Thank you, Mr Gymnastics – RIP Shanmugarajah

Well deserved: Shanmugarajah (right) receiving his silver medal recognition award from FIG president Bruno Grandi in 2016.

PETALING JAYA: The man behind the success of Malaysian gymnastics.

That’s how N. Shanmugarajah will be remembered as the sports fraternity mourned the passing of a great sports administrator.

Shanmugarajah, who was due to celebrate his 73rd birthday in October, passed away due to pneumonia in Ipoh yesterday after battling ill health for the last few years.

Former Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (MGF) president Datuk Dr Zakaria Ahmad paid tribute to a former comrade in the world of gymnastics.

“Shan and I built up MGF when we took over from the Selangor amateur gymnastics association in 1978,” said Zakaria.

“We managed to unite the state associations into the national body. We gained recognition from the Olympic Council of Malaysia and then FIG.

“Shan performed a one-man task mostly and gave me the strength to fight to build up Malaysian gymnastics although it was an uphill task at first,” said Zakaria, who helmed the MGF for 35 years and was the chef-de-mission at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.

Former MGF elite programme director C. Kula said Shamugarajah’s contribution was immense.

“He had great vision with Datuk Zakaria, they did a lot at the SEA level and Malaysia. He was Mr Gymnastics,” said Kula.

“It was a great pleasure working with Shan who had so much of respect from FIG, OCM and SEAGON. I was part of the organising committee for the Commonwealth Games, SEA Games and several Sukma editions and saw his potential in handling any difficult situation. We will miss him.”

Said former OCM secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi: “He was a very good person, honest, loyal and a hardworking friend and colleague. My deepest condolences to his family.”

Shanmugarajah left behind wife S Poovanesvary, daughters S. Shamila Devi, S. Priya Devi and a son, S. Yogarajah.

Shanmugarah cut his teeth in gymnastics as an administrator at the national level in 1980 when he became the honorary secretary of the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (MGF).

He also served as the secretary general of the South East Asian Gymnastics Confederation (SEAGCON) from 1985 to 2013 and played an instrumental role in the development and success of gymnastics.

But his biggest contribution was to set the stage for rhythmic gymnastics to bloom as soon as the world body announced that it would make its debut at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

He invited Emmy Bellywood, the founder of rhythmic gymnastics in New Zealand, to conduct coaching courses in Malaysia and the South-East Asian region and paved the way for the discipline to flourish.

Malaysia introduced rhythmic gymnastics for the first time at the 1989 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur and Faiznur Miskin became a household name after making a clean sweep of the five gold medals.

Under Shanmugarajah’s tenure, the highlights include winning the first ever gold medal at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and also the feat of winning 16 gold medals at the 2001 Kuala Lumpur Games.

Au Li Yen also became the first woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics in Sydney 2000.

In 2016, the FIG awarded the long-serving administrator the silver medal for his contribution and tireless service over 36 years in the world of gymnastics. He was the second Malaysian to receive it after Datuk Zakaria.