Last Tuesday, millions of Argentinians gathered on the streets of Buenos Aires to celebrate the phenomenal success of their national team at the recently concluded FIFA World Cup.
The celebration was also joined in by millions around the world.
In 1999, when Datuk Azhar Mansor completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe on the sailing yacht Jalur Gemilang, the feat was celebrated by Malaysians as a tremendous achievement.
And that, is how we should view and react to the achievements of others.
In our local football, Akhyar Rashid and friends helped Johor Darul Ta’zim FC (JDT) to another magnificent football season, winning all there is to win – the Malaysia Super League, FA Cup, and the Malaysia Cup.
JDT also played at the Asians Champions League, causing several upsets at the group stages and qualifying for the Round of 16 – the first Malaysian team to reach that far. The Southern Tigers was later defeated by Japanese giants, Urawa Reds.
After such a hectic but glorious season, Akhyar and friends were once again called upon for the upcoming Asean Football Federation (AFF) Cup 2022.
To the surprise of many, Akhyar and his fellow teammates decided to pass on the opportunity to represent their country, wanting instead to recover after a busy football season, and to spend time with family.
The justifications to skip national duty seemed rather reasonable. For an enduring career, professional footballers have all the interest in the world to protect their physical and mental wellbeing, and as the AFF Cup falls outside the FIFA calendar, it makes it all very timely for a well-deserved break.
Now, what’s particularly distressing, was that all that justification was articulated exclusively by the club’s owner, Tunku Ismail Ibrahim. None of the players bothered to make an official statement.
This has caused the club, to once again, be accused of practicing strategies that cause misery to the national team and the domestic league.
But as mentioned in my previous article, the club was never in the business of making Harimau Malaya more resolute, or the league more competitive.
That work belongs to the people at the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
This has to stop.
JDT players must stand up and speak for themselves. As a professional footballer, Akhyar should not be afraid to voice out what he thinks to be right and beneficial to his professional career, and not worry about how that decision would be viewed by fans.
It should also be known that despite what some may feel, most managers would still fancy having him on their team if he’s still very capable of putting the ball behind the net.
Instead, what we got from Akhyar, were photos of his holiday posted on Instagram, and absolute silence.
This led to almost everyone in Malaysia queueing up to scoff at the shamelessness of it all. Football fans on social media were whistling through their nose, labelling the behaviour of Akhyar and his teammates, as well as JDT, as treasonous – accusing them of being motivated entirely by money, selfishness, and greed.
These boys were not born into astonishing wealth. They were born into a system that allowed them to earn it.
Tunku Ismail established JDT, and from that, came all the rest.
I think it’s fantastic that Akhyar now has the wherewithal to do what only politicians could do 20 years ago. I think it gives us all hope.
But then again, I am abnormal.
Most people in Malaysia sneer at those who’ve worked hard, and when they encounter someone who is successful or lucky, their hair starts to itch and sweat.
I don’t think it was anything like this when I was growing up.
If someone in my hometown got married, we would go to their house and celebrate together.
If a farmer’s child got a place at a university, we wouldn’t be sitting around, arms folded, muttering envious remarks. We would go to the farmer’s house for a ‘doa selamat’ (thanksgiving prayers) and collect money for his kid’s bus fare.
Times have certainly changed.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
