All good things must come to an end, so they say. But there are some you expect to last for some time, perhaps even longer than you. And when it does not turn out that way, it comes as a shock that is felt by all that hold it dear.
The year 2023 was bittersweet for some, particularly fans and members of the iconic and perhaps even legendary BMW Motorrad Club Malaysia (BMWMCM). As 2023 drew to a close, rumours started circulating that the club had to be disbanded.
But it is difficult to believe rumours in this day of misinformation, so it was disregarded. And then images started circulating of official letters from the Registrar of Societies. And then the disbelieve turned to shock and for some, utter disappointment.
The first one is dated 6th of October, 2023 and is a Notice of Cancellation of Registration. It was addressed to the Secretary, Treasurer, and the President of the Club (for privacy sake, we have blurred out all names and addresses).
It said that the Club had broken the regulations of a registered society, some of them include:
1. Not having conducted an Annual Meeting from the year 2019 to 2022.
2. Not having announced the Annual Meeting dated 18th February 2023 to members.
3. Having recruited six Committee Members instead of five for the Central Zone as per regulations.
And among others, it included financial irregularities, all of which can be read in the letters sent to us and shared below.
It is a sad end to a club that was once voted as the best BMW Club in the world for both bikes and cars.
This writer too had the pleasure of joining the club on a ride from Istanbul to Germany to attend the Motorrad Days in Garmisch Partenkirchen which is located just about an hour south of Munich.
It is still one of the top five greatest rides I had ever undertaken, not because of the ride itself, but because of the people.
I had never met any of them prior to the ride, but eleven years after the ride, we still hug each other like brothers every time we meet. And there in lays the essence of the club, people that were not only brought together by the sheer passion of the brand, but because everybody got along and enjoyed going places together.
We reached out to a few members of the club for a comment (those that we knew), and some were happy to share while some we did not hear back from.
Kenneth, the founder of the club, was more than happy to share, though not as happy about the fate of the club.
“I am deeply disturbed and sad with the deregistration of BMWMCM. It is a shame that this has happened to our loyal BMWMCM members, by the irresponsible committee. I believe and have confidence that a new Motorrad Club will rise to a higher level, stronger and united,” said Kenneth when asked for a comment.
“Our best achievement for BMWMCM and our country was in 2014 when our proposal to form a SEA Team (Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia) to race in the GS Trophy was accepted. Mr Michael Trammer, Race Director and GS Trophy management team granted us our wish. Malaysia was represented by our very first GS Trophy racer Mr Faisal Shukri in 2016 in Thailand.”
“I wish we can rebuild and unite our Motorrad members once again so that we can continue to shine and give a good name to Malaysia,” he concluded.
We also reached out to Minesh Doshi (below left), hailed as the best President that BMWMCM has had for a comment, we have published his full statement in a separate post, which you can read here, but a key takeaway is in his closing statement that reads, “Looking back at all the effort we put in to the club, it is sad to see it go due to negligence or mismanagement (many rumors are flying about).”
“An effort must be made to revive or rescue this club. Too much blood and sweat has gone into making this club so iconic and world renowned,” he concluded.
We also reached out to Joe (seen below), who was also the Vice President of the Club but he only described it as “so sad”.
However, it was a Facebook posting by Kev, one time committee member that really stirred the pot and sparked the idea for this article.
“Good times. Good memories. It’s a club that I briefly called home. But the temporary dwelling has lasting impressions, and I’m sure most of the friends I met there will stay friends with me till the very end,” said Kev in his post, which you can read in full below.
There are many people that we would have loved to speak to for this article, and even more that have contributed to building BMWMCM, but it would have taken us way too long to get this out.
And so we tip our hat and salute those that have put Malaysia on the BMW map by building a club that beat the world. It is a sad eventuality, but one that we hope is temporary.
