It began with its purchase of the wrong bicycle tyres for races on the cinder track at the Southeast Asia Games (then SEAP) in Rangoon, a month earlier.
The howler resulted in the Malaysians competing with borrowed bicycles. They came home empty-handed.
The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) decided to drop cycling from the regional games in Kuala Lumpur in 1971.
To make matters worse, it emerged that MNCF was broke, with a measly bank balance of $44.60.
At an extraordinary general meeting, the president, the late politician V Manickavasagam, and his executive committee resigned en bloc.
Malaysian cycling’s darkest of times would see national cyclist, Shaharudin Jaffar, change the fate of the sport.
A new committee without a president was formed, with Shaharudin as the secretary, a post he held until 1983.
It was the first time in Malaysian sport that an active sportsman had simultaneously operated as an administrator of a national body.
Until the then Selangor menteri besar Harun Idris became the president two years later, Shaharudin remained the main keeper of Malaysian cycling.
On Shaharudin’s watch, cyclists were transformed from also-rans to Asian champions, talents bloomed, sponsorship grew and competitions were aplenty.
Renewed respect for Malaysian cycling
Within months of Shaharudin being at the helm of MNCF, Malaysian cycling regained some measure of respect.
In August, Malaysia secured the overall team crown and the individual title through Ng Joo Ngan in the Tour of Java race for the Suharto Cup.
The victories were followed through in December at the Asian Games in Bangkok where Daud Ibrahim and Joo Ngan won a gold medal each.
Joo Ngan was named Malaysia’s sportsman of the year in 1970 and Daud in the following year.
The achievements convinced the OCM to reinstate cycling in the 1971 SEAP Games, where Daud was the three-gold hero.
Shaharudin, who turned 84 on Oct 20, said it was a highly enriching and satisfying time in his life.
He said it was gratifying that the cyclists, coaches and officials in his era showed passion, loyalty and undying love for the sport.
Shaharudin’s cycling journey is more than a sports story; tales of his humanity, his empathy and his devotion thrive.
Right in the centre of his story is his wife, Hasmah Ibrahim, whose resolute commitment to her husband’s pursuits makes her an embodiment of cycling itself.
Cycling’s favourite couple
Shaharudin and his wife watched Azizulhasni Awang and Josiah Ng complete a one-two finish in the men’s keirin at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in 2010.
They were happy that they fulfilled their wish in seeing Malaysia ending the 40-year gold medal drought in cycling at the Asiad, and made plans to attend the London Olympics two years later.
“Sadly a month after we returned from China, my wife was diagnosed with lymphoma (a type of blood cancer that affects the immune system),” he said.
While Hasmah has her own battle with stage four cancer, Shaharudin is coping with diabetes and kidney malfunction, requiring dialysis three times a week for three hours a day.
He has had three heart attacks, one of which required bypass surgery.
Shaharudin, a former sports officer with the youth and sports ministry, said he shared all his successes with his wife of 57 years.
“She was the driving force behind my sporting ambitions, often serving as the decisive voice in my choices,” he said.
Hasmah, he said, pawned her jewellery to feed the nine Malaysian cyclists at the Tour of Java because MNCF did not have money.
At times, the couple had up to a dozen riders in their house before competitions, with Hasmah cooking their meals and being the mother to the young men.
Hasmah also stitched the jerseys of teams that could not afford to go to a tailor.
Shaharudin said income from the catering business that Hasmah once ran, helped drive his cycling dreams as a portion of his salary went towards the support of his young cyclists.
The bond with Harun Idris
Harun and Shaharudin sought to bring the nation together over a mutual love of sport.
Shaharudin belonged to a luminous era in Malaysian sport that is scarcely conceivable now, said veteran journalist Terence Netto.
He said: “That era was lit by the love and camaraderie of people like Shaharudin.
“He epitomised the ideals of sport – selfless dedication, quest for excellence, and the goodwill and friendship it spawned.
“Harun loomed over the era, spanning the 1960s to the mid-70s, and many sports personalities, like Shaharudin, looked to him as goad and inspiration for their aspirations.
“They waited for Harun’s ascension to the political summit that they felt would fire their dreams for their sport’s advancement.
“Alas, it was not to be and these personalities were left with the poignant misery of wistful reflection on the what-might- have-been.”
Harun was imprisoned for six years in 1977 for corruption involving the heavyweight boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Britain’s Joe Bugner at Merdeka Stadium two years earlier.
He died in 2003, at the age of 78.
Shaharudin recalled he persuaded Harun to become the MNCF president at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Shaharudin was in Munich as the cycling coach and team manager while Harun was the chef-de-mission and team manager of the football team.
“I didn’t bring him because we needed money, but because I needed a leader,” said Shaharudin. “Money alone is not the determining factor for success.”
Both men developed a close friendship, and when Harun lost the benefits of the menteri besar after he was charged with corruption, Shaharudin volunteered to become his driver.
He said boxing coach, Karim Yahya, and silat gayong exponent, Azhar Ariffin, also remained loyal to Harun, acting as his bodyguards.
Truly one of a kind
Born in Sitiawan, Perak, Shaharudin rode to Malaysia’s first cycling gold medal at the SEAP Games.
He won the 800m sprint in 1965 in Kuala Lumpur without a coach and full-time training.
A year earlier, he was a reserve cyclist for the Tokyo Olympics, itching to display the international experience he had gained at the Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia, in 1962.
Shaharudin missed the Mexico Olympics in 1968 due to injuries suffered when a car crashed into him during road training in Serendah, Selangor.
He called it a day in 1970 and continued to pave the way for the development of cycling in the country.
Shaharudin formed cycling associations, built teams and restored racing activities in Kedah, Melaka, Selangor, Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang from the 60s to the 80s.
After his retirement from the civil service in 1994, he remained the go-to person in the cycling fraternity and was later inducted into OCM’s Hall of Fame.
Today, the father of three sons and eleven grandchildren is happiest when friends drop by his home.
He never fails to encourage people to take to the saddle as a health kick.
Despite his failing hearing and eyesight, he keeps himself fit by cultivating fruits and vegetables on a vacant land near his home in Shah Alam.
It would mean a lot if those in high places consider what it is that makes people like Shaharudin special.
We don’t just owe him a vote of thanks. We owe him a cycle path the length of Shah Alam called Shaharudin Jaffar Way.