(From left) Kueh, Hii and Ting at the aborted SDAAA annual general meeting last Monday.
SIBU: The scheduled annual general meeting of Sibu Division Amateur Athletics Association (SDAAA) last Monday night was postponed as a quorum could not be formed.
Only 10 members turned up including president Dr Gregory Hii, secretary Ting Siew Nguong and treasurer Kueh Tei Le.
The meeting has been rescheduled for May 2 at 6.30pm at Li Hua Hotel.
Hii said the turnout was the worst that he ever encountered since taking over the presidency from Temenggong Dato Vincent Lau Lee Ming seven years ago.
“The last AGM saw a turn-out of 30 members.
“This year is our election year, yet only 10 members representing four schools out of 40 schools here turned up.
“Imagine the anguish and the bitter disappointment for those who turned up,” he fumed.
“Unfortunately, this had become the kind of culture which obviously would not take us anywhere.
“However, if it is due to my incapabilities, my personality and my poor leadership, then I am willing to step down for good,” he added.
Hii warned that, “We might as well apply for the dissolution of SDAAA if nobody seems to care or have any interests in the association.”
Commenting further, he wondered if the situation could be that many schools here had failed to produce good athletes in recent years while some did not even bother to send athletes for local competitions.
“This is indeed very sad and, obviously, something is wrong somewhere and somebody
needs to do something to help stop the rot and get the students to be more proactive in athletics,” he said and added that the State Education Department was giving priority to academic studies over sports.
He appealed to teachers to take their own initiative and put in more effort to train students.