MHF could be illegal

28/08/2002

CONSTITUTIONALLY, the Malaysian Hockey Federation would appear to be an
illegal body, and the decisions that were taken in its recent council
meetings would consequently seem to be just as unlawful.
For, 15 affiliates of the MHF have not paid their affliation fees, and a
clause in the constitution calls for the expulsion of such affliates and
another expunging their voting rights.
In a letter sent to an affiliate, dated Aug 22, the MHF requested their
affiliates to pay up their dues before the Biennial General Meeting (BGM)
on Oct 26, as all 15 are defaulters.
The MHF constitution is clear about the issue as rule 19 (1), (2) and
(3) under Article 13 on Affliates in Default, which spells out that
affiliates in `bad' standing do not have the power to vote.
Rule 19 (1) states: An affiliate which has not paid its dues (which
expression should include subscriptions and any other monies payable to
the Federation) by the 31st March each year, may be expelled from the
Federation by the Executive Committe and upon such expulsion, the
affiliate shall forfeit all rights and privilleges or claims upon the
Federation, its property and funds.
(2): Such an affiliate shall be deemed to be in bad standing as long as
any part of its dues remains unpaid.
(3): No affiliate in bad standing shall be permitted to have a vote at
any meeting of the council.
While rule 19 (1) says that Executive Committee may expell a defaulter
for not paying their dues, rule 19 (3) clearly states that defaulters
cannot vote in council meetings.
The defaulters list (see accompanying graphics) is led by Penang who
have not paid RM900. As the fees due per-year is RM150, Penang have
defaulted for a good six years.
And if Penang voted in the last elections, the legality of the present
office bearers is also in question because they have been in default for
the past six years. Penang officials could not be contacted yesterday.
The second highest is Kelantan (RM700) while none of the other 13
affiliates have settled their monies for the term ending March 31 2002.
The other defaulters are Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Malacca, Pahang, Perak,
Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Johor, Terengganu, Armed Forces, Negri Sembilan
and Selangor.
The MHF held their first council meeting on July 5 and the second was on
Aug 18 where among the decisions put to vote were to refer five officials
to the Disciplinary Board for speaking out about shortcomings in the MHF.
The five are Penang HA secretary Ranjit Singh, Kuala Lumpur HA secretary
V. Rajamanickam, umpires Amarjit Singh and Jagjeet Singh and Executive
Committee independent member Datuk G. Vijayanathan.
An MHF official, who declined to be named, said: "The constitution is
very clear about defaulters and the voting process. So, the MHF council
actually does not have the power to vote on any matter as all the 15
affiliates have not paid their fees.
"So how can they refer anyone to the Disciplinary Board, or for that
matter make a decision to hold the BGM on Oct 26?," questioned the
official.
The validity and powers of the MHF were in question earlier as the term
of its office bearers ended on December 2001, placing a question mark on
the validity of its members to deliberate and decide on issues.
Since 1990, the BGM was held every three years while the MHF
constitution stipulates that the BGM shall ordinarily be held as soon as
may be after the 31st day of July of the year.
After 1990, the BGM was held only in 1993, 1996 and 1999 respectively.
But the issue that begs an explanation is how could the 15 affliates,
deemed to be in bad standing by virtue of defaulting in payment, be
allowed to vote.
And if Rule 19(1) is applied on the defaulters, then constitutionally
all 15 affliates of the MHF should have been expelled, rendering the
national body unconstitutional.
(END)