AGM by former members illegal – JCI Penampang

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KOTA KINABALU: Junior Chamber International Penampang (JCIP) said the recent annual general meeting (AGM) conducted by a group of disgruntled former members as illegal and null and void.

“This group of disgruntled ex-members, who claim to represent the chapter, were reported to have carried out a fresh AGM recently that was chaired by 2012 Past President Ely Kelvin Maten purportedly on the directive of the Registrar of Societies (ROS) as reported in the media.

“However, their AGM is both fraudulent and null and void as they have elected a non-chapter member, Sue Lili Jaipoh (who resigned from the chapter in 2013) as their presidential candidate during their AGM (as reported in the media).

“My question is, how can you elect a non-financial ex-member who has resigned from the chapter to be a president of a chapter in the first place? Surely this act is very illegal and defies basic common sense to begin with!”said the 2014 JCI Penampang president, Neil Chan, on behalf of the JCI Penampang current board of directors.

He also pointed out that to make matters worse, it seems that their so-called newly elected presidential candidate,‘Sue Lili Jaipoh’, as reported in the media is not who she claims to be.

“I was made to understand that this is not even her real name as per her identity card (IC)! So who is this so-called presidential candidate named ‘Sue Lili Jaipoh’?” he asked.

Chan added that these ex-members also have no locus standi to carry out the AGM as all of these ex-members are non financial as they have not even paid their obligatory membership fees to JCI Malaysia since the beginning of the year.

“They claim to be members of the JCI Penampang Chapter and yet they have not even paid any member fees in the first place since the beginning of the year. So, how can they call themselves members of the chapter?”

Chan reiterated that JCI and JCI Malaysia have continued to recognise his group as the rightful and bona fide JCI Penampang representatives as evident by the fact that during the recent Aspac 2014 Conference in Yamagata, Japan, the Aspac hosting flag was handed over to representatives from the existing 2014 Penampang board of directors and Conference Organising Committee members to signify their rights to host the event in Sabah, Malaysia next year.

He said the JCI Penampang Chapter and current board of directors are also recognised by the Registrar of Youth (ROY), a government organisational body under the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

“Rest assured that the chapter’s board of directors has already taken the necessary actions with the relevant authorities, including lodging police reports on the matter as we suspect that elements of fraud are involved during the AGM carried out by these disgruntled former members.

“We would like to also state that ROS has all along never declared our current board illegal. This ad hoc issue came up only because of irregularities that occurred during Ely’s term of office, a non compliance and mistake on their part which they have kept hidden from the ROS for close to two years and are only now bringing it up now in a last ditch effort to sabotage the upcoming Asia Pacific Conference 2015 hosting next year in Sabah.”

Chan said this in response a report released in the local media where it was announced that the group led by ex-president, Ely Kevin Maten, had held a fresh AGM on July 18 where reportedly a new president, Sue Lily Jaipoh, and new Aspac director, Emma Bolingin, was endorsed.

According to Chan, the current JCIP board of directors have also dismissed the reported ad hoc appointment of ex-president, Emma Bolingin, as Aspac Conference director during the AGM as being both null and void.