Article 60 — My Relationship With Singapore/Malaysian Football
I am born in Singapore but my association with Singapore ended with the team’s withdrawal from Malaysian football competitions in 1994. My choice to support Singapore was influenced by the euphoria and spirit in Singapore for the team in the M-League and Malaysia Cup. However, the primary reason was the presence of one man, Abbas Saad in the team. I was impressed by him from the time I saw him play for Johor in the 1991 Malaysia Cup final and he became my favourite player in the local league.
You might find this strange and blasphemous but when it came to the support of my own national team, I never supported Singapore due to the influence of my family. I am half-Singaporean, half-Malaysian and I would support any national team against Singapore even though many of the local players were the same ones that I support in M-League and Malaysia Cup action in the early 90s.
I began supporting Malaysia from 1996 at the inaugural Tiger Cup held in Singapore. That was a decision that I have stuck by with for the rest of my life. I feel more Malaysian than I do Singaporean because most of my family is based in Malaysia. You would understand if you were in my shoes. 1996 was also the onset of the S-League in Singapore which began with much fanfare. I remember matches being played in front of full stadiums something unthinkable today.
1994 was also a dark year for Malaysian and Singaporean football. A match-fixing scandal erupted in the league and it took out 21 players and coaches from Malaysian football. 58 others were suspended and a total of 126 were questioned for their part in this scandal. In Singapore, Michal Vana and Abbas Saad were found guilty of conspiring to fix matches. Vana eloped and fled back to Czech Republic while Abbas was fined for the part he played in the conspiracy.
I remember this was horrible news at that time and it rocked all followers of Malaysian and Singaporean football. There were rumours that some Singaporean players got away from getting convicted. We will never know today how true those rumours were.
I rarely speak about local football because I don’t follow it as extensively as I do European football or as I did in the early 90s. Somewhere, I lost some interest. I followed Malaysia at every SEA Games and Tiger/Suzuki Cup though. It was a proud moment to finally see the Malaysian team win the SEA Games gold medal in 2009 and 2011 and the Suzuki Cup in 2010. However, that era of dominance didn’t last long and we didn’t build on that success.
My team in the Malaysian League would be my “home” state team, Negeri Sembilan. I kept in touch with their results through my cousin and by catching some matches on Malaysian TV from Singapore in the late 90s and the early 00s.
I remember Negri had a great team in that time, going to the final of the 2000 Malaysia Cup and losing. We then won the Malaysian FA Cup in 2003. I missed the title-winning 2006 Liga Premier team and the 2009 and 2011 Malaysia Cup teams as I got further detached from Malaysian league football.
I heard a very entertaining and interesting podcast episode by my friends over at The Bola Bola Show with Steve Darby who coached in Malaysia and Singapore among other countries in Asia. I would highly recommend that you listen to it here if you have a keen interest in football in this region: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCmRF1u5f5E&feature=youtu.be
From this episode, it’s sad and disheartening to know that match-fixing and corruption are still rife and undermining football in this region. Malaysian football is a lot more professionally run now since the privatisation of its league but struggle to secure title sponsorship consistently for the league. There are Malaysian teams that still owe their players salaries and the Football Malaysia LLP (FMLLP) has been firm in denying participation to these teams.
Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) under the mentorship of Tunku Mahkota Johor (TMJ) has transformed itself. They are dominating Malaysian football now, winning the Malaysian Super League 6 seasons in a row and have won the AFC Cup in 2015, becoming the first-ever Malaysian team to win a continental cup competition. TMJ pumped money from the royal family of Johor and has used his influence and power very wisely to get strong and wealthy sponsors for JDT making them Malaysia’s richest club. The team is also doing well off-the-pitch with the best kind of infrastructure possible for the players at least in this region. They are also very well-taken care of in terms of wages and the specialists around in the team to ensure top quality, consistent performances.
JDT’s success should spur other teams to follow suit but so far no other team has come close. Mighty Selangor, Malaysia’s most successful football team looks like following suit with the increased involvement through a member of Selangor’s royal family, the Raja Muda. For the sake of Malaysian football, I hope he can revitalise a sleeping giant in Selangor and get them up to the JDT’s level. It would only serve Malaysian football well if more teams like Pahang, Perak, Kedah and others show greater ambition and are better organised structurally and in administration.
I would also hope that more football-loving royalties follow the example set by TMJ at JDT to get their state team up to JDT’s level. Malaysian businessmen should also look at investing in Malaysian football rather than investing overseas. If I had money to burn, I would take control of Negri Sembilan and try to bring it up to JDT’s level. The level set by JDT is the benchmark for Malaysian football teams. Instead of sniggering and getting jealous of their success, teams should look to emulate them instead because they are setting very good examples for all to follow.
The investment and development of Malaysian youth should also increase at the state and national level. Looking for short-term, quick fixes will not get the nation anywhere. They should be looking at a more holistic, long-term solution. Not every youth player can make it as a professional player so for those that fall behind, with a holistic approach to a youth academy, they can still find employment through areas like sport sciences, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, administration, media, public relations and marketing. A footballer’s career doesn’t last long too so it is important that players are armed with some academic qualification that can serve them after retirement. The livelihood of these players in the academy should also be taken care of and players of all races should be scouted and encouraged to join.
Professional Malaysian players should be encouraged to break out of their comfort zone and aim to play overseas in Japan, South Korea, China or even the Middle East. The experience abroad will stand them in good stead mentally and physically and the nation will get a much better player for it as a footballer and a man.
On the issue of naturalisation of players, I am not in favour of naturalising players for the short-term goal of winning a SEA Games gold medal or winning the Suzuki Cup. Players born overseas with Malaysian ancestry and roots through one of their parents or grandparents should be monitored closely. If there is anyone that can add value to the present national team, he should then be called up. If a foreign player has stayed in Malaysia since childhood or at least early teenage years as in the case of Mohamadou Sumareh and can add value to the national team, he too should then be considered for the national team.
I am not in favour of awarding citizenship to a foreign player to play for the country because he has been in the country for 5–10 years no matter how good he is. I feel it goes against the spirit of international football. When Singapore was winning the Suzuki Cups, they had quite a few foreign-born, naturalised citizens playing. As a Malaysian fan, I cannot accept that to be real triumph because Singapore has used a cheat code to win. It was a short-term measure without any long-term dividends as seen by the struggles of the Singapore national team and the Singapore league.
The Malaysian national team’s performances and results look promising. It looks like we are building something positive and long may it continue. I hope whatever we build can sustain for a long period. The team should aim to dominate the region before looking to improve itself in the continent. Hopefully, one day we can see Malaysia at the World Cup.
