BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
The Malaysian FA (FAM) president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has slammed the local media for putting more emphasis on a throwaway joke he made in an earlier dialogue session, than on the issues discussed in it.
On Wednesday night, one day after Malaysia lost 2-0 to Hong Kong in an Asian Cup qualification group match, Tunku Ismail held a dialogue session in Johor regarding his leadership of the organisation and the underperforming national team. The editor of the Malaysian edition of Goal, Ooi Kin Fai was also one of the panelists invited to the impromptu event.
Towards the very end of the dialogue which was broadcast live on the internet, Tunku Ismail, who is also the owner of four-time consecutive Super League champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) and the Crown Prince of the state of Johor, uttered; "It's the national team of your country, not my country. I'm from Johor you know."
The dialogue held on Thursday
The remark received a heated response from Malaysian football fans and Malaysians in general on social media, who questioned Tunku Ismail's allegiance, and the next day many local newspapers focused on that remark on their sports pages.
On Friday, Tunku Ismail, who is also known as TMJ by fans, wrote a scathing response on the media's focus on his remark, questioning their focus on it instead of the issues discussed in the dialogue which ran for almost half an hour.
"I really want to ask for myself what do they really want from FAM at this present moment. If there is in fact really anything. FAM have now established a good relationship with the supporters, unlike the previous FAM. So please, do tell me when we can meet. I was just asking to meet and suddenly it’s as if the whole nation is crumbling down. No one took note of the important issues but the joke or the small talks was given the limelight.
"After a dialogue of more than an hour regarding football and current issues, only the joke in my last 20 seconds of my dialogue is trending now. This is one of the reasons why I don't read newspapers in this country anymore. Their persistence to sell the newspaper have resulted in them writing news and articles similar to a gossip magazine.
"You want everything to be free without putting any effort or hard work in and at the same time despise the fact when others are doing well. When a long article is written, people are lazy to read. There are even some that may not fully understand. Even when a live video is broadcasted, they still can’t comprehend?
"I really want to ask for myself what do they really want from FAM at this present moment. If there is in fact really anything. FAM have now established a good relationship with the supporters, unlike the previous FAM. So please, do tell me when we can meet. I was just asking to meet and suddenly it’s as if the whole nation is crumbling down. No one took note of the important issues but the joke or the small talks was given the limelight," wrote Tunku Ismail, as published on the official JDT Facebook page.
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