Will the real Najib Wahab please stand up?

Here we see Najib making a pitch. Good for him.

But then here we see the other face of Najib. Here.

Is there a disconnect? Which is the true face?

Why am I taking notice of this? Well, here is my reason. Obviously we are competitors. I believe in my Vision and methods in developing the first GM and so does Najib. That's a good thing. Healthy competition. May the better idea succeed. If he does it better than me, I would like to be the first to congratulate him.

But you see in business, there is also a code of conduct. You don't publicly call your competitor a dog. There are boundaries. So let me try to explain some of those boundaries to you Najib. If I raise an issue about Datmo, I address it to the organising committee and I give my reasons why I think there should be an audit. But I put it in the form of a request. Boundaries. I cannot tell them what they can or cannot do.

When I talk about the selection I must address it to MCF and not Jimmy for they are the ruling authority. But I can use Jimmy as a example to question their judgement. FGM has a legitimate reason. How can we show our method works if there is no selection? We do not believe in the back doors.

If you are still not able to discern the difference, let me try to point it out to you again. I use Jimmy's words and action as evidence. Just like I am using yours now. I don't call you a dog. I take what you do/say and then appeal to the authorities with the power to act. That is the proper way.

People like Jimmy and Ab Salim abound in the world and usually they are harmless and insignificant unless they work in collusion with the authorities. So if the authorities don't act we continue to take it to a higher authority. Get it? But as one business to another, as one Academy to another we need to have boundaries and mutual respect. A public attack on FGM will need to be addressed. Are you getting the picture now?

I hope you will be able to conduct yourself more professionally in the future. Respect our boundaries and we will respect yours. Slander us in public and we will take counter measures. Fair enough?

It's just like chess. If you can produce that GM by having good ideas, you win on the board and there are no hard feelings. Those are the rules of engagement. Attack us or our players by sabotage and we will respond accordingly.

I hope you learn from this Najib. Boundaries. That is the code of conduct between business people. I hope you can adhere to business principles from this point onwards. FGM is acting within it's rights and cannot be intimidated into silence.

A constructive suggestion. Try developing players above 8yo and you will start to see the magnitude of that undertaking. If it was easy, it would have been done many years ago; as one Academy to another.

Ps: A friend of mine met TS Sabbaruddin Chik (former President of MCF) at a function recently. And it was reported to me that at the mention of chess he had a lot of unedifying things to say about MCF. This is the problem. We are trying to build a good image for chess to attract the sponsors. No matter how many PR road shows we do, a negative word from someone like him can cause more damage than all our road shows. So lets all act professionally to build up chess. Really, all these gangster methods are very unappealing to the general public. Lets try to fix this. This affects all of us in chess. Support the audit of Datmo individual rapid. That is a good solid first step. Thank you for your time Najib. All my best.

Note: If even a President of TS Sabbaruddin's stature couldn't change MCF, it points to perhaps some "monkeys" on the ground doesn't it? Worth thinking about no? Could it be the culture and/or the collusion of the "monkeys"? Good question don't you think? I hope whoever is vying the Presidents post at the next AGM will take note of this.