The fat cats

On Saturday, 102 individuals representing 34 national sports associations will cast their vote to decide the line-up to lead the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) for the next two years. The candidates are as follows:

A much slimmer loose cannon, Jasni Shafie, Shaukei Kahar, U Chin Ong, Datuk Sieh Kok Chi and Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja'afar circa 2000. Tunku Pete unseated Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah in November 1998, not 1999 as reported by Bernama, to ascend to Malaysian sports' highest throne. Also president of Malaysian Cricket Association and founding chairman of SportExcel, he is a widely respected figure in the international sports circle. The 1973 national squash champion and SRAM founding secretary turned 61 in March.

The former Menteri Besar of Perlis, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who is also president of four NSAs, turns 58 on June 17. That's all I can say.

Datuk Sieh Kok Chi (extreme left) is secured for another term, but the remaining three gentlemen will leave it to the delegates on Saturday

Politics, academia and sports administration are the three areas Prof Datuk Seri Dr Haji Ibrahim Saad has tried his hands on and now an adviser to Octagon, a sports consultancy and event management firm. The former vice-president and later general secretary of the FAM, Ibrahim is seen as a do-er. Turns 63 on Aug 3, exactly eight years younger than Prof W.Y. Chin. Kindly go to http://ssdhaliwal.blogspot.com for a Q and A with Ibrahim.

Few remember the fact Datuk Dr Jegathesan Manickavasagam bagged the National Science Award in 1995, almost three decades after the ace of pace was picked as the inaugural winner of the National Sportsman of the Year award. The pathologist who capped his career in the civil service as the deputy director general of Health is resigned to the fact his athletics exploits overshadow his real contributions to society - in the medical field where more than 100 scientific papers are attributed to him. There's even a bacteria named after him yet we remember him as the 1966 Asian Games sprint king and the first Malaysian to reach the semi-finals of an Olympic event by being among the top 16 200m runners in the Tokyo Games in 1964. Will be 66 in November.

Turns 55 exactly a week after Saturday's elections, Datuk Abdullah Sani Karim was a OCM vice-president from 2005 to 2007 before giving way to Ibrahim Saad. A civil engineer by profession, Sani as he is universally known, represented University of Birmingham in badminton, tennis and chess. Executive chairman and principal owner of five companies with interests ranging from construction to bakery, Sani is the president of SRAM.

Prof Datuk Chin Wai Yeong who turns 71 on Aug 3 is a town planner, architect and sports administrator all rolled into one. Born in Kampar but grew up to become a classmate of Pak Lah in Penang, W.Y. Chin is a respected figure in the world of snooker and billiards.

Born in Singapore in 1947, Prof Datuk Zakaria Ahmad is one of 13 Malaysians to have occupied the Tun Razak Chair at Ohio University. Co-founder of the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (MGF) in 1977, Zakaria comes from an illustrious family.

M.P. Haridas was the OCM general manager from 1994 to 2008. Born in Malacca, the hockey goalkeeper-turned-teacher-turned-coach-turned-sports administrator turned 71 last January. One of his students at Jasin English Secondary School was former NSC director-general, Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad. His contemporaries for the job between the hockey posts were the late Datuk Ho Koh Chye and Anwarul Haque (now a lawyer in Singapore).

Datuk Roy Rajasingham Ratnasingam was a vice-president of the MHF for more than a decade and played hockey at school level. A respected lawyer, Roy is also the secretary of the MHF Foundation.

Another VP candidate is Edwin Chong, general secretary of Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum), of which the president is Shahidan. UPDATED - Edwin has withdrawn from contesting.

The women's assistant secretary's post will see a tussle between incumbent Moira Tan and her immediate predecessor, Latifah Tan Sri Ya'cob, who is eligible to contest after attaching all the relevant documents to the independent panel, while Ramlay Ibrahim, the incumbent occupying the men's assistant secretary seat, will be challenged by L. Ramesh, Lawrence Yeow and Hisham Mohd Noor.