I WOULD like to highlight the plight faced by senior citizens at the Royal Perak Golf Club (RPGC) in Ipoh.

My father has been a member of the club for over 25 years. The club was a members’ club and always put members’ interests first.

In the last few years, the lease of the club from the Perak government had expired.

There were a number of negotiations between the state government and the members’ representatives.

The end result was the club was taken over and run by a company owned by the Perak government.

There has been a lot of dissatisfaction over the way the club is currently run, but since a majority agreed to the takeover, there is nothing one can do.

However, there is a tradition which this proud club has had in place for years - members who are above 70 years’ old and have been members for 25 years can have their monthly contributions waived.

This shows that RPGC recognises its senior members and their contributions.

However, the members who had qualified for this were notified recently that this privilege has been withdrawn.

I understand that there are only a handful of members who have been in the club for more than 25 years and are above 70 years’ old. Hence, the financial loss to the club is negligible.

This rule goes against the values that the club had established in a time-honoured tradition.

I believe my dad and a handful of others who are above 80 years’ old and still play golf should be held up as a shining example of the kind of people we want to be in terms of sports achievement.

This type of high-handedness must stop and we, the members and taxpayers, must stand up and be counted.

F.M., Ipoh

Source: NST – February 14, 2008