Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The two sides of YB Khairy, part 1

“Rizal, can you get feedback from the media guys, Eric (Samuel of the Star), Chris (Raj of NST) and Khawari (Isa of BH)…tell me what they think and what they want ahead of the council meeting. What they think about the foreign players specifically.”

The individual on the opposite end of the phone was YB Khairy Jamaluddin, the FA of Malaysia deputy president and Member of Parliament of Rembau. I was then a part-time media officer for FAM, a stint that lasted for a mere two months. Placing the call was one of Khairy’s aides, Tengku Zuhri Aziz, the deputy director of Akademi Pemuda and now Malay Mail columnist.

It was understandable that Khairy was so anxious to get things right and for him to be updated on the journalistic grapevine for looming on the horizons was a crucial FAM Council meeting he was about to chair.

Sultan of Pahang was indisposed. So too was the other deputy president, Datuk Redzuan Sheikh Ahmad. Khairy knew earlier he had to step into the breach, and he did it with ease.

In his opening remarks, Khairy touched on the need for FAM to be consistent in determining their policies, adding that the Press would not want a Council that flip-flops (he did not use the term).

In that meeting that took place at the Millennium Hotel on my birthday (imagine having to work on a Saturday), the Council decided to do away with foreign players for the 2009 season.

Although Khairy was in favour of retaining the quota, the rest of the Council members were not. In fact the issue was already discussed and deliberated at length at the competitions committee level and they wanted the Council to endorse it.

A Kedah FA representative too said aye to the idea, saying that the state association were financially burdened with the huge salaries of their foreign trio, Marlon James, Bernard Huggins and Nelson San Martin.

The decision drew ire from all quarters. Chris, Eric and Khawari too were against the idea of banning foreign players altogether but Khairy understood majority rules. And the FAM Council is a different ball game as opposed to the Pemuda Umno.

Khairy was powerless to stem the tide. But as the team manager of the national team manager, Khairy was known to be a problem-solver.

National coach B Sathianathan has nothing but good words for Khairy.

“Never once did Khairy interfered in the coaching aspects or team selection. He fully understood his role as a trouble-shooter and a motivator. The way he spoke to the players reflected his knowledge of the game. The players liked him and gave him due respect. He made sure I was not taxed with problems. If there were any, Khairy was quick to provide a solution,” said Sathianathan.

For those who dealt with him directly, they felt Khairy was open to ideas and often allowed the experts or relevant individuals to make key decisions.

But click on the rewind button to 2006, my impression of Khairy was that he was an obnoxious bloke who used his position as the Prime Minister’s son-in-law to further his interests. To be continued…

Next: The day KJ made the phone call to the Malay Mail…

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

true story from rizal
kalau betul apa yang lain buat dalam council FAM

KAKI HISAP

Anonymous said...

Sathia ampu KJ masa masih jadi coach la kan.... la ni dah kena gantung tak bertali....

Fowler is God said...

aaaa, starting to bodek ye hahaha
do lah story motorsports, meritus only malaysian team in gp2.
u da best (my turn to bodek)

BorakBola said...

tanak kawan ah Rizal lagi hehehehe...

ada beratus lagi orang yang ada knowledge of the game or played the game or would be able to be the problem solver etc...cuma not all of them have influential connections to be able to be where some people are.

Anonymous said...

Bro, u ingat mamat ni dapat jadi menteri sukan ke sampai u nak bodek macam tu. ada hati nak jadi press secretary lah tu... hahahah...podah!!!!

Anonymous said...

The national team has not trained or played a match since UAE 0-5...and are fast sliding down the FIFA Rankings.

So who is in charge ?


For the Game. For the World.

wA said...

Wallawey....

Messr Rizal...

Singing a different tune nampak...aisey...ada apa2 ke ni? No? Why am I not surprised eh?

tsk tsk tsk.....

Stick to ur sports stuff la bro. What's plaguing MaysiaBoley ke... How to overcome the cancer. Share la ur views on how to diagnose and remedy the probs. How to produce more Rizals and Azizuls and maybe Akmals.

Ini dah citer2 yg berbau kureng sports ni apahal bro? And bila u start a story let's zoom in on ways to realise our dreams rather than sensationalise stuff. KJ is a subject matter yg mengundang sensasi. Bab2 sensasi ni kita mmg sedap dengar and baca bro tapi benda2 ni tak kekal. Syiok2 sekejap je..

With ur expertise, monster cable etc etc what u write shd carry lots more weight rather that hot2 chicken shit stuff.

So? What's this story will come to? KJ's a good dude after all? He's THE saviour to Maysia's scocer? Oh wait. He's the Ultimate Warrior for Pemuda? Apa bro?

Anonymous said...

You reminded me of KFC.

"Sedapnya hingga menjilat bontot."

Stick to the sports, bro.

Anonymous said...

WHAT THE HECK DOES THIS POSTING SERVE? YOUR INTERESTS?

Anonymous said...

Bro, i hope u are not like almost all bloggers who have personal interest when they start blogging. Are u? blogging to make yr way back to NSTP group? come on lah bro.... jangan jilat bontotlah...

Anonymous said...

semua bantai awak bro

ha hah ha ahha ha ha ha aha

Anonymous said...

SKRG ZAMAN BANTAI RIZAL DENGAN KAMARUDDIN. HAHAHAHAHAH

Anonymous said...

Bantai jangan tak bantai. kalau tak betul, kita bantai. jangan kira sapa...

sapa lagi kalau bukan kita yang nak bantai? hahahhhhahahaha

Anonymous said...

cerita ini agak menyedihkan, tidak selari dengan sentimen orang kebanyakan

Anonymous said...

fellow commenters, let rizal finish all parts, this is only part 1, but we don't know when part 2 is coming...

Anonymous said...

ALAMAK BRO, BERAPA LU DAPAT DARI REMBAU PUNYA MP NI BRO...CARI MAKAN KA

Anonymous said...

Sedih la bro......

It takes years to change people/rakyat perception, dah di branding kan. sorry la.

Pgrsi tetap
kelab umno melbourne
1992

Anonymous said...

mana part 2 nye?...lambat sgt le...

Malaysian Scousers///

Anonymous said...

Its always been the inner side of the FAM that we know should withdraw, Tengku shouldn't have left at the Asian Cup, because he was a good man too.

Anyway, nothing malicious but Khairy does need to improve his performance towards the public, and I cannot agree with some of his decisions such as closing down the Penang Turf Club. Its gambling, but its a heritage.

coretan_khalayak said...

rilek la anonymous..
part 2 belum kuar lagi ...

mawar sepi said...

Tunggu dulu Part II kuar... pastu baru kita tengok macam mana.

Jangan melatah dengan Part I ni sebab hamlau Rizal ni bijak susun strategi.

Aku rasa part II punya mesti belasah KJ punya....

Lepas part II, kalau samdol rizal ni terus gosok KJ, kita telanjangkan dia ramai-ramai...


mawar sepi

Rose merah said...

apala korang ni.... baru baca sekali imbas dan melatah nak belasah si rizal ni....

cuba tengok betul betul tajuk dia:
THE TWO SIDES OF YB KHAIRY PART 1'

Makna nya, KJ ni dia jenis orang yang dua alam. Dalam part II confirm Rizal akan bantai KJ nanti. Tak caya tengok la....


Rose merah

madihensem said...

taktik macam ni dah selalu pakai...mula-mula up kow2 dulu.. pastu siap la! rizal ni suka tulis cerita satira la bro semua, jangan cepat melatah...tunggu part 2.... gerenti puas hati! bila nak publish part 2 ni?

mawar unggu said...

Aku gerenti samdol rizal belasah KJ dlm part II. Kalau tidak, biar aku tibai dia nanti.

wA said...

Then we shall wait for this samdol sorry, Sdra Rizal to continue where he left of and see what surprises that he got.

Jgn sampai menjilat jari udah. These days anything impossible pun boleh jadi possible....

Of course it didnt apply to this samdol ouch, I mean Sdra Rizal.

coretan_khalayak said...

bro,
u memang gentleman ,
komen pro / cons semua u approve ...
salute!!!

keep u good work bro..

mawar terkulai said...

bro,

mana part II nih? lagi lama lagi kena belasah nanti....
hehehehehe

Rilaz Hisham said...

Part 2 akan kuar selepas pembentukan kabinet baru oleh najib. mana le tau kot-kot KJ jadi menteri belia & sukan kan....
hahahahahhaa

Anonymous said...

SI RIZAL ni temberang je lebih. janji macam org politik punya janji... hahahahha