Recent History
In 1979 the PTC leased out the Clubhouse and the land around it, as well as the golf course land, to PTCSC for a nominal annual fee. With this autonomy the PTC's financial support was withdrawn, and the RPGC (KGDP) as it had then become, having been given the Royal status by Royal Charter, was set to run the sports club and golf course independently from the PTC.
And so the KGDP functioned independently, with the land on which the golf course lay still being leased to the Perak Turf Club. That lease expired in 1991.
Thereafter KGDP entered into negotiations with the State Govt. over the extension of the lease. In 1996, after the State Government negotiations with KGDP failed, the land was leased by the Government to State Secretary Incorporated (SSI), and KGDP entered into negotiations with SSI.
When negotiations again failed to produce any satisfactory solution, in 2006 Royal Perak Golf Club Bhd (RPGC Bhd.) was formed as a wholly own subsidiary of SSI, to operate the new Club, to be known as Royal Perak Golf Club. Eight Directors were appointed to RPGC Bhd to manage the new club:
- Dato’ Abdul Habib Mansur - Chairman
- Dato’ Seri Lee Oi Hian
- Dato’ Shamsul Bahari
- Dato’ Poo Tak Kiau
- Dato’ Hj Abdul Samat
- Dato’ Mohammad Hamzah
- Dr. James Low
- Dato’ Dr. Sarjeet Singh Sidhu
The RPGC Bhd Board of Directors subsequently held several meetings with the Management Committee of KGDP to iron out issues prior to Bhd taking over completely.
By the end of December 2006 all issues outstanding between RPGC Bhd and the KGDP Management Committee and the PTC were resolved, and Bhd took over management of the Golf Course on 1 January 2007. On 1 March 2007, the Club House and its facilities were also completely handed over to Bhd, a new era under RPGC Bhd began.
The Board of Directors then went about the unenviable task of renovating the Club to put it on a new, invigorated footing. Dato' Abdul Habib Mansur often had to keep the Board meetings extending to beyond midnight. After much deliberation, and after looking at several options, the Board finally felt that it would be more prudent to tear down the old buildings and to build the Club house and its ancillary facilities from scratch.
The immediate problems surrounding the negotiations with KGDP having been finally and firmly resolved, and with plans to build everything anew having been finalized Dato' Abdul Habib Mansur, Chairman of the RPGC Board of Directors, and Dato' Mohamad Hamzah, a Director resigned from the Board on account of pressing business commitments; and Dato' Seri Talaat Hussin and En. Mohamed Razali Halib @Khalid joined the Board, with the former taking over as Chairman. The Board then had eight members, with Dr. James Low having left at the end of his tenure, and Dato' Seri Dr Abdul Rahman having joined the Board.
The time after this was spent in endless meetings and discussions; the demolition of the old structures and putting up of the new involved long and tiring discussions. Fortunately Dato' Seri Talaat Hussin, a retired top Civil Servant, brought with him his experience as an administrator and took to the task with ease; it did, however, mean Dato' Seri having to undertake late night drives to and from Kuala Lumpur.
And after a hectic 18 months or so the 'new' Royal Perak Golf Club stood before one and all.
