Veterinary Association Malaysia (VAM), formed on 27 November 1987, was a result of a smart amalgamation of Association of Veterinary Surgeons Malaysia (AVSM) and Malaysian Veterinary Association (MVA). This marvellous work was largely the brainchild of the VAM’s first President Dr. Ahmad Mustaffa Babjee who made the initiative for the merger. A pro tem committee then was set up comprising Dato’ Dr Ahmad Mustaffa Babjee, formerly the President of AVSM, as the President, Prof. Dr. Syed Jalaluddin Syed Salim, formerly the President of MVA, as the Vice President, Dr Shahirudin Shamsudin as the Secretary, Dr Lim Yew Keng as the Treasurer and Prof. Dr. Sheikh Omar Abd Rahman, as the Editor of JMVMA with Dr Yap Teow Chong, Dr Abdul Aziz Saharee, Dr. Ismail Mohd. Nor, Dr Anwar Hassan and Dr. Vellayan as Committee members.
Before the formation of VAM, the two Associations, viz. AVSM and MVA, had existed separately until 1984 when Dr. Ahmad Mustaffa Babjee made the initiatives for the merger. A constitution was drawn up and it was agreed that the Association be called the Veterinary Association Malaysia (VAM). VAM was finally registered as an Association on 23 January 1989 and the Inaugural Meeting and Congress of VAM was held on 10 - 12 March 1989 in Kuala Lumpur. Dr Ahmad Mustafa Babjee was elected the First President of VAM 1989/1990.
Looking back over the years, VAM’s history can be traced to the year 1939 when seventeen veterinarians from Johor Bahru and Singapore got together to form The Malayan Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA).
From then till the war, the Association was revived in 1946 in Kuala Lumpur and subsequently revitalized in 1956 with a membership of 75 veterinarians. The first local veterinary journal “The JMVMA” was published in that year and the Editor was the late Dr. S. Thuraisingham.
The formation of Malaysia in 1963 caused the MVMA to be renamed as the Malaysian Veterinary Association (MVA). The members of this Association were mainly licentiate, diploma and degree holders from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. However, on 8 April 1964, veterinarians who graduated from Commonwealth countries decided to form a new Association called the Association of Veterinary Surgeons Malaysia (AVSM) due to disagreement on a number of issues between the Indo-Pak qualified veterinarians.
Dr. Johari Daud became the first AVSM President with Dr. Nordin Keling as the Secretary/Treasurer. AVSM was registered on 3 September 1964 where veterinarians from Singapore were also members. When Singapore became an independent republic the Association was renamed the Association of Veterinary Surgeons Malaysia-Singapore. The Association had 22 members and 1 associate member in 1965 and grew to 70 ordinary members and 14 associate members. The venue for the Annual General Meeting and Annual Conference was alternated between Malaysia and Singapore every three years where the host country held the President’s post.
This arrangement continued until 1973 when the Annual General Meeting voted to split the Association into two entities i.e. the Association of Veterinary Surgeons Malaysia (AVSM) and Association of Veterinary Surgeons Singapore (AVSS).
During this time MVA and AVSM were active in holding their respective conferences and two different journals were published. AVSM published the Kajian Veterinar while MVA with its JMVA.
Prepared by,
Dr. Rahmat S.M Sheriff