials continue to thrive under the patronage of the very people entrusted with the responsibilty of producing results.

Never mind that it is public funds being squandered. Never mind that the sport is being suffocated by all levels of incompetence and mismanagement. Never mind that this is tantamount to criminal abuse. 

Never mind that these officials have reduced once proud Malaysian hockey to destitution. After all, failure and ineptitude are well rewarded in this fair land.

Incompetence is as pernicious a disease as diabetes and just as easy to ignore until it is too late. The sweet-toothed MHF has been in decay for decades simply because the leadership preferred to appoint yesmen and sycophants ahead of competent, result-oriented men of character and thrift.

These flunkies have defiled and destroyed the very fabric of hockey in the country as they are driven only by self-interest and gorging on freebies. 

Like virulent parasites that feed on a bloated carcass, these men have had neither the inclination nor the desire or wherewithal to resuscitate and revitalise the sport.

Typical of all bootlickers they simply don't have a clue.

So who is to blame for the comatose state of Malaysian hockey? Is it these bunch of turkeys posing as officials or is the president to blame for his feckless leadership in allowing himself to be surrounded by such effete minions?

It is tragic that we have to hark back 35 years, to that 1975 World Cup in KL, for a nostalgic whiff of what could have been. Like Malaysian football, hockey has seen better days and has been languishing in the doldrums for about the same period of time.

There are many similarities symtomatic of the debilitating disease afflicting both sports. A once thriving industry which produced quality players is now a desolate landscape of drought and despair. 

The schools and local leagues are in shambles and the once premier Razak Cup tournament is a travesty of the tournament which once drew the attention of the entire nation.

So who do you blame for this clear dereliction of duty? The bunch of goons posing as officials or is the president to blame for turning a blind eye to the abuses?

But then the bane of Malaysian sport has always been the blame game, which if it were an Olympic event Malaysia would be prime contenders for gold. For far too long have incompetence and failure allowed to flourish unchallenged in this country. It is time for results and accountability.

It is incumbent upon the president to deliver the goods and he can only do this by getting the right team to do the job. 

Like it or now, as tax payers the public are shareholders in MHF and have the right to demand answers for non-performance and poor results. 

The president and his men are dutybound to make profitable returns by way of a viable national team and ensuring that the sport returns to a vibrant state of health.

This means being prepared to work with people who know what it takes to get the job done. Men and women who are prepared to go down to the boilers and toil and get dirty in the process if necessary. 

What MHF no longer needs is useless officials in stuffy suits who think only of their own comforts or the next junket.

BETTER LATE THEN NEVER

It's been said many times before that the only way to fail is to quit.  While this is true, some times we need to take a step back and ask ourselves if our efforts are really worth it. But when it is the right time to give up?

The only thing sadder than a tainted official not knowing when to call it quits is a metaphysical being not knowing when to say when. This is a dilemma that is not only unique to those holding office in the Malaysian Hockey Federation but it is something that all sports officials here do, they just do not know when to bid goodbye, even though the writing is on the wall.

The unfortunate thing about not knowing to call it quits will eventually lead to their careers ending in undignified fashion. Many of those seeking election, re-election and making a comeback, have been in the sport for a good 15 to 20 years and in reality this is all they have known since their teenage years.

Therefore, emotionally it is gut wrenching and difficult to wake up one day and just leave everything behind, but the reality of the situation is some of them just should not have been there in the first place.

Besides the glamour thing, like rubbing shoulders with royalty, there are intangible things that are to be missed, the money making, the talking cock banter and the feeling they go through as they look down upon others.

That is why some of these officials want to squeeze every last drop out of their careers.

Generally, ego is a dominant factor, but oftentimes it is pure revenge that drives these officials to stay beyond their welcome. Ego leads the official to the conclusion that the deterioration of the institution is someone else's fault. 

The coaches are the one who always screw up, the malcontents in the office, the civil servants who never get anything right, are all a convenient rationale for justifying a prolonged stay.

Some officials have tunnel vision and don't seem to realize that the failures of those around them are rooted in their own failures as officials of the association.

Others however, exist on revenge, that everyone is out to get them and they'll be damned if they will leave on any but their own terms.

These are the type of officials who create the biggest problems for their successors.

Experience is something that has no substitute but there comes a point when the negatives outweigh that.

So when is the right time to call it quits? One has to take a look at the following questions and situations and come to a conclusion.

When you don't enjoy your work; When everything that goes wrong is someone else's fault; When being out of the office at an inane conference is an occasion that can't be missed; When you think that everyone is out to get you; When you spend more time on your cell phone than your desk phone; When the words "due process" for the first time really mean something; When you think your evaluation has been "cooked.” When your superiors have more meetings without you than with you ; When one of your inferiors is consulted more than you ; When you spend more time with people you used to dislike than time with people you admire.

If all the above is happening, then you know that the writing is on the wall and its time to look elsewhere.

There are no iron clad signs but some are telltale indications that a change of scenery would be "a good thing." For the grass may look greener elsewhere.