We have to thank our founding fathers for turning the idea of a special committee to manage our sports affairs in the 1960s into reality at a time when sports were driven by volunteers.
The wheels were set in motion in early 1970, when the late Datuk Peter Velappan, a physical education lecturer at the Specialist Teachers Training Institute in Cheras who was also a volunteer assistant general secretary-cum-coach at the FA of Malaysia (FAM), submitted a 4,000-word memorandum to the then Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj, with copies distributed to Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Hamzah Abu Samah (Tan Sri), Mohd Khir Johari (Tan Sri), Khaw Kai Boh (Tan Sri) and Datuk Harun Idris, the Mentri Besar of Selangor.It was by design that the recipients were not only politicians with Cabinet posts but more importantly, they presided over sports with huge followings.
The Tunku was president of FAM and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), while Tun Razak was president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM). Hamzah was a vice-president of OCM, while Khir was BA of Malaysia (BAM) president, whereas Kai Boh, the Local Government and Housing Minister, was the first president of the Malaysian Amateur Basketball Association (Maba). Kai Boh was also the chairman of the powerful selection committee of OCM. Harun was vice-president of both FAM and FA of Selangor (FAS).
Slightly over a year later, Hamzah, as Culture, Youth and Sports Minister (and chairman of OCM following an amendment to the OCM constitution), tabled the Bill to form NSC as an official channel for the government to provide funds to OCM and the National Sport Associations (NSA).
The role of the NSC was originally assumed by the Sports Division of the Culture, Youth and Sports Ministry under its director, the late Mohamed Nor Che’ Noh, later Associate Professor and director of the Universiti Malaya Sports Centre.
Velappan was roped in as well together with Wilfred Vias, vice-captain of the hockey team to the 1956 Olympic Games. They were later joined by another promotion officer, Sidique Merican Ali, a former sprinter. The quartet all had technical background – either as an athlete, coach or physical trainer.
The appointment of full-time technical experts such as Abdul Ghani Minhat (Tan Sri), R. Yogeswaran (Datuk) (hockey), Edwin Abraham (athletics) and Shaharuddin Jaffar (cycling) enabled the division to formulate training policies.
Fully operational by 1982, NSC did not receive any start-up grant and had to resort to organising events such as circus acts to help fill the coffers.
By 1998, the NSC had evolved into a huge and respected entity, particularly when Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad, the fifth director-general, oversaw a strategic plan that enabled Malaysia to pick up 10 gold medals as hosts of the 16th Commonwealth Games, with the help of his crew and all stakeholders.
But under his guidance, NSC were perceived as being authoritarian, prone to making unilateral decisions and too thrifty. Mazlan’s detractors claimed he had built an all-too-powerful kingdom. Others, however, felt a ruthless execution approach was required to get things done.
NSC managed to establish a working mechanism to signify a relationship between NSC and NSAs through the joint committee set up under the Jaya ‘98 programme launched in 1993. This joint committee remain in place until today.
As the longest serving director-general, Mazlan laid down the foundations for Datuk Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz, the late Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong and Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail, who reaches mandatory retirement age in September.
Opinions on NSC continue to split but the next director-general will continue to carry the burden of having to deliver the medals and think strategically. The task of appointing that man lies with the Youth and Sports Minister, Hannah Yeoh.
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