Open Letter to Dato Tan Chin Nam.

Ref: Here. And Here.

Dear Dato Tan,

At Datmo rapid, you called me over to ask me who I thought should resign from MCF. I was not able to give you a precise answer then as I had thought that would be something the ones contending for the Presidency would be considering. I have merely tried to give them as much information as possible on my blog in case certain incidences may have escaped their attention.

Furthermore, I think my personal conclusions may differ from the common ones given by those asking for change as you will see below.

However I would like to try to answer you now. As you can see from above references to my writings since returning from Datmo, I have been considering the parameters for my answer today. I believe your question to me was genuine and so this is my solicited response.

I share the common opinion of the vast majority in the Chess Community that the incumbent President has not done his job and should be replaced. He has been unable to reign in the many abuses conducted within MCF and has not even been able to contain undue outside influences as we saw in the attempt by Peter Long to set National policies or to ban National Players without grounds which must surely go against the aim of MCF to develop Malaysian chess. We also see the influence of Jimmy to completely dismantle the effort to have selection as the objective determinant for National representation.

I also contend that these 2 people have lost touch with "reality" from the evidence that Peter was even unable to see that he had a National Champion in his Academy in Roshan when he also pitched for Li Tian for the Olympiads. I contend that even now Jimmy is trying to distance himself from his own evaluation of Li Tian while in Turkey. Ref: Here. If their judgement is so suspect then why do they have such free reign as they have now?

As you can see from the second reference above, I also see MCF as a team. And the team must have at least the core skill sets to make a difference. Right now I see Greg following the Hamid tradition of keeping all information on his lap top. Nobody else within MCF seems to know what is going on or is able to execute their purported responsibility since all controls emanate from that lap top. This cannot be all MCF is after 30 years. I am sure you agree that this is very unhealthy. What would happen to MCF if something was to happen to that lap top?

A light thought: If a thief was to grab his lap top, would Greg be shouting, "someone stop that thief, he has stolen MCF"!!!??

But seriously, MCF needs a team. The Secretary simply cannot do all that needs to be done alone. And we need people with more skills and knowledge beyond mere salesmanship and narrow technical ability.

Power is too concentrated. MCF is not a sole proprietorship. MCF is an NGO which was set up to serve the chess community and its legitimate diverse interests. And there should be representation from the various interest groups. Especially parents and top players since they form the backbone of Malaysian chess.

And so that is my argument for the Presidency. And the President will need to be the person who commands the most support at the AGM. But he must also come in with a good team.

In the second part of my letter I will give a name for who I think should be Secretary and who I think should leave MCF. That is of course only my personal opinion and it's the Presidents prerogative. Nevertheless I believe I may have pertinent information and also since this question was posed to me by many others besides you. Till then Dato. All my best.