Two Sabahans win posts for national karate body
KOTA KINABALU: There was double joy for the Sabah Karate Association (SKA) with victories for president Datuk Jake Jikulin Nointin and secretary general Julian Chin in the Malaysia Karate Federation (Makaf) Annual General Meeting cum election at Wisma OCM in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Jake was elected as vice president II with Julian as the assistant secretary general of the country’s karate governing body.
When contacted yesterday, Julian said Sabah will have a stronger representation at national level that would help greatly in the development of the sport in the state.
“We are very happy with the results and to be part of Makaf’s decision-making committee. Sabah will definitely voice our concern and take this opportunity to further improve the standard of karate in Sabah.
“In fact, this is a good news for Sabah karate as I believe we will produce more national athletes that who represent the country at international level championships, including the Olympic Games,” Julian said.
In the election, Jake defeated Subramaniam A/L Mayavan in a straight fight for the vice president II post, garnering 57 votes to the latter’s 52.
As for Julian, he achieved 59 votes to beat Thiagu A/L Ponniyah who received 50 votes for the assistant secretary general post.
Meanwhile, Tan Sri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam retained the president post after beating Datuk Soo Ah Wah @ Soo Ah Wan. The former bagged 57 votes to Soo’s 52.
Dato Seri Paduka Haji Mohd Noordin Abdullah also retained his Deputy President I post by beating Dato Lim Chee Jin while Chen Chee Hong is the new Deputy President II after beating Sulaiman Salleh 56-52 votes.
The vice president I post went to Datuk Lau Puan Long after beating Anathan A/L Kupusamy via 57-52 votes while the vice president III post was won by Shamsuddin Shaikh Ali Sayabo by edging Jee Chek Hwang by 57-52 votes.
Dato Paduka Nir Azmi Ahmad will be elected as the new secretary general while Tan See Toh retained his treasurer post, and he will be assisted by Panneerselvan Mathukarayan.
A total of 15 exco members were also elected during the AGM, where the new committee will serve for the 2018-2021 term.