OCM Weekly Highlights - 24th May 2009

OCM Weekly Highlights 

24th May 2009

OCM Official Website: www.olympic.org.my

Coming Events

World Sepaktakraw Championship 2009 - 25th to 31st May 2009 at Stadium Negeri, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu Darul Iman. 21 countries participating.

28th OCM Annual General Assembly 2009 – 30th May 2009 at 10.00 a.m. at OCM Indoor Sports Arena, Wisma OCM, Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur. 

HSBC Asian Five Nations Rugby Championship (A5N) – 2nd to 7th June 2009 at Kuala Lumpur. 

9th Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup 2009 – 7th to 21st June 2009, Johor Bharu and Singapore. 

9th Milo-Malaysia Youth (Under 14) Volleyball Championship 2009 – 8th to 12th June 2009, organized by the Majlis Bandaran Shah Alam (MBSA) Recreational Club, Shah Alam, at the MBSA Indoor Stadiums at Section 19 for boys and Section 4 for girls. 

1st Mini Olympics Malaysia 2009 – due to unavoidable circumstances, the 1st Mini Olympics Malaysia has been postponed to September 2009. 

7th Asian Netball Championship 2009 – 19th to 28th June 2009 at National Netball Stadium, Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. 

Yonex-Sunrise Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold 2009 – 23rd to 28th June 2009 at Johor Bharu Malaysia.

1st Asian Youth Games 2009 – 29th June to 7th July 2009, Singapore. 

OCA Sports Committee Meeting 2009 – 29th June 2009, Singapore

28th OCA General Assembly 2009 – 1st July 2009, Singapore.

2009 McDonald’s Olympic Day Run – 12th July 2009 at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, from 7.30 a.m. 

1st Asian Martial Arts Games 2009 – 1st to 9th August 2009, Bangkok, Thailand. 

News Items

Condolences

The Executive Board & Council of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and its affiliates wish to express their deepest condolences to the family of the late Tuan Haji Shahrir Abdullah, who passed away peacefully at the Miri Medical Centre, Sarawak, in the afternoon of 22nd May 2009. The late Tuan Haji Shahrir Abdullah was the Ketua Penolong Pesuruhjaya Sukan, Pejabat Pesuruhjaya Sukan Malaysia. The late Tuan Haji Shahrir Abdullah was a very diligent and helpful officer and his demise is a great loss to the sports fraternity of Malaysia. 

Media Release on the Nomination for Election of OCM Office Bearers 2009/2011 on 22nd May 2009.

The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) has appointed an Independent Panel of 3 persons, one of whom is the Returning Officer, to supervise, manage and conduct the election of Office Bearers of the OCM in line with the OCM’s Constitution at the 28th OCM Annual General Assembly at 10 a.m. on Saturday, 30th May 2009 at the Sports Arena, 3rd Floor, OCM Indoor Sports Complex, Kuala Lumpur.

The Members of the Independent Panel are as follow:

1. Hajah Norminshah Sabirin - Returning Officer

2. Y.Bhg. Dato’ Abdul Malik Mohd Salleh

3. Encik Stanley Charles Louis

Members of the OCM were invited on 7th May 2009 to submit their nomination papers to elect Office Bearers. The replies were opened at 5.00 p.m. on 20th May 2009. The positions which have more than one nomination are as follows:

President

Nominee 

1. Y.A.M. Tunku Tan Sri Imran ibni Almarhum Tuanku Ja’afar

2. Y.B. Dato’ Seri Shahidan Kassim

Deputy President

Nominee 

1. Y.Bhg. Datuk Dr. M. Jegathesan

2. Y.Bhg. Dato’ Seri Dr. Ibrahim Saad

Vice President 

Nominee

1. Y.Bhg. Prof. Dato’ Ar. W.Y. Chin

2. Y.Bhg. Prof. Dato’ Dr. Zakaria Ahmad

3. Y.Bhg. Dato’ Roy Rajasingham

4. Y.Bhg. Dato’ A. Sani Karim

5. Encik M.P. Haridas

6. Encik Edwin Chong

Hon. Asst. Secretary (Man)

Nominee

1. Encik Ramlay Ibrahim

2. Encik Mohd Hisham Mohd Nor

3. Encik Ramesh Lachmanan

4. Encik Lawrence Yeow Eng Leong

Hon. Asst. Secretary (Woman)

Nominee

1. Cik Moira Tan Siew See

2. Puan Latifah Ya’cob

The following positions have only one nomination each:

Vice President (Woman)

Nominee

Cik Low Beng Choo 

Hon. Treasurer

Nominee 

Dato’ Seri Kee Yong Wee 

Hon. Asst. Treasurer 

Nominee

Encik Rozmanizam Abdullah

Hon. Secretary

Nominee

Dato’ Sieh Kok Chi

Please note the following facts:

1. All incumbent Office Bearers were nominated as candidates.

2. The incumbent Officer Bearers are named first and by seniority, while the sequence of naming the other nominees are according to the date and time of the nomination received.

3. The OCM Members and the candidates have been informed.

The Independent Panel wishes to stress that the OCM Elections on 30th May 2009 is an integral part of the democratic practice of OCM for the election of Office Bearers to lead OCM for the next two years. Traditionally, OCM Elections have been conducted in a fair and sporting environment in accordance with the Olympic Spirit. The Independent Panel is confident that such an environment will continue in this year’s OCM elections. 

However, as a preventive measure, the Independent Panel wishes to take this opportunity to caution strongly against any immoral and unethical conduct by anyone and also to be aware that “money politics” in any elections is an offence and should be reported to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) immediately for investigation. 

Cik Hajah Norminshah Sabirin) Returning Officer / Independent Panel 

28th OCM Annual General Assembly 2009

The 28th OCM Annual General Assembly 2009 will be held on 30th May 2009 at 10.00 a.m. at the OCM Sports Arena, OCM Indoor Sports Complex, 3rd Floor Wisma OCM Phase II, Kuala Lumpur. 

Ordinary Members of OCM are reminded that the Deadline for the submission of registration of NSAs’ delegates’ forms, from all Members of OCM (both Ordinary Members and Associate Members), is at 5.00 p.m. on 25th May 2009, at the OCM Office.

World Squash Day 2009

World Squash Day 2009 was celebrated in a big way in Malaysia, with a number of states , including Penang and Kuala Lumpur, organizing some very attractive programmes to raise the awareness and support for the efforts by the World Squash Family for Squash to be included in the 2016 Olympic Games. 

The celebrations in Kuala Lumpur were held at the Lake Club and the National Squash Centre at Bukit Jalil. Amongst the VIPs present were YAM Tunku Tan Sri Imran ibni Almarhum Tuanku Ja’afar, President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, IOC Member in Malaysia, Patron of the World Squash Federation, Y.Bhg. Dato’ A. Sani Karim, President of the Squash Rackets Association of Malaysia and Asian Squash Confederation, Y.Bhg. Dato’ Zolkples Embong, Director General National Sports Council Malaysia, Y.Bhg. Datuk Mohd Shukri Hussin, CIMB Foundation Chief Executive Officer.

The celebrations started off with a motorcade of 16 cars from the Lake Club to the National Squash Centre passing through the City centre to create awareness for the “Squash for the Olympics” campaign. At the National Squash Centre, there were fun and games for school children and young adults and their parents to get to know and to play Squash. 

HSBC Asian Five Nations Rugby Championship Media Conference 

A Media Conference on the HSBC Asian Five Nations Rugby Championship was held on 22nd May 2009 at OCM Museum & Hall of Fame, Wisma OCM, Kuala Lumpur.

Present at the Media Conference were Y.Bhg. Dato’ Haji Muhammad Muhiyuddin bin Haji Abdullah, President of the Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU). Encik Safaruddin bin Mohammad (Vice President of MRU), Ms. Wong Mey Shyuan Corporate Sustainability Manager of HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad and Cik Helema Abdul Hamid, Senior Vice President, Canterbury Asian Sdn Bhd.

The President of MRU announced that 4 teams, namely China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan will be participating in the Championship and the fixtures of the Championship is as follows:

3rd June 3.00 p.m. – Match A – China vs Pakistan and Match B – at 5.00 p.m. Malaysia vs India.

6th June 3.00 p.m. – Loser Match A vs. Loser Match B and at 5.00 p.m. winner of Match A vs winner of Match B. .

All the matches will be played of at UiTM Stadium, Shah Alam Stadium and entry is free. For more details please go to www.mru.org.my and www.a5nrugby.com. 

President’s Statement for the 28th OCM Annual General Assembly 2009.

The period from May 2008 to May 2009, was yet another outstanding and successful period for the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM). Overall OCM not only achieved excellent results in all its activities, but also managed to increase the number of activities organized during the period under review. 

The most important event of 2008 was the Games of the XXIX Olympiad held in Beijing, China from 8th to 24th August 2008. The Malaysian Contingent of 33 athletes, comprising 19 male and 14 female athletes, who participated in 9 sports and one discipline, made it the largest Malaysian Olympic Contingent, since qualifying system was introduced. In addition, there were 33 male and one female team officials and 6 male and 2 female medical officials. After two consecutive Olympic Games without winning any medal, Badminton player YBhg Dato’ Lee Chong Wei, won the silver medal in the Badminton Men’s Singles events. Overall the Malaysian Contingent did well, as besides the Badminton team, the Archery team and the Track Cycling team performed creditably by qualifying for the quarter-finals in their respective events. 

Of less importance, but nevertheless a significant milestone in the history of the OCM was the successful organisation of the 12th World Sport for All Congress, in Genting Highlands, from 3rd to 6th November 2008. A total of 508 participants from 98 countries of all 5 continents attended the 12th World Congress, with the largest number of participants, 280 from Asia and 138 participants from Europe. The invited speakers included Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman and President of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, Sir Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee and three Malaysians.

The highlight of the 12th World Congress was a specially organised Hash Run at Batang Kali on 4th November 2008, where the international participants of the Congress had the opportunity to join Malaysian Hashers for a fun run through secondary Malaysian forest, a rubber estate and two river crossings. It was truly an amazing and exciting once in a life time sport for all experience for the participants. 

Besides participating in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Malaysian athletes also participated in the 3rd Commonwealth Youth Games held in Pune, India from 12th to 18th October 2008, the 1st Asian Youth Games, Bali, Indonesia from 18th to 26th October 2008 and the 5th Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney, Australia from 14th to 18th January 2009.

Based on the advice of the Hon. Minister of Youth and Sports Malaysia, the rating system for national sports associations (NSAs) was modified by separating the scores of each of the three areas, Governance, Programmes & Activities and Achievements and reporting them as 3 individual ‘report cards’. In addition, a weightage of one was assigned for Governance and for Activities and Programmes, whiles a weightage of two was assigned for Achievements . With the above change, new scores were calculated based on last year’s returns of the NSAs. The review of the questionnaire and the formation of an ‘audit’ committee are in progress. Once completed a new Rating Exercise will be carried out in the second half of 2009. 

Due to circumstances beyond the control of OCM and Peninsular Digital Sdn. Bhd (PDSB), the joint venture agreement was terminated amicably. Astro has now taken over the project and meetings with representatives of a number of NSAs, to discuss the implementation of Astro Arena. The Channel is expected to commence operation by the end of the year. Once launched, Astro Arena will bring much benefits in many ways to the National Sports Associations. 

Waz Lian Hotel Management Group has invested over RM5.0 million in the renovations and upgrading of all the rooms, the coffee house, the car parking system and the conference rooms of Hotel Olympic. Upgrading of the front reception lounge and painting of the Hotel will be completed by the end of 2009. With the completion of the renovation and upgrading, Hotel Olympic will attain a standard, which OCM will be proud of, and affiliates should give their full support for Hotel Olympic to be the centre of sports activities. 

The financial position of OCM continues to strengthen. At the end of 31st December 2008, OCM had Fixed Assets of RM22.0 million, Current Assets of RM8 million and investments of RM8.6 million. The surplus for the year 2008 was RM1,299,784/= on a total income of RM10,458,426/= for the year as against RM1,739,815/= on a total income of RM9,715,292/= for the year 2007. 

The financial stability of OCM is secured through the long term lease of Hotel Olympic to Waz Lian Hotel Management Group. The revenue from the rental of Hotel Olympic is sufficient to meet the annual operating expenses of OCM. Funds from Olympic Solidarity, Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and sponsors are channeled for sports development programmes. The establishment of the OCM Sport Development Trust Fund will further ensure a sustainable annual income for development and well-being of athletes and affiliates of OCM. 

During the period under review, OCM managed to maintain the successes and growth, which were achieved over the past decade. However the years ahead are full of challenges. The introduction of a number of new multi-sports Games, such as the Asian Beach Games, Asian Indoor Games, and Asian Martial Arts Games and a number of Youth Games, means more obligations and financial commitments for OCM. The resolution at the 1st OCA Congress 2009, of “One Sport-One Games” and “One Games-One Year”, gives hopes that there will soon be a resolution on the over-crowded international sports calendar. 

Finally, I wish to thank the Government of Malaysia, the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Council of Asia, the Commonwealth Games Federation, sponsors, my colleagues on the Board and the Council as well as the staff and volunteers of OCM for their invaluable support and guidance.

(YAM Tunku Tan Sri Imran ibni Almarhum Tuanku Ja’afar)

President

Olympic Council of Malaysia