ON a weekend when South Korea dominated the Malaysian Amateur Open Championships, the Malaysian Golf Association’s executive committee was re-elected almost en bloc in Johor.
At the annual general meeting at Palm Resort Golf and Country Club, Admiral (R) Tan Sri Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor was re-elected president unopposed, while vice-presidents Teoh Piek Kee and Tan Sri Aseh Che Mat, and secretary Datuk Zulkifli Ismail assumed office for another term by way of the ballot.
Chow Chee Keong took over as treasurer, following Bryan Perera’s decision to step down.
The vice-president’s post for ladies was left vacant, with no nomination received, according to a communiqué from the national association.
However, there was no official explanation in the communiqué as to how this transpired or what will be done to remedy it, if anything at all is to be done.
In a brief note on his remarks, the communiqué said the MGA president “addressed the rumors circulating within the industry and assured the delegates that the association’s finances are healthy”.
This comes amid talk of raising concerns about the MGA’s finances, with some suggesting that “the association might be in deep debt”.
The MGA’s predicament was not helped by what was seen as an admission by the president that no detailed audited account was presented to the annual meeting, or if it was, it was not completed or accepted by those present.
The MGA statement read: “He (Anwar) went on to say that Bryan Perera, the outgoing treasurer, would present the audited account in detail in Agenda 5”.
This immediately drew questions as to why Perera did not present the audited account in detail in the first place, given that he was at the meeting in Johor, and attended a welcome cocktail get togerher on the eve of the Palm Resort meeting.
The communiqué from the MGA did not carry any comment from Perera on that matter.
The MGA president’s assertion that Perera “would present the audited account in detail in Agenda 5” also left some questioning as to how he would be able to do this now that he is no longer treasurer.
Anwar’s statement that “the association was also not spared from the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns” was viewed with skepticism by some.
There was also the observation that “surely the pandemic and lockdowns would have given the association more than enough time to prepare the detailed account of the MGA’s finances”.
In his statement, Anwar “pledged to move forward and work together with the affiliates for the betterment of the industry”.
This comes after TeeUp carried an article in which an observer called on the national association to be transparent and for the association to explain why the Malaysian Open was not held.
“To have no Malaysian Open is sad,” the observer said. “I think if the MGA cannot host it then they should at least tell us, members of the affiliate golf clubs, what the reason, or reasons, are.”
If these issues were not enough to get the MGA’s attention, then the Malaysian Amateur Open Championships at Palm Resort surely would have.
South Korea’s Sungho Lee and Hyosong Lee won the men’s and women’s titles by four strokes and six strokes, respectively.
Malaysia failed to register a top-five finish in either.
The observer noted that the MGA had a responsibility to develop the game in the country, and while the national association might say they are doing that, he called on the MGA to make public a blueprint of their development program.
That point comes at an opportune time, given that Anwar has said the MGA wants to “work together with the affiliates for the betterment of the industry”.
For the rest of us, we will just have to wait and see what comes of this promise.
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