Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid was coerced into becoming the president of Lawn Bowls Malaysia. He was a very successful public servant, having served as the ninth Chief Secretary to the Government from 1990 – 1996, the highest position in the Malaysian Civil Service. When he retired as a civil servant, Tun Ahmad served in governance for major Malaysian organisations like Sime Darby and PNB. 

Despite having no background in lawn bowls, Tun Ahmad was approached by his very good friends A. Razak Hitam and Dato Kamaruddin Mahmood, the founding president of the Malaysia Lawn Bowls Association, to become involved at a critical time for the sport which was to be part of Commonwealth Games 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At the same time, the association was facing de-registration for missing filing annual returns.  

Kerry Clark was the International Delegate Observer for the 1998 games and was closely involved in working with Razak Hitam, Dato Kamaruddin Mahmood, and Ramble Dallan Rice-Oxley in the efforts to get Tun Ahmad involved. Tun Ahmad eventually agreed to undertake the role in 1997 and then took a very active part in the preparations for 1998, including the development of the National Bowls Centre at Bukit Kiara, in Petaling Jaya, then a satellite township, now a city, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.  

What followed has been the tremendous growth of the game in Malaysia, aided initially by assistance running seminars and workshops from Kerry Clark, umpires John Butterworth, Norman Deeprose, and coaches Robbie Dobbins and Lachlan Tighe. Tun Ahmad was very proud of Malaysia’s national and international achievements including Commonwealth Games and World Bowls gold medals, having established the vision to “Be the Best in the World”. This history was captured in his book “Lawn Bowls in Malaysia – the President’s Memoir”, first published in 2005.  

He was one of the driving forces of the formation of Asia Lawn Bowls Association (Bowls Asia) in 2000 and was elected inaugural President. Tun Ahmad and the Association helped drive growth around the region including the establishment of the annual Asian Lawn Bowls Championship. The overall champion receives the Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Cup. He also promoted participation in the SEA Games, Commonwealth Youth Games, and organised matches between Asia and Europe, and various multi-nation events, to give Malaysian players as much international competition as possible. 

Tun Ahmad’s legacy includes many honours bestowed upon him in Malaysia for his public service.