SINGAPORE — The team led by Singapore Athletics honorary Secretary Ho Mun Cheong scored a decisive electoral victory at the national sports association’s Annual General Meeting on Monday night (June 27), handing lawyer Edmond Pereira yet another defeat in his third attempt at running for office, and securing 12 out of the 14 seats that it had contested.

Former national 400m runner Ho, backed by veteran coach Loh Chan Pew, led the way when he defeated lawyer Pereira for the presidency in the first contest of the night at the Black Box auditorium at the Singapore Sports Hub, and from then, his team chalked up victory after victory.

But Monday night’s contest was not without drama.

Just as the lead-up to the management committee elections had been dogged by suggestions of in-fighting within the fraternity, Monday’s AGM proved to be conflict-ridden.

After the first round of voting for the presidency ended in a tie, the members of the athletics fraternity at the AGM argued over the next course of action.

The main point of contention was over whether incumbent president and AGM chairman Tang Weng Fei should be allowed to cast a decisive vote — as per SA’s constitution – in the event of another tie in the second round.

Tang had previously given his backing to Pereira, and said he would act as an advisor to their team if they were elected.

As it turned out, the issue was made irrelevant as Ho secured the majority vote among the 20 affiliates in the next round by narrowly beating Pereira 11 votes to nine.

Ho’s victory was made even sweeter as his assembled team went on to win 12 of the 14 management committee positions at stake.

The only two members of Pereira’s team who were voted in were Lee Yan Lin (Women’s representative) and Ghana Segaran (Chairman of Cross-Country & Road Running).

A visibly delighted Ho said: “I want to thank affiliates for giving us the mandate. For those who didn’t give us their mandate, we will still work with them and hopefully we can work together as a team.

“We want to emphasise our achievements will be dependent on good teamwork within the committee as well as from the athletics fraternity as a whole.

“Our philosophy of management will be based on consensus, collective responsibility, transparency and accountability, and we strongly believe the training and selection of coaches and athletes must be transparent to avoid allegations of biasedness.”

“The next task we have to do now is to set up a code of conduct and an athlete’s commission, as well as to implement a succession plan to groom the younger generation of committee members. We also have to start our preparation for next year’s SEA Games. We need to have a selection squad and also a planned competition schedule.”

While Ho and his team celebrated their success, several members of Pereira’s team could not hide their disappointment with the results.

Indeed, both C Kunalan and Cheng Heng Tan — who stood for the roles of vice-president of competitions and finance respectively — withdrew themselves from the elections after Pereira’s defeat, and left the meeting before it ended.

Said a disappointed Pereira: “I cannot comment on the future, because the affiliates have decided and the future is not for me to decide now. There is nothing else I can do for the sport and the athletes. I knew it would be close at this elections, and of course I went hoping that I would win.

“I thought that the general feel was that the affiliates want a change, and I responded to that. I came back to stand for elections again, and I brought in a team with a mix of youth and experience.

“I hope to see the standard for the sport rise, because the athletes are not clocking the significantly faster times than even 30 years ago for example. I also hope to see a level playing field for all athletes.

Former SA president Tang is hopeful the new team will be able to work together and lead local athletics to the next level. “The affiliates have spoken, and we should respect their decisions,” he said.

“Twelve out of 14 from the same team got elected, and I am sure they can work cohesively together to bring the local athletics scene to the next level.

“The hardware is all in place, so it is about getting the systems to work now. As for me, I will always be a cheerleader for Singapore Athletics.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ADELENE WONG

BOX: SINGAPORE ATHLETICS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

President: Ho Mun Cheong

Vice-president (Training & Selection): G.Balasekaran

V. President (Competitions): Loh Chan Pew

V. President (Finance): R.Rajandran

Honorary Secretary: Alexander Louis

Honorary Assistant Secretary: Tan Ming Jen

Honorary Treasurer: Alvin Phua

Statistician: Peter Back

Women’s representative: Lee Yan Lin

Chairman (Cross-Country & Road Running): Ghana Segaran

Chairman (Race Walking): Leong Lee San

Chairman (Officials): Joe Yap

Chairman (Tech & Equipment): Ong Choon Poh

Chairman (Tug of War): Terry Tan