Wednesday, January 14, 2009

BAM oh BAM

Felicitations to Datuk Lee Chong Wei on his recent win in the Malaysian Open Super Series which will surely serve to boost his morale as he bids for the major ones like the World Championship and All-England titles. Off the court, it seems there is an attempt to unseat Datuk Nadzmi Salleh as president of the BA of Malaysia judging from Berita Harian's column here.

Deputy president Datuk Roland Wong is expected to vacate his seat in the July elections and I see former BAM secretary Datuk Ir Mohamed Al-Amin Abdul Majid, a vice-president by virtue of his Perak BA presidency, making a comeback into the limelight.

However Al-Amin (picture, courtesy of ancom.listedcompany.com) has denied it in his SMS to me.
"Nope...am happy as it is," the former politician responded to my question that he could be interested in going for the top post. Well I guess he is fully occupied with his duties as chairman of Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation (SMIDEC) , Country View Berhad, Gabongan Pemborong Bumiputera Perak Berhad, Nylex Malaysia and Chemical Industries Council of Malaysia (CICM) as well as a director of MCIS Zurich and Ancom Berhad.

Al-Amin, an Aston Villa fan since his student days at Birmingham, served as BAM secretary at the height of the intense bickering between the national body and Nusa Mahsuri. Though we used to disagree on many issues, Al-Amin and I could sit down and have breakfast together like we did in Hong Kong during the Thomas Cup in 1998.

But covering badminton and trying to be objective those days used to give me severe headaches. I remember vividly being put on the firing line by the then BAM president Datuk Dr Abdullah Fadzil Che Wan, Al-Amin and Toh Puan Aishah Ong as they threatened to sue me just because of one word back in 1998.

The following article was carried by the Malay Mail in July 1998.

ROSLIN HASHIM is expected to be included in the Commonwealth Games squad in a compromise move by the BA of Malaysia but their internecine feud with Nusa Mahsuri has to be stopped.

BAM-Nusa bickering, triggered by the professional outfit's pullout from BAM training for Thomas Cup `96, needs a long-term solution to avoid a recurrence.

Nusa, often the trouble-makers, must learn to open their mouths only when necessary and stop making the Minister the trouble shooter.

While BAM, often the recalcitrant parent body, should, among others, be open towards ideas and not treat Nusa as their direct rivals. Rather they should encourage the growth of more clubs. Nusa and BAM, if they were really sincere in developing the game, have a lot of thinking to do. First they have to get rid of malicious and sinister plots to undermine each other. Chuck aside personal interests and vendettas.

Instead of hidden agendas, the two bodies can work hand-in-hand with a little bit of common sense. There are several points for Nusa to consider:

* Human beings are governed by rules. Nusa must register themselves as an affiliate to any State BA. BAM were right in questioning the need to deal with Nusa when they are merely a club not affiliated to any State BA. BAM are a confederation of State BAs and clubs like Nusa should technically be affiliated to a State BA. According to the BAM constitution the State
BA can take in associate members and Nusa could be part of a State BA rather than just being affiliated to them.


* Time and again Nusa have failed to go through the proper channels in voicing out their dissatisfaction towards BAM. From now onwards they mustn't shoot off their mouths unnecessarily.

* Nusa must let their rackets do the talking. Once their players produce the desired results on the international stage, they can attract sponsors, then they can really stand on their own. At the moment they do not have any bargaining power. Their best-known flagbearer Rashid Sidek is drawing his pension while Roslin and Ismail Saman are still seeking their first title. They must prove their worth by bagging as many titles as possible.

* One way of maintaining their sponsors is by keeping a good and healthy image. So Nusa cannot afford to have bad publicity surrounding them. If they need to criticise the parent body, do it in a civilised manner. They must earn the respect.

* Nusa must not act as if they are trying to run the game in Malaysia. Humility is a treasured commodity. Concentrate on churning out more players.

* BAM, in the meantime, should consider the following suggestions:

* BAM should strengthen their administration. They should keep up with the times. Badminton has moved far from its roots. Professionalism is still at its infancy but the sport is moving towards a full professional set-up. BAM can kick-start a new era by amending their constitution to enable Nusa to become an associate member. As it is, the associate members are limited to agencies such as PDRM, MSSM, Masum and Armed Forces.

* Share the burden of producing shuttlers with clubs. Encourage the setting up of more clubs and work together for the benefit of the game. Indonesia, for instance, take pride in unearthing talents from Djarum Kudus, Bimantara Tangkas or Pelita Bakrie. Perhaps BAM can study their concept, adopt and adjust accordingly to suit the local scenario. Indonesia develop the game via regional circuits divided into several zones. For example, Java alone are divided into Jakarta, East Java, Central Java and West Java. All meets are open to all youth categories (21-19, Under-19, 18-16, 15-13). And they have established 34 Pusdiklat (badminton training and education centre) nationwide. What happened to the Academy? Remember the 1,001 courts project? The intention was good but is the machinery really working?

* BAM President Datuk Dr Abdullah Fadzil Che Wan has the tendency to jump the gun. He must be more open minded and make decisions without malice. Dr Fadzil must take the trouble to learn more about the day-to-day running of BAM instead of being too dependant on its officials. If he doesn't have the time, perhaps Dr Fadzil can consider making way for someone else who has the time to lead the association into the next millennium.

* BAM must stop coming up with directives according to their whims and fancies. A clear set of rules pertaining to training is needed. Any act of indiscipline by the players can be dealt with fairly.

* If BAM treat Nusa players as individuals with regards to their registration, they have to call up shuttlers under their own banner through their respective BAs too. For instance BAM will have to go through Penang BA to enlist Ong Ewe Hock.

But for the game to develop and for BAM to move ahead with the times, all parties, from the top echelon right down to the players, have to be sincere.

Otherwise today's scheduled durian party at BAM, right after the exco meeting and press conference, merely symbolises the thorny issues they have to overcome in future.

Then perhaps Nusa can consider changing their name, for a start.

The next day the Malay Mail carried this footnote to a story on Rashid

* FOOTNOTE: BA of Malaysia (BAM) have pointed out that the word malice, used in our comment yesterday about their president Datuk Dr Abdullah Fadzil Che Wan, was too harsh. We agree that the word may have been somewhat inappropriate and are sorry if it had caused any distress. There certainly was no malice intended.

I thought at that time Fadzil and Al-Amin, being politicians as they were then, were flexing their muscles!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is Datuk Andrew Kam who is Datuk Punch's cash cow behind the moves to kick out the president?

Anonymous said...

thank god if what al-amin said is true. he is not competent enough. History showed how he dragged Dr Fadzil when he is in trouble, Pity that old man who trusted al-amin so much. Come on BAM, open up yr eyes. Kick al-amin out. Hey, what is perak BA doing? Their affiliates should kick al-amin out from the BA.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

yup, that al-amin shud be kick out from BAM and Perak BA. Where is Ipoh masters now? That guy even moved to KL as no perakian likes him. what is knows is talking rubbish.. 'i'm closed to anwar', 'i'm closed to najib'. wondering whether both the guys know his names... hahahahhha... amin....

Anonymous said...

apa? al-amin, jangan buat masa lah. Apa yang dia tahu pasal badminton. suruh dia hisap curut, dok diam-diam, kepit dengan bini dia aje. standard badminton malaysia dah naik balik sejak dia kena sideline bersama Dr Fadzil, so, tolonglah move forward, bukan pilih orang yang dah rosakkan BAM sebelum ini. Buat al-amin, sedar-sedarlah diri tu, tgk dia berdiri kat rostrum masa malaysia open aje sudah meluat. tebal pulak muka mamat ni ye. If dialah pilihan BAM, sorilah... memang takde standard.

Anonymous said...

Bro rizal, u tak sedar ke u kena mengadap BAM dulu angkara Al-amin. Dia dia pandai muka-muka, awat hang percaya kat mamat sorang tu aje... nama dia aje yang baik, tapi hati budi dia, hitam, jahat. tolong selamatkan BAM daripada dia. Hidup BAM!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Let's move forwrad. Al - Amin baik duduk meng'amin'kan doa kat surau & masjid lebih banyak faedah. Ginilah Persatuan Sukan kat Malaya, dah naik dah ada nama ada pulak yang iri dan dengki rasa mcm dia boleh buat lebih baik lagi. Bila terlingkup pointing fingers to others. Tengok je le kat MAAU is a very very good example how somebody else manipulate the 'puppet' president. Pas ni berjangkit lak kat association yang lain etc etc. Malaysia Memang Boleh

Anonymous said...

setuju dengan BAMbee, sepak aje al-amin tu dari perak BA dan BAM, buat malu melayu aje. setakat nak menempek bergesel dengan VVIP buat apa kalau tak reti buat kerja. For al-amin, cermin sikit muka tu. ingat pakai spek bingkai hitam itu nampak macho ke? macam bapok tua...

Anonymous said...

bro, breakfast with al-amin in HK? hahaha... memang al-amin suka belanja orang makan kerana dia akan anggap dia boleh beli orang...nak tunjuk dia kenal semua oranglah tu.... takpe bro, orang belanja kita makan, rezeki... dia yang bodoh.. hahahha

Anonymous said...

suruh al-amin jaga baik Panzana dia tulah.... jangan sibuk jaga lain, bro rizal, memang dia selalu ingat, bila dia belanja orang makan, dia dah boleh 'makan' orang tu... mamat macam ini jenis sakit jiwa.. selalu ingat dia bagus....

Anonymous said...

Let me tell you all al-amin plan, first go for the deputy post, then will make fool of nadzmi before he topple that guy... biasalah politician murahan yang so predictable like him. Now u know why is political career is long gone after completing his Ketua Pemuda Perak post. Sebab takde class. Name dropping is his only card. He think others are stupid like him. If really like what he claimed that all the top one knows him, sudah lama jadi MP or Adun lah.. Fikir balik maybe they really know him lah... sorry ya... know him as someone who is good for nothing... hahahahhahaha. May God Save BAM.

Anonymous said...

wah bladder rizal, wa tak stuju if itu olang mau lawan untuk pigang post timbalan plesiden BAM. Lia manyak tatak guna, badminton talak lugi apa-apa tak pilih lia.... halap-halap tuan Alah boleh tolong BAM, jangan bagi lia masuk maaaaa

Anonymous said...

hallo semua, sorrylah u lah semua silap, u ingat al-amin nak sangat ke jawatan timbalan presiden BAM itu, dia ni manusia yang tamak dan nak tunjuk kuasa...let me tell u, al-amin ni sebenarnya target jawatan kat Yayasan Badminton Malaysia. Situlah powerful, pegang duit. Then BAM akan bawah telunjuk dia. Itulah yang dia nak brudder. Tempat ni memang sesuai untuk dia sebagai ganti Punch Gunalan. Bukankah mereka berdua ini kembar, sama jahat, hati pun sama hitam. Jadi, sesuailah dia jadi pengganti if diikutkan dengan kriteria jawatan untuk mereka yang kaki belit. Harap orang-orang atas ni dapat buka mata sikitlah pasal perangai mamat seekor ni. Selamatkanlah badminton Malaysia. ... amin

Anonymous said...

mai kita ramai-ramai singkirkan orang yang tak guna macam ni dari sukan negara. sukan sudah jadi satu industri, kita perlukan orang yang pro bukan macam al-amin. Buat al-amin, tolonglah berundur sebelum awak itu dimalukan. cepatlah sedar diri, anwak itu tidak diperlukan. tak payahlah menyibuk lagi, tak cukup ke apa yang u buat kat dr fadzil dulu yang tersungkur angkara perbuatan jahat u.

Anonymous said...

Brudder rizal, i like the way u pick the photo of al-amin. It look like an orbituary photo. Hopefully al-amin will take note of this that for malaysian badminton lover, he is dead and have no more business in the sports. RIP

Anonymous said...

wow, finally i know that this is not an orbituary for someone named Al-amin. But after reading the comments, i think he should just keep himself away from badminton.

Anonymous said...

al-amin and andrew kam should team up and prove that KLRC could replace BAM. What happen to KLRC now andrew? just good enough to win NZ Open, huh. So, you think you could buy success with yr money? Then you should consider taking al-amin, the man who think he knows everything about badminton. Both of you could complement each other. HAHA

Anonymous said...

Did all off ypu realise how this man smile from the pix. he only lifted a side of the cheek and show his teeth. that shows this man is very fake, not sincere enough. God save our badminton and BAM.