Tan Sri Hamzah – the face of Malaysian sports

KUALA LUMPUR: One of the country’s iconic sports leader Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah passed away yesterday but he will be distinctively remembered for laying the foundations for Malaysia’s sporting excellence.

The soft-spoken Hamzah passed away at 3.30pm due to old age. He was 88.
His demise was met with sadness as the Malaysian sports fraternity reminisced about his great leadership qualities, popularity and friendly nature during his time as a remarkable sports administrator over the past six decades.

Fatherly figure: Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah (left) congratulating Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja’afar after the OCM elections in 1998. Tunku Imran beat Hamzah for the presidency.

 

He had held every important position in sports, from Sports Minister to the president of five major sports bodies – the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), Asian Football Federation (AFC), Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) and Malaysia Taekwondo Association (MTA).

He was also the vice-president of FIFA and an honorary Inter-national Olympic Committee (IOC) member.
OCM president Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja’afar described the late Hamzah as “the face of Malaysian sports”.

“He was one of the high profile people in sports and also very popular at the international level. Even now, members of the IOC will be asking about him ... he surely made an impression,” said Tunku Imran, who is also the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).

“He was the one who brought me into the OCM and supported me. He gave me a position of responsibility. I was his deputy in the cricket association. He was almost like a father figure to me.
“My father and the late Tan Sri Hamzah were good friends and studied at the Malay College. They used to play squash, tennis and football – a very athletic man he was.”

Another sports icon, Tan Sri Datuk Dr M. Jegathesan, said that Malaysian sports enjoyed one of its best years under Hamzah’s leadership as OCM president.

“Under him, both football and hockey qualified for the Olympic Games in 1970s,” said former top Asian sprinter Jegathesan.

“He was clearly a sports leader and was very passionate about football and cricket. His long record in leading different sports organisations is commendable. He gave a lot of focus on development and we are now enjoying the foundation that was laid under his stewardship.”

Jegathesan said he would be always indebted to Hamzah too.

Hamzah was the man behind Jegathesan’s involvement in sports administration when the former athlete was considering devoting full attention to his career in medicine.

“The late Tan Sri played a pivotal role in encouraging me to go into sports administration and led me to hold a position in the doping committee after my retirement. He came looking for me when I was a doctor at the general hospital. The rest was history,” said Jegathesan, who then accompanied Hamzah to the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich as the team doctor.

Table Tennis Association of Malaysia (TTAM) secretary Chan Foong Keong recalled an incident when Hamzah helped him out of a predicament.

“It was in 1972 and he was the Sports Minister then. We were hosting the first ever non-Chinese table tennis championships in Malaysia but we could not find a venue to cater for 300 participants,” said Foong Keong.

“But Tan Sri Hamzah was kind and friendly. He did not turn me down when I approached him. He allowed us to use Stadium Negara for a meagre fee of RM100 per day. He was an understanding leader, indeed.”

 

 

THE STAR