1 day Ago By Fadhli Ishak
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian sports lost one its most important figures following the demise of former National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Mazlan Ahmad today (April 14).Mazlan, who had been battling various health issues in recent years, breathed his last at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre. He was 75.
Mazlan had joined NSC in 1983 as deputy director-general.He later became the fifth director-general of NSC and led them between 1993 to 2005 during which he oversaw numerous key programmes.Current NSC director-general Jefri Ngadirin said Mazlan had mentored him during his formative years at NSC.
Jefri remembers Mazlan as a stern, no-nonsense leader who always had Malaysian sports' best interests at heart."When I joined NSC in 1993, Datuk Mazlan was already the director-general and he taught me from A-Z how to create development programmes and do all the necessary paperwork," said Jefri when contacted today (April 14)."He was a fierce and very disciplined leader.
When he wanted to promote me to Core Sports Unit Head in 2004, he gave me an ultimatum. "He asked 'do you want to work or do you want to take leave? If you want to work, I will make you unit head'."Any NSC staff who lacked discipline or lacked knowledge about the sports they were entrusted with would get a tongue-lashing from him.
If you were going to meet him, you better be prepared with all the information needed in case he asked, otherwise it would not end well."National sports associations (NSA) were also not spared. He would also give them a tongue-lashing if they tried anything funny, he was a man of integrity.
"Among the key programmes led by Mazlan included the Jaya '98 programme, which prepared national athletes for the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.Mazlan is also credited with laying the groundwork for Malaysia's rise in sports such as diving, weightlifting, lawn bowls and many others.During his tenure, Malaysia developed world class divers such as Datuk Leong Mun Yee and Bryan Nickson Lomas, among others, who would inspire future generations of stars including Pandelela Rinong.
"Datuk Mazlan was the key man behind Jaya '98 and he really went all out," said Jefri."He put together many of the programmes for the sports under Jaya '98, especially in sports such as diving, lawn bowls and weightlifting. He came up with many of the ideas.
"A lot of foreign coaches were brought in at the time to speed up development in these sports. He also helped set up specialised training centres across the country."Mazlan had also served as national contingent chef de mission for the 2001 Kuala Lumpur Sea Games.
He was honoured with the Sports Figure Award during the 2022 National Sports Awards.Solat jenazah for Mazlan will be held at Masjid Al-Ehsan, Kelana Jaya tomorrow morning (9am) after which he will be laid to rest at Tanah Perkuburan Islam, Sek 9, Kota Damansara.© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd.
