1965 SEAP gold medalist Shaharuddin Jaafar showing his photo.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysian sporting fraternity lost a former legend and dedicated administrator with the passing of Shaharuddin Jaffar.
Shaharuddin, 84, passed away on Tuesday (March 18) after a long ilness.
Shaharuddin, who is from Sitiawan, Perak, was remembered as Malaysia's first cycling gold medallist when he won the 800m mass start race at the 1965 SEAP Games, now known as the SEA Games.
He later served as Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) secretary from 1970 to 1984.
Former athletics administrator Datuk A. Vaithilingam was deeply shocked to hear of the passing of his good friend from the mid 1960s.
"I came to know him when he was the cycling gold medalist of 1965 SEAP Games and introduced to me while training in KL well after the Games.
"Our friendship grew strong in the 1970s.
"He was then a young secretary general of the MNCF when he regularly visited me as OCM appointed me as the secretary of the 1971 SEAP Games technical facilities, venues and competitions committee under the chairman Datuk Sulaiman Amin.
"It was then that he brought along a young Mazlan Ahmad as his assistant secretary, who later became the director general of National Sports Council.
"My partnership with Shaharuddin grew stronger when he became senior member of technical committee of the Selangor Sports Council. As I was appointed chairman of the Technical Committee, he was my trusted colleague and a knowledgeable supporter of all sports."
