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Kick the overspending, underachieving habit, Malaysia
Photo by Ctd 2005
By IZHAM ISMAIL
I can’t help being spiteful towards Singapore.
It definitely seems like Malaysians and Singaporeans just can’t get along. Like oil and water, cats and dogs, or however you put it, the relationship is hostile despite living side by side geographically.
By logic, they should be the best of friends. But unquestionably, both sides have done a great job undermining each other: I’ve heard of Singaporeans saying Malaysians are lazy, underachieving people, while Malaysians would be in high spirits to label their neighbour kiasu.
But whatever it is, Singaporeans play better football than Malaysians do, which gives me mixed feelings of madness, fury, embarrassment, discontent and disbelief that such a small country could make it big in football, at least in Asia. It’s official: three Singaporeans confirmed their place on the list of 25 candidates bidding for the 2008 AFC Player of The Year award. They are Aleksandar Duric, Indra Sahdan Daud and Mohammad Shahril Ishak, who are set to sit on the same roll alongside the likes of South Korean’s evergreen left-footed magician Seol Ki-Hyeon, Middlesbrough stronghold guardian Mark Schwarzer and Tottenham Hotspur’s Lee Young-Pyo.
The likes of our starlets Akhmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli – tipped to be the next big thing after his two-year stint with French club RC Strasbourg – and the twin brothers Aidil Zafuan and Zaquan Adha, who came into view promoting cute Malaysian jerseys for Nike, among others, weren’t seen on the list. So what were the few hundreds of thousands of ringgits, if not millions, spent by the Football Association of Malaysia paid for?
And just few weeks before, FAM sent two Kedah players, Badrol Bakhtiar and newly promising (as always) chap Bunyamin Omar to train with Chelsea.
To acquire new experience, they said.
I say it was a waste of money, given that people in Chelsea might have more interest in working on their Barclays Premier League campaign than in grooming underachieving, short, physically disadvantaged Asian players.
The feat reminded me of our Angkasawan program, which sent Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor to space for RM105 million (roughly US$26 million). Malaysia beefed up its air force, became the 38th country to send a person into space and found prospects to explore how spinning gasing works in zero gravity, while there are at least 300,000 drug addicts, more than 4,500 people newly infected with HIV at the end of 2007, and more than 67,000 reported cases of motorcycle theft in Malaysia, not to mention thousands more living in poverty.
I believe we sent him for international recognition. Well, the Malay saying says it best: Ukur baju biarlah di badan sendiri (When measuring your clothes, let it be on your own body).
Why not start with the quality of our grassroots football? I am sure there are plenty of football enthusiasts and real football heroes around who work around the clock organizing football tournaments around the country, asking for sponsorship and monetary support. They need the money. Our football scene needs the money.
The selection of the three Singaporean players speaks volume about how Singaporean football has grown by leaps and bounds, which definitely sends a clear message as to why they quit from Malaysian football many years ago – Malaysian football just wasn’t, and still isn’t, up to the standards needed to pull off their careers.
I was particularly dejected, not because of their achievement, but more towards the apathetic Malaysian attitude towards making the country’s football big in the world arena. It seems we are not serious enough to make into the fray where big players would look up and see us as formidable competitors.
Stop calling them kiasu. They achieve more than us as we speak.
Towards a lively Malaysian football scene, and a much matured Malaysia.
–
IZHAM ISMAIL is a contributing writer for theCICAK.
Izham is a devoted Malay who takes pleasure in football and reading. He has just finished two years at Kolej MARA Banting, where he was captain of the football team. Visit his site.
10 Responses to “Kick the overspending, underachieving habit, Malaysia”
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June 8th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
nothing get me riled up more than football I’ve been living in berzerly Cali49a where football is merely a footnote, byline, sure it hosted a world cup I recall its start from infancy stage where mostly foreigners get more excited now its more a middle class phenomenal you go to soccer camp in the summer just like you do in tennis hoping to land a scholarship to college with the requisite requirement landing into a good school is competitive that way,
parents will pay for their kids to enroll into soccer camp there’s really a grassroot DIY mentality if you want things done you “do it yourself” I patronised a football pub in SF the English fans berate the EPL is overran by imported player from Eastern Europe , Africa, South America cause they’re hungrier and lets face it football’s really a machismo game you play it with passion with little regard for injury. The game gone more into physicality, toughness, reason why its such fanatic for people who follow this beautiful game there’s life drama; when River Plate plays Boca Jr its about war between the ruling class and the working class, the haves and the haves not when you considered socio economically when playing football everythings a level field and we represent our home, we can’t expect to put our talented player in a European league and let them be bench warmers they(ie European teams) had rather be grooming kids from footballing nations that has reputation for performing its like throwing a handful of darts hoping that one of them is going in for bulleyes yeah it gnaws me when our neighbor outperform us peace out
June 8th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
And yet somehow, Singapore was dumb enough to follow our lead to build a gigantic ferris wheel….
June 8th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
you know this might unrelated I think out there somewhere there’s a mothaflicker carrying a briefcase full specs for stoopid ferris wheel design to fit everyones taste if I find who that’s I’ll start working my PK on his crotch, what a waste of space urgh!
June 9th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Seems like a similar article by the same author has been published in NST. Ref: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Letters/2225610/Article/index_html
I’m a Malaysian in Singapore. Aleksandar Duric is not local-born talent. To the best of my knowledge, your assertion that “why they quit from Malaysian football many years ago – Malaysian football just wasn’t, and still isn’t, up to the standards needed to pull off their careers” is untrue. The three players have never played for Malaysia.
Anyway, it’s no use talking about how a few players from Singapore got into the finals and Malaysia’s didn’t.
I suppose, you’re suggesting we pump in more money to the development of Malaysian football. What the money we need for our “300,000 drug addicts, more than 4,500 people newly infected with HIV at the end of 2007, and more than 67,000 reported cases of motorcycle theft in Malaysia, not to mention thousands more living in poverty”?
I don’t think you should value football more than sending an astronaut in space and the problems you have quoted. The thing to do now is to pump more money into solving our social ills. Without that, international recognition is no use. As was the case of the Angkasawan programme.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:33 am
wow, I have no idea what bigbadwoof is talking about. With all the lack of punctuation this guy is sesat man. Totally irrelevant comments.
Anyway,y my own comments about this issue is that hey, its about time we Malaysians wake up. But saying that, I realise its not going to happen overnight. I do hope that the recent fuel increase will make Malaysian yearn to spend wiser, and also learn how to achieve excellence and optimistic optimisation of making the best of whatever little we have.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am
like norm to Malaysia, the idea is always there but the follow up? none. just like the case of Akmal Rizal. Maybe Malaysian should be tought how important follow ups are or how wasteful an idea can be without appropriate aftermath action. Then we think of being a developed country by 2020.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:06 am
So are you talking about kicking overspending or are you talking about football??
June 10th, 2008 at 11:02 am
let me throw in another monkey wrench “overspending” “austerity” this are buzzwords by the way, does not equate to raising the level of football. Excellence comes from the temerity of the people from the grass roots good nurturing development from the local teams if you take a look at Mexico City or if you been there.. its a country of contrasting classes there’s rampant poverty and alarming privilege class. A major world cities plenty of talent to spare the same goes for Rio de Jeneiro the world best footballers comes from the Barrios and the Favelas those are the ghettos of course they’ve never heard of an Angkasawan project or any of those pies in the sky project they’re just trying to survive from day to day before my opine get disjointed or disparage for lack of punctuation as a footnote I’m a M’sian who is emailing from Berkeley, Calif I might be out of step with local flavour or opine so I step on anyone sensibilities, minta maaf.
June 17th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
bigbadwoof,
for someone from berkeley, ca, you have horrible grammar. dont use the excuse that you be ‘out of flavor’ or whatever. i’m in new york right now, but i can still make myself understandable.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
hey..ur on TheCicak!! haha..keep up the good work