Syed Omar Almodhzar won the vote for the Presidency of the Equestrian Association of Malaysia, defeating Malaysian Equine Council chairman YM Tengku Temenggong Perlis, Syed Amir Putra by 32 votes to 28 at the EAM’s Annual General Meeting today. Maj. Dato’ Yap Mou Soon, the Executive Secretary of the EAM took the unusual step of standing against the incumbent Secretary-General, YM Raja Mahmood, and defeated him by 34 to 26 votes.
Dato’ Sri Mohammed Shazalli Ramly chose not to continue as President, stepping down to a position as a committee member, after two terms as President. It opened the door for a new President of the EAM.
Syed Omar is one of Malaysia’s most successful show jumpers. For many years, Omar was based in Belgium. Perhaps his best international result was riding Lui 24 where he finished with a rail in each round of the 1.60 m team class at the World Equestrian Games at Aachen in 2006. No other Malaysian show jumper has come close to this achievement.
The campaigning turned acrimonious just before today’s AGM with legal threats being hurled by one of the staff of the MEM against Maj. Dato’ Yap. It ended the chance of conciliation between the two equine bodies, and may have affected the result of the presidential election.
Dato’ Maj. Yap has served the EAM as Executive Secretary for the past 26 years. He is also chairman of the Jumping Committee of the Asian Equestrian Federation.
The committee, as elected by the member clubs, to serve for a two-year term from 2020 to 2022 are:
