Friday, April 23, 2010

More complaints against LTAM

Another father of tennis playing children has made complaints against the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM). Last week, Bhoopinder Singh wrote a letter containing many wrong doings of the national body and the letter was published in this blog.

Recently, Mohd Adam Das Abdullah, a father of five tennis playing children sent a letter to Youth and Sports Minister Dato' Shabery Cheek. His complaints were against two officials of the association and a copy of the letter was given to Fair Play News.

Adam has five children who play tennis, two of them are currently studying in United States and one of the two is a singles player in the Penn State University Travel Team. Three other children are actively playing locally and the twins, Shamirul and Suhana are ranked number 3 in the below 10 age group.

"I want to make a complaint againts three LTAM officials who are involved in drafting the programs and training. One of them is a Vice President who makes use of his position for personal gains," wrote Adam in his letter to the Minister.

Adam alleged that one of them, a foreigner, had received hundreds of thousand ringgit as salary from the National Sports Council (NSC) for the past 10 years even though he was not capable of doing his job and does not have good knowledge about the sports.

"His appointment was a trajedy for tennis in the country and the junior players have not shown improvement and this is because of him," wrote Adam.

Adam went on to say that the particular official was responsible for his two children not being able to get into Bukit Jalil Sports School.

"Recently he also prevented my daughter Suhana Sofia from continuing at the Kids Grand Prix. He stopped her from playing by saying that I did not make the second payments for her participation in a tournament which he is responsible for.

"I am surprised why a foreigner who cannot hit  a tennis ball properly can received the backing and trust of NSC and LTAM for the past 10 years. I can give him the benefit of the doubt if he just started, but after 10 years?," wrote Adam.

The second person, wrote Adam, is national coach S. Silvarajoo whom, he claims, conducts most of his trainings in indoor arenas.

"I strongly feel that Silvarajoo does not have the capabilities and lack ideas to coach a national side. The players also do not respect him. All his players lost badly in the recent Futures and other tournament. The results are a proof of his failure," added Adam.

The complainant also claimed that his twins - Shamirul and Suhana - both with ranking 3 for under 10, were always sidelined. They were never included in any under 10 programs.

Adam third issue is with LTAM Vice President, Cheng Ju Chong, whom he claimed was only interested in getting a scholarship for his son Andy to study in the United States.

"He got the scholarship and Andy is now working in Singapore. He uses his position to visit and make use of tennis facilities ini neighbouring countries. Who is paying for all these?," asks Adam, a former Customs Narcotics Inteligence Officer.

The letter to Ahmad Shabery contained many other allegations, most of which I am not able to publish in this blog, at least for now. But I sure hope the contents are looked into, for the sake of tennis.

9 comments:

  1. Aku seorang bapak, akan menjadi datuk.April 23, 2010 at 5:26 PM

    Ibu-bapa hanya tau mengadu. Tulis surat pada menteri lah, Barack Obama lah. Menyampah la. Dulu ada si Fadilah Ghani, kata tak cukup bagus, bila letak Rahizam pun tak baguih. Sekarang Selvarajoo pun kata tak bagus.
    Kalau si ibu-bapa ingat terro sangat, kenapa anak diaorang tak ke-mana-mana?
    Buat apa salahkan LTAM? Kalau anak dah cukup bagus, kenapa nak pedulikan LTAM? Pergilah main luar negara. Ingat Maria Sharapova mintak persatuan Russia sponsor dia ker? Ingat Serena Williams mintak Obama sponsor dia ker.

    Brother Joe, ibu-bapa sendiri yg menyebabkan tennis negara nie teruk. Meluat la aku baca.

    Komplain, komplain, komplain...tu jer tau. Apa kesudahannya? Sendiri mau ingat lah!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joe, I have to agree with the earlier comment. I'm a parent and I'm disgusted with the attitude of some parents that tend to take things overboard. Some dispute line calls during tournaments and run into the courts while the match is being played.
    They have taken the fun out of tennis. My son is happier training at our condo.
    If they feel their kids are 1st class players, then I suggest they go train in US. Don't disturb our kids.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Uncle Joe, I think the comments above is not fair. Without parental support and financing not many children can be exposed to sports like tennis, fencing, dancesport where the equipment costs a considerable sum of money. When parents see that there is an injustice or an aberration in the selection process, certainly they will want an answer. Yes in swimming I recall not one but many of the swimming parents tried to interfere in the selection process.
    In Tennis, the letter written by Bhoopinder Singh calls for a certain amount of transparency by LTAM as to how they select the Nation best player and what is in store in their development program.
    Sure parents can sometimes be a pain in the butt, and some of the complaint are just plain stupid. LTAM are the NSA of Tennis, they must come clean.
    I do not know what are the merits of Mohd Adam Das Abdullah, but shooting individuals and getting personal will not get him anywhere and will not win sympathy. If you have facts lay it out clearly. Your sons not getting into Bukit Jalil Sports school surely there must be a reason. Lets study the reasons first.
    Come on parents be a a sport, I know all of you think your sons and daughters are like Roger Federe or Venus or Serena Williams. If they are not and does not meet the criteria of LTAM selection, just accept it. In the meantime we like to see more facts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mr. Tan EL, Don't get the message wrong. LTAM is the NSA for Tennis, they are not a private club like your condo where the residence have a say on who plays there and who don't. As the NSA, LTAM is publicly accountable to all of those athletes and parents who are involved in the sports. Sure Parents can be a thorn, and those pain in the neck parents should be chased out.
    LTAM must come out clean with a fair set of rules so that everone knows the selection process. What Bhoopinder Singh seems to suggest is favouritism by LTAM.
    Now if it is true, then LTAM is not playing on a level court. Be patient Mr Olympism has pointed out that Mohd Adam Das cannot personally shoot individuals without facts. Any right thinking person will say that he is just another "sour grapes" just because his sons are not selected in the Bukit Jalil Sports school.
    Relax, don't shoot from the hips, if there are issues to be tackle lets do it fairly.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mr. Tan, Your son maybe happier traing at your condo. But where will it lead him if he is a talented player? Would you not like to see your son train in a proper facility that LTAM can offer. He can be exposed properly.
    If you are teaching your son to be a leisure tennis player fine by all means be the champion of your condo. We are talking about a National Champion representing the country. LTAM have to be accountable.
    Sportsman ship also involve fair play , and competing on level playing field as the name of this Blog Fair Play seems to suggest.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Adam has a point. He commented on three officials, Mr Taisto Sinkkonen from Findland, Mr Selvarajoo and Mr Cheng Joo Chong. My comments:
    (1) On Taisto. He has overstayed. Presently he is the Director of Coaching and previously he handles development. He has not achieved anything significant both as development officer and also Director of Coaching. MNS should not extend his contract. More qualified locals can do better job.
    (2) On Selvarajoo. He is a qualified coach, a Level 2 ITF Coach. He should concentrate on his job as the National Coach instead he gets himself involve in Majlis Perbandaran PJ, at Raintree and as State coach for Selangor. If he accepted the post as a National Coach, he must dedicate his job to the nation. Someone must tell him, the question - who is the someone? Director of Coaching (Taisto??) 2 x lima?
    (3) Mr Cheng Joo Chong. He is now one of the three Vice Presidents. He has been an Exco member for more than 10 years. I was told by one of the exco members that Mr Cheng is a soldier who only follow orders and like "burung balam" only nods his head. Frankly, like Taisto, he has overstayed and some one younger to replace him.
    May God Bless our LTAM

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mr Taisto is just doing a job of a postman- he sends letters and emails and that's it. Why need to pay him so much ? Why do we need to employ a foreign postman ?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I hope officials from LTAM read these articles and comments. Taisto has overstayed and run out of ideas. I was informed that LTAM wants Taisto because the Exco members are clueless. Do not blame MSN/NSC. MSN/NSC will continue to pay Taisto so long as LTAM wants him to stay. Exco members are elected because they are qualified and can contibute to develop tennis. If no exco member can take over Taisto's job, then something is not right. Think!
    May God Bless our LTAM

    ReplyDelete
  9. i have been overseas for about 7 years now, but i did grow up playing tournaments in malaysia during the 90s and was coaching a few years after that in kl.

    firstly selvarajoo coaching may look simple n doing the same thing over n over again. but during my time playing he had the most top junior players coming thru the MPPJ programme. i think the results speak for itself.

    as for the politics i wouldnt have a clue whats going on now.

    ReplyDelete