Accounts, the other half of the story. Part 2.

First half of the story. Here. The other half. Part 1. Here.

Right now when I mention Greg's name I get responses like arrogant, biadap etc. So no one remembers about the issue of the salary. Anger rules the day. So I am going to tell my little story again here. I am not defending his bad behaviour or asking you to vote for him. That decision is up to you. All I am asking for is a balanced judgement based on the full picture. I am sure that is the way you would like to be judged too if it were you on the dock.

Remember, I too was an official for a little time. And I can tell you that it is not an easy job. I too tried to put in selection in PICA. I was the chair but I was not responsible for the list of names presented for consideration. I merely facilitated the discussions. But directly after the decision a member of the selection committee phoned up a parent and said that I was responsible for removing his son's name. Actually his son was never on the list presented for deliberation. And that parent called me up in the middle of the night and shouted at me. That was my initiation rite into the politics of chess officialdom.

I was the team manager for the Perak Team and a parent with 2 players on the Team insisted that his children played to a different strategy than what we had determined together as players and manager. He threatened to pull his children out of the Team half way in the Tournament if he did not get his way.

I introduced a potential sponsor from a public listed company who had RM2 million of sponsorship fund and was interested to sponsor chess. At the meeting Dato Tan and the other PICA committee members were invited to attend. A few days later I was sacked without any grounds.

What I am saying here is that it is very difficult to function in chess as an official. The attacks can come out of thin air. So you need someone very skilled to get anything done. And we have put Greg into this situation without even the means to defend himself. No salary or sufficient independent income. So he lost his temper a few times. How would you have fared in this situation? In my mind his occasional loss of temper and misjudgement is understandable from the viewpoint of the constant strain he is under dealing with many many more issues on a National scale. Much much more than what I faced in PICA at that time I am sure.

So I feel it may be too soon to judge him. Personally I would like to give him another chance but with a decent salary to see if he can do a better job. But that is me. You may not feel the same. But at least consider the full picture.

Consider also the guy who wants to replace him. He cannot even run one State Association. What has he done for KL? He cannot even manage to run one tournament without breaking down, shouting and insulting parents and players. And he is at best a very mediocre trainer and I am very sure cannot even play strong chess today. So what possible use is he at MCF level? And even worse, he has no respect for rules. He even bans players without any grounds. Everything is personal to him. He even gives no thought to demoralising an entire Malaysian contingent of players in order to flex his ego.

So I hope you will consider all these things at the AGM when the accounts is brought up. Are we for development and for the betterment of Malaysian chess or will we also make decisions based on petty or selfish considerations.

Thank you for your time and for allowing me the chance to present my thoughts.