Thursday, April 24, 2008

Clash of the titans


TWO giants in the Malaysian sportswriting world may lock horns in the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) elections scheduled in May.

Abu Bakar Atan, the TV3 assignment editor, is not about to give up his post.

The man most likely to challenge him for the presidency is Bakar's former protege, Ahmad Khawari Isa of Berita Harian.

Khawari, a graduate of the pre-Editorial Training Scheme (PETS) 3, is the otai of the sportswriting fraternity known for his hard-hitting comments and stinging questions as well.

Many a time I was privileged enough to see him in action, putting Director-Generals, Secretary Generals and politicians to the sword, not literally of course.

Bakar, Khawari and I used to be under the same roof. While Khawari and I were still learning the ropes under the tutelage of former Berita Harian sports editor, Mohd Zian Johari, Bakar was a senior reporter at the Harian Metro sports desk shortly before he was transferred to TV3.

The three of us always differ, not only in terms of looks and physique but also in opinions.

SAM is of course a prestigious body that has lost its direction in recent times. The founding members include Norman Siebel, Datuk Rahim Razali, the late Mansoor Rahman, Ian Augustine Pereira and S.L.E Maran.

One individual who brought SAM to greater heights was the late Zainuddin Bendahara (pic), Zian's predecessor at BH. Only later I discovered Zainuddin was married to Zubaidah Abdul Rahman or Zar, who was BH women's editor for a long time. Like my late mum, Zubaidah was a member of the pioneering batch of Sekolah Tengku Fatimah (STF) in 1956.

Datuk Fauzi Omar, the sports critic with a huge following, presided over the association in the 90s, with two of his buddies, Lazarus Rokk as an exco member and Johnson Fernandez as the secretary.

Fauzi was MM editor and Johnson was my immediate superior between 1999 and 2003.

I believe SAM's fortunes took a downward spiral after the split between its exco members in the mid 90s.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

WAH MENARIK! SIAPA LAGI YANG DIJANGKA AKAN MENGANGGOTAI KABINET BARU SAM?

Anonymous said...

Menarik...SAM ni wujud lagi ke?
siapa lagi yang mungkin dikhabarkan akn menganggotai kabinet SAM yang baru ni?

Anonymous said...

menarik berita nie...saya kenal dua-dua sekali...mungkin perlu ada kompromi? bakar kekal semusim lagi, khawari jadi deputy....yang penting, SAM perlu diperkuatkan kembali...sekarang ni, macam kelab orang pencen je...takde langsung wawasan dan misi baru untuk memperkukuhkan lagi persatuan yang pernah digeruni sebelum ini

epain said...

apalah yg menarik sgt dgn sam ni...

dr segi peranan tak nampak lagi...tp mungkin sbb sam adlh sebahagian drpd jawatankuasa pemilih anugerah sukan negara....

selain drpd tu...tak nampak...

mungkin sam patut set balik misi n visi...

kewujudan sam juga mseti signifikan dgn perkembangan semasa sukan dan pembangunan negara....

bro rizal ada ckp "greatest height"....apa yg greatestnya?...

dan jgn lupa gak...tlglah jgn jadikan sam sebagai batu loncatan utk capai agenda peribadi....

tlg jg prestij "penulis sukan" yg secara tidak langsung tergolong dlm golongan intelek kerana percambahan idea dan lontaran pendapat....

jgn jugak wujud "politik" dlm sam....anda semua jugak yg dok kritik org bila ada hanky panky...tp takkan anda semua pun hanky panky...

kalau boleh sy nak cadanglah...supaya presiden diberi secara giliran...alah...umcm ketua menteri sabah lah....

giliran ikut organisasi...kalau sekang ni bakar atan mewakili tv3...lepas ni BH pulak...pastu utusan...rtm...dan sebagainya yg organisasinya tergolong sebagai "penulis sukan"....

Anonymous said...

Bro, by size, Khawari is a titan.. Or rather a bison (although he is trying very hard to scale down, if you get what I mean...hehehe). Bakar is the skinny version of a titan. Both are good friends of mine. But Bakar has had his chance and didn't make much of an impact. Like an honourable sports leader, he should allow someone else to try and revive SAM, while remaining a supportive member. If both can sit down and work out a better plan together which both are agreeable to, all the better. After all, I don't think there are many of us willing to take charge of SAM in the state that it is in right now.

Anonymous said...

where can i get the membership form ah?

epain said...

Arnaz...i do think there are not many in SAM willing to take charge....

But I believe, this is the best time to take charge...

Better to build something from nothing because it shows the capability and credibility of the person...

For the present committee, it is best for you all to give way to others....at least give them chance to show credentials...