The Sarawak Badminton Association (SBA) says it is at its wit’s end and is hoping for the state’s DAP leader to play cupid to get the Sports Commissioner’s Office (SCO) to reverse its suspension against the state body.
They are scheduled to meet on Valentine’s Day, tomorrow.
Its president, Nathan Laing Sim, said he will meet Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen in Kuching to solve the quandary the association is facing after being suspended by the SCO last month despite having won a legal battle affirming the current committee’s legitimacy.
Sim and his committee were reinstated by the Kuching High Court in its May 2024 decision. Judge Datuk Alwi Abdul Wahab, in his ruling on the judicial review brought by Sim and his ousted office bearers, declared that the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called by Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Hussein in 2022, was “improper and wrong in law”, as it violated the SBA constitution. The ruling invalidated the amendments to the SBA constitution passed at the Aziz-chaired EGM.
Aziz is the president of the committee that was ousted, following the court ruling. Aziz, however, is still listed as the SBA president and a BA of Malaysia vice president on the national body’s website.
The High Court also annulled the Sarawak Regional Sports Commissioner’s endorsement of the “amended” constitution and affirmed the validity of the EGM organised by Sim and his office bearers on Sept 18, 2021, and the annual general meeting (AGM) on Oct 3, 2021.
However, the SCO, in a letter dated Jan 7, 2025 to SBA, informed that the association had been suspended for failing to adhere to the “conditions set by the Office”. Sim said his committee had submitted all documents to SCO but were rejected. Yet, he claimed the documents submitted by the ousted members were accepted.
“I’m baffled. This matter went to trial and we won. We have reached out to all parties, including the Youth and Sports minister. Now, we are being suspended,” said Sim.
“We will meet YB Chong to get his help. We will meet him on Friday evening,” said Sim.
In his letter to Chong, Sim said he was seeking “urgent intervention in resolving the ongoing SBA dispute”. He also plans to share evidence of alleged “financial misconduct” within the association.
Sim also revealed that the SCO had drawn out an “action and tentative timeline of the Sarawak Badminton Association’s recovery”. The plan includes amending the association’s constitution and for SBA to carry out its AGM in April before its suspension is revoked by the Office the following month.
The dispute arose following the association’s AGM on July 23, 2021, that was carried out in a hybrid format. During the AGM, affiliate members unanimously agreed to utilise the approved 2011 constitution for the meeting. However, disruptions occurred during the voting process following the dissolution of office-bearers and the appointment of a pro-tem election chairman.
As the members awaited the announcement of the voting results, the virtual Zoom connections were abruptly terminated without prior announcement or conclusion of the voting process, leading to a legal battle.
According to Sim, SBA affiliates are Kuching BA, Samarahan BA, Sri Aman BA, Sarikei BA, Kapit BA, Sibu BA, Bintulu BA, Miri BA and Limbang BA.
Sim admitted the suspension will hurt the association, and more importantly, its athletes.
“If we are suspended, we won’t be able to send our athletes for competitions. We also can’t organise events. Even our banking account has been frozen.
“We truly hope YB Chong will be able to assist. We need to quickly move forward,” he added.
