Shaharudin’s journey from the track into the boardroom

WHILE in Paris for the 33rd Olympic Games, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh spoke about empowering Malaysia’s former athletes by putting them in key positions that may shape the future.

One way is to encourage former athletes to equip themselves with the necessary diplomatic, managerial and technical skills so that they can govern and empower their respective national associations.

They have to learn to give back to the sport that gave them so much, in the way Shaharudin Jaffar devoted his lifetime to cycling decades ago.

Shaharudin, who turned 84 on Oct 20, was the first cyclist to bag the gold medal in the 800m track event at Merdeka Stadium in the 1965 SEAP Games.

Within five years, he had made a successful transition from track to the boardroom, holding various positions to effect changes at national level.

Frustrated with the way the national body was being run which culminated with a disastrous outing in the 1969 SEAP Games, Shaharudin took up the challenge of changing its course by becoming the secretary of the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) after an election held at the Merdeka Stadium Boardroom in March 1970.

The incumbent president, the late Tan Sri V Manickavasagam, who was the Labour Minister then, did not seek re-election.

Enter Amric Singh as deputy president, Shaharudin as the secretary, with Shariff Hamzah as treasurer, while Oh Eng Swee assistant secretary and Gurbachan Singh as assistant treasurer. The president’s post was left vacant.

“I was 30 and still an active cyclist then,” recalled Shaharudin when met at his residence.

The writer tagged along with former sportswriter Rosmanizam Abdullah and legendary photographer, Khalid Redza to visit Shaharudin on his birthday.The practice then was for Cabinet Ministers to preside over national associations, with Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Tun Razak Hussein, Tan Sri Khir Johari, Tan Sri Khaw Kai Boh, Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie and Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah as the leading lights, with the comfort of having their trusted lieutenants to run the day-to-day affairs.

Shaharudin belonged to an era when athletes turned into successful administrators such as N Vasagam, Thong Poh Nyen, Datuk Kwok Kin Keng and later Datuk Sieh Kok Chi.

After his retirement as a civil servant in 1994, Shaharudin opened his own bike shop in Shah Alam, with the idea of making the sport accessible while promoting cycling around the Shah Alam Lake.

He planned group cycling excursions from Shah Alam to Kajang and vice versa, with the help of Kajang’s Datuk Hassan Nawawi, who once cycled round the globe.

Shaharudin was fortunate to have wife Hasmah Ibrahim by his side.

While Shaharudin was occupied with the daily grind, Hasmah played the role of chef, mother and tailor all rolled into one.

Born in Sitiawan, Shaharudin began his civil service career in the Department of Statistics, before moving to the Welfare Department and later served as a Sports Development Officer with the Selangor Sports Department.

Even as a rider, Shaharudin was already active as an administrator, by becoming secretary to the Selangor Cycling Association from 1962 to 1965, the Kedah association from 1966 to 1968, Melaka association 1969 to 1971 before holding the fort as secretary of MNCF for 11 years until 1981.

His dream of representing the nation in the Olympics was dashed by an accident ahead of the Mexico Games in 1968. But he succeeded in creating a milestone the following Games in Munich.

As team manager of the cycling team, Shaharudin managed to persuade Datuk Harun Idris to lead MNCF and together they initiated the idea of a velodrome for Malaysia.A piece of land at Jalan Timur in Petaling Jaya was identified, with the Selangor State Development Corporation or PKNS tasked to build the facility with an estimated cost of RM100,000 in 1975.

The idea finally came to fruition when Velodrom Rakyat in Ipoh was completed in 1988 after a public donation drive in 1986 which raised RM3.25 million. The velodrome in Cheras was completed in 1989. The Nilai Velodrome was completed in time for the 2017 SEA Games.

Until today, Shaharudin remains animated in discussing cycling. As the father of three and grandfather of 11 rides into the sunset, I wonder who among today’s generation of cyclists could one day lead the national body to greater heights.