14 May Koshy, Dr. Shamala voted as MHC Deputy Presidents

Former Kuala Lumpur HA president, George Koshy, defeated Dato’ Nur Azmi Ahmad for one of two deputy president post in the 8th Malaysian Hockey Confederation Congress in Kuala Lumpur today.

While the only confirmed change before the start of the election process was the unopposed nomination of Dato’ Subahan Kamal as president, taking over from Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the 29 delegates were clearly embroiled in an intense battle for the deputy presidency posts. Tengku Abdullah, however, was elected MHC Honorary President by delegates.

Koshy as he is affectionately known among the hockey fraternity and owner of the highly successful Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club garnered 16 votes against 13 by Dato’ Nur Azmi Ahmad.

The women side for the deputy presidency turned into a two-horse race between Prof. Dr. Shamala Subramanian and K. Maheswari. However, Prof. Dr. Shamala received 17 votes while Maheswari got 12 from the 29 delegates who attended today’s elections.

There were six nominees for the men’s vice-president posts and three in the women’s division. Two women must be voted in with five men as vice-presidents, or four, if the third women nominated gets a higher vote than the fifth man at the completion of the voting process.

The five men nominated are Datuk Wan Ahmad Nizam bin Wan Abd. Hamid (28 votes), Penang HA President Dato’ Ow Soon Kooi (28 votes), Satish Kumar G. Sivaguru (25 votes), Dato’ Radhakrishnan Nair (24 votes) while Johor HA president, Majid Manjit Abdullah (24 votes), retained his post for another term.

The two women elected as vice-presidents are Pn. Nik Zarah bte Nik Abdul Kadir (27 votes) and Pn. Nagula Sivasothy (19 votes). In a press conference after the Congress, Tengku Abdullah said he will continue to support MHC in sourcing for funds and also solve the debts incurred by the national body.

“Firstly, I would like to congratulate the new office bearers while also thanking those who have served us well in the last few years. It has been a learning process for me too in MHC and I am confident Dato’ Subahan have his plans worked out for MHC.

“As for the RM2.5 million debts, MHC is compelled to spend on many developments and training programmes including competitions. You cannot run away from this. Sometimes we can only wish that those who have pledged with sponsorship deals come forward and help us.”

Another factor in the high-rise in expenditure, added Tengku Abdullah, is that MHC has also to look into the development and training of the women’s national team and also competitions.

MHC 2015/2018 Office Bearers:

President: Dato’ Seri Subahan Kamal
Deputy President: Mr. George Koshy and Prof. Dr. Shamala Subramaniam
Vice-Presidents: Datuk Wan Ahmad Nizam bin Wan Abd. Hamid, Dato’ Ow Soon Kooi, Dato’ Radhakrishnan Nair, Mr. Majid Manjit Abdullah, Mr. Satish Kumar, G. Sivaguru, Pn. Nik Zarah bt Nik Abdul Kadir and Pn. Nagula Sivasothy.