MARTS 53rd Annual General Meeting

Sunday - 26th February 2006.
It was slightly gloomy, the weather. What was in store for the members who gathered at the Caring Community Centre, was anyone's guess. Judging from the past AGMs, there were always unsettled issues. The first order was to get the EGM going. An Extraordinary General Meeting was called and without much objection from those present, a vote to change certain points in the constitution was motioned and supported by the majority. This was relayed to me by another member who was there from the onset.I was late for this part.
A verbal objection was relayed to the Secretary the day before as voiced by certain members in the central region. The most common, being, what would be the impact for such change in the constitution? And why? so the argument goes . .

After a very detailed and well organised registration process , I proceeded to have my coffee, as everyone was enjoying the break, which followed the EGM.

The bullhorn call viz a megaphone was done, and we slowly chuffed into the room.
The opening address was made by The President, and subsequently to officiate the opening, En Husin Ali (MCMC , Northern Region) made a very welcomed opening speech. he touched on the good relationship that MARTS has with the Norther Region Office, and congratulated the Council for a good job done there. He also cautiously touched on the need to have members of quality rather then quantity. This was perhaps made in view of the incident whereby a licensed ham member encroached into the Law enforcement frequency. For the record, the perpetrator is not a MARTS member. En Husin proceeded to call the meeting open. He was presented with a momento from MARTS, the person in honour to present it was 9M2FK-Ishi (Ismail). He is widely acknoledged as the leading Most Awarded Ham operator in contest, and acknowledgements.

The President made a notice to all present about the recent passing of 9M2SMS (formerly 9W2YY- pls refer to previous obituary posting ) and rightfully called for a minute's silence in honour of our late Mr Tee. The meeting then proceeded with The Secretary (9M2CL-Bob) running through the past minutes with detailed reminder from 9M2LR-Richard, pertaining to the do's and dont's, gentle, I might add. With the relevant changes made due to typo errors, the meeting moved through the agendas without much objection.

One point that was brought up during the council report, when each council member, holding different portfolios, was the relevance of MARTS stance in view of the CW issue. (The CW Issue during discussion with MCMC was to remove CW as a requirement for Class A operators) The president gave a quick overview of the intention of MARTS to motion to members to decide on thier stance, by show of hands, and this is to be handed to MCMC in a form of formal declaration. It is hoped that the council will provide a detailed working paper on this issue. Following that The President also mentioned the IARU Region 3 Directors, working visit, with the Council, and the KL Office, as well as their intention (IARU) to seek an early opening of the 40m band, specifically the 7.1 - 7.2 mhz frequency. It was here that a reminder was made again, to compile detailed data for the review of the authorities to help release the band to Amateurs (If required, please refer IARU R3 link - Bandplan)

The items for discussion quickly passed, without any hitches. Given that some members did not receive their notice of meeting, the council gracefully allowed for inclusions in the matters arising. A letter was then read out in part by 9W2MCT-Tony, pertaining to certain issues.
1. To Motion a stand from MARTS on the CW Issue (which was already addressed by the Chair)
2. To seek a reciprocal link for Martsnews.Blogspot.com with www.marts.org.my (on the grounds that the blog has achieved its objective of being a forum for local HAM community, mostly MARTS members, and having had 10000 hits)
The reply from the chair was that MARTS already has a website, and have no intentions of linking to blogs which are deemed not neutral, and often consisting damaging postings. The President later said that moderated sites can be considered, and have no objections, if any postings are sent to the Marts webmaster for consideration.
3.To seek a motion from the council to adopt IARUs stance and also address the 'missing link'
4. To officially seek mention of the relevant regional offices, so that each is known to the other for ease of communication.
5. To seek a motion where members present can take a pledge, of allegiance (This motion was put to vote, and only 7 people agreed to take the pledge, and hence was not adopted)

In all, the meeting was a success, and the many stations which I met were certainly very welcoming. Most were ready to submit that it was a good and rewarding meeting, with the exception to those who were not there to object the adoption of the new constitution.

For the record, this was the pledge.

I, a valid member of the Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitter’s Society, hereby pledge my loyalty to this society, and promise to uphold its integrity by placing its interest ahead of mine.
I shall assist when possible, to better the HAM Community, and will continue to do so in my capacity as an individual to build a bigger and stronger Amateur Radio Society.
From this day on, I will place aside my differences with each and anyone, and work towards a more active, visible, dependable and reputable MARTS.

Nevermind that, but one thing that is certainly true . . . .Line Clear has one of the best Nasi Kandar in town . .

de 9W2MCT-Tony

for more photos, courtesy of 9M2RT-Razif, please click on the link 'MARTS 53rd Annual General Meeting' in brown, above