All incumbent office-bearers of the Sarawak Club, one of the oldest private members' clubs in the country, were returned unopposed at the annual general meeting on Sunday.

However critics are claiming that it was a hollow victory for the lack of a contest in the polls.

The reason for the no-contest was due to a "strategy move' made by a group of rival club members by not placing any candidates despite a clear indication that they could have won the election.

This rival groups' main bone of contention was the new RM30 million golf club project in Kota Samarahan outside state capital Kuching.

sarawak club kuching 021208 Instead, the group pushed through a motion in four parts with the overwhelming support of those present that, among others, would limit the term of a management committee member to no more than two consecutive terms or more than two years.

This means that the main principal office-bearers or at least half of the present management committee will have to relinquish their post at the end of the new one-year term next year.

Spokesperson for the rival group, lawyer Ernest Chua told Malaysiakini today that the motion was approved by more than 600 votes - with those against it getting less than 100 votes. The motion was proposed by Andrew Bong and seconded by Chua.

Power curtailing motion

According to Chua, the first part of the motion stated that there shall be no amendments in the club constitution to the category of members unless more than 50 percent of total membership agreed.

The second part was that the management committee shall not spend more than RM30,000 and if they do, the committee would then be personally liable unless the exceeded amount has been rectified at an annual general meeting or an extraordinary general meeting.

The third part of the motion was the most important one as it stated that no member of the management committee shall hold office for more than two years, said Chua.

The fourth part was on allowing proxies to be in any format and can be sent by faxes, e-mails or any other form of communication.

Meanwhile, Save Our Club group leader Richard Wee Liang Chiat told Malaysiakini that Chua was not the appointed spokesperson of the group and that the SOC would not wish to comment on the motions that had been passed at the last AGM.

Wee said that the SOC would like to see all members work together and to move forward after the AGM.

A corporate figure, Wee also said that bringing internal club disputes into the public domain through the news media would be counter-productive and was not in the best interests of the club.

Chua said the majority of club members have been unhappy with the way the management committee had undertaken the golf club project covering 200 acres.

Their unhappiness also arose from the fact that the whole project comprising of a club house and a 18-hole golf course has been contracted out to a company.

The total project cost was about RM30 million, and 30 percent of the club's 3,000 members have opted not to join.

Those who joined are required to contribute RM3,800 each to the development fund.

Established in 1876

The land from the project has been excised from part of a large piece of land alienated by the state government to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and in return the Sarawak Club has agreed to give free 1,000 memberships to Unimas.

The motion passed on Sunday also requested the Sarawak Club to set up a limited company to look after the Kota Samarahan Golf Club.

Among those returned unopposed at the AGM were club president Abdul Aziz Hussain, who was also a former state secretary and the brother-in-law of Chief Minister Taib Mahmud.

Other victors include Victor Fong as the deputy president. He is the younger brother of former state attorney-general JC Fong. Chan Poh Hui was retained as secretary and Dino Bidari as catering member.

The Sarawak Club was established in 1876 and is reputedly one of the oldest private membership clubs in the whole of Malaysia. It was set up to cater for the entertainment and recreational needs of the officers of the white Rajahs that ruled the state from 1841 to 1941.

A three-hour fire on July 27, 2006 razed the club premises to the ground but it was fully restored in about a year.

Entry to the Sarawak Club membership is by invitation and introduction of existing members only.