I used to spend a lot of time with my friends at the club where we played billiards and skittles. I used to be good at the game of skittles and used to gamble for small stakes. I usually visited the Kinta Indian Association after office hours at around 5 p.m. and played until around midnight. On weekends we used to play the game until the wee hours of the morning. The winner usually bought dinner for the club attendant as compensation for the extended hours.
On days when the takings were good, the attendant would also be given a cash reward by the winner so that he would not complain about the long hours to the club committee members who rarely visited the club after office hours. Our relationship with the attendant was so good that he would trust us with the club keys which we used to return to him at his home after we had closed all the doors and windows of the club after the game.
On weekends, we used to break our game around midnight, visit the stalls around the market for drinks and noodles and return to the club around 2.00 or 3.00am to continue our game. At that time, I was keen on completing a law course and had registered to sit for the Intermediate law exams of the University of London . However, since I was fully engrossed in the game of billiards and skittles my studies in law took a backseat and I was not prepared to sit for the Intermediate exam in laws, though I had signed up for the exam.
In 1971, I was transferred to Alor Setar in the state of Kedah. I lost touch with my friends in Ipoh and found new ones in Alor Setar. My new contacts were keen on robust games like football and hockey which did not interest me. However I found there was an Indian Association where some elders were leading the Association but were only keen on consuming beer at the clubhouse which was in a state of disrepair. There was good money earned by the club for renting out a part of the land for a service station. However that money was misused by the Association’s Office Bearers who gathered at the clubhouse every evening
and bought liquor using the club’s revenue. Unknown to them I had decided the Club had good potential, became a member and recruited a lot of young men into the Club. I was appointed as the General Secretary of the Association. On appointment I had the opportunity to look into the files of the Association and I realised the Association was deregistered as the
committee had failed to send returns and reports to the Registrar of Societies despite many reminders. When I wanted to renew the registration I was surprised that under the Societies Act the Registrar of Societies only had powers to register and cancel the registration for non compliance with the statutory requirements of the Act. He had no powers to reregister a defunct organisation. However the Registrar was a kind man and he said it is possible to register a new organisation and apply for the assets to be transferred to the new organisation. Thus Kedah Indian Association 1974 was formed and we applied for the assets of the de-registered organisation to be transferred to us. The former officer bearers realised what was going on and they formed a new rival organisation known as Kedah Indian Association 1975 and filed a similar claim with the Registrar of Societies. The Registrar of Societies was in a quandary. He had powers to register and deregister societies under the Societies Act 1960 but had no powers to mediate disputes between rival sections claiming assets of a defunct organisation. He took the easy way out and escalated the matter to the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs who was an Indian. There was no provision in the Societies Act 1960 for this intervention. The Deputy Minister took responsibility and intimated to the rival factions to call for a meeting to resolve the matter.
This was a bold step knowing he lacked the powers. But being a lawyer himself the Deputy Minister called up the Registrar of Societies to accompany him for the meeting to decide on the fate of the deregistered organisation. At a General Meeting held at the clubs premises in Alor Star the members were asked to vote for which organisation of the two they preferred. The members by a show of hands voted in favour of my organisation known as the Kedah Indian Association 1974 and thus Kedah Indian Association 1974 was born. I was the first General Secretary of the new organisation however I was transferred to Kluang Johor in 1975 and had to relinquish my appointment as secretary of the Kedah Indian Association 1974.The Association is still known as KIA 1974 although the original Association was formed in 1925. It is my belief that the current office bearers do not know the history of the Association and have not bothered to apply for a change in the name.
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