Amarjit Singh Emulates His Father's Achievement In Heading MNCF

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 (Bernama) — Datuk Amarjit Singh has emulated the achievement of his father, Tan Sri Darshan Singh when he won the presidency of the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) today.

Amarjit, who is also a member of the Executive Committee of the International Cycling Union (UCI), won a three-way battle at the Special General Meeting (Presidential Election) for the 2023-2026 term held in Melaka.

According to a statement from MNCF, Amarjit, who previously held the position of Vice President and Acting Deputy President, pooled 35 votes to defeat Yunus Ibrahim who received 23 votes, with two spoilt votes.

MNCF said the previous acting-president Mazlan Ab Jail did not receive any votes from the delegates who attended and even the Terengganu Cycling Association did not send delegates to attend the presidential election.

According to the MNCF statement, Mazlan sent a letter bidding to cancel the Special General Meeting (Presidential Election) because he regarded it to be against the MNCF Constitution.

“However, the Special General Meeting (Presidential Election) continued after the MNCF Exco unanimously agreed that the meeting remained compliant with the provisions of the MNCF Constitution and should continue. Mazlan was not present at the meeting,” according to MNCF.

Meanwhile, Amarjit said his biggest task was to maintain harmony in the national governing body, as well as strengthen the relationship between MNCF and the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) and the National Sports Council (NSC).

“I will give the highest priority to this matter because a harmonious atmosphere is very important to me and all Exco members, Council members and state affiliates,” he said.

Amarjit also wants to write a letter to KBS to restore financial aid to MNCF, especially for the highway discipline ahead of the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand, in addition to talking with representatives of the Sabah State Cycling Association (PBNS) to revive the association.

Amarjit is no stranger to the national and international cycling scene, having been elected as a Member of the UCI Executive Meeting and Vice President of the Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) since 2017.

The MNCF president’s seat fell vacant after Datuk Abu Samah Abd Wahab, who held the position since 1990, passed away on Nov 28 (2023) of prostate cancer.

Darshan Singh was the president of MNCF from 1988 to 1990 after pulling off a big surprise by defeating incumbent Tan Sri Elyas Omar who was the popular mayor of Kuala Lumpur at that time.

One of Darshan’s greatest feats was building the Velodrome Rakyat in 1989 (inaugurated July 21) when he went door-to-door to raise funds of over RM3 million from the supportive public while the late Perak Sultan Azlan Shah played a key role in the realisation of the project, for the nation’s very first velodrome.

— BERNAMA