During his long service in athletics, R. Govindaraju, among others, had served at the 1998 Commonwealth Games hosted by Malaysia, and several SEA Games editions. — Bernama pic  

KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — Former Perak Amateur Athletics (PAA) secretary and Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) senior official R. Govindaraju died of lung infection at the Penang General Hospital, yesterday.

PAA president Karim Ibrahim said the 71-year-old’s demise is a great loss for Malaysian athletics, as recent SEA Games champions and national record holders Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi (men’s 100m) and Shereen Samson Vallabouy (women’s 400m) were groomed during his tenure in PAA.

“We have lost a great person who sacrificed a lot for athletics over three decades. A very humble and hardworking person, he served as PAA secretary for nine years.

“He was a former teacher, coach, and technical official, who had officiated in many national and international championships. He was our International Technical Officer (ITO) selected by World Athletics for Asia,” he said when contacted.

Govindaraju leaves behind a wife and two daughters.

During his long service in athletics, Govindaraju, among others, had served at the 1998 Commonwealth Games hosted by Malaysia, and several SEA Games editions.

He also served as MAF technical committee secretary for 15 years and head of the technical delegate for the 2016 Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Sarawak.

Source : Bernama Online