KOTA SAMARAHAN: Community-based and voluntary associations have been told to ditch unprofessional style of management to avert disputes.

Giving this advice yesterday, Assistant Minister of Youth Affairs Hamden Ahmad said official records, particularly those on an organisation’s finance must be properly kept to monitor performance and avoid trouble.

“Any association must have a clear record of what has been spent and received. Kampung-style of running an organisation is no longer applicable in today’s advanced world.

“Proper records have to be kept as hard evidence. Even if one does not have ill intention and what one does is right, without black and white, people will see things differently,” he said when addressing a workshop on association management organised by the Ministry of Social Development and Urbanisation at Dewan Suarah here.

As such, Hamden said associations should not allow one-man leadership given that this would take the organisation nowhere.

“Leaders must be sincere and responsible; they should not sideline smart people just because they feel threatened.

“In fact, smart and capable people are the ones who can strengthen an organisation.”

He was quick to add that planning and management were the key factors to run an association successfully.

Noting that some associations had been led by the same old leaders for years, he wondered how they could go up another level without the injection of new blood.

“Avoid one-man power but discuss matters as a team to arrive at decisions which benefit the organisation. If a leader keeps sidelining smart people, who will eventually be disadvantaged?

“It is the association that will stop advancing,” he said, adding that leaders of voluntary bodies should also strive to be financially independent rather than rely on government allocations.

He hoped that participants of the workshop had equipped themselves with the necessary know-how and techniques to better their management skills.

Among those present were Social Development and Urbanisation Ministry’s assistant secretary for youth Dayang Naziah Annuar and representative from Sarawak Youth and Sports Department, Faizul Ganapathy.