My full reply to Dato Tan.

Dear Dato,

You asked me at Selangor Open if I thought we will see a time when the entire chess community can be as one. And my reply was yes, but only if one thing occurs.

And that one thing is that there is a proper mechanism for the timely resolution of legitimate issues arising from all the stakeholders in chess.

Please allow me to elaborate here. Having been an official of a State Affiliate myself, I do realise that sometimes parents and chess players do make unreasonable demands. Perhaps it is because they do not fully comprehend how difficult it is to build a strong chess culture with supporting structures. And so some of them unrealistically demand for immediate improvement. It is my belief that those voices will slowly subside when they do see real changes over time.

So that is different. But what I am talking about are legitimate issues like unfair selection criteria, unfair bannings without grounds. What I hear others complaining about is unfair practices and abuse of authority against successful and hard working organisers. And many many more. None of these voices can reach the Authorities in MCF and none of those issues can find resolution. And so the problem festers.

We need to differentiate between one from the other. Between unreasonable and legitimate grievances.

Dato, many people talk to me. Both that support what I have been saying and those that have reservations. Let me address some of the issues that were brought up to me by people who are not so supportive. I was accused by a State Official of posting slander. This is what I said to him. If you read my posts carefully you will see 3 basic types of postings.

The first is eye witness reports. That means I write about what has happened to me and/or my son or I was in fact a witness to the incident. An eye witness report is not hearsay or slander.

The second type is when I comment on the postings of other bloggers. Those postings are public domain information and fair comment is allowed. That is also not slander.

The third type is my personal opinions. For example my opinion of what I think fair selection should be. That is also not slander.

However some people have used the "reason" that I slander so as to whitewash the many genuine issues that have been brought up by this blog.

Dato, if you go back to my blog I believe you will find that I have adhered to the guidelines I mentioned above. So no slander.

You will also see that I have made many many attempts in the past to solve issues privately via meetings and private correspondence. All to no avail.

It seems to me that the message is this. We can do what we like without reference to your rights as a stakeholder in chess and if you complain then we will just attack your children. Is that the right way Dato?

There is no mechanism to protect our interests and we also cannot highlight or talk about it.

So Dato, how can we unite under these conditions? Can you reasonably expect a parent to stand by and watch his children unfairly attacked without responding? If they think I have slandered them, then sue me if they really think they have any grounds. But taking it out on our children is cowardly and beneath contempt.

Everybody knows that this is what a very few bad apples in MCF and certain State Officials do. It is no secret. They do it very very openly. So please help us to correct these injustices. Those few bad apples is not worth the unity of the entire chess community. Somebody has to stand up for what is right Dato. Don't you think it's about time? My question to you Dato, is will you help us correct the wrongs?

Thank you for your time and for your question to me.