Tennis Malaysia Exco representatives led by president Mirzan Mahathir met up with new Youth and Sports Minister YB Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman in his office in Putrajaya recently.
Others in the Tennis Malaysia delegation were vice-presidents Datuk Taufik Omat, who is also the president of Selangor Tennis Association; Johnson Koh, who is also the president of Sabah Tennis Association and Rahizam Rahim, who is the Honorary-Secretary of Tennis Malaysia.
Several issues of urgent concern were brought up with the minister, including the Sukma (Malaysia Games) participation with official medal tally as State Sports Councils (MSN) normally do not provide grant for this.
During the courtesy call Johnson Koh forwarded an appeal letter to Syed Saddiq which was sent to the previous sports minister. The topic on having tennis as a core sport in Sukma was also discussed.
Syed Saddiq promised to consult with Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) in detail to find a win win solution to the matter.
The privatization of the national tennis center was brought to the new sports minister’s attention. After briefing from TENNIS MALAYSIA president YB Syed Saddiq told the delegation that he will chair a meeting next week with the management of stadiums PSM, and will definitely look into it and find a solution. National tennis center should be managed and administered by national bodies.
Johnson said the delegation from Tennis Malaysia was “happy and pleased with the meeting and the response from the proactive young minister.”
Mirzan Mahathir has also invited Syed Saddiq to tennis tournaments and the minister “promised to attend” if time permits.
Johnson also proposed to Syed Saddiq to get listed companies to adopt each relevant sports. Not only that but to appoint a representative from the sponsor company to sit in the EXCO committee.This way the company will know how the sponsorship money is utilised.
The minister took note of the proposal and thanked Johnson for the suggestion.
The delegation also presented to the minister Tennis Malaysia’s programs during the meeting.
Sabah Tennis also invited Syed saddiq to the Sabah team tennis invitational tournament scheduled to be held in Kota Kinabalu from October 5-7.
