Blog Archives 2009 – 2012

INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE

03/03/2009

This evening the Victorian committee attended a second special meeting, at which we upheld our previous motion to suspend our player Mohammed Hegazi from tournament play for one year, from November 1st [2008].

As Mohammed did not attend the meeting we will now write to him to advise him of our final decision, and give him the right to appeal. If he does, we will have to arrange a special meeting of our members, at which Mohammed may appeal to the membership and have them vote on the ban.

At our ordinary committee meeting, which followed the special meeting, we passed a motion to the effect that Victoria will not accept entry to tournaments from any player who, at the time, is banned by his/her state or territory association. I believe that you already have this clause in place, "BJ". I'm not sure what you can do about Mohammed's entry to your Championship, "OR", its something you'll have to work out with your committee.

Most of the reasons for the ban have been publicised by Mohammed himself on his personal blog, with the exception of two important documents, the first a second accusation of cheating directed at Mohammed himself*, and the second a very nasty, racist and threatening email to Kow, in response to her earlier accusation of cheating against Mohammed**. If anyone is interested in reading these for completion please let me know and I will forward them to you. There are several links to different pages on the following website -
http://scrabbledetective.blogspot.com/2008/06/extent-of-scrabble-cheating.html
This has been an unpleasant episode and I'm not sure that it is behind us as yet.
Needless to say I am very grateful for the supportive committee I have here in Victoria.

Kind regards to all,
MM.
_______________________

It is now official that Victoria has banned Mohammed Hegazi for one year - here is the motion as it appears in our minutes -

4. CONFIRMATION OR REVOCATION OF RESOLUTION:

RESOLUTION of Special Meeting held on 18th September, 2008

In accordance with Rule 10.1 of the ASPA (Victoria) Inc Constitution, we find that Mohammed Hegazi has neglected to comply with these rules and is guilty of conduct unbecoming a member and prejudicial to the interests of the Association, and that he be suspended from attending or participating in all ASPA (Victoria) Inc. tournaments for 1 year commencing Saturday November 1st, 2008.

MOVED: "GK"/"TH" CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

RESOLUTION: (October 16 2008)

That the Resolution passed unanimously at the Special Meeting held on September 18th, 2008 regarding Mohammed Hegazi be upheld and that during the period Saturday November 1st, 2008 to Saturday October 31st, 2009, inclusive, the Committee reserves the right, on behalf of the members of the Association, to review this decision and the extent to which it shall be applied in the event that further allegations are made against Mr. Hegazi***.

MOVED: "NF"/"AF" CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

It is likely that he would have escaped with a warning, were it not for the email he sent to Kow, which was the deciding factor. I have attached a copy if you wish to read it, as it will demonstrate the serious and unacceptable nature of his behaviour.**

I am aware of the email which he sent yesterday to several people around Australia, in which he states that I have asked Tasmania and the Capital Territory to refuse his entry to their tournaments. "AM" and "OR" will confirm that I have not done so, but I don't intend to challenge Mohammed re his twisting of the facts - I shall just keep it on file for future reference,

Kind regards, and thank you all for your support in this matter,

MM
_____________________________

Thank you, "AM", I seem to have missed your email till now. If the need arises you could inform him of the actual chain of events, but at the moment I'm happy to leave the matter rest.

I would hope that anyone who received the email from Mohammed would have sufficient commonsense to know that he has misrepresented the facts, and certainly I think that anyone who knows me, and the Victorian Committee members personally, would realise that we aren't persecuting him.

Kind regards,

MM
_____________________________

Dear MM

I cannot understand how Mohammed can give such publicity to his own bad behaviour, and his terrifying ethnic prejudices and delusions, and then have the gaul (sic) to suggest he is being victimised. I have been aware for a long time of his repeated accusations of cheating, - usually made against people such as you, proving he is a coward - but the more I have learned about him, the more I have been amazed (and concerned) that such a person has been attending Scrabble tournaments.

I briefly thought he may have woken up to himself when he said he would abide by the Tasmanian committee's decision, but his subsequent ravings have proved he hasn't (and never will). However, I remain hopeful that he will stay away from our tournament. [*]

Congratulations on the resolve you and your members have shown in dealing with this man. I know it has been a painful experience. Hopefully you will be rewarded by seeing some of the people he has scared off, returning to tournaments****.

Very best wishes

Alan Mathews

* [Would I want to rub shoulders with such character?]
_____________________________

Thank you for your thoughts, "AM", the best thing I can say is that he marches to the beat of a different drum.

We are also hopeful that our tournament numbers may pick up somewhat, it has taken quite a degree of resolve on the part of our regular attendees to continue supporting our tournaments, and as I've mentioned before I am grateful for the strength and support of our committee members.

I sincerely hope that your Championship runs smoothly and happily,

MM
=============================
My Comment:

* This is a reference to a momentary dispute over the calculation of extra time on the clock, after a certain game against a habitual cheat that infuriated me to no end and affected my ability to remain composed. It was sorted out in a few seconds. However, making reference to it, by Mrs Miller, as an "important" "cheating attempt" is a very sneaky Shylockian method that casts a smear and implicitly suggests that I am the subject of genuine complaints of cheating. Such smear was resounded by "TH" from NSW on a discussion board, in the form of an 'innocent' question about 'people who actually try to cheat after being falsely accused of cheating.'

**Below is the email sent to Kow, to which reference is made above by MM. I refused to discuss it at the Committee meeting. It was supposed to be a private and confidential email. I tried to make it as nasty as the terrible unsubstantiated accusation levelled at me by an unsophisticated mind, that would not appreciate a civil dialogue. I had no intention at that stage to expose any Shylockian attitudes within the scrabble community. I have had no intention to confront scrabble Shylocks, UNTIL they declared war on me. The threat to expose Kow has now been fully carried out, by clearly demonstrating in a simple logical manner, on this blog, how she has been a blatant Shylockian liar [Blog archive Sept 2008.] Geoff Wright, the Tournament Director was watching that particular game, which finished much later than the rest. He was exchanging whispering comments with her at the time. If there were a shade of truth in her story, she should have alerted him on the spot. Mrs Miller should have discussed this matter with him, had she not been party to this dirty affair. Maybe she did discuss it with him and could not extract a result to her satisfaction. When this was explained to the Committee, the response was amazing. Andrew Fisher simply and sarcastically sneered at the mental capacity and awareness of Geoff Wright, instead of suggesting a reprimand for the offending Kow, who formally made an unsubstantiated allegation against a fellow player. Here is the much vaunted email upon which ten people, presumably sane, based their "unanimous" decision:

To: Iratekow@------
I have fought many a battle against fanatic jews in and outside Australia. This scrabble fiasco is nothing but a ripple in a turbulent ocean. I can handle it with ease. Scrabble tournaments are nothing but a minor pastime for me, which I often thought of quitting whenever I reflected on the extent of its infestation by cheats.

You know damn well that your story is a fabrication. I tried hard to find an excuse for you, such as a tile accidentally falling off the rack onto my lap and me reaching for it, but I could not recall such an accident happening.

I am prepared to give you one last chance to withdraw your heinous complaint, in exchange for giving you my word not to discuss this matter with any third party. If you click on the small sample of links below, you might know a little bit more about my determination and appreciate how generous my offer is. If you elect to be stubborn and carry on with your gang of conniving prejudiced fanatic jews, I promise to expose you in a very unpleasant manner. I will give you one week to consult with your fellow jews.

http://www.adl.org/main_International_Affairs/iran_holocaust_conference.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_5

http://www.bnaibrith.org.au/images/%7BD6933DD3-9DFF-4375-B3CA-C653D9FA5F7E%7D.pdf
----------------

From: "Katie Rowe"

To: "Marj Miller"< mjwm@connexus.net.au;

 

Subject: Fw: Offer

Marj and Barry

I wonder if you can give me some advice on how to handle this. I don't know what to say, except that I am not Jewish. Unfortunately both my home address and current address are out there for everyone, and I am actually a little frightened.

Thanks

Katie
===================
***This is an open ended invitation intended for more fellow Shylocks to come forward with more invented trivia. Shylockian tactics plumb the depths of dishonour and indecency. They include character assassination, wilful distortion of facts, fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth if it derailed their plans. I think the supply of hard core Shylocks has already been depleted. Members of the clan are not all evil or stupid. I have no doubt that many are not happy with this state of affairs. To them, I would like to emphasise the fact that I did not start this open and ugly encounter; Carol johnsen did in an ignorant and unsophisticated manner. Subsequently, she had the full support of the gang, who responded by initiating this case against me, and to hurriedly collect flimsy evidence over a short period of time, in order to cover up for her incompetent and tactless email.

****In this regard, I suggest that MM should seriously think of hiring larger halls as venues for her future Victorian tournaments. The numbers of returning escapees might be overwhelming, since the total number of players in Victoria is about two hundred. Even if an immediate comparison with past years might not support this assumption, it should happen in a few years as memories of the dreadful villain fade away!

-----------------
Some forgive, some forget, some do both. I do neither, I get even. In fact, when properly motivated, I get way more than even. The attitude of this Shylockian gang has given me more than just motivation to fight back.

CHEATING CHAMPIONS

06/06/2009

Accused Scrabble cheat to keep titles

By: Suryatapa Bhattacharya

The National ( UAE)

January 28. 2009

The Scrabble champion banned from international competitions for four years for cheating will not be stripped of his local and regional titles, it was announced yesterday. The Bahrain Scrabble League Committee believes the ban “is punishment enough”.

Mohammed Zafar, 19, beat Akshay Bhandarkar from Dubai last June to win the Gulf Scrabble championship. He is also the Bahrain national champion.

Mr Zafar, who denies cheating, was barred by the game’s governing body, the World English Language Scrabble Players Association (Wespa), for breaking the rule about how players draw their letters while playing in a tournament in Malaysia in December.

“The decision is not to strip Mohammed of his titles,” said Roy Kietzman, a member of the Bahrain Scrabble League Committee and a special panel of four that met on Monday night in Manama to discuss Wespa’s decision.

“We felt it was humiliation enough to be charged with being guilty and being banned from Scrabble.

“For him, this is public humiliation in the Scrabble community. We feel this is punishment enough.”

Mr Zafar was accused of taking his tiles from the top of the bag and having a quick peek at them before letting go of any he did not want during the Causeway Challenge, held in Johru Bahar in Malaysia.

The rules of the game state that although players may give the bag a vigorous shake, they must draw tiles at shoulder length while looking away from the bag.

Mr Zafar is also banned from the Malaysian tournament for life.

The Bahrain Scrabble League Committee says it “fully endorses the Wespa decision that he was guilty”.

Mr Kietzman confirmed that Allan Simmons, the chairman of the Wespa inquiry and Britain’s national champion, had been willing to lower the penalty and cut the time of the ban by half if Mr Zafar had admitted his guilt.

“We are urging Wespa to make strict guidelines on what to do in the future. This was a precedent.”

Last year, Mr Zafar faced the two-time defending champion of the regional Scrabble title, Mr Bhandarkar, in a thrilling match that saw the use of plurals, bingos [when a player uses all seven letters at once] and plenty of theatrics.

My Comment:

I followed the news about this cheating incident. Previous articles gave me the wrong impression that the player only had a peek into a lowered bag, which is common practice among many local cheats here. However, the explanation given by this article is quite clear:

"Mr Zafar was accused of taking his tiles from the top of the bag and having a quick peek at them before letting go of any he did not want."

This is one of the worst cheating methods, which was practised against me a few times in tournaments, and is being practised on a weekly basis by a couple of players at my scrabble club.

Cheating wise, it is a very effective method that would give the cheat a decisive advantage. If, for example, the cheat had their partial rack full of vowels, they could drop back every vowel they come across while replenishing their rack. It saves them the need to lose their turn in order to change some tiles. Even then, the change often proves disastrous.

This Zafar boy is particularly impertinent for being my namesake! He should shove his name back into the bag and pick another one, hopefully not a blank.

WHAT HAS ALLUDULLA GOT TO DO WITH THE PRICE OF FISH?

24/09/2010

While my past observation on cheating in scrabble was based on my own personal experience with cheating opponents, my present assessment will be extended to ask the question: Why are the rules of the Australian Scrabble Players Association (ASPA) out of tune with the international rules devised by the World English-Language Scrabble Players' Association (WESPA)?

After careful analytical examination of the results of the Ulladulla tournament held in September 2010, I came to the conclusion that ASPA rules are inferior to WESPA rules. Consider the following comparison:

ASPA RULES:

Selecting Tiles

5.1 You must hold the tile bag above the level of the table and so that no tiles in the bag can be seen. Remove tiles in full view of your opponent.

5.2 You may not put your hand back into the tile bag whilst you still have tiles in that hand. All drawn tiles must be placed on the rack or the table before drawing any more.

Compare the above to WESPA rules:

3.9.1 Bag Position

When drawing from the bag, a player must:

(a) hold the bag so that the rim of the bag is at or above eye level;

(b) avert his or her eyes from the bag; and

(c) keep the bag in full view of the opponent.

3.9.2 Drawing Protocols

(a) While doing so may be helpful to avoid overdrawing, players need not draw tiles individually.

(b) A player must not put a hand into the tile bag if that hand contains tiles. All drawn tiles must be placed on the rack or the table before further tiles are drawn.

(c) It is mandatory to show an empty hand both before and after drawing replacement tiles.

(d) Replacement tiles must be drawn with reasonable speed.

WESPA Rule 3.9.1(a) is succinct and precise. It certainly keeps the tiles out of sight, while ASPA Rule 5.1 is poorly worded and assumes the existence of a hypothetical standard-height table.

While both ASPA and WESPA rules do emphasise the importance of having an empty hand, only WESPA’s rules have a built-in guarantee, in clauses 3.9.2(c) and 3.9.2(d), that such dishonesty would not occur. Rule 3.9.2(c) eliminates the ugly sight of that fist returning unwanted tiles to the bag. Rule 3.9.2(d) prevents cheating players from examining withdrawn tiles with an eye on slipping unwanted tiles back into the bag. The place where honest players examine their tiles is their rack. It has been my experience with dishonest players that withdrawn tiles lurk unnecessarily in the vicinity of the top of the bag, often requiring the assistance of the other hand.

players with vested interest in maintaining the status quo, would be quick to suggest that WESPA’s anti-cheating measures are unbecoming because cheating does not exist.

Cheers!

A SATISFYING LOSS

16/11/2010

People usually hate to lose in scrabble tournaments. However, I have recently had a very satisfying loss in Canberra. The reason is simply because I have developed over the years a sharp sense of being able to quickly figure out who cheat, their method of cheating, and how to deal with most cheats.

One interesting observation is that cheats will never take a hint and when approached in a friendly manner, they would pretend to be offended by such insinuation. However, they would continue to cheat regardless.

I met simplistic cheats, whose elementary method is to contravene Australian rules by exposing tiles inside the bag and lowering it below table level. I managed to resolve this nagging problem by taking a stern straightforward stand, rather than hint or watch helplessly in order not to “rock the boat”. I achieved my goal on the second day of the tournament and managed to get a couple of seasoned chronic cheats to follow the rules. It wasn’t easy and I once had to shout at a nosy player that my discussion with my opponent was “none of her business”. It amazes me that those who vehemently deny the fact that Scrabble cheating does exist are usually the cheats themselves.

One harder problem remains. It is the sneaky devil who slips unwanted tiles back into the bag. There is nothing in ASPA rules that may help solve this problem. If you catch the culprit in the act, you have no means of proving your claim. This problem has been sorted out in WESPA rules, where a hand approaching the bag has to be shown to be empty. When I started playing scrabble, I thought the rule was offensive, not to mention the fact that I have a natural antipathy towards anything American. However, I could see the wisdom behind the strange rule, after many years of facing so many cheats.

During that Canberra tournament, I lost twice to a certain cheat, who was not from ACT or NSW. Her cheating technique was to draw tiles from the bag one by one and examine them while stacking them in a raw on the table. Towards the end of the process, one unwanted tile would quickly be “palmed” and returned to the bag. When it happened, I could only mumble a hint to the effect that I have detected the offence. The culprit must have had carefully weighed the ramifications of being detected and was ready to respond if an accusation were levelled at her. My consolation is that I know that I would certainly have won if the field was level. As such, it was a satisfying loss.

It is becoming clear to me that the reason ASPA rules are not in line with WESPA rules is because some players do have vested interest in not adopting some superior WESPA rules. There are two WESPA rules that would end all forms of scrabble cheating in Australia. As to bag position during drawing tiles, ASPA rules made reference to “shoulder height”. That was later changed to a more dubious “above table level”, the assumption being that all tables are born of equal height! Here are the two relevant WESPA rules:

3.9.1 Bag Position

When drawing from the bag, a player must:

(a) hold the bag so that the rim of the bag is at or above eye level;

(b) avert his or her eyes from the bag; and

(c) keep the bag in full view of the opponent.

3.9.2 Drawing Protocols

(a) While doing so may be helpful to avoid overdrawing, players need not draw tiles individually.

(b) A player must not put a hand into the tile bag if that hand contains tiles.

All drawn tiles must be placed on the rack or the table before further tiles are drawn.

(c) It is mandatory to show an empty hand both before and after drawing replacement tiles (see Rule 3.7.1 (Procedure for Shuffling or Counting Tiles)).

(d) Replacement tiles must be drawn with reasonable speed.

Interesting

19/07/2011

From:        carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>

To:    carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>

Bcc:  mohammedhegazi@gmail.com

Date:          17 July 2011 15:12

Subject:     Revised Notice of ASPA (Vic) AGM

mailed-by:          gmail.com

           

The Annual General Meeting of our Association will take place during the Midwinter Tournament, at approximately 1.30pm on Sunday August 14^th 2011 at the Box Hill Senior Citizens Centre, 79 Carrington Road, Box Hill.

Elections will be held for all positions: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Officer, Ratings Officer, Rules Officer, Publicity Officer, and up to two other Committee members.

Nominations must be made in writing, signed by two members of the Association and accompanied by the written consent of the candidate, and submitted to Secretary, Cheryle Jerram, 28 Donald Road, Burwood 3125 no later than August 7 2011.

New items for business on the agenda to be discussed at the AGM closed on July 10.

Motions to be put forward at the ASPA (Vic) Inc Annual General Meeting on August 14 2011

1.    MOTION: to increase the annual membership subscription to $20, with effect from 01/07/2012.
Proposed Membership Structure from July 1 2012:
Adults: $20.00 per annum
Juniors: $10.00 per annum (must be aged 17 and under on July 1^st)

New members:
If joining prior to March 31^st, $20.00

If joining after March 31^st, there are two options -
Pay $10 for the remainder of the financial year

OR
Pay $25 and become financial till July 1^st of the following year

Moved: Marj Miller
Seconded: Norma Fisher

2.   MOTION: to adopt the National Rules, with effect from August 15 2011
Moved: Marj Miller
Seconded: Norma Fisher

3. MOTION: Members of ASPA(Vic) hereby extend an apology to ASPA (Vic) member Mohammed Hegazi, in relation to an unsubstantiated claim of cheating made against him.
The claim of cheating is attached herewith as “addendum (1) to motion”; a statement by Mohammed Hegai is attached as “addendum (2) to motion”
Moved: Tess Robinson
Seconded: Geoff Wright
Addendum (1) to motion:

On 12 May at the XB tournament, I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with the tiles in one of the rated games.

John Mina was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated beside Mohammed. My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.

He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.

I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.

Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.

Signed: Katie Rowe

Addendum (2) to motion

Statement by Mohammed Hegazi

I make reference to an allegation of cheating made against me by Ms Katie Rowe. She was watching the game in question together with the TD, Geoff Wright, until the very end of the game. They were exchanging whispering comments about the game. Ms Rowe claims that etiquette prevented her from reporting the alleged incident to the TD at the time, yet she saw fit to report it in writing to Mrs Marj Miller, 5 months after the tournament. Mrs Miller in turn saw fit to table such unsubstantiated claim for discussion with me in a Committee meeting.

If Ms Rowe’s story had any shade of truth in it, she should have alerted the TD to the incident at the time. The TD would have ascertained the validity of her claim.

Mohammed Hegazi

_____________________________________________________

The above is a simple “cut and paste” job.

Tess Robinson from Ballarat is a Victorian scrabble icon. She has been running the Ballarat Scrabble Club for more than a decade. Those of us who participated in her regular tournaments are familiar with her warm friendly demeanour. In appreciation of Tess’ pleasant company, I visit her club every now and then in order to enjoy a rewarding day of scrabble.

I am really honoured by her moving a principled motion to exonerate me from the heinous unfounded accusation of cheating levelled at me in 2008. I am equally honoured by Geoff Wright’s unfaltering seconding of the motion. However, neither Tess nor Geoff would be available for secondment of the motion during the AGM of ASPA (Vic) on 14 August 2011. Tess has church commitments on Sundays. Geoff has long decided not to attend any such meetings, for reasons unknown to me. I can only assume that, like many others including my humble self, Geoff is not impressed by the lacklustre pompous attitude of some Committee members.

As to the outcome of the motion, I don’t really give a damn. I feel already vindicated, even if a show of hands would prove that the Shylockian factor overrides principle.

If you became curious, come back for a surprise about mid-August. As for me, nothing coming out from this mob would surprise me. Mrs Miller already told David More of NSW that, "It had been proven that Mohammed cheated"!

Motion and Emotion

19/08/2011

Even though the outcome of the motion was to be expected, the sneaky means to it was a bit strange. The head Shylock insisted on a secret ballot. I objected and offered to have a walk away from the meeting while the issue would be decided by a show of hands. My offer was turned down. I do not think that the outcome would have drastically changed, except that the number of abstentions would have increased at the expense of those against; some would have wanted to look less stupid. The number of those for would have marginally increased, as a few more would have wanted to look more respectable. Anyway, the following cut-and-paste correspondence might shed more light on the stupidity of ASPA(Vic):

Hi Harry,

I will be playing tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Ballarat Club. Tess Robinson will ask me about what happened with her AGM motion. I have already forgotten about the resulting figures; I did not even cast a vote myself. Could you please tell me about these figures, if you can still remember them, even approximately.

I might as well reiterate my appreciation and gratitude for your principled stand on this matter, which flew above the heads of the simple minds that took the idea of an apology to be a glorified ego trip for me. Now, every Tom, Dick and Katie can level a false accusation at any player and get away with it.

Mohammed

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Mohammed

I think it was 8 for, 16 abstained, 35 against.

My reading of that is that

1) adding Tess, Geoff and yourself makes 11, plus 16 didn't back VicASPA = 27 who didn't back VicASPA.

2) taking away 9 self serving committee votes from 35 leaves 26 who backed VicASPA.

Either way, Vic ASPA should review the decision to leave the shocking precedent on their books, regardless of the vote.

You can't have a body like VicASPA paste the terrible tag of cheat on the basis of 5 month old hearsay, notwithstanding no supporting complaint from other observers or the opponent, ie no admissible evidence.

Interesting to see Katie did not intend to write but was "asked to".

Your paths are possibly

a) wait a month and see if there is anything develop after the next VicASPA meeting

b) write to them interpreting the vote as not adequate to support their finding

c) write and ask them to review on the basis that they have used inadmissible evidence

d) write a dissenting report and require it to always be attached to any copy of their finding in the future

e) appeal to a higher authority that governs the Committee's registration

f) ask them to publish guidelines to proving cheating beyond reasonable doubt (or on balance)

I would be hoping they reflect on the decision themselves and decide its a dangerous precedent to set, and therefore remove it. I think they did not know all the relevant law and might reconsider.

Main thing is enjoy your games, be happy, laugh a lot and try and minimise the insult and injustice you feel.

One thing you can always feel good about is the properly designed tile bags across Australia, which I know the Committee put a lot of work into getting right. They do want to get things right but I think they have erred in your case and deserve a chance to make amendments.

Good luck

Harry

Going Public with More Lies to Cover other Lies

10/10/2011

RE: [ozscrabble] Lost Basics

Friday, 30 September, 2011 6:07 PM

From:"Trevor Halsall"

To:"Harry Malcolm" ,"Scrabble List"

Hi Harry. Sounds like you're on a bit of a crusade here. Did you read in my last email that the Vic committee did not just rely on one suspected incident of cheating? From memory there were at least five, all from different tournaments. There were also multiple reports of very poor behaviour towards other Scrabblers. In all there were twelve documents submitted to the committee detailing such. We also followed the rules of our constitution assiduously, as well as observing common decency. No-one wants to ban a Scrabble player - we all just want to play Scrabble. Hence we took our job very seriously. And hence I, for one, am not taking your casual utterances lightly! Trevor

RE: [ozscrabble] Lost Basics

Saturday, 1 October, 2011 6:07 AM

From: "Trevor Halsall"

To:"Harry Malcolm" , "Scrabble List"

Oh Harry. He wasn't found guilty of cheating, he was found "guilty of a conduct unbecoming a member" (section 10.1). There were twelve separate documented submissions, not just the one that Mohammed chose to take to the AGM. (And, by the way, in that particular case, it is disputed that there were any others watching at the time.) The 67% threshold that you quote is for appeals made within 48 hours of banning someone - not for the selected one-out-of-twelve-submissions that was taken years later to the recent AGM. And as if I'm going to take into account some accusation that was made against Marj??! I won't be commenting further on this topic on this list. I hope I have done enough to counter the accusations being levelled at the Vic Committee. Here's to some happy future Scrabbling, Trevor PS Some real Scrabble input: I have just spent two days staying in Moustiers, a small town in southern France known as the centre of the technique of FAIENCE (aka FAYENCE).

ozscrabble] Re: Lost Basics - Clarification

Wednesday, 5 October, 2011 12:46 AM

From: "Trevor Halsall"

To:"Scrabble List"

At risk of being thrown off this list (as well as prolonging this topic for everyone), I should quickly correct two things that I misremembered. I wrote: "...the Vic committee did not just rely on one suspected incident of cheating? From memory there were at least five, all from different tournaments." In fact, when I look back, there were two separate incidents that related to Mohammed infracting the rules, not five. One (hiding a tile) had only one witness. The other (claiming oppo went an extra minute over time, to win a game) was not suspected, it was proven; and accepted by Mohammed.
Trevor

--------------------------------------

My Comment:

The misunderstanding of adding an extra minute was accepted by me and resolved in a few seconds at the tournament, not at an enquiry. An extra minute would not have won me the game as it finished 374/388. Do you get the same impression reading the lies above?

The threat of Trevor being thrown off the list never existed. It was actually applied only to me by Bob Jackman and his apprentice.

A Short Story from the Camberwell Club

28/10/2011

I cannot remember where I first met X. Most likely, it would have been at the Mount Waverley Club, one or two years ago. He told me that he lived in Queensland and was in Melbourne for a few days staying with his son. I played him and found that he had good scrabble skills. So, I invited him for a day of scrabble at my place.

We played about six or eight games, during which time my wife offered hospitality in the form of quick responses to the need for periodic cups of tea and coffee, and a hearty meal at dinner time. She is a very skilled cook. She makes me feel punished if we were to eat at a restaurant, where I would ask her to pick from the menu, what she might think I would like to eat.

I have not seen or heard about X until a third party, who I have no reason to doubt, told me that on Saturday 15/10/2011 at the Camberwell Club, X said something like the following:

“Oh, that Mohammed, he is a cheat and if he would be writing the scores, he is more likely to subtract your score than add it! I have been to his place; he treats his wife like a slave.”

What should I say? Maybe he didn’t like the chicken schnitzels. Mathematicians who might want to solve for x can click on the Link , push ctrl+f and type hn space r. There you are, the solution would be highlighted.

Hegazi vs ASPA (Vic) Part 1

09/11/2011

This message dated 05/10/2011 is forwarded to the Committee and membership of the Australian Scrabble Players Association (Vic) Inc.

The Committee of the said Association, of which I am a financial member, is in breach of the Associations Incorporation Act 1981.

Unless within 28 days from the date herein I receive an unconditional and unequivocal written apology from the said Committee, I would file a complaint with the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court that would refer to the following:

1. the lack of adequate grievance procedures in the Association’s constitution as stipulated by Section 14B of the said Act;

2. oppressive conduct as per Section 14C;

3. a court order that the Committee issues a formal apology in relation to cheating allegations, to be made public to members attending the next AGM;

4. the Association to pay adequate compensation;

5. the Association to pay legal cost.

While the legal path is in my favour, it is much more important to me to demonstrate to the membership that the moral aspect would have changed the outcome of the gracious motion moved by Harry Malcolm on behalf of Tess Robinson at the 2011 AGM. A logically correct outcome of the motion would have put this matter to rest. However, the pre-calculated insult of a secret ballot had lead to an illegal precedent, due to the fact that members were hoodwinked by the Committee via embellished trivia and hearsay misinformation.

The history of the Committee’s bungling from one error to another is shown below, for the benefit of only the principled members who would like to know the bare facts.

My accusations of the Vic Committee as to repetitive bungling would be understood if related in a documented manner. The sequence of events is very important, because it did pull the leg of the Committee into making errors that had to be covered by more errors.

The beginning was an email from Carol Johnsen:

To Mohammed Hegazi
c. c.
Stephanie Saunders
Norma Fisher
Marj Miller
Ruth fewings

Dear Mohammed,

I am writing to you, firstly in my capacity as the Mornington Tournament Director, and secondly, as a member of the Victorian committee.

At the Mornington tournament, it was of concern to me that I was called over to a game where you had facetiously declared a score of 200 for a play which clearly did not total that amount. I consider that this ploy was done in an insolent and ill-mannered manner by you to upset your opponent, which it certainly did. I have now observed from your blog that you had deliberately intended to enact this deceptive and time-wasting ploy which is even more distressing to me and, as it was, to your opponent.

I am writing to you now because, at our regular Victorian committee meeting held late last week, it came to my notice that there had already been a warning issued to you by the Tournament Director Barry Harridge with regard to your inappropriate behaviour towards an opponent at the recent Victorian Championships.

Following that also, at the Gwen Chadwick Memorial tournament last Sunday, you managed to upset one of our longest-playing and highly-respected players; which not only distressed her but those who witnessed it happening.

The above is why I now believe it prudent to send this email to the committee and give notice that I will be moving a motion that the committee take out disciplinary action against you for what appears to be your continuing unacceptable behaviour.

Whilst you have general concerns with the rules of the game, which you can address in writing to Trevor Halsall, the Victorian representative on the Rules Committee, you appear to constantly upset innocent opponents at tournaments with unacceptable comments and, as in the case at the Mornington Tournament, ill-mannered tactics.


Your faithfully,

Carol Johnsen
-----------------------------------------------------------------

As you would have noticed, Carol Johnsen made the following mistakes:

- She used rude language. She could have related what, in her opinion, constituted ill manners without expressing such ill-conceived subjective feelings.

- She circulated such sensitive defaming document among other members of the Association, namely RF and SS.

- She issued what would constitute a reprimand, even though she expressed her intention to pass the matter on to the Committee for further action. Her act was unconstitutional. Disciplinary action, if any, must be taken by the Committee after adequate investigation.

In view of the above, I sent an email to Marj Miller, the then elected president of the Association, requesting an enquiry and proper application of disciplinary procedures, should the need arise.

Because my email to MM exposed the action of CJ, it simply disappeared from the documentation and did not rate a mention in the enquiry that followed. MM made it look as if disciplinary procedures were invoked solely by her and not at my own behest. Instead, she indulged in running around in haste, requesting complaints against me from fellow players. Most would have refused to take part in this ploy. She managed to compile a dossier of trivia, plus a couple of unlucky incidents that were worthy of further investigation, and were properly addressed by me in the enquiry that followed. Had those two incidents been discussed with me in a reasonable friendly manner at an early stage, that would have been the end of the matter.

Contrary to Trevor Halsall’s waffle from the memory, the documented 10 accusations forwarded to me and later discussed in the inquiry, together with two extra pieces of similar nonsense, do not include any real incidents of cheating. Here is an exact copy of them, with all typos and poor punctuation if any, as forwarded to me by registered mail:

1) Date of Incident: July 13 2005
REPORT OF ACCUSATION OF CHEATING at the N4 Tournament.
During a break between games at the above tournament Mohammed Hegazi mentioned to me that he was concerned about cheating by fellow scrabble players.
We moved to a quiet area to discuss this, at which stage I asked Mohammed to tell me the names of the people who were cheating, mentioning that in my capacity as President of the Scrabble Players Association I would be unable to do anything about dealing with this situation without knowing the names of the offenders.
Mohammed was at first reluctant to mention any names, but when pressed again said “well, you for a start”.
I was distressed by this totally untrue accusation and let the members of the Association know that I had been accused of cheating, and I am grateful for the enormous amount of support I have received over the ensuing period of time.

Marj Miller
President
Scrabble Players Assocation
________________________________________________
2) Date of Incident: March 22 2008
Account of what happened at the Nationals with Mohammed Hegazi

On the 22nd March 2008 at the National Championships I was drawn to play Mohammed Hegazi in the second game of the Plate Section.
We arrived at the table to commence play and Mohammed started by telling me how to hold the bag and how to draw my tiles, I assured him I knew how to do this, we started to play he then said the last time he played me I held the bag incorrectly and I could see the tiles ( I interpreted this as an accusation of Cheating) at this point I stopped the clock and called for the TD. Barry Harridge came to the table and asked what the problem was. I explained what Mohammed had said. BH asked me to demonstrate how I drew tiles, I held the bag as I always do above the table, averted my eyes and drew my tiles placing each one on my score sheet face down until I had the correct number of tiles, only then did I look at them and place them on my rack. BH advised Mohammed that there was nothing wrong with the way I drew tiles and directed him to proceed with the game. We completed the game in a very uncomfortable atmosphere.
I was humiliated at being asked to demonstrate how I selected tiles by the TD. I was very upset by this whole incident.
I am not a Cheat.

Dorothy Barraclough
________________________________________________
3) Date of Incident: May 12 2008

Marj

On 12 May at the XB tournament, I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with tiles in one of the rated games.
John Mina was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated beside Mohammed. My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.
He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.
I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.
Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.

Katie Rowe
________________________________________________
4} Date of Incident: June 9 2008

Dear Marj

Here is my account of the incident at the Victorian Championship as I remember it.
Early in the game of Mohammed Hegazi vs KT in round 18, Mohammed stated his intention to concede the game and not proceed with it. I came over to see what was going on. I asked Mohammed why he wanted to stop, and he gave no reason, saying he just wanted to concede. When I persisted, he said that in the course of replenishing tiles from her rack, KT had selected too many tiles, returning some further tiles from her rack. I found nothing to suggest that KT had done such a thing. KT did not understand what Mohammed was alleging. The game was stopped. It was treated as an unrated game with a forfeit by Mohammed and an imputed win to KT with a nominal spread of +1. KT was very upset. I warned Mohammed that any further incident would result in disciplinary action.
Mohammed’s baseless allegation in this case is yet another in a string of cases which is upsetting to players and disruptive to the smooth running of tournaments.
Barry Harridge
________________________________________________
5) Date of Incident: June 9 2008

Dear Marj

Have thought a bit about this - but really isn’t is possible to do something about Mahommed. At each tournament, seemingly, he upsets a woman so badly that she spends the day and much of the evening as well in tears and shaken. Yesterday again and KJ is such a good natured and helpful person. Please Marj perhaps I’m not wording this as well as it might be, but the man is a menace. You have mentioned a few times that the numbers for the tournaments has dropped could it be the tension that is felt because of his behaviour not to mention Doug has caused this drop.
Tell me to mind my own business if you will - but come to think of it it is my business - it’s my day out too - and to watch people, one at each tournament at least, becoming so upset is very distressing.
________________________________________________
6) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

Dear Madam President,

I was so upset by the rude and unsportsmanlike behaviour of Mohammed Hegazi at the Memorial Tournament last Sunday, that I have decided not to attend any more tournaments in Melbourne, except for the Senior Citizens Challenge in October.

Yours sincerely,
Ruth Fewings
________________________________________________

7) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

To Scrabble Committee
18th August 2008

Dear Committee members,
I wish to complain about the bad behavior of Mohammed Hegazi at yesterdays Memorial Tournament.
Yesterday I witnessed yet another of our members (a most senior one at that) Ruth Fewings be subjected to his awful behavior. Bridget Halge and I were so upset and concerned for RF we had to stop our clock to regain composure for our game.
I personally have been in this position with Mohammed (At the Nationals) and it is very unpleasant to say the least.

Dorothy Barraclough
Membership Officer
(Continued overpage)

7) contd. MY OBSERVATIONS OF WHAT HAPPENED
Mohammed was late for the start of the game, Marj came and started the clock, at this stage I was unaware who Ruth Fewings’s opponent was.
When Mohammed arrived at the table to find his clock had been started he threw something on the table and told RF it was her game and walked off.
Marj came and eventually got them to start play. Mohammed wanted to start Ruth’s clock before she has selected her tiles and she objected causing more distress. Bridget Halge and l were very distressed and upset for RF at being subjected to this behavior, we stopped our Clock for some time to regain our composure. When we recommenced our game the unpleasantness went on, we stopped our Clock again and I informed Marj that Mohammed was still giving RF a hard time. Barry Harridge sat and observed the latter stages of the game between RF and Mohammed, with no further incident I believe.
Barry H sat with RF for quite some time afterwards consoling her, she was just so upset.
________________________________________________

8) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

Dear Marj,

I’m writing to express my frustration at the joy having been taken out yet again, of my enjoyment of a scrabble tournament when I witnessed Ruth Fewings' distress while she was playing a game against Mohammed Hegazi. It was evident that a confrontation had taken place. My partner and I had to stop the clock so we could compose ourselves before we continued with our game.
The reason I was so badly affected by what happened to Ruth Fewings was that my experiences of playing against Mohammed have been nerve racking and filled with anxiety. I experience his behaviour as hostile and intimidating which results in my inability to play my best. Each time I see his name listed as a participant in a tounament, my heart sinks because I dread the prospect of having to play against him.
I ask that the committee seeks to redress this situation through whatever means that are open to you. Regards, Bridger Halge
________________________________________________

9) Date of Incident: August 10 2008

Hi Marj

As far as I can remember it went like this

Mohammed placed a 7 letter word on the board over the triple score on the right hand border

He announced ‘200’

As he had played this game with me at a previous tournament I said to him ‘come on now you’re not doing this to me again’ and called Carol Johnsen over to adjudicate
What it was was that his time was running out - he was playing for time or some such
________________________________________________

10) Date of Incident/s: August 10 & 17th 2008

To Mohammed Hegazi
c. c.
Stephanie Saunders
Norma Fisher
Marj Miller
Ruth fewings

Dear Mohammed,

I am writing to you, firstly in my capacity as the Mornington Tournament Director, and secondly, as a member of the Victorian committee.

At the Mornington tournament, it was of concern to me that I was called over to a game where you had facetiously declared a score of 200 for a play which clearly did not total that amount. I consider that this ploy was done in an insolent and ill-mannered manner by you to upset your opponent, which it certainly did. I have now observed from your blog that you had deliberately intended to enact this deceptive and time-wasting ploy which is even more distressing to me and, as it was, to your opponent.

I am writing to you now because, at our regular Victorian committee meeting held late last week, it came to my notice that there had already been a warning issued to you by the Tournament Director Barry Harridge with regard to your inappropriate behaviour towards an opponent at the recent Victorian Championships.

Following that also, at the Gwen Chadwick Memorial tournament last Sunday, you managed to upset one of our longest-playing and highly-respected players; which not only distressed her but those who witnessed it happening.

The above is why I now believe it prudent to send this email to the committee and give notice that I will be moving a motion that the committee take out disciplinary action against you for what appears to be your continuing unacceptable behaviour.

Whilst you have general concerns with the rules of the game, which you can address in writing to Trevor Halsall, the Victorian representative on the Rules Committee, you appear to constantly upset innocent opponents at tournaments with unacceptable comments and, as in the case at the Mornington Tournament, ill-mannered tactics.

Your faithfully,

Carol Johnsen
--------------------------------------------------

For the purpose of accuracy, two more “incidents” miraculously cropped up after sending me the registered mail letter. They were handed on to me on the day of the enquiry. One was related to my “bad behaviour”, the other was related to a dispute over how to calculate extra time on the clock, which was resolved in a few seconds during the tournament, but is scored on Trevor Halsall’s abacus as a second attempt at cheating, to be added to Katie Rowe’s ridiculous claim. I would like Trevor Halsall to tell us how 1+1 is equal to or greater than 5 on his abacus:

Hi Harry. Sounds like you're on a bit of a crusade here. Did you read in my last email that the Vic committee did not just rely on one suspected incident of cheating? From memory there were at least five, all from different tournaments. There were also multiple reports of very poor behaviour towards other Scrabblers. In all there were twelve documents submitted to the committee detailing such. We also followed the rules of our constitution assiduously, as well as observing common decency. No-one wants to ban a Scrabble player - we all just want to play Scrabble. Hence we took our job very seriously. And hence I, for one, am not taking your casual utterances lightly! Trevor
To: ozscrabble@yahoogroups.com

___________________________________________________________

All of the above took place in 2008. In 2011, the following motion was considered at the AGM of Scrabble Victoria:
3. MOTION: Members of ASPA(Vic) hereby extend an apology to ASPA (Vic) member Mohammed Hegazi, in relation to an unsubstantiated claim of cheating made against him.
The claim of cheating is attached herewith as “addendum (1) to motion”; a statement by Mohammed Hegai is attached as “addendum (2) to motion”
Moved: Tess Robinson
Seconded: Geoff Wright

Addendum (1) to motion:
On 12 May at the XB tournament, I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with the tiles in one of the rated games.
John Mina was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated beside Mohammed. My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.
He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.
I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.
Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.
Signed: Katie Rowe

Addendum (2) to motion
Statement by Mohammed Hegazi
I make reference to an allegation of cheating made against me by Ms Katie Rowe. She was watching the game in question together with the TD, Geoff Wright, until the very end of the game. They were exchanging whispering comments about the game. Ms Rowe claims that etiquette prevented her from reporting the alleged incident to the TD at the time, yet she saw fit to report it in writing to Mrs Marj Miller, 5 months after the tournament. Mrs Miller in turn saw fit to table such unsubstantiated claim for discussion with me in a Committee meeting.
If Ms Rowe’s story had any shade of truth in it, she should have alerted the TD to the incident at the time. The TD would have ascertained the validity of her claim.
Mohammed Hegazi
____________________________________________

Presiding over the meeting, Carol Johnsen insisted on a secret ballot. I objected and offered to have a walk away from the meeting while the issue would be decided by a show of hands. My offer was turned down by Carol Johnsen.

This is the Full story from A to Y. The Z part would be decided in one of two ways:

(a) an unconditional and unequivocal apology by the Committee;

(b) a decision by the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Finally, a word of advice and warning to the Committee:

(a) dismissing me now, using your hackneyed cliché of “putting the Association to disrepute”, does not impede legal action. It would make the case weaker for you.

(b) wasting the Association’s funds on litigation is unethical. Members of the Committee should use their own personal funds for initial legal advice, since the sole aim would be to bolster their own egos.

====================================================

If you received this message in error, or if you do not wish to receive messages from this email address please reply with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject field.

Hegazi vs ASPA (Vic) Part 2

09/11/2011

Dear ASPA member

Since I do not operate in the dark, it becomes incumbent on me to continue to inform you about the developments of this serious case. Any ASPA member could face intimidation by a regional committee of ASPA. In theory, being on a committee of any non-profit association is more of a burden, to be carried by dedicated people who are willing to spend time and effort for the sake of the welfare of other members. In reality, some associations become plagued with committee members, especially presidents, who are autocratic power-hungry freaks. Such persons believe that they can control others and in the process, they tend to contravene common law.

If you are not familiar with this case, here is a summary of it:

In 2008, the committee of ASPA (VIC) invited, sought and collated a dossier of trivia, in the form of 12 so-called submissions against me, detailing laughable flimsy accusations, inclusive of a couple of absurd-makeshift-dated-hearsay accusations of cheating. The obvious aim was to sully my reputation as a fair scrabble player. An enquiry by that committee, where many of its members doubled as adversaries, unanimously decided to ban me from playing in Victorian tournaments for one year. ASPA (WA) offered support for ASPA (VIC) by banning me from playing in WA for the remainder of my natural life. (Forget about the fact that I never played nor intended to play in WA).

On 5 October 2011, I requested ASPA (VIC) to either forward to me within 28 days a written apology or to face legal action, since they committed serious errors in law. Since that date, the following cut-and-paste correspondence took place:

======================================

On 31 October 2011 17:59, carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Mohammed,

Further to your email of 5 October 2011 I am writing on behalf of the ASPA (Vic) Inc Committee.

In your email you detail your concerns regarding the process adopted by the Committee in 2008 in respect of various complaints relating to your conduct. This process ultimately led, on 18 September 2008, to a decision by the Committee that you were guilty of conduct unbecoming a member and you were suspended from attending or participating in all ASPA (Vic) Inc tournaments for 1 year commencing on 1 November 2008.

In your email you also note that unless the Committee responds with an unconditional and unequivocal written apology within 28 days of your email, you intend to initiate legal action under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (the Act), specifically in relation to alleged contraventions (by the Committee) of sections 14B and 14C of that Act.

As you can appreciate the Committee takes such threats very seriously.

In the interests of preserving the limited funds of our Association we have not sought legal advice in relation to your email. However, the Committee has had the opportunity to consider the grounds on which you have stated that you wish to take legal action as well as the relevance of the provisions to ASPA (Vic), our constitution, and the particular circumstances of your case.

We have noted below our common understanding of the requirements of section 14B and 14C of the Act and our collective belief that the Committee has not acted in contravention of either of these provisions. As noted above, these conclusions are not based on legal advice but are a genuine attempt by the Committee to consider, and ensure that we have operated in accordance with, the relevant Associations legislation.

SECTION 14B

In essence section 14B of the Act requires that:

· the rules of an incorporated association must set out a grievance procedure for dealing with any dispute under the rules between a member and another member or a member and the incorporated association.

· the grievance procedure must allow for natural justice to be applied.

We consider that each of these requirements has been met by ASPA (Vic).

Specifically:

· ASPA (Vic) has a grievance procedure (refer section 11 of the Constitution and Statement of Purposes for the Australian Scrabble Players Association (Vic) Inc (the Constitution))

· this grievance procedure is consistent with the grievance procedures detailed in the model rules for incorporated associations published by Consumer Affairs Victoria

· the grievance procedure was followed in relation to your case.

Specifically:

– the committee notified you of the complaints regarding your conduct on 1 September 2008, and provided you with an opportunity to address the substance of the complaints;

– the Committee held a Special Committee meeting on 18 September 2008 which you attended along with a support person (your son);

– during this meeting you were provided the opportunity to address the Committee’s concerns, which you did;

– following due consideration of all relevant matters, the Committee passed a resolution that: “In accordance with Rule 10.1 of the ASPA (Vic) Inc Constitution, we find that Mohammed Hegazi has neglected to comply with these rules and is guilty of conduct unbecoming a member and prejudicial to the interests of the Association, and that he be suspended from attending or participating in all ASPA (Vic) Inc. tournaments for 1 year commencing Saturday November 1st, 2008.”;

– In accordance with our Constitution, a further Special Committee Meeting (to which you were invited (by letter on 22 September 2008), but did not attend, nor make any submission) was held on October 16, 2008 to ratify the above resolution. It was passed unanimously; and

– on 18 October 2008 the Committee formally notified you in writing of the Committee’s findings and also detailed your right of appeal (as provided for in our Constitution).We also note that the grievance procedure provides the opportunity for you to seek appeal of any decision by the committee, and that you chose not to exercise this right. We note that it is now almost 3 years since the decision of the Committee was made in relation to your case.

SECTION 14C

Further, we are uncertain of the particular cause of action you would have in respect of section 14C.

Oppressive conduct is defined in the section and includes conduct that is unfairly prejudicial to, or unfairly discriminatory against, a member of the incorporated association or contrary to the interests of the members of the incorporated association as a whole.

We note that this section was introduced into the Act after the decision of the Committee regarding your conduct.

While we do not therefore consider that there is a cause of action under this section in relation to conduct in 2008, we equally do not consider that the Committee has engaged in any conduct which was unfairly prejudicial or discriminatory in relation to you or any other member. As noted previously our intention has simply been to respond, in accordance with the rules of our Association, to a number of complaints that were made to ASPA (Vic) regarding your conduct

Of course if you wish to take legal action this is entirely a matter for you. ASPA (Vic) will then seek legal advice to enable the Association to respond properly on behalf of all of our members.

We invite you to discuss your issues in a meeting with 2 members of the Committee at the Box Hill Senior Citizens Centre or, if you wish, the matter can be progressed to mediation at the Department of Justice.

In the meantime we urge you to reconsider your position and look forward to rebuilding a positive relationship between you and the Association. We also note that you may have some suggestions for ways in which the ASPA (Vic) rules may be enhanced, and we would be pleased for you to raise these through the usual channels.

As you can appreciate, with your legal action potentially pending, the Committee must ensure, on behalf of all Victorian Scrabble players, that it does not inadvertently prejudice the legal position of the Association. I have therefore requested that Committee members refrain from emailing or communicating with you informally (and in their individual capacity) on this particular matter.

Yours faithfully,

CAROL JOHNSEN

President

ASPA (Vic) Inc

----------------------------------------------------------------------

On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 12:14 PM, Mohammed A. Hegazi <mohammedhegazi@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Carol,

Your own interpretation of sections 14B and 14C is a flawed attempt at self justification. A basic principle of common law is that you cannot act as judge in a dispute of which you are a party. This applied to yourself, Marj Miller, Barry Harridge, and Dorothy Barraclough. In a court of law, the findings of the 2008 Committee, as to my alleged poor conduct, would be deemed null and void. Let alone the fact that the embellished trivia in the twelve so-called submissions, and the subsequent ruling that I was found "guilty of a conduct unbecoming a member", would invoke the wrath of any magistrate.

I will accept your offer with regard to a meeting with two committee members, on condition that such members are impartial with no vested interest in the outcome of the meeting. This can be achieved if the two members were not on the 2008 committee, or members who made false allegations against me. The following four committee members, in alphabetical order, would satisfy this condition:

Jenny Brysha

Dianne Gibson

Cheryle Jerram

Sandra Masel

Otherwise, we may progress directly to mediation at the Department of Justice. There, a legal practitioner would highlight to the committee all the errors committed in 2008 and 2011. You may then weigh the risks of a court case and opt for my requested unconditional and unequivocal written apology, at no cost to the Association.

I would still urge you to seek proper legal advice. An initial legal consultation would be much cheaper than hiring a hall for the proposed meeting. Please rest assured that the welfare of the Association is uppermost on my mind. Any future financial loss incurred would be due to mismanagement.

Yours truly,

Mohammed Hegazi

----------------------------------------------------------------------

On 2 November 2011 21:13, carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Mohammed,

The members of the committee have considered that the conditions under which you would want a grievance meeting, i.e., involved committee members, is not agreeable to us.

In the circumstances, we suggest that, if you so wish, you may progress your grievance to a mediation with the Department of Justice.

Yours faithfully,

CAROL JOHNSEN

President, ASPA (Vic)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 1:02 AM, Mohammed A. Hegazi <mohammedhegazi@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Carol,

I am of the opinion that mediation is more suited to efforts exerted by our colleague Mr Harry Malcolm, for the purpose of reforming the constitution, in order to bring ASPA (Vic) in line with modern non-profit associations, and to curtail the harmful autocratic manner of running it. However, I will join the effort of Mr Malcolm, rather than initiate a duplicate mediation track.

As to my specific grievance, I regret to advise that you have blocked every possible avenue for reconciliation I have tried to open. You also refused to take my advice and seek proper initial legal consultation. Although I believe that only a court ruling would convince you that you have erred, I will await the outcome of mediation before taking legal action. Please confirm that the postal address of the Association for the purpose of process service remains:

The Secretary

Australian Scrabble Players Association

25 Alfred St

Templestowe Lower 3107

Yours truly,

Mohammed Hegazi

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>

To: Mohammed A. Hegazi <mohammedhegazi@gmail.com>

Cc: andrew fisher <aphis99@yahoo.com>; carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>; Cheryle Jerram <cheryle.jerram@bigpond.com>; dianne gibson <diannebgibson@gmail.com>; Jenny Brysha <jennybrysha@gmail.com>; katie rowe <iratekow@bigpond.com>; marjorie miller <mjwm@connexus.net.au>; Norma Fisher <Noray2@optusnet.com.au>; sandra masel <masel@netspace.net.au>; Trevor Halsall <trevor_halsall@hotmail.com>; Trevor Halsall <trevor_halsall@medibank.com.au>; harry malcolm <hmalc@yahoo.com>

Sent: Saturday, 5 November 2011 10:34 AM

Subject: Re: Reply to your email of 5.10.11.

Dear Mohammed,

The contact address, as advertised on the national website, is The Secretary, ASPA (Vic) Inc, c/- 25 Alfred Street, Templestowe Lower, 3107. (Marj Miller is not the Secretary. Marj maintains the enquiry centre and is the Ratings Officer on the committee).

Regards, Carol

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: harry malcolm <hmalc@yahoo.com>

To: carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>, Mohammed A. Hegazi <mohammedhegazi@gmail.com>, andrew fisher <aphis99@yahoo.com>, Cheryle Jerram <cheryle.jerram@bigpond.com>; dianne gibson <diannebgibson@gmail.com>; Jenny Brysha <jennybrysha@gmail.com>; katie rowe <iratekow@bigpond.com>; marjorie miller <mjwm@connexus.net.au>; Norma Fisher <Noray2@optusnet.com.au>; sandra masel <masel@netspace.net.au>; Trevor Halsall <trevor_halsall@hotmail.com>

5 Nov 2011

Hello Carol and Committee

The correspondence you forwarded from Mohammed makes it all the more imperative that all 10 members of the committee have a full understanding of the issues, their foundations and their implications.

I will need 10-20 minutes to specifically go through (1) the cheating allegation in particular, (2) the 12 allegations together and finally (3) why events since exercising my right to raise a grievance in fact evidence my grievance.

I do not have confidence that the matters will be enlightened upon by second hand relay from the defendants.

I have also therefore have decided to ask Mohammed to accompany me at the committee meeting.

At some stage the committee has to be a group exercising decisions, not just one or two refusing to take legal advice and causing the matter to blow out of proportion.

Neither Mohammed or I want to take legal action but in the face of refusal to discuss as a committee and refusal to take your own legal advice, you will leave us no option.

If the committee is delegating you to act for them, so be it, but I believe they would reasonably rather be informed and articulate on the matter, than possibly face at some stage explaining why they chose not to be, or why persons not involved in the matter were not drawn from the committee to handle the matter.

As I say, the issue is on the table only, it is not personal, I have been passive and procedural and that is how we should all act.

thank you

Harry Malcolm

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Re Committee meeting Nov 10 2011

Monday, 7 November, 2011 7:13 AM

From: "Harry Malcolm" <hmalc@yahoo.com>

To: "carol johnsen" <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>, "Mohammed A. Hegazi" <mohammedhegazi@gmail.com>

Cc: "andrew fisher" <aphis99@yahoo.com>, "Cheryle Jerram" <cheryle.jerram@bigpond.com>, "dianne gibson" <diannebgibson@gmail.com>, "Jenny Brysha" <jennybrysha@gmail.com>, "katie rowe" <iratekow@bigpond.com>, "marjorie miller" <mjwm@connexus.net.au>, "Norma Fisher" <Noray2@optusnet.com.au>, "sandra masel" <masel@netspace.net.au>, "Trevor Halsall" <trevor_halsall@hotmail.com>...

The issues pre Nov10 2011

Mohammed joined scrabble competitions and had an immediate genuine and worthy concern about cheating in the way tile bag rule was not being observed.

Mohammed was NOT given reasonable support by direction to TDs to remind players as they were lapsing on this rule, and was left to enforce proper use by fair complaint.

Mohammed kept a public blog on how rule breaking was happening.

He was reluctant to name names and only did so under pressure.

When he named President Marj Miller, his concern was not taken seriously and he was subject to an improper campaign of privacy breach and vilification.

The full blown elements of bullying took over with Mohammed reduced to singleton status, not taken seriously, the butt of sneer, and as a person with no redeeming features.

Mohammed was suspended on the basis of numbers of allegations, NOT on substantiated claims which natural justice (procedural fairness) behoves the Committee to make.

Some of the allegations start with "my account" suggesting they have been asked for.

Most of the allegations don't have an allegation of an action by Mohammed in them.

Any allegations made were biased, short of relevant information, poorly handled and came down to trivia dealt with routinely with other players in the past.

It is not acceptable for Carol to make emotional , summative, opinionated and embellished remarks on a factual matter, to then justify that she is going to run an investigation, and then lead judgement on her own action.

The actions of the committee were naive, uninformed, oppressive and judgements made by first hand associates of the complainants.

The process available for Mohammed to appeal was unreasonable and unworkable.

The bullying has run onto Harry who has lodged a grievance that such a process, in defiance of natural justice, has happened in an organisation his children could be playing in within a few years.

This flow on evidences the very concern of Harry's grievance.

The committee provides no reasonable manner by which a Victorian player is allowed share their concerns with other Victorian members.

The outcome expected is that ASPA Vic will repeal the matters raised above, and will get their rules and information up to date within the expectation of model organisations and corporations.

NB Correspondence with Michael Tang, who suspended a player based on collective notifications and then his own direct observance of the alleged cheating, showed the issue of how the bag is used is paramount to disabling cheats.

1) The Katie Rowe allegation.

Katie was asked to make a written complaint 5 months afterwards where she had not wanted to.

She had no admissible evidence that Mohammed cheated or had reason to cheat or details.

The opportunities to collect admissible evidence were not taken at the time.

No player would reasonably expect a dated hearsay allegation to be upheld.

There were numerous ways a mistake could have been made in thinking a tile had been moved.

2) The time clock matter

Mohammed was an inexperienced player

There are several models of time clocks.

Time clocks rarely run into over time.

The clocks going over time are not immediately obvious in their display.

There is no evidence that Mohammed did anything but misunderstand the clock.

Once he understood he was compliant.

3) The calling of a wrong score

Previous occurrence of this have been handled as silly, which it is.

Calling out a wrong score is not listed as cheating in any ASPA organisation.

Suggestions by Carol that suspensions were linked to this occurring before are denied by the person named who says he was never suspended from playing. Therefore documents need to be produced for the Committee. (Carol also asserted Marj did not speak against Mohammed's motion)

The committee has not concerned itself with consistency of penalties.

An Australian WSC player who cheated at the highest level by dropping a tile into a coffee cup in an close Australian Championship game was only penalised "put the tile back on the rack and lose a turn"

An appropriate penalty for a silly deliberate blatant wrong score call, which might achieve a few seconds of clock time, would at worst be to add two minutes to the offenders clock.

In summary there is no evidence that Mohammed has ever cheated, and the allegations collapse under audit to substantiating nothing other than hostility towards him existed.

Accounts of TD adjudication appear that on reflection matters could have been handled better and reported better.

I am ashamed of the reckless actions against fellow member Mohammed, whom I point out I have no other prior affiliation with. It’s shameful that while we play near his home at Box Hill he has to go interstate to find a welcoming group of players.

The Committee has shown no concept of the mental anguish and grief false allegations "substantiated on hearsay" cause on a person. Reasonable support measures were not put in place including a support person once he faced allegations.

Trevor Halsall has let the defaming impression that Mohammed is a cheat circle the world without withdrawal or apology, and attacked me by email. He must stand down from the Committee.

50% of players outside of the committee were not prepared to vote to uphold the committee's decision, even where players were barrelled on the day with spite about Mohammed with no bearing on the matter of the motion. This also violated his privacy but has now fortunately led to the whole baseless decision being exposed.

I would say to committee members that I was looking for preparedness to put the issue on the table and neutrally review it. I do not think Carol's absence should delay any mediation under the Dept of Justice so I would therefore advise the Committee members to be ready and each apprise themselves of the facts.

I believe the Committee should be represented by its members who are NOT involved with making allegations, and will be putting this to the Dept of Justice if we go to that step. I think the failure of the Committee to take one session of legal advice will be poorly regarded.

I see it is relatively simple to concede that despite best intentions the matter was not handled within natural justice requirements, and that the decision is repealed and other states will be notified. Further, clear rules and requirements related to cheating and other allegations will be put in place asap.

I would then think an apology in ATB would be appropriate and welcoming his return to play, though I think many many players would like more information.

Then suddenly, the matter will be over and one step back two steps forwards towards being a model organisation.

Harry Malcolm

I have produced this note since I am not getting clear information on the Nov 10 committee process, where Mohammed and I expect to be in attendance the full meeting, and that if 8 members are choosing(?) to not know the details, this might change that view.

======================================

This should be my last missive to ASPA members. If you want to follow further developments, you may find them later on my personal scrabble blog:

http://scrabbledetective.blogspot.com/

====================================================

If you received this message in error, or if you do not wish to receive messages from this email address please reply with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject field.

 

Collateral Damage Hits WA

21/11/2011

(Harry Malcolm)

(Archive Photo)

Subject: Life suspension of Mohammed Hegazi

To: "Glenys Lawrie"

Cc: "Mohammed A. Hegazi"

Received: Tuesday, 15 November, 2011, 6:37 AM

-- On Tue, 15/11/11, Harry Malcolm wrote:

Dear Glenys

I write to you as president of the West Australian Scrabble Committee,I understand that in 2008 or soon after, Mohammed Hegazi who has never played in WA was suspended for life from playing there.

This appears to follow action by the Victorian Committee which are now being exposed as at least denial of natural justice, and where cheating claims have collapsed and been apologised for by Trevor Halsall.

Examination of your Constitution in any case shows no pathway to such a decision by you and no reciprocal arrangements with other states.

I note that Mohammed Hegazi has continued to be a regular player elsewhere since that time. I am of the view that your continuing ban is illegal and a denial of natural justice.

I therefore require of you:

1) The legal basis on which you have decided you can suspend him at all, let alone for life

2) The minutes of discussion and decision when the decision was made.

or failing that

1) advice from you that the ban is rescinded and unreserved apologies are forwarded to Mohammed Hegazi.

It is simply a matter of fact that justice for Mohammed will be keenly pursued, hopefully not requiring a legal stoush.

Thank you for a prompt response

Harry Malcolm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Harry Malcolm"

To: "Glenys Lawrie"

Cc: "Mohammed A. Hegazi"

27-11-11

Dear Glenys

Neither of us is aware of any response from you and being ignored and/or delaying by you on this issue is tantamount to bullying.

We reasonably require of you to advise us of your response, even if it is no intention to provide the documentation.

I have no intention of risking my childrens' well being in an organisation where it appears they can be bullied on a whim and hearsay.

The life suspension of a player who has never played in your state looks absurd on the face of it, so we require of you the documents that made such an action seem allowable to you, and the whole and unabridged minutes of the decision forthwith.

If legal action is necessary, we will be seeking costs, so we trust you will act with the best interests of your Association by being open and transparent.

We would forthwith otherwise require of you an unconditional written apology to Mohammed, unconditional repeal of the ban, and the apology and repeal to be published on this ozscrabble list and in the ATB.

thank you

Harry Malcolm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Harry Malcolm"

To: "Chris Hall" , "J Walker" , "Maureen"

Cc: "Mohammed A. Hegazi" , "Glenys Lawrie"

Dear respected Committee members ASPA WA,

I have emailed Glenys Lawrie twice in relation to the WA 2008 life ban on Mohammed Hegazi who has never played in WA.

1) I have asked her for written evidence of a then existing reciprocal relationship with Vic, and noted Vic only gave him a one year ban.

2) I have also asked where in the WA constitution is there a pathway to action against him ? (your Constitution below).. I am requesting a copy of the minutes related to his being banned.

I believe the action was illegal and must be repealed forthwith

Glenys has failed to even acknowledge the emails so the matter will unnecessarily widen and/or escalate, and a non response in addition to an unlawful action fought out in the courts will bring scrabble in disrepute and unnecessary costs. If her ignoring is deliberate, it in itself is a form of bullying.

I appeal to you to urge Glenys to address the request directly, which should not be a problem if she is confident of her grounds.

Please let the other members know of this contact, I do not have their email addresses yet.

The point of my action is that Mohammed has already had an apology over the unsubstantiated cheating claims at that time (2008).

I do not want to be introducing my children to an organisation where ridiculous knee jerk reactions can be made on hearsay between buddies.

I understand most people find it hard to swallow their pride after acting impulsively but much more important is that ASPA organisations are seen as model organisations where a person cannot be discriminated against.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Harry Malcolm

0413 802 436

40 Blackwood Ave

Warburton

Vic 3799

CONSTITUTION

The WA State Government is currently reviewing the law covering Incorporated organisations and how they are run. New legislation is expected to be put before parliament before the end of the year. One key part of these changes is the need for a new set of Rules; or Constitution; and the government has offered a model set of rules for incorporated organisations.

The following is the current Constitution and Rules of the Australian Scrabble Player's Association (WA) Inc., dated July 2006.

THE CONSTITUTION AND RULES OF THE

AUSTRALIAN SCRABBLE PLAYERS' ASSOCIATION (WA) INC

(1) NAME OF THE ASSOCIATION

1.1      The name of the Association is the Australian Scrabble Players Association (WA). It is a democratic non-profit organisation of Scrabble players who meet regularly for the purpose of playing social and competitive word games.

(2) PURPOSES OF THE ASSOCIATION

2.1    To provide members with an opportunity to meet at suitable venues.

2.2    To publish a regular newsletter and supply information to all players wishing to know more about word games.

2.3    To encourage regular social and competitive activities for members, to assist clubs in the organisation of tournaments and to hold an annual State Championship.

2.4    To encourage interest and involvement of members in activities throughout Australia and overseas.

2.5    To develop standards and ethics of play.

2.6    To encourage and assist local clubs.

2.7    To disburse the property and the income of the Association solely towards the promotion of the purposes of the Association.

(3) QUALIFICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP OF THE ASSOCIATION

3.1    A person may, subject to the approval of a general meeting and agreement to abide by the rules of Scrabble as set by the Australian Scrabble Players Association (WA), become a member of the Association upon payment of an annual subscription, the amount of which will be determined at the Annual General Meeting and will become due on July 1 each year.

(4) EXPULSION OF MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION

4.1      The Committee may expel a member when his or her conduct is deemed to be unbecoming or detrimental to the interests of the Association, or to bring the Association into disrepute.

4.2      The Committee shall communicate, either orally or in writing, to the member notice of the expulsion and the date of the general meeting at which the expulsion was decided.

4.3      The person expelled shall be given 30 days to appeal in writing against expulsion.

4.4    A general meeting may confirm or set aside the decision of the general meeting to expel the member.

(5) REGISTER OF MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

5.1    A Register of current financial members will be maintained.

(6) ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION.

6.1      An annual subscription is to be paid by each member, the amount of which will be determined at the general meeting held prior to the Annual General Meeting, and which will become due on 1 July of each year.

(7) ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION.

7.1      An AGM is to be held once each year.

7.2    A quorum will be at least one representative from at least half the metropolitan clubs.

7.3     Written submissions will be requested from country clubs to ensure their representation.

(8)  COMMITTEE HAVING MANAGEMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION

8.1      The Committee shall consist of the delegates/representatives attending from each club.

8.2      The positions of office will be a State Co-ordinator, President, Treasurer, Secretary, Ratings Officer and a Publicity Officer. The State Co-ordinator will liaise with the association in other States of Australia.

8.3      The election of persons to positions of office will occur at the Annual General Meeting. Such persons will hold office for one year. In the event of a vacancy, the committee may appoint a member to fill the office.

8.4    A quorum will be at least one representative from at least half the metropolitan clubs.

(9) PROCEDURES OF GENERAL MEETINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

9.1    A minimum of four (4) general meetings will be held each year.

9.2      Members will be advised by circular of impending general meetings.

9.3      Minutes of meetings will be circulated to all committee members and club representatives.

(10) DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION

10.1 In the event of the dissolution of the Association the surplus funds and property will be distributed to the Association for the Blind of Western Australia (Incorporated).

(11) PROPERTY AND INCOME OF THE ASSOCIATION.

11.1      The property and income of the Association shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects or purposes of the Association and no part of that property or income may be paid or otherwise distributed, directly or indirectly, to members of the Association, except in good faith in the promotion of those objects or purposes.

(12) FUNDS OF THE INCORPORATED ASSOCIATION.

12.1      The funds of the Incorporated Association are deposited with the StateWest Credit Society Limited (previously known as API Auscom Credit Society).

12.2      Books of account will be maintained by the Treasurer.

12.3      An Annual Financial Report will be presented to the Annual General Meeting each year.

(13) CUSTODY OF RECORDS AND RESOURCES OF THE ASSOCIATION.

13.1      An office bearer of the incorporated association will be the custodian of the records, resources and equipment which is the property of the incorporated association.

(14) INSPECTION BY MEMBERS OF RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS.

14.1      Records and documents are presented at each general meeting and annual general meeting for inspection by members.

(15) AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION AND RULES

15.1      The Constitution and  Rules of the Association may be amended, added to or deleted from at a general meeting by special resolution and must be registered in accordance with  the Associations Incorporation Act 1987.

15.2 To proceed the amendment must be voted for by 75% of the members voting at the meeting.

Issued: 1 July 1996

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

So far, I am not aware of any response to Harry's three emails. I think that South African jewish migration to Australia stopped in WA and never made it to civilisation on the East Coast.

Hegazi vs ASPA(Vic) Part 3

04/02/2012

Mr Bumble was not wrong when he said that ‘the law is a ass’. His only mistake was to use the article “a” instead of “an”, but you can blame Dickens for the intended slip. The grass has become greener for the proverbial ass in Victoria. In the past, I used to file a complaint with a magistrates court whenever I faced a grievance, go to court and represent myself. More often than not I used to lose on silly technicalities. This is why I set aside a decent sum for the intended case against ASPA(Vic), in order to pay a solicitor for the margin between the actual cost and the cost awarded against my adversaries, who are set to put the game to disrepute. Some sneaky devil might alert the sport correspondents of several Melbourne tabloids to the day of the hearing.

What I am trying to say is that there is a long delay before I can file the case. Courts will not look at the case before it goes through a “mediation meeting” at the “Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria”, which is a process by which the taxpayer pays for a team of bureaucrats, who have no legal power whatsoever. Their job is to sit with litigants and ask them to be nice to one another, and settle their disputes without the need to go to court.

CJ has already declared her intention not to amicably settle by repealing the unfounded decisions, passed by her conniving subservient committee of 2008 and the hoodwinked membership of 2011, that I am a person of abominable unbecoming qualities. She is not deterred by the fact that her main actor KR has abandoned the sinking ship. Apparently KR got sick of being hissed at by the rest of the gang, for spilling the beans by telling others that she was asked to formally submit, as complaint, her piece of poorly constructed fiction. CJ must still be encouraged by TH who is adamant that the fable was ‘a case of cheating with only one witness’, even after he apologised for inflating his figure of imaginary cheating incidents.

What I wanted to tell you by the above waffle is that our principled colleague Harry Malcolm and my humble self are both ready and waiting to go through mediation; albeit that we have different views on the matter. Harry believes that justice can be achieved via mediation, while I believe mediation to be a superflous formality before filing a court complaint. Someone out there is using some desperate delaying tactic.

Panning Across the Board

08/03/2012

Across the Board is a quarterly publication that consists of some waffly editorial and news of scrabble activity in Australia during the relevant quarter. The publication is not entirely devoid of interesting news. For example, the latest issue contained these items:

KATIE ROWE – RETIRING AS MEMBERSHIP OFFICER

As you have read in the CASPA activity article in this quarter’s ATB, Katie is returning to full-time study and she has opted to also retire as the Victorian ASPA Membership Officer.

The Victorian committee thanks Katie for the efficient and comprehensive effort she has put into this position for many years and for her valuable contribution to the ASPA (Vic) committee meetings. Thank you Katie.

GWEN LAMPRE – NEW MEMBERSHIP OFFICER

And Katie has recruited Gwen Lampre to take over as our Membership Officer. Thank you to Gwen for taking on the position and any queries re membership can be directed to Gwen at:

gwenhl@skymesh.com.au

I was curious to find out why a person with one foot in the grave would want to return to full-time study, and what sort of course would this person be pursuing. So, I sifted through the publication to find out that Ms Rowe will be studying a very demanding course in painting. So, I dismissed the thought that she could have been contemplating nuclear physics.

There was another item that attracted my attention:

CASPA AGM and Vacant Positions:

Please see elsewhere in this issue notices regarding nominations for all positions on the Council of Australian Scrabble Players, elections for which will be held at the AGM to be held on Friday 6 April 2012.

You may notice that the current CASPA Coordinator is Carol Johnsen and the Treasurer is Katie Rowe. You may want to nominate for a position, in which case you have to apply to Carol Johnsen by Friday 30 March (joke).

Hegazi vs ASPA(Vic) Part 4

30/03/2012

.............................................................................................M. Hegazi

..............................................................................................5 Hiah Close

..............................................................................................Greensborough 3088

Ms. Sarah Smith

Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria

GPO Box 4113

Melbourne

Vic 3001 ...........................................................................March 30, 2012

....................Re: M. Hegazi Vs ASPA(Vic)

....................Your Ref.: A129906/2011

Dear Ms. Smith,

I refer to your letter dated 06/12 /2011. Your letter stated that the Secretary of the Australian Scrabble Players Association (Vic) Inc. (ASPA) and myself were invited to a mediation meeting, at the behest of Mr Harry Malcolm.

After making several inquiries, it appears to me that the said meeting is not taking place, due to the procrastination of the Secretary of ASPA (Vic).

On legal advice, I am forwarding copies of this letter by registered mail to both Mr Malcolm and the Secretary of ASPA (Vic).

If I do not receive a reply to this letter, within two weeks from the date hereof, I shall proceed with a complaint to the Melbourne Magistrates Court accompanied by an affidavit explaining the fact that the matter was not resolved via mediation, due to the failure of the Secretary of ASPA (Vic) to positively respond to your mediation invitation, for an unreasonable period exceeding three months.

In the meantime, I would like to thank you for the effort you personally have exerted in trying to convince the Secretary of ASPA (Vic) that the issues involved could have been resolved via mediation.

Yours sincerely,

Mohammed Hegazi

While U Wait

09/04/2012

Their New Target

Whether it was the unjustifiable slow motion performance of a government bureaucracy, or a premeditated tactic of stalling on the part of some or all members of ASPA(Vic) Committee, it remains to be seen whether a mediation meeting would take place, or to proceed directly to court as per my fair letter of March 30, 2012

So in order to maintain your interest and to keep you amused, here are a couple of emails:

from: Mohammed A. Hegazi

to: carol johnsen

cc: “Jenny Brysha” ,

“Andrew Fisher” ,

“Norma Fisher” ,

“Dianne Gibson” ,

“Trevor Halsall” ,

“Cheryle Jerram” ,

“Gwen Lampre” ,

"Harry Malcolm” ,

"Sandra Masel" ,

"Marj Miller" ,

“Sarah Smith”

date: 5 April 2012 17:16

subject: Mediation DSCV Case No 12906/2011

Dear Carol,

I have noted the offensive note in your reply to Harry. He never explicitly suggested that you were lying. He is certainly justified in asking for an explanation and specific phone call dates and names of contacts, in order to be able to understand how mediation has been dodged for more than three months. Contact with outside bodies such as the DSCV is the duty of the Secretary. My registered mail letter to the Secretary was handled by Marj Miller, as shown by her unacceptable remark at the tail of your email, which you did not truncate. She should have handed my confidential letter unopen to the Secretary.

If phone calls were not a successful method of communication, you should have sent Sarah Smith an email somewhat similar to my reply, to her request for a telephone conversation, below:

Dear Serah,

You probably wanted to confirm these points:

(a) I am available at any time that would suit all other parties. Just inform me of the time and venue of the proposed meeting.

(b) As far as mediation is concerned with my grievance, I am open to any eventualities that might result from a documented thorough investigation of my case, in the presence of impartial mediators. I have no predetermined conditions for participation in a reconciliatory process. I only hope that my adversaries would be prepared to adopt the same open-minded approach.

(c) I will support the need for constitutional reforms as proposed by Harry in order to make sure that ASPA(Vic) would be a safe environment for future young players.

I cannot think of any other points to discuss with you before the meeting, to which I have been invited. Please feel free to email me with any further questions or concerns. I would promptly respond by email. I prefer to have all matters of this case in written format. Undocumented telephone conversations are not suitable for future reference.

(End of quoted text)

So, let’s do without unnecessary bickering. If you are serious about finalising this affair, forward an email to the DSCV and cc all parties concerned. This would be indisputable proof of your communication. Claiming that you made unsuccessful phone calls for three months is analogous to a child answering the phone with, “My dad says he is not here.”

Regards,

Mohammed

-------------------------------------------------------------

From: Mohammed A. Hegazi mohammedhegazi@gmail.com

to: “Trevor Halsall”

cc: “carol johnsen” ,

“Jenny Brysha” ,

“Andrew Fisher” ,

“Norma Fisher” ,

“Dianne Gibson” ,

“Cheryle Jerram” ,

“Gwen Lampre” ,

"Harry Malcolm” ,

"Sandra Masel" ,

"Marj Miller" ,

“Sarah Smith”

date: 6 April 2012 09:52

subject: Re DSCV 12906/2011

Trevor,

I noted that in your reply to Harry, you took it upon yourself to come up with yet another lie. You stated, "Just to take up one of your points, where you say Mohammed was caused loss of enjoyment of the game - I draw your attention to the numerous emails that we received from a wide variety of players who were regularly suffering loss of enjoyment prior to the committee deciding to act in 2008." This is another ring in a long chain of implicit and explicit character assassination attempts by you. You know damn well that Carol Johnsen and Marj Miller have done their best to invite and collate any trivia they could gather about my alleged “poor conduct”. They finished with the miserable effort which you keep on calling “the twelve submissions”. So, in the area of conniving and intrigue, you will never be able to beat the masters by such clumsy improvisation.

You lied when you publicly claimed on a discussion board that I was a cheat in at least five different tournaments. You lied again when you claimed that I accused five people of cheating. Now, you lie by claiming that you have been inundated with email complaints about me prior to 2008.

I sincerely advise you to be careful before you open your mouth with my name. Every time you do, it constitutes an invitation for someone to stick his boot in it.

Mohammed

WHILE U R STILL WAITING

19/05/2012

While Mediation is vital from Harry's view point, to me it is only a precursor to a court case, where things are impartially looked at and a judgement is passed according to the law of the land. The losing party would foot the hefty legal bill. That might lead on to a large number of very expensive fund-raising tournaments in order to make up for the stubborn incompetence of a small number of individuals, whom you would be able to count on the fingers of one hand, and the passive nature of another number, whom you can count on the fingers of the other hand. But I would put most of the blame on the majority of members who allowed themselves to be hoodwinked to the extent of abstaining in a secret ballot at the AGM of 2011.

So far, I have witnessed unwarranted delays. Flimsy explanations have been given by the procrastinating parties. However, I have stretched my patience in order to give my adversaries the chance to reassess their position and to face the reality that their shabby pretences have been exposed.

The passage of time further strengthens my case. More members of ASPA(vic) are coming to grips with the unacceptable procedures of the committees of 2008 and the present committee of 2011. I am quite satisfied with the support I am getting, especially from all the new members who met me for the first time after my absence for a few years.

Anyway, the following emails would sum up the haps on the mediation front:

(1)

On 16 May 2012 , DSCV wrote:

Dear Mr Hegazi,

Hope you are well.

I am needing to speak to you directly in order to confirm arrangements for the proposed Mediation on Tuesday 22nd May at 1:30.

Could you please contact our office on 960308370 when you are available.

As Sarah is on leave could you please quote your reference number M12906/2011 and ask for Maggie.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Kind Regards

Maggie Rowe

Dispute Assessment Officer

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(2)

On 16 May 2012, Mohammed Hegazi wrote:

To: dscv@justice.vic.gov.au

cc:

Jenny Brysha

Andrew Fisher

Norma Fisher

Dianne Gibson

Trevor Halsall

Cheryle Jerram

carol johnsen

Gwen Lampre

Harry Malcolm

Sandra Masel

Marj Miller

Subject: Re M12906/2011

Dear Maggie,

I hereby confirm and reiterate my availability as per today's telephone conversation.

I understand that you have taken this file over from Sarah. I find phone contact with so many parties to be cumbersome and time consuming for you; not to mention the fact that you may find some parties to be elusive and often stall the process. One email to all parties concerned would do the job with a minimum of effort. If one party or another would ignore your email, the meeting should proceed without them. I hope you can see the merit of my humble suggestion. This case has taken too long since its inception in 2011, presumably because of communication difficulties.

Regards,

Mohammed Hegazi

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(3)

On 17 May 2012, DSCV wrote:

Dear Mr Hegazi

Thank you for your email.

Please be advised that unfortunately at this stage we will be cancelling the tentative date for Mediation on 22nd May at 1:30, as we have been unable to make final arrangements with all parties.

We request you contact our office on 9603 8370 to discuss this matter further.

Kind Regards

Maggie Rowe

Dispute Assessment Officer

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(4)

Re: M12906/2011

On 18 May 2012, Mohammed Hegazi wrote:

To: dscv@justice.vic.gov.au

cc:

Jenny Brysha

Andrew Fisher

Norma Fisher

Dianne Gibson

Trevor Halsall

Cheryle Jerram

carol johnsen

Gwen Lampre

Harry Malcolm

Sandra Masel

Marj Miller

Dear Ms Rowe,

Your office decided on Friday 10/05/2012 as a tentative date for a mediation meeting. Mr Malcolm was informed about it, but I was not. The tentative date was abandoned, due to the unavailability of a small room for the meeting.

Your office decided on Tuesday 22/05/2012 as another tentative date. Both Mr Malcolm and myself were informed about it. I am not sure if ASPA(Vic) were or were not informed, because you prefer to use a complex phone call system to clear informative email messages.

Now, I am informed by email that the new tentative date of 22/05/2012 has been abandoned because you were “unable to make final arrangements with all parties”. I have already informed Mr Malcolm about this development, since he has not yet been informed by your office.

I am not interested in tentative dates. Please inform me by email only if you reach a firm date for the proposed meeting, or if you have reached the conclusion that ASPA(Vic) are not interested in attending such meeting.

Both Mr Malcolm and myself have clearly stated that we were ready to attend a mediation meeting on any firm date suggested by the DSCV. You do not have to confirm our availability, because we are available on any date suitable for all other parties; that is: Your mediators, ASPA(Vic) and the small room for the proposed meeting.

Regards,

Mohammed Hegazi

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(5)

On 18 May 2012, Harry cc'd me with a stern email to the DSCV, in relation to these unwarranted delays. However, I am unable to divulge the contents without his consent.

Hegazi vs ASPA(Vic) Part 5

19/6/2012

Eventually, we had a mediation meeting on 15/06/2012. It failed dismally. ASPA(Vic) had three delegates, who were the least capable of sensibly represent the Association:

Trevor Halsall insisted that I cheated, this time, three times. The counters on his abacus seem to keep on moving to and fro, in order to suit a given situation. He showed total disregard of the fact that no substantiated accusations of cheating existed, none whatsoever.

Marjorie Miller displayed her fake emotional fatigue and was almost in tears resenting my presumed accusation of her being a cheat.

Carol Johnsen twisted and turned showing her imaginary legal prowess, that kept most committee members under her spell.

Such nonsense did not impress the mediators, who remained composed, save for shouting once at Trevor to shut him up when he interrupted Harry Malcolm.

In the aftermath, I forwarded this email:

Subject: Post Mediation

17 June 2012

To: Jenny, Andrew, Norma, Dianne, Trevor, Cheryle, Carol, Gwen, Sandra, Marj,

Cc: Harry

Dear Committee members,

As you may already know, your delegates to mediation failed to agree to repeal the decision in 2008 that I have committed acts unbecoming a member. Therefore, the only avenue open to me now is legal action.

I have to check whether a court case could be filed without recourse to VCAT, which is a body responsible for solving problems associated with administrative errors of incorporated associations.

I am writing to you as a committee of ten in order for you to discuss the matter amongst yourselves and to come up with a final decision, which can only be one of the following two outcomes:

(1) Repeal of the decision of 2008 that I have committed acts unbecoming a member. In which case, this would be the end of this matter.

(2) Confirming that as a committee, you sanction the decision of your delegates to mediation. In which case, I would initiate legal action. I must emphasise that any future out-of-court settlement between my solicitor and the Association’s solicitor would have as a condition payment by the Association of all my legal and incidental cost.

Non-reply to this email for two weeks would imply that you have opted for outcome (2).

Regards to all,

Mohammed Hegazi

Now, it is up to the Committee to act in the interest of all members, or to keep on the same track and squander funds. I will persist until justice is achieved.

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Reply to your letter of demand of 17 June 2012Sunday, 24 June, 2012 9:29 AM

From: "carol johnsen"

To: "Mohammed A. Hegazi" , "Mohammed A. Hegazi" , "harry malcolm"

Cc: "andrew fisher" , "carol johnsen" , "Cheryle Jerram" , "dianne gibson" , "gwen lampre" , "Jenny Brysha" , "marjorie miller" , "Norma Fisher" , "sandra masel" , "Trevor Halsall" , "Trevor Halsall" trevor_halsall@medibank.com.au

Dear Mohammed,

Point (1), the current committee is not repealing the decision of 2008.

Point (2), there was no decision / outcome reached at mediation. And we do not agree to any pay any of your legal and incidental costs now or in the future.

Please note that this Association will no longer entertain any communication with you on this matter.

Yours faithfully,

CAROL JOHNSEN

President, ASPA (Vic) Inc

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My Comment:

Ms Johnsen failed to realise that further communication will have to be via my solicitor. As to payment of my expenses, it would be via negotiation between solicitors. Solicitors usually try to avoid court appearances, in order to minimise the cost of the losing party. My letter is to warn her that such negotiations would have as a precondition payment of my legal fees, as an alternative to payment of additional court fees. Apparently, she did not understand.

Scrabble Detective on Holidays

Scrabble Detective will be in recess until about the end of September 2012. Please come back then for thrilling news.