Valentine's Day - A day of choices in MCA.

February 14th, the day everyone with passion displays their love for their partner or future partner. In the case of MCA, that would be the day affiliates and incumbents would make their choices on who shall be the office bearers for the next 2 years. The question is , whether there is a "passion" to retain the incumbents or create a "change" i.e find new partners to the game.

Rumours in the market can only be confirmed on 7th February, the date of nomination. This time, there was talk of a "unity"committee but the initial good intention seems to have been undermined by sheer stubborn approach by negotiating parties. Part of the reason is the incumbent President wants to remain in his post. The other is the introduction of certain "faces" to certain key positions seems to imply that the parties are interested to hold those posts. Therefore compromise for the betterment of cricket based on the "best person for the job" may not materialise.

Obviously this is sad. The incumbent President is holding too many posts in too many places and it is clear he does not have quality time for Malaysian cricket. There is no doubt he has passion for the game but the question is can he give quality time. Indeed the current incumbent Deputy President is an able candidate for the post. He has done a lot for cricket and also for the welfare of players. It is only appropriate he should be rewarded but being a close friend of the incumbent President, he would not perform the "tyrannical" act of challenging him. Another person who would do an excellent job as President is the current President of Royal Selangor Club. A former national cricketer and was also the Secretary, who was responsible to revive Malaysian Cricket Association, would fit into this the position splendidly. Again I think having served under the incumbent President as Secretary, i cannot see him wanting to create any ill- feelings at this stage of his life. Of course there are many other candidates but the question is whether they want to to be seen to be challenging the incumbent renowned personality.

As for the Deputy President, the post is essentially "tailored made" for the current incumbent. Although he is not free from controversy in the last 2 years, yet he has also worked hard in his area of responsibility. In the past he has extended his own resources to keep MCA afloat and that is the sort of commitment that is displayed by the current incumbent. If he is not re-elected there would be a travesty of justice.

I understand that the current President of Perak Cricket Association, a former Vice President of MCA is highly keen to make a comeback. A good worker and able to do his job well. He had in the past ruffled a few feathers, the manner he undertook his job. Obviously, these were no ordinary feathers and he had to pay the price by losing in the last MCA BGM. More importantly, has he smoked the"pipe of peace" to pave the way for his return. I have no doubt that his organisational skills and prompt nature of attending to matters, would make him an ideal person for MCA.

Another person being encouraged to take the post of Vice President, is the current Secretary of an associate member of MCA. The organisation in which he is involved, is doing a great job in development and have extensive programme throughout the country. In many ways he has been the administrative "backbone" of the organisation and has been performing a remarkable job. Strangely, he seem to have a number of critics and some wonder whether it is because of envy or his style of doing things. Again, if he joins the office bearers of MCA, it would bring a broader dimension to MCA.

Rumours emerging from the cricketing circles indicate that the incumbent Secretary is retiring. If that is so, may i wish him and his family the very best. While i have been critical of him in the past, i must also admire the brave decision he has taken not to contest. It is important that his past services be recognised by the MCA. As for the Secretary, a peculiar news is floating around. How truthful it is, is difficult to verify. Some indicate the former Secretary, who is the incumbent Vice President, is keen to return to his old position. I think, some just find it difficult to give up.

An ideal person for the post of Secretary is the current Executive Secretary of Federal Territory Cricket Association (FTCA). A former national cricketer, a national coach and also match referee plus working as minuting secretary in a club, would bring a significant value to MCA. The point is whether he is prepared to take on the administrative task of the national organisation.

In another 2 or 3 days, we shall know the true situation and therefore we would know whether "camp" politics is prevailing or there is a genuine attempt for groups to work together for the betterment of Malaysian cricket.

....... and it is 3 months, the Report Card for MHF.

1st November 2008, saw the election of the new leadership in MHF. This gave a sense of hope that things would change after 2 years of deterioration in standards of Malaysian hockey. While performance was the main issue but aspects of governance and accountability too became an integral part of the moans and groans of the hockey fraternity.

The outcry for change saw a number of bustling activities from anonymous letters to signature campaign, to the full electioneering process for positions. From various offices, the search was on to find suitable people to helm MHF and bring the changes. There were "big names" involved and i must state most of them had the interest of Malaysian hockey at heart. A few rode on the wave using the "big names" to resurrect themselves, so as their years of service to Malaysian hockey would not be forgotten and they can influence the new leadership.. There were others, who created a scenario that they knew it all and was out to make an impression. Finally, there were people, who just wanted to attend the "victory dinner", irrespective who won. This was the multitude of people with varying interests, who made the cosmopolitan of people, who wanted to participate in the change.

However the state of Malaysian hockey was so bad that it became extremely difficult to find suitable candidates to helm MHF. Finally, through the good offices of a passionate hockey personality that TM of Pahang agreed to become President and the necessary backroom work was done for the TM to be unopposed. Sadly, most of the former office bearers remained and this immediately posed a question: Would the change take place?

On 31st January 2009 TM and his Committee had served 3 months in MHF and the time has come to take a "stocktake" to determine if hockey is moving in the right direction. Therefore the "Report Card" for the 3 months is as follows:

The Positive Outlook.

1. Appointment of Committee Chairman's.

• Named the respective personalities within a month of taking over .
• Presented the list to the MHF Council within a month.
• Created 2 new Committees, namely Consultative and Wawasan.

2. Organising National Hockey Seminar.

• Had a national seminar within one and the half months of taking over.
• President presented his vision of MHF.
• Various Committees presented their "plans" including the "102" Group.

3. Team Management Committee (TMC).

• TMC appoints Managers and Coaches for the various national teams.

4. Junior World Cup (JWC) 2009.

• President visits venue to check status of site. Guarantees MHF shall be ready for JWC.
• Organising Chairman appointed.
• Cancelled friendly inter - nation tournament has been reinstated by President for March 2009.

5. Senior National Team.

• Newly appointed interim coaches requests for fitness and medical tests by ISN on players.
• "Smoking" by players has become an issue with the coaches.
• Injury of players particularly those with long term injuries are under pressure to attend rehabilitation.

6. Foreign Coach for Senior Team.

• President is committed to the appointment of foreign coach and the search is on-going.

7. Donation.

• The President had received a donation of 2 cars for MHF.

The Negative Outlook.

1. Appointment of Committee Chairman's

• The appointments did not get the prior approval of the Management Committee.
• The MHF Council was duly informed prior to a Management Meeting.

2. National Hockey Seminar.

• Pathetically organised and shows the inherent weakness of MHF Secretariat.
• Findings and recommendations have not been collated and circulated to Affiliates and interested parties.

3. Master Plan for Malaysian hockey.

• MHF is in a "talk" atmosphere and there is absences of "strategic" planning work, a key ingredient in moving forward in the creation of a Master Plan.
• In the absence of a Master Plan, MHF is both "blind" and "lame" as to its approach over a period of time.
• One can assume MHF is still on "ad-hoc" mode of operation i.e no different from the past 2 years.

4. Structural revamping of MHF.

• "102" Former hockey internationals presented a voluminous report and the "road map" including the way forward to revamp MHF. As in the past, this document seem to collect dust too.

5. Team Management Committee (TMC).

• Certain members in the TMC have put themselves in position of conflict by also sitting in the Consultative or Wawasan Committees, which is to supervise some of the key facets of MHF.
• A key NSC representative sits on the TMC, which is both ethically wrong and also from a position of conflict.
• A member of the TMC was also appointed to a position with one of the national teams, which is an infringement of rules of natural justice.
• Certain appointee of TMC in the national team, who also sits in the Wawasan Committee, which itself is ethically not proper and further it creates a conflict.
• TMC totally lacked transparency in the appointment of coaches, as they could have advertised the posts for coaches to apply. Governance is not the order of TMC.
• TMC seem to focus most of their appointments to Kuala Lumpur affiliates only, thereby creating a biase position in the appointment process.
• The TMC did not do sufficient in-depth work on the appointment, as some of the coaches do not have any "paper" qualification.
• In making the appointment public, the TMC did not obtain the prior approval of the Management Committee.

6. Coaching Committee.

• Chairman of Coaching Committee, who sits in the TMC seem to endorse TMC decision without his Committee deliberating on the subject.
• The Chairman wants all coaches to have appropriate qualifications, yet those who were appointed to the various national teams without "papers" are now given 6 months to obtain them. Why not apply the same rule across the board? Why are some special?
• Progress of Coaching Committee and its plans seem to be slow.
• Again the Coaching Committee is abdicating its responsibility by allowing a Vice President (nothing to do with Coaching) in MHF to conduct the negotiations for the foreign coach.

7. Project 2013.

• TMC in its strange wisdom had appointed most of the coaches involved with a corporate sponsored Age Group development referred to as Project 2013, leading to the Junior World Cup in 2013. This programme was endorsed by the previous administration of MHF.
• By doing this the TMC has literally "killed" Project 2013 and the involvement of a corporate sponsor.
• Project 2013 is to be the core of the current Development Committee programme which is referred to as "30/13". Now what happens to this programme?

8. Development Committee.

• After 3 months this Committee is on a "see saw" outlook. Firstly their programme of "30/13" seem technically undermined by the TMC.
• Their new programme of Malaysia B team seems to be outside their scope i.e development.
• The Development Committee seem more interested in National Teams as oppose to creating an interest and promoting the game with young kids. Where is such a plan?

9. Competition Committee

• A lot of was spoken of a single National league and it was to start in February. Yet suddenly they have gone on "silent" mode.
• Big ideas with more teams and longer period of competition. Maybe because MHF Calender for 2009 is not ready, they are now in a fix.
• The Committee has also to check the issue of funding as 2008 winning parties have yet to receive their prize money.

10. Medical Committee and Special Projects Committee.

• Both these Committees seem to be "passengers" in MHF.
• Surprising the Chairman of the Medical Committee is involved in the negotiations for a foreign coach. Indeed if any, he should work with ISN and see how best modern innovations could be adopted to enhance players performance.

11. Extremely weak MHF Secretariat.

• This is one of the key problem area of MHF. The weakness is very apparent but for strange reasons nothing is being done.

12. NSC and their involvement.

• Today, NSC has become like an affiliate of MHF or an elected office bearer. It seem to be involved on the day to day running of MHF. Its key representatives sit in the Management Committee, Consultative Committee, Wawasan Committee and the Team Management Committee.
• Ethically and from conflict NSC is in total breach. NSC is the main government agency for Sports but it has to caary out its role properly. The "waters" should not mix but the way NSC is involved in MHF, the lines of demarcation is totally distorted.

13. Foreign Coach.

• The stories that were told for the last 3 months of the appointment. It all seem to be "stories".
• The problem is no one with sufficient calibre either at NSC or MHF know how to conduct proper negotiations with the foreign coaches. Those are the hard facts.

In essence, that is the "Report Card" for MHF for their 1st three months. I may have missed some points but I think all in all, the report card does not show a glowing report. Indeed the minimum changes expected in governance and accountability has not materialise. Therefore to expect a MasterPlan and the revamping of MHF is like the "cow jumping over the moon" i.e as good as a nursery rhyme and probably that is what MHF is best at.

All the attention given to MHF seem to reflect the maxim of "too many cooks spoilt the soup". It cannot be far from wrong. Indeed if the 1st three months is an indication of MHF, I really cannot see much hope in Malaysian hockey. The President has to undertake drastic measures even if it is unpopular or not the deterioration of Malaysin hockey would continue.

Juniors hockey team - "Perception & Reality"

After the disastrous outing at the Asian Junior hockey tournament at Hyderabad last year, the National Junior coach had to make way for his assistant to take over the team. The new coach was fairly successful in the domestic competition with TNB and Kuala Lumpur. This probably gave him the opportunity to handle the Juniors.


His first outing with the Juniors was the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL). Even before the league could commence, he loss some of the players to the various clubs. Still he was brave enough to participate. Some may wonder whether it was "dutch courage" or plain "madness".


With a depleted team, there was nothing much to talk about the Juniors. However what was troubling was the young team could not match the efforts of the "older" teams such as Maybank and Sapura. Other than providing some form of exposure to the players, I do not believe the Juniors achieved anything concrete. I state this because the issue of "fitness" still was a perennial problem and apparently continued to do so on the Australian tour.


In preparation for the Junior World Cup in June 2009, there were certain administrative changes made. The former national coach i.e the German became the Coordinator, the coach and the assistant remained the same. The new team manager is a Kuala Lumpur Hockey Association Vice President and the attachment coach is from TNB. The selection was made by the Team Management Committee (TMC), obviously without carefully thinking.


Why a coordinator? The answer was actually provided by the players and that is , the coordinator is actually coaching the boys. Therefore the national junior coach seem to be only in name and for public consumption. Apparently this sort of style has been happening in the past but the German coach was usually a consultant. The term consultant does not provide an effective role and that is probably why the term coordinator was introduced. I am told that if you get to the training ground, the perception and reality can be easily distinguished. So why this charade? Probably the TMC can provide the answer.


When I mentioned that the TMC did not undertake their task properly, i meant that they have made a number of decisions that would put MHF in "bad light". One of it is appointing coaches who do not have any certificates. The height of craziness was also contributed by the Chairman of the Coaching Committee, when he indicated that these coaches shall be given 6 months to get their certificates. So the attachment coach with the Juniors who does not have the "papers" have to get his qualification while serving the Juniors, Interesting also that the Junior World Cup shall take place in 5 months. Poor coach, he has 2 tasks and which is he going to concentrate. When he gets his "papers", the Junior World Cup is over. Why such desperate acts of decision making? Is it "window dressing"? Maybe there are insufficient qualified coaches and that's why the desperation. Perception versus realities.


Back to the Juniors. Having participated in the MHL and then having centralised training before their departure to Australia, the Junior Coach then comes up with his excuses for the "not so good" outing. The excuses were

• Lack of fitness


• 10 players were benched as the tournament was Under 20

It would seem that the Junior coach can only stretch his imagination to such excuses. If so why was a fitness test not conducted by ISN before the trip? Why participate in a tournament where half your team is already grounded before the tournament?

Strangely, why was this issue not considered by the TMC. Even more confusing was NSC's lack of commitment to determine that the funds they provided for such tours can be justified. Honestly, this trip by the Juniors is a total waste of funds and both MHF and NSC must take full responsibility.

In reality. i think we are going to be disappointed with the Juniors. Peculiar, at the end of the day the coordinator would walk away freely while the poor coach and the team manager may get the "sticks". This is the price one pays for allowing such perception to exist.

cintahokitoo.blogspot.com - Another new blog for hockey.

Early last year, there were letters circulated under the name of "cintahoki". Indeed if any, while i do not recognise such letters, which was widely circulated but i must record that these letters helped to catalyst the change of leadership in Malaysian hockey.

The 102 former hockey internationals and including this blog came into being after "cintahoki" made the massive incursion with the hockey fraternity. To be fair even the Affiliates also got initially involved due to "cintahoki".

Since this new blog had communicated with voice-in-sports, i felt the need to highlight the past role of "cintahoki" and whether the new blog has any relationship with that "cintahoki".

Anyway, "cintahokitoo", welcome to the blogging world and i hope as sports blogger we can contribute to positive changes to the sporting environment in Malaysia.

Is the time right for President of MCA to retire graciously?

The current President of Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) came into MCA as an arrangement to replace the then incumbent Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah. Apparently that arrangement was also extended to the post of President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) which was held then by Tan Sri Hamzah.


While that was history, the point is, the people felt that the time had come that Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah had to "go". The idea was for a smooth and acceptable arrangement so as the transition of "takeover" would be much easier. Further it was also to recognise the years of service Tan Sri Hamzah had put into cricket and to ensure a level of respect was bestowed to him. Equally, it must be recognised that the current President wanted to do it the "gentleman" way i.e provide a gracious exit.


After years of service to MCA, the question is whether the current MCA President is in the same dilemma as Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah. If he does not feel it, I can probably understand. However there are already "talks" whether the President has the time for MCA. His preoccupation with OCM, International Olympic Council (IOC), International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) plus the corporate sector. creates a feeling that he does not have the time for the "smallest" of all the outfits i.e MCA.


There is no doubt that MCA is the "smallest" but it must be recognise that it paved the way for the President to hold the various posts in the sporting arena. Small yet powerful enough to provide the accessibility. Of course, one cannot take away the personality of the President that has also contributed to him holding the numerous positions. Still the "passport" for him was and is MCA.


Now that the MCA election is due in February 2009, the question of the post of President has become a talking point. This time there is a greater call for the need to find a "new face". How serious is this, is questionable. Still, if the President is challenged and even if he wins with the majority being eroded, the "writing is already on the wall". This is where the President may have to consider whether to "call it a day" with MCA.


On the other side, it is rumoured that for the President to sustain his position as President of OCM, he still has to be an official of a National Sports Association (NSA). This may force the President to want to remain in MCA, provided he wants to defend his position in OCM. Again an arrangement can be made in MCA, e.g creating constitutionally a post of "immediate Past President" as an executive post and thereby fulfilling the requirements needed to recontest in OCM. There maybe other options but the key issue, is that, it is possible.

The fundamental aspect is, what is the outlook of the President of MCA i.e does he want to or does not want to contest. My advice is to bid the farewell when the scenario is still looking good, thereby also permitting a new leadership to emerge.

A plea for Malaysian cricket.......

I received this nicely worded comment, which in many ways tantamount to a "plea". The writer without mincing his words basically is pleading for cricket lovers to put aside their differences an work to improve cricket.

An excellent call and i believe a "unity" MCA committee must come in to undertake this task. Question" How do we go about this? Only people with vision, great courage and able to see the "big picture" can come together. Are there such people? Yes ! there are many but an effective leader who has the admiration and support plus able to transcend the prevailing pettiness needs to be invited to lead MCA. Such a person must be able to hold together the MCA, so as they stay focus to what they must do and achieve.

Below is the text of the writer's comment:

"Fellow Malaysians and cricketers,

It is sad to see or read things like this on a blog. Instead of getting together to solve a problem, everyone is pointing fingers at each other and making things worst. I bet there are a few disgruntled cricket lovers, does not matter who, can be a current player, an ex player, officials current/ex and etc and the cause is because our National Cricket Team is not really performing or providing the results in almost all age groups including the senior side. In order for us to be at the top, we have to stop behaving like kids and grow up.

If you are someone capable of helping out, just help and if you are someone incapable of helping, just leave it to the people who are capable of helping. If you have a problem, why voice it out here, why not voice it out to someone in charge and make it official?

We really need to consider putting aside our differences and accept the fact that we are Malaysians and cricketers to top it all. We should be behaving like gentlemen instead of barbarians or hooligans.

Bottom line is, let the ones who are in charge of doing their work do their part and if there is a flaw in the system, do something to change it."

Would this advice be adhered by the "power brokers" involved in the coming MCA election?

Strangely, ethics & conflict of interests seem to be non-issues in MHF.

The principles underlying ethics and conflict of interests has been built over centuries, so as to permit a proper order in peoples conduct for the fulfilment of their duties. These are "time tested" and has become a common feature in progressive looking outfits where governance, accountability and transparency are fundamentals.

These principles bind people with the concept of "duty of care" in their conduct of business and this duty varies in accordance to the "standing" of the people. It is commonly accepted that the higher one is in the hierarchy, the duty imposed is greater. Similarly too if one is a professional.

This leads me to MHF's Team Management Committee (TMC), which recently deliberated and made public the appointment of coaches and managers for the various national team. The aspect of TMC not following the procedures is something MHF needs to sort out. While that is an issue, there are other issues that may call into question the whole operational conduct of MHF.

Firstly, the TMC is constituted by personalities, who by their positions create a conflict of interest. 2 of them sit in the Wawasan Committee, which is to supervise the various national teams performance. To add further problem 1 of them is also appointed as a team manger of the national age group team. The issue becomes more serious as a senior representative of NSC is also in the TMC. Why I call it serious is because NSC is the government's custodian of Malaysian sports. Complication is further added by the presences of the Director General of NSC at the MHF's Management Committee and MHF's Wawasan Committee.

Continuing on the aspect of appointment by TMC, the manager of the senior national team is also a member of the Wawasan Committee. Therefore all in all, these people who sit in TMC, responsible for the appointments, would join some of the appointees of the various national teams in the Wawasan Committee, to supervise the performance of the various national teams. There cannot be a better scenario for conflict of interest and the infringement of ethics.

To be fair to 1 or 2 of the personalities, for they have endeavoured to check their status with NSC and I believe they were given the blessing to proceed. This does not surprise me of NSC, as they are desperate to ensure hockey succeeds at all costs. At times in the zealot of performing their duties, NSC becomes "Machiavellian" i.e "the end justifies the means" and therefore conflicts or infringement of ethics are not a paramount issue. Sadly, this sets the tempo with many National Sports Associations (NSAs), where governance and accountability have become serious problems.

What I find difficult to comprehend is that there are insufficient people in MHF, whereby the same people are given a number of posts. If this is true than it is really a very gloomy scene in Malaysian hockey. I do not think so, it is more a question of proper planning and permitting people to be involved, including avoiding the perpetuation of the "clique" system.

The current dilemma of conflict and infringement of ethics can be avoided if the responsible people can choose to resign from certain posts which creates that position, thereby still being able to continue their work for MHF. In this manner we pave the way for good governance and accountability and also permit a wider participation of other people.