NAG is now organised by MCF.

Here.

Maybe it's working. Maybe they are reading my blog. It didn't make sense for NAG to be organised by Datcc.

Now the only question left remaining is where do the money go to. If paid into MCF directly, what happens to the money after that?

Correction: I just double checked. This is even more confusing. It is organised by MCF but the payment goes to Datcc. The mystery deepens. A major source of income for MCF and the money is paid to a private entity. Now how can that be justified?

I think this makes it more important that Melaka is carefully scutinised. Now who do we bring this up to so that there is an investigation?

MCF AGM

When is MCF having their AGM? Why all this secrecy? Even political parties tell their own members when their AGM is. MCF is behaving more like a communist cell. So what are you really MCF?

I remember that when they wanted to sack me at PICA, they chose the date for the meeting when they knew that I was in KL for a chess tournament. But why do this? Afterall we are in the same committee and we are all doing it for the love of chess.

So you see, they have perfected the art of sabotage over many years. I can only postulate that they want to spring a surprise AGM. Make sure certain people are not present. Somebody said the AGM was in March. But still no announcement.

This sounds like deep conspiracy. Maybe there are really some huge mega bucks in this. Even political parties announce their AGM early. Why so scared? What do you have to hide? We are all doing it for the love of chess. If you are so scared then how are you going to get us that GM? By running away? By playing hide and seek? Chor Tai Tee? Is that how you compete?

Article by Marina.

Here.

I wonder. How do we get vibrant youths in a culture of lies, of fear and intimidation? How do we have vibrant youths in a culture of silence?

Who are these people who say they love chess and go around promoting the game by telling others that chess opens up the mind etc. And then they perpetuate the use of fear by telling the players they cannot explore new ideas on training, kowtow or we ban you etc. Who are these people and what are their lies?

Should we still be looking up to them as our model? Do we tell our kids that they will grow up to be just like them?

What are they really doing? For who's benefit? What do the lies achieve?

Why we need to talk about it.

I was asked at the debate on facebook why I was so direct on my blog. We are a small community...

So let me list a few reasons here.

Shortly after my unjust sacking from PICA in 2008?, I got to meet Greg. He sounded sympathetic and asked me for the details. So I gathered all the evidence and gave it to him. Many emails then followed and many meetings were called. In Penang and in KL. So you can imagine my surprise when he told me last National Junior 2011 that it can be easily solved. What can he possibly mean?

I went about my own business and did the training for the youths for Asean 2010. I went about my own business and did the Thematics etc.

But guess what? The attacks don't stop.

And so when Zuhri did the Asian Amateur, I quietly watched on the sidelines. History repeating itself?

I have come to the conclusion that these attacks are not personal in nature. Actually it is orchestrated by a few people for their personal benefit. I think most of us more involved in chess know that deep inside.

Now the actions of these people are not for the good of chess. We are all stakeholders and we have all contributed and so we all have a say.

So my question now to the guy who asked me that question is why is it that they can attack without rhyme or reason and that is OK?

How can we learn from past mistakes if we dont talk about it, share our experiences so that we can improve?

At least I don't hide in the dark and stab anyone.

I wonder if we realise that we got selection only because we all joined our voices together. I wonder if you realise that Zuhri is the only official I have spoken to in my 8 years in chess that actually even tried to do something. And his name is not even on the MCF blog. Is he the deputy President or not? So this is what they do. And we need to know so that things can change.

Btw in case you are wondering, I am not close to Zuhri. There is no conspiracy here to take the Presidency. I have stated the qualities I think we need. It is up to the delegates. In fact Zuhri doesnt even approve of this blog and was upset when I published the fact that he asked for a meeting after Peter Long started issuing National policies.

But I think this blog is still needed. Maybe one day when we can talk to an official and get some action, this blog can close down. I look forward to that day. We have tried the whispering in the corners, arguing our case, sending out emails, letters. Phone calls and attending meeting after meeting. None of it works.

I am still trying to get Mark's National Junior 2010 cert. I have asked and asked and asked. Has anyone else still got issues outstanding with MCF?

We need the pressing issues solved or it is just pure self delusion to think that our GM will come. Who is telling you that? Or what about the story that you cannot be GM after 15yo? Oliver Barbosa is in his late 20's and he got his GM title here in KL.

What does our 30 plus year history tell us? Ooops, sorry. We are not allowed to talk about it. Hmmmm. Maybe that is not quite right. We can talk about anything, spread any lies. Anything but the truth.

We need to stop this or there will be many more casualties for the next 30 years. They are bleeding MCF dry while they tell you there is no money in chess and they are only doing it for the love of chess. Look at Melaka and ask what happened to the money at Asian Amateur.

Note: Actually the same con has been perpetuated for so long only because we haven't spoken about it. So each new victim is without the benefit of past experience. Another trick they use is they blot out history, change or distort it.

And in that way, black becomes white and con men become heroes. Illusions.

I go one step further and say your chess cannot be good if you can fall for the illusions. Blue pill or the red one. Which will get us to that GM? Remember Malaysia vs England at the last Olympiad?

In fact your chess cannot be good if you do not have the courage to challenge that illusion. Think about it. What do you need to win when you have sufficient technical? You don't suddenly develop courage on the board when you are easily intimidated. When you do not have the stuff to stand up for a child, for what is right, for your rights, you won't find in on the board. Don't fool yourself. That is really why we don't have a GM. Too much fear.

Speech by Tun Hamid Mohamad

This speech really touched a cord with me. All we can do in life is to continue to try to be better men/women. We need to try to see the injustices perpetuated on our children and we need to learn to see the frauds. And we need to learn to speak up. It's a journey.

Excerpts:

"On the other hand, a person may not be able to define integrity. He may not be able to give lecture on it. With the fitrah that Allah has given us, with right upbringing, right surrounding, a person would know, what is right and what is wrong. True enough that right and wrong could be subjective, greatly influenced by your religion, culture, society and law. Yet, when it comes to honesty, the core ingredient for integrity, I do not think there is any room for a difference of opinion. So, lack of integrity is not due to ignorance. You know integrity but the question is: do you have it? Whether you have it or not depends on you, on what you do throughout your life. In other words, it boils down to our character. But, we are all human. Everyone has moments of weakness and indiscretion. However, what makes the difference is how serious and how often. When such moments of weakness and indiscretion become the norm rather than the exception, what more when those “wrongs” have become “normal”, then there is something really wrong with the person."

“A person is not given integrity. It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times.” - Unknown.

“Integrity is what we do, what we say and what we say we do.” - Don Galor

“Integrity is the essence of everything successful.” - Richard Buckminster Fulleriii.

“Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.” - Anonymous.

“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” - William Clement Stoneiv.

“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.” - Spencer Johnson.v

Read the rest here.

MCF's Sun Tsu President.

In the past the general wisdom was that we needed a President who had vast contacts with sponsors. But that may not be the case today. I hope I have shown you that MCF can generate more than sufficient funds to do all the work that it has been mandated to do. Ref: Here.

In the model I described, the President who has access to sponsors is just a bonus. What do we really need? Here.

What stands out to me is the lack of a clear vision. A clear vision is expressed by proper guidelines and policies(command). Without it the concubines will laugh. Right now MCF is leaking money and they are interfering with private ventures. There are still unresolved issues with what happened to the surplus at Asian Amateur.

If you look carefully you will see that all the funny going ons in the past has their basis in this. That someone is trying to use MCF for private gain. And that is illegal. So you saw the attack on the first training for juniors before International representation, the attack on the Thematics (maybe also because this is too close to the type of training provided in China). So they are acting against development of chess in Malaysia.

If you look back at our last selection for SEA games you will see the inclusion of players that were not in the top 10. So backdoor entry is not over. It was just contained a little with written selection. My belief is that we may see a reversal if we are not careful.

And we also see funny people making National policies and the unfair banning of National players. The concubines are laughing. It is not chess that they love. It's their pockets and in the case of the banning, a way of knocking out better players than they can produce. You saw the attacks on the juniors who attended a training outside of their norm but which has produced outstanding results but were told, "Juniors wait your turn or you will make enemies". And if you dont kowtow, banned.

Don't be fooled. They will continue to drain MCF of its resources if we allow them to continue. Strong players, good organisers, academies who provide real value are our national assets.

So the first thing we need is a clear command. And for that we need a President and Deputy President who knows chess and have a passion for chess. They also need to understand structures and guidelines. A good way is to empower the entire committee. Right now we have a President who do not know what is going on and is unable to control his officials.

But I have also said that the current officials can remain. Why? Without clear command, it is the fault of the general. So we need to change the top first.

The blue or the red pill? Which will we need to get our GM?

In the techno-apocalyptic hit movie, The Matrix, the hero John Anderson (eventually renamed Neo) was given the choice of two pills by his mentor, Morpheus. There was the blue pill, which would keep Neo within the illusory realm of the computer-generated world of The Matrix.

Or, he could take the red pill and plunge down the rabbit’s hole of the truth (that the world as he knows it is nothing more than a software being run and he’s really stuck in a gel-based bath-tub with two dozens wires plugged into him).

Blue – to stay inside illusion. Red – to have one’s eyes opened to truth.

A new President and a story about Sun Tsu.

Just after writing his treatise on "The Art of War", Sun Tsu went to the King and asked to command his army. The King was bemused and decided to make fun of him. So he told Sun Tsu, "If you can command my concubines in the palace, I will allow you to head my army".

Sun Tsu accepted the challenge. So the concubines were assembled and Sun Tsu chose 2 of the King's favorite concubines and appointed them as officials. And he gave his first command. Everyone broke down in laughter. So Sun Tsu said to the King, "If the command is not clear then it is the fault of the general".

So he went over his commands again to the officials until he was sure they understood. And then he gave the command again.

But again the concubines broke out in laughter. So Sun Tsu said to the King, "If the command is clear and the officials do not obey, then it is the fault of the officials."

And so he ordered the beheading of the 2 concubines. The King was in shock but he allowed it. After that Sun Tsu appointed 2 new officials and issued the command a 3rd time. And they all obeyed.

Sun Tsu got to head the Kings army.

I will write on the qualities we need in our President in my next post. Do think on this story. It is quite enlightening.

More on remuneration and Melaka revisited.

Ref: Here.

I hope that it is now clear that MCF officials must negotiate for the best of MCF. MCF need the funds in order to do the work they are supposed to do. And that is to develop chess in Malaysia.

From Asian Amateur we also see that MCF does not need an event manager. The only way to justify outside expertise is if the expertise is beyond the resources of MCF. But this is very rare and cannot be justified for a tournament. International or not.

In an International tournament MCF has to do extra work by publicising to other Federations and so it can justify charging an endorsement fee.

As we have seen in past practices there are some people hoping to wrongly benefit from the confusion surrounding this issue. The first time I was made aware of this was during the Asean training 2010. This attempt at extortion succeeded and they were paid under protest. This was tried again at Asian Amateur but this time not so successfully because this event was under another MCF official who did it the correct way.

Now any money that should justifiably go to MCF to undertake its work and is diverted away is corruption. So it is important for MCF to investigate the officials in charge of the negotiations. Did they negotiate for the benefit of MCF or was the deal structured to funnel the money away for private gain?

For any money given to a "expert" who is not neccesary is stealing from MCF and stealing from the Malaysian chess public. My concern is that this diversion of funds has also succeeded in Melaka.

Note: This is not disparaging the organisers and sponsors in Melaka. They are new to organising International tournaments. They rely on the advice of MCF. So it's a good event. However whether they got the correct advice or not is my question. It's not too late to correct things now. The event is still a distance away. I hope we get it right. This is important for the future of Malaysian chess. For if we fail to correct this MCF will never have the funds to develop chess in Malaysia. All the money will have been leaked away. So I hope there will be an investigation.

Genius can be taught.

What type of chess culture will allow us to do that? Here.