Described by the Olympic Council of Asia as one of the continent's "most popular" sports officials, Chi is now an honorary member of the OCM.

He was secretary general between 2013 and 2015 after serving as honorary secretary for 21 years from 1992.

"Thank you to all my friends and colleagues for their congratulatory messages on my induction to the OCM Hall of Fame and thank you to OCM for the induction," he said.

"Frankly, I am embarrassed because there are many more deserving athletes and medal-winning teams who should have been inducted.

"I volunteered to serve OCM and the athletes and, if the sports people think I have done well, I was only doing my duty to the best of my ability and as such do not deserve anything else.

"On the other hand, the athletes were selected by OCM and, when they didn't do well, they were criticised, but when they do well, sometimes they were forgotten. 

"One good example is the Malaysian women's hockey team of the Delhi 1982 Asian Games, the only Malaysian women's hockey team to have won an Asian Games bronze medal.

"During my tenure as honorary secretary of OCM, I missed recommending them to be inducted to the OCM Hall of Fame, for which I offer my sincere apologies. 

"I hope they will be recognised and inducted in 2020."

The other Hall of Fame inductees were former Asian Football Confederation President Sultan Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah, who was entered posthumously, badminton's Datuk Roland Wong Choon Tat, hockey's Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Manap Ibrahim and tennis player S.A Azman. 

Malaysia's Head of State, Abdullah of Pahang, was also honoured with the OCM special award for his contribution to sport.

Wushu athlete Loh Choon How and gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi were named as the men's and women's athletes of the year.