SINGAPORE — Loh Chan Pew, Singapore Athletics (SA) vice-president for competitions organising, has taken a leave of absence from his position amid a police investigation, after he was accused of molesting a former national athlete in 2010.

The veteran coach and former deputy superintendent of prisons had informed the SA’s management committee during a meeting on Wednesday night (Aug 3) that he had to take this temporary measure because he is assisting with police investigations. Loh added that he plans to return to his post when the matter is resolved.

Loh’s move comes just 38 days after he was elected unopposed to the position at the SA’s Annual General Meeting in June.

“At (Wednesday’s) meeting, the SA executive committee received a letter from (Loh),” SA president Ho Mun Cheong told TODAY.

“In that letter to us, Mr Loh, as the SA vice-president for competitions organising, said that he is assisting with police investigations, and will take a leave of absence with immediate effect.

“It is in the best interests of Singapore Athletics. The executive committee has accepted his leave of absence.

“In the meantime, as the president of SA, I will undertake Loh’s duties as VP of competitions organising until the case is over.

“This role is nothing new to me, because I have been VP of competitions organising with SA from 2010-2011. I also organised the Singapore Half-Marathon in 2011.Loh could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

TODAY understands that a former female athlete had recently made a police report against Loh, 71, accusing him of molestation.

Loh was part of Ho’s 14-member team that swept 12 seats during the SA’s recent elections for office bearers. He was supposed to stand against C Kunalan, but the latter withdrew after Ho had narrowly defeated lawyer Edmond Pereira for the presidency.

This is not the first time that Loh has had to relinquish his post.

In February 2014, both he and Steven Lee, then the vice-president of training and selection, were suspended by the SA, and sanctioned for infringing on the national body’s rules of eligibility and ethics, which also refers to misbehaviour or unfair practices.

Loh is understood to have sent a letter of complaint to Sport Singapore, containing allegations against then SA general manager James Wong.

Lee also submitted a letter of complaint to the International Association of Athletics Federations without seeking then SA president Tang Weng Fei’s approval.

Both men, however, were reinstated two months later in April after an independent appeals panel overturned their suspensions.

In June 2014, Loh and Ho, who were part of Tang’s team that was elected in 2012, decided to run against their former ally in the elections that year.

It is not known whether Loh, a former national sprinter who has groomed and developed many national athletes over decades of coaching, and a popular figure in the local athletics community, will also be able to continue coaching because of his personal matters.